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Penn & Teller making profits magically appear.. according to the Kats Report

Penn & Teller making profits magically appear.. according to the Kats Report

Penn & Teller are leaving them wanting more in their run at Marquis Theater in New York. The latest “financials” are the most impressive yet for the duo’s first Broadway run in nearly 25 years.

Figures released by Broadway League and reported today by The New York Times show that Penn & Teller turned in a $1.4 million gross last week, a number surpassed by only “Aladdin,” “The Book of Mormon,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked.” P&T have consistently sold more tickets since opening July 7 than any non-musical on Broadway.

The most recent audience counts, from last week, are 12,145 in eight shows, or 1,518 tickets sold per show in a 1,611-capacity theater. More important, the show’s producers have recouped their $2.85 million investment in the show (announcing that benchmark Friday), meaning shows now are turning pure profit.

The run ends Saturday, about the time Penn & Teller celebrate their 40th anniversary of their performing partnership. The latest name-checks to visit the production include Neil Patrick Harris, Julia Roberts, Joel Grey and Bernadette Peters. The Las Vegas show, which will incorporate many of the newly refined acts in the Broadway production, is back Aug. 22.

http://lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2015/aug/10/penn-teller-making-profits-magically-appear-david-/

For Penn & Teller’s Magical Partnership, The Trick Is Telling The Truth..

For Penn & Teller’s Magical Partnership, The Trick Is Telling The Truth..

If you’re Penn and Teller, you play Broadway. Thirty years after they first played New York, the duo are back with a new show. And it’s no quiet celebration, either. In the course of a single performance, they make a cellphone ring inside a dead fish, swallowboth needles and fire — and make a rare African spotted pygmy elephant disappear.

Over the past four decades, Teller has directed Macbeth, they’ve both individually written best-selling books and the pair’s taken a starring turn in a Katy Perry video. Oh, and they’ve also got a couple of TV shows running right now — Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Wizard Wars — as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

They joined NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation on magic, danger and the remarkable endurance of their partnership — and they did it one at a time. Read more and listen to the interview..

http://www.npr.org/2015/08/01/428169268/for-penn-tellers-magical-partnership-the-trick-is-telling-the-truth

‘Penn & Teller: Fool Us’ fan recap: Magic? There’s an app for that..

‘Penn & Teller: Fool Us’ fan recap: Magic? There’s an app for that..

By Kayleigh Roberts for Entertainment Weekly..

Full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of Penn and Teller. I’ve seen them live in Vegas. I loved their Showtime series. Heck, I was even a fan of Penn Jillette’s guest-star stint on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I watched the first season of Penn & Teller: Fool Us on YouTube and was super-psyched when I heard that The CW had picked it up for a second season.

The show’s premise and structure, in case you’re not familiar, is as follows: Professional magicians take the stage to perform their best illusions for Penn and Teller. If P&T know how the trick is done, they give hints that let the magician know they know without giving away the magic to the audience. If they don’t know how the trick was pulled off, the magician(s) in question win the chance to perform as part of Penn & Teller’s long-running and hugely popular Vegas show—obviously, a major opportunity for any magician. Viewers are treated to a handful of hopefuls as they look to bamboozle P&T;  then, at the end of each episode, the judges perform one of their famous and world-class illusions, which is always a treat.

Here are this week’s hopeful foolers’ tricks, ranked from meh to magical:

http://community.ew.com/2015/07/21/penn-teller-fool-us-shoot-to-kill/