ST. PETERSBURG — Penn & Teller will perform on Thursday, Jan. 29, 8 p.m., at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts — Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg.
Tickets start at $66. Visit themahaffey.com.
From humble beginnings 50 years ago busking on the streets of Philadelphia, to acclaimed sold-out runs on Broadway, magic’s legendary duo — Penn Jillette and Teller — continue to defy labels (and at times physics and good taste), by redefining the genre of magic and inventing their own very distinct niche in comedy. They are renown as the longest-running and one of the most-beloved resident headline acts in Las Vegas history.
Their Off-Broadway debut in 1985 electrified New York with a stage show the likes of which had never been seen. Combining magic, comedy, and social commentary in a theatrical event the New York Times said was a “A witheringly funny … brazen assault on the temple of magic,” the show moved to Broadway in 1987, the first of three eponymously titled Broadway runs. Their efforts in New York have been awarded an Obie and a Lucille Lortel Award. Their most recent return to Broadway was the highest-grossing nonmusical for the entirety of its run, even out-grossing “Hamilton” for one week.
Performing nearly 300 live shows every year from the stages of America’s greatest performing arts venues as well as the Sydney Opera House and London’s Apollo Theatre, their record-breaking Las Vegas show at The Rio Hotel & Casino has an amazing nine wins as Las Vegas Magicians of the Year.
The hit series “Penn & Teller: Fool Us!” for The CW Network, on which up-and-comers and magic veterans try to fool Penn & Teller for a chance to star in the pair’s hit Las Vegas stage show, was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award and has been renewed for an unprecedented 11th season. The show is the longest continual American magic television series in history, introducing the art to new fans and cultivating new generations of innovators within the craft.