Backstage at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, two members of Las Vegas magic royalty are holding court, as jesters in matching dragon suits.
Piff the Magic Dragon and Penn Jillette have just performed a preview of “Piff and Pop’s Magic Shop,” a show they are touring through the U.K. in September. A series of nine one-offs, the barnstorming tour will be a break from their shows at the Flamingo (Piff’s home venue) and the Rio (where Penn & Teller have headlined for 26 years). Showgirl Jade Simone, Squire Brett Alters and Mr. Piffles, the world’s only magic-performing Chihuahua, join the tour.
Jillette and John van der Put, creator of the Piff character, are talking about the state of magic in Las Vegas.
“It’s kind of stagnant, isn’t it?” Van der put asks with characteristic skepticism. “I don’t see anything new. Are there new shows?”
“We have new close-up shows,” Jillette answers. “We have the show coming into the MGM Grand, ‘Now You See Me,’ which I hear is good.”
Piff reconsiders, “Magic is taking over the country. Las Vegas is the capital of that. It’s always been a destination for magic. It certainly was for me.”
The city is host to about 25 magic, mentalism or hypnosis residency productions. Magic is as prevalent now as ever in the city’s history. A scan of our favorites on the sleight-of-hand scene:
The new order
Piff, Mat Franco and Shin Lim represent the rising class of magic stars on the Strip. All specialize in smaller-scale routines. Franco and Lim are card-manipulation experts, and Piff blends dry comedy with expert sleight-of-hand (creating a burst of fire as he sneezes into his palm, for example).
Piff has performed for a decade at the Flamingo, where he turned a specialty act in “X Comedy” at Bugsy’s Cabaret into a full showroom production. His joke that he “lost” “America’s Got Talent” in 2015 brilliantly fit his luckless character (Piff was a finalist bested by ventriloquist Paul Zerdin).
Linq Hotel headliner Franco did win the show, in 2014, the first magician to claim the show’s championship.
Lim, headlining the Palazzo Theater, swept “AGT” twice, capturing the Season 13 title in 2018 and “The Champions” competition the following year. He headlined at The Mirage for five years until closing with the hotel in 2024.
Lim has added renowned Scottish magician and TV producer Stuart MacLeod as a long-term co-star. Lim’s wife, Casey Thomas, works in an aerial/card-manipulation act from a Lyra hoop that is the only act of its kind in the city.
The graybeards
Penn & Teller have bemoaned the day they will be the “institution” of Las Vegas magic. That day has arrived. The remarkable Mac King (and his Cloak of Invisibility) is headlining afternoons at Excalibur. P&T hold the record for longest run by a headlining act at a single resort, 26 years at the Rio. King has headlined 27 years altogether at Harrah’s and ExCal.
Magic maneuvers
The MGM Grand is going high and low in staging magic and hypnosis acts. “Now You See Me” is the most ambitious production in the magic class this year. It opens Oct. 15 and runs through Jan. 5 at the MGM Grand Theater, formerly the David Copperfield Theater. It’s an ensemble production derived from the film franchise of the same name and featuring the “Four Horsemen” of magic. Downstairs at the Underground Theater, “Steve Falcon’s Comedy Hypnosis Hour” has opened in the space where Tape Face headlines.
Man of mystery
On the topic of Copperfield, we have reliably heard that he has been in talks to reopen at the Sahara, but nothing concrete. This intel dates to weeks before he closed at the MGM Grand on April 1. He still wants to make the moon disappear, which (to our research) has never been done.
Underground Wonderground
Revolutionary card master Jeff McBride’s “Wonderground” is the best parlor show you haven’t seen, in its 17th year at The Olive Mediterranean Grill and Lounge, 3850 E. Sunset Road. Rising illusionist star Will Bradshaw hosts. Such magic favorites as Xavier Mortimer, Greg Gleason, Bizarro Galore, Mondre, Emily England and Greg Steele have appeared this year. The show runs at 7 p.m. on select Thursdays, with Sept. 17 the next scheduled date.
Intimate, and mind-blowing
The Magician, as he is known, hosts The Magicians Study at an undisclosed venue in Park MGM. He is anonymous yet readily recognizable in his giant white rabbit head. He plays to no more than two dozen ticket holders. He’ll show you a white hanky, only to have it zip across the room into a glass bottle on a side table. The Study usually opens at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays; themagiciansstudy.com is where to find the keys.
Heavy mental
Gerry McCambridge, aka “The Mentalist,” at the V Theater at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, is Las Vegas’ longest-running headliner in this genre, dating to 2005 at the then-Rampart Casino at JW Marriott. His next stop, and where I first saw him, was at the Stardust.
Frederic Da Silva’s “Paranormal” has been a hit since the day he flung his first Frisbee in a random mind-read at Bally’s in 2013. Da Silva is still running at 4 p.m. at the property, now known as the Horseshoe, on the second level at the Laugh Factory.
“Mind 2 Mind,” married performers James Harrington and Marina Liani, are boutique club favorites at Azul Lounge at Fontainebleau. The couple are currently among the finalists on “America’s Got Talent,” where they were also an early out in 2022. Their limited-run residency closes Sept. 27.
Colin Cloud stands out for his hair and for his perfect five-star rating on TripAdvisor. Marketed as “The Real-Life Sherlock Holmes,” he holds court at Harrah’s Cabaret, where his “Mastermind” showcase runs at 7 p.m. daily. Cloud spent years alongside Lim at The Mirage, and his producer, Bill Voelkner, has worked with King for decades.
A room of their own
The Magicians Room is the only magic-specific venue on the Strip, or anywhere in Las Vegas. The Linq Promenade spot boasts a 180-seat main showroom, with the Levit8 Lounge at the side, Rabbit Hole Hallway, the Lucky Rabbit storefront/claw-machine arcade, and a cloakroom-vibed Hidden Levitate Close-Up Room for “20 Minds, 20 Minutes,” a mind-reading exercise for two dozen guests. Farrell Dillon is the afternoon anchor at 4:30 p.m. daily. Massively skilled (and highly underrated) host Doug Leferovich as “Lefty” the profane custodian helms the show. “Late Night” currently features the ensemble of Bizarro, The Shocker (he’s in the wrestling mask) and Hollie England. Coming Friday, “The Spanish Magician Mago Enrique De Leon.”
Kramer’s Cabaret
Westgate’s Jen Kramer remains the lone female resident magic headliner in Las Vegas at that hotel’s cabaret. Kramer surpassed her 1,000th show in April, after opening in May 2018. Her uncle Steve bought her a magic book when she was a kid and she took it from there.
A trailblazer in the medium
Juliana Chen was honored Tuesday in “Allstars of Magic” at the V Theater. The groundbreaking magician and card manipulator is being inducted into the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame. She has also won two Merlin Awards for Best Female Magician and Most Original Act and has been inducted into the Merlin Hall of Fame. She is the first woman of Chinese heritage to win the FISM World Championship. The “Allstars” cast is Jason Byrne, Lorenzo Clark, Emily England with Mila as The Misdirection Girls, and emcee Russ Merlin.
Stars of Flyover
Nathan Burton is headlining in his namesake theater at Flyover Las Vegas, next to the Hard Rock Cafe and across the boulevard from Park MGM. Veteran hypnotist Marc Savard alternates with Burton; both have extensive Strip experience. Savard opened at the V Theater in 2003. Burton opened at the same theater complex in ’06. The two stage and showbiz vets continue to survive on the Strip.
Idea whose time has come
In 2008, as Criss Angel was prepping for “Believe” at Luxor, we referred to him as the Alice Cooper of magic. He dressed the part, at least. It took nearly two decades, but that concept became reality this year as Cooper and Angel sold out a series of shows at Angel’s eponymous theater at Planet Hollywood. “Welcome to Our Nightmare,” with Cooper’s hits played to Angel’s acts, is back Nov. 27-28 and Dec. 4-5.
On the topic of Angel
The sharp-witted and highly skilled Mike Hammer has added comic relief to Angel’s show for years. Hammer (aptly named for his slammin’ crowd work) remains at the Canyon Club at the Four Queens. He alternates with “Hypnosis Unleashed” performer Kevin Lepine.
You must include him
Any roundup of magic in Vegas must mention Murray Sawchuck. The hustling headliner opened on the Strip on Jan. 26, 2002, at the since-imploded Frontier. Sawchuck has performed at several resorts since, including Planet Hollywood, the demolished Tropicana and the South Point Showroom. He is a road warrior these days, bellowing “It’s gone!” after making wine bottles vanish inside paper bags. Sawchuck’s next shows in the Vegas radius are Dec. 26-27 at Don Laughlin’s Riverside hotel-casino. For a post-Christmas road trip, that’s close enough.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.