Penn and Teller Add Spice to Variety Format in ‘Sin City’

For their next trick, those pranksters of magic, Penn and Teller, will attempt to channel Ed Sullivan. To find out whether it works, turn the lights down low at 9 this evening, gather in a circle in front of the TV--tuned to the FX cable channel--and watch closely for the legendary TV variety host to emerge from the great beyond.

With “Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular”--a new weekly, hourlong program taped in Las Vegas--the wacky duo revisit the old variety format, which reached its pinnacle, of course, in Sullivan’s show. Being who they are, however, Penn and Teller have infused the format with their own distinctive (and slightly naughty) tastes.

So, where Sullivan gave us entertainers ranging from Dean Martin to Senor Wences and his talking box, Penn and Teller deliver comedian Rob Schneider doing a Martin imitation and a guy named Todd Oliver with his talking dog, Irving. And instead of the June Taylor Dancers, we get the bump and grind of the Eight Deadly Sins.

Comic Drew Carey and rock legend Lou Reed show up in tonight’s first episode, too.

The magic duo preside over it all, weaving their tricks among the other acts. As always, the towering Penn Jillette plays smirking playground bully to the much shorter, silent, single-named Teller. In one of tonight’s tricks, for instance, the much-put-upon Teller gets a bucket of rats dumped into a cage encasing his head. But he’s given a couple of chances to even the score. His eyes covered with biscuit dough and his head encased in a cocoon of cotton and gauze, he nevertheless shoots Penn full of paint balls. And in a sexy card trick, he gets to cavort in bed with one of the scantily clad dancers.

Only coming weeks will tell whether the duo can maintain this level of madcap mischief. FX has made an initial order of 16 episodes, but a common drawback in Penn and Teller’s otherwise invigorating stage shows is that--even when viewed a couple of years apart--they still contain routines from previous programs. Perhaps the variety format, with its visiting acts, will keep things fresher.

* “Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on the FX cable channel. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for younger children).