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Penn and Teller - 2 Funny Fellers in Las Vegas
by Linda
Lane
Penn and Teller - 2 Funny Fellers in Las Vegas
Penn
and Teller make their own brand of magic six nights a week at the Rio All-Suite
Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Iconoclasts to the bone, Penn is tall and
verbose, Teller, diminutive and silent. Together they are known as the Bad Boys
of Magic.
Recently, I had the unique, slightly unnerving pleasure of
seeing the internationally famous duo perform live at the Samba Room, the
showroom created especially for them at the Rio.
It's 8:30 p.m. and the
show is scheduled to begin at nine. Hot jazz is being played from stage left.
There is no curtain. The stage is awash in a red hue over a bright high gloss
red and black checkerboard floor with a thin red frame and Penn and Teller
spelled out in flame red against a black backdrop. Audience members are trooping
on stage, taking pictures in front of two large empty boxes, one Plexiglas, the
other wood.
"Feel free to open them up and see what they're made of ? but
please, for your own safety, do not try to get inside one of the
boxes."
It's the pianist speaking to the audience. Mike Jones, as he will
later be introduced, is playing jazz on a baby grand Kawai piano while someone
wearing a hat, who looks suspiciously like Penn Gillette, is standing next to
him playing the bass.
I take Jones' invitation and venture up on stage.
What a heady feeling. How much fun is this to stand on the very stage where
magic is about to happen? Like my fellow audience members I lift the lid of the
Plexiglas box and it seems to be nothing more nor less than it appears. The
wooden box is heavy and well constructed. There are no visible
clues.
"I'm going to play one more very fast song giving you time to
carelessly run on stage and look at the two boxes that will be used in the box
escape challenge tonight." The last group hurries on stage to investigate the
props, and to capture the memory on their digital cameras.
Nine o'clock rolls around and every seat looks occupied.
"That's Jonesy ? our friend ? Penn tells the audience as he and Teller burst
onto the stage. "This is not your typical Las Vegas show!" he boasts. "Teller
and I write our own stuff. We've been doing magic together for thirty
years."
Penn and Teller are wearing matching English cut suits with
vests, crisp white shirts, and beautiful but unmatched silk ties. Penn sports
comfy black shoes, Teller, spats. Aside from the obvious difference in their
sizes and personalities, they appear to be benign, well-dressed magicians. Penn
plays the bass — letting us know he was on stage studying us pre-show, and
Teller with his cherubic smile plays the vibes.
Each performer has his
own bag of tricks. Penn is the narrator, taking us through the behind-the-scenes
machinations of two magic tricks that we have all seen a hundred times.
Demystifying one of the ways magicians make a person disappear and reappear, as
well as how they separate them from their limbs ? feet dangling or hands
motioning from a small box ? and then "ABRACADABRA" ? the body is whole again,
is fascinating. Revealing the secret of the box escape trick is no less
surprising than an informant whispering the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden to
Tom Brokaw on the six o'clock news. The revelation is a gift and the audience is
theirs.
Teller searches the crowd for a volunteer. He latches onto a
gray-haired lady who he helps on stage. Without speaking he presents a fish bowl
and proceeds to make live gold fish appear along with coins. It's an enjoyable,
Chaplinesque segment.
Penn, who is a master juggler, begins by juggling
torches. Once he ignites them the danger and excitement is amplified. But he's
just getting started. Not only does he juggle fire, he juggles broken glass
bottles. Mesmerizing best describes Penn's juggling.
"We've only done one
bit where Teller talks," Penn tells the audience as he introduces his little
partner who is wearing a green rubber suit, yellow shoes, and a hard hat and
pushing a loud wood chipper stage center. Naturally Teller's voice doesn't carry
over the loud gnawing machine. He performs a trick with a live rabbit that
defies imagination.
Extreme tricks are softened by humor and musical
interludes. One of Penn's most vivid segments is a romantic couch setting with a
beautiful woman. This is a blast of fire that you will never forget. The
audience is never bored.
To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut
and paste this
link:
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/shows/vegas/penn/teller.html
Linda
Lane, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at
www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at
www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at
www.beachbooker.com
About the Author
Linda Lane, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers
Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
Leave your email next to the
logo for FREE e travel newsletter. |
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Westin Luxury in Las Vegas
by Kriss HammondWestin Luxury in Las Vegas
As
they say in real estate, "location, location, location", and in Las Vegas, the
new Westin Casuarina is a real estate dream come true for leisure or for the
business traveler.
Although not located directly on the Strip, the Westin
is within walking distance to Bally's Hotel and Casino for traditional Vegas
entertainment, Caesars Palace for the new Colloseum, the Flamingo Hilton for the
magnificent gardens, and the Bellagio for fine dining at Picasso's.
The
new 825-guestroom Westin Casuarina is the sister property to the Westin
Casuarina Grand Cayman, and it is built around the eko-skeleton of the former
Maxim Hotel, but you won't recognized the dramatic and expensive and expansive
design changes of the Asian owned and Sheraton branded Westin. Hopefully they
add the Maxim's infamous Sunday champagne brunch to the list of
amenities!
After pumping millions of dollars into the makeover, the first
Westin in Nevada has rolled out the red carpet for a price conscious clientele
that still wants high end amenities, such as business services, high speed
internet access, breakout business conference rooms, and a 3,500 square foot
ballroom.
The Westin Casuarina features four two-bedroom suites and six
one-bedroom suites, which are a cut above the standard rooms, but each room has
superb amenities, and the most pillows I have ever witnessed in a hotel room:
five queen size and king size pillows with a duvet coverlet on the Westin
trademarked Heavenly Bed, a custom designed pillow-top mattress set with a cozy
down blanket, three crisp sheets, and the soft duvet comforter.
The
Heavenly Bath, a moniker also trademarked by the chain, is a customized shower
with two heads for power and wider water coverage, and each showerhead has five
adjustable jets and spray options, from the light misty feature to the pounding
massaging needles, so you can customize your shower depending on how grueling
that business conference was. The Heavenly Bath features a curved shower curtain
rod that provides eight additional inches of elbowroom and eliminates the
dreaded shower curtain cling, and the oversized Brazilian combed cotton bath
towels are as big a treat as the custom designed velour bathrobes and spa
amenities.
Other in room amenities included a fully stock refreshment
center, cable TV, in room movies, a laptop-sized safe and a coffee
maker.
For the business traveler the hotel features five contiguous
meeting rooms with 10,000 square feet of meeting space and the largest space,
the 5,000-square-foot meeting room, can divide into five sections, perfect for a
variety of events. Two private boardrooms hold up to ten people each. There is
something that sounds totally techy, called the Starwood Turbo Net High Speed
Internet access, which is available in all meeting rooms. Westin is the number
one upscale hotel chain brand for business, according to Business Travel News in
2003, so there is no excuse now to email or conference call the home office when
you road warriors come to Vegas.
What's even better for the business
traveler is the new Las Vegas Monorail station across the street from the Westin
Casuarina. With a ticket on the new monorail you can attend conventions at the
MGM Grand, Sands Convention Center, or the Las Vegas Convention Center, and soon
the monorail line will connect to the downtown casinos. Westin offers the best
location in Vegas, and away from the hubbub of congestion on the
Strip.
The Casuarina Casino is one mile from the Vegas convention Center,
Sands Convention Center and Mandalay Bay Convention Center and 1.5 miles from
the airport, so even if the monorail still doesn't go to the airport, you are
within a quick hop to the conventions, in the largest convention city in the
world.
I certainly enjoyed the dining at the Silver Park Grill
Restaurant, open around the clock like the rest of the town. Cuisine highlights
include prime steak, fresh seafood, and Mediterranean cuisine. Featured items on
the menu include crisp ciahbatta sandwiches, field chop salad with bruschetta,
yellowfin tuna tartare, prime filet of beef, and hazelnut crusted Seabass. The
restaurant seats 250 with a private dining area seating 30. A breakfast buffet
is offered in the morning. Meeting planners can choose from a variety of
buffets, box luncheons, or reception packages that range in price and selection.
They have fresh à la carte California cuisine, but my bet is the breakfast
buffet with everything imaginable on the menu, set in an ambience of geometric
patterned fabrics.
A translucent screen in the Casino Lounge gives
viewers privacy and intimacy of the Casuarina Casino, modeled after European
casinos, with sofas, loveseats, and divans artfully placed around the casino
floor like a residential living room so onlookers can relax when the lucky lady
hands hit handsomely.
For players the 20,000-square-foot casino features
350 slots and video poker machines and ten table games (blackjack, roulette,
poker, craps, and pai gow). Slot machines feature ticket-in-ticket out systems.
No clanging payouts here! The Premium Players Club allows guests $10 in free
slot plays when they sign up for the premium players card, and your are eligible
for cash back and personalized benefits. I was playing the penny slots in the
state-of-the-art casino and won $3.85, so of course I had to treat myself to a
Starbucks café coffee au laite, located on the western end of the hotel, open 24
hours a day.
What I really liked at the hotel was the service, especially
something called Westin Express, where you dial one number from your room
telephone for all your needs. All rooms have two-line speakerphones with a data
port for Internet, and a cordless bedside phone with voice messaging.
The
completely refurbished 17-story property reflects Westin's brand standards in
the lobby, guestrooms, meeting space, and public areas. A massive $75 million
renovation and upgrade over the past years has transformed the location into a
modern contemporary architectural design.
The 10,000 square-foot Hibiscus
Spa at the Westin Las Vegas opened in April, 2004, and accepts both hotel guests
and local residents (with a 20% discount on all spa services and products for
Nevada license holders).
After an hour with Kevin who professionally
kneaded and firmly pressed out all the stress with a full body Deep Tissue
Sports Massage, I am gong to have to come back to take advantage of the
discounts. The spa has a unique and extensive menu of massages, facials and body
treatments.
Hibiscus Spa is a full-service spa and salon with a retail
center, relaxation room, and a complete fitness facility. You can even get a
haircut or styling treatment. The spa offers 15 treatment rooms (one with Vichy
shower), including three esthetic rooms and one couples room. The spa is great
for the business person who really needs the services for a total lifestyle
approach that encompasses the entire person – body, mind and spirit. Kevin is a
certified Nevada School of Massage therapist that also teaches at the school. He
is one of the best I have ever experienced.
Here is a litany of Hibiscus
services:
To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this
link:
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/hotels/nv/laughlin/ramada/express.html
Kriss
Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at
www.jetsettersmagazine.com
To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at
www.jetstreams.com
and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at
www.beachbooker.com
About the Author
Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers
Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
Leave your email next to the
logo for FREE e travel newsletter.
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