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Penn, of Penn & Teller, wins ‘Celebrity Jeopardy’ pot for Opportunity Village

Penn, of Penn & Teller, wins ‘Celebrity Jeopardy’ pot for Opportunity Village

 By Kimberly Laux for Las Vegas Review-Journal 

Magician, comedian and Las Vegas headliner Penn Jillette won Friday’s celebrity episode of “Jeopardy” to bring $50,000 to a local charity.

“Celebrity Jeopardy, I hope height counts for something on this damn show,” Jillette, the talkative half of the world-famous magic duo Penn & Teller, tweeted Thursday afternoon.

Although he flubbed the Final Jeopardy question about celebrity memoirs, Jillette had the most money going into the last round and finished the game with $13,800.

“Yes! You call that applause? Come on!” he shouted jokingly to the audience.

The comedian’s $50,000 in winnings will be donated to Opportunity Village, Nevada’s largest charity, which provides services and training to disabled people.

Jillette’s two celebrity opponents on the show were fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, who came in second place with $3,300, and TV and movie actor Zachary Quinto, who bet all of his $11,400 in the Final Jeopardy round and finished with $0. Rowley won $10,000 to be split between Public Art Fund in New York and The Feed Foundation. Quinto won $10,000 for Direct Relief.

Jillette tweeted Thursday night about his post-weight-loss appearance on the trivia show, “Yup, I’m going to look a LOT thinner on Jeopardy tomorrow than some of you have seen me. But, I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. Thanks.”

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber.

Magicians labor in shadow of big names, but they’re tenacious..

Magicians labor in shadow of big names, but they’re tenacious..

By Mike Weatherford for the Las Vegas Review-Journal

“Welcome to my new stage,” Jan Rouven says. Then, as he steps down from it to a folding chair that serves as the halfway point to the floor, “It’s not a step, it’s a leap.”

Nice one. But it’s not even the best metaphor of the conversation.

I’ve come to talk to Rouven about his step/leap to the Tropicana. The new show opens Friday at a relaunched property with promise so far unfulfilled. It also puts him on the same intersection with David Copperfield and Criss Angel, two more famous magicians with bigger marketing budgets.

To make things even more interesting, Rouven’s old room at the Rivera has been taken over by Dirk Arthur, who opens there Dec. 1. Arthur is calling his show “Wild Illusions,” while Rouven’s is still called “Illusions.”

Arthur is “a clever marketing guy, obviously,” Rouven says.

“Don’t be nice,” chastises his manager and show producer, Frank Alfter. Then he adds, “Everything is good, but they could have avoided this one. It’s confusing for the customer.”

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Give conjurers random props, set the clock, and … Presto!

Give conjurers random props, set the clock, and … Presto!

By MIKE WEATHERFORD for the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

It’s clearly not about production values, as a hand-held camera follows four magicians around the interior of your standard-issue Las Vegas apartment.

And the concept is familiar, too, at least if you ever watch the Food Network’s “Chopped.” The magicians are split into teams and given random items from a dollar store — chopsticks, a plastic orange — that they use to create illusions and perform them in front of hypercritical judges.

But “Wizard Wars” has the potential to bring good news on two fronts….

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