The Best Magic Shows in Las Vegas in 2026, Ranked

Pick the wrong magic show in Las Vegas and you sit through pyrotechnics when you wanted card work, or a quiet mentalist when the kids wanted a levitating car. The shows below are sorted by what they are good at, with the lowest listed seat on our show pages as of September 27, 2026 (before fees), the schedule and the age rule for each. Two changes matter for anyone using an older list: David Copperfield gave his final MGM Grand performance on April 30, 2026 and is no longer on sale in Las Vegas, and the stage version of Now You See Me takes over his theater from October 15.

The short list

• Best sleight of hand: Shin Lim at The Venetian, $65.
• Best for skeptics and grown-ups: Penn & Teller at the Rio, $58.
• Best crowd-pleaser: Mat Franco at The LINQ, $50.
• Biggest spectacle: Criss Angel MINDFREAK at Planet Hollywood, $97.
• Best afternoon: Mac King at Excalibur, $45 at 3 p.m.
• Best cheap ticket: Farrell Dillon, $19, or Paranormal, $29.

1. Shin Lim, $65

Shin Lim does close-up card magic at theater scale in the Palazzo Theatre at The Palazzo: his hands are filmed live and projected, so row 20 sees the sleight as clearly as row 1. About 90 minutes, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday with some 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows, dark Monday and most Tuesdays, ages 4 and up. Quiet, precise, almost meditative, and the wrong choice if someone in your party needs fire. Skip the premium rows; the screen is the stage.

2. Penn & Teller, $58

The longest-running headliners in the city, still explaining tricks and fooling you anyway, 8 p.m. in their own theater at the Rio, 90 minutes, ages 5 and up. Penn & Teller is the thinking person's magic show and worth the off-Strip trip; pick something louder if you measure shows in pyro. The free lobby signing after the curtain usually beats the paid VIP add-on, so stay.

3. Mat Franco, $50

The friendliest big-name magic on the Strip: Mat Franco improvises around the audience in his own theater at The LINQ, 7 p.m. most nights with an occasional 9:30 second show and limited Wednesday dates, 90 minutes, ages 5 and up. He recruits volunteers from the forward and premium sections, so choose your seat according to how badly you want to be picked. Nothing levitates; the warmth is the point.

4. Criss Angel MINDFREAK, $97

Magic at maximum volume in the Criss Angel Theater at Planet Hollywood, 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, 75 minutes, recommended for 10 and up because of the mature edges. MINDFREAK is the right buy for spectacle-first audiences and his television fans, and the wrong one for close-up purists; no residency divides its room harder. The single 7 p.m. slot leaves the evening open for a 9 p.m. dinner nearby.

5. Mac King Comedy Magic Show, $45

Twenty-plus years of proof that a 3 p.m. curtain works: Mac King in the Thunderland Showroom at Excalibur, Tuesday through Saturday, 70 minutes, ages 5 and up with an adult. Clean, quick and the one magic show where bringing kids improves it. Glance at the billing for your date first: on guest-magician days you get a different act.

6. Colin Cloud Mastermind, $45

A Scottish mind reader rather than an illusionist, and the smartest hour on this page: Colin Cloud in Harrah's Cabaret at Harrah's, 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 90 minutes, ages 10 and up. Book it if leaving baffled sounds like a compliment. Sit visible only if you are willing to become the evidence.

7. Piff the Magic Dragon, $39

Deadpan comedy in a dragon suit wrapped around genuinely elite card magic, with Mr. Piffles the chihuahua as co-star. Piff plays the Flamingo Showroom at the Flamingo, 7 p.m. Saturday through Thursday, 75 minutes, ages 8 and up. The trap is the calendar: dark on Friday, not Monday.

8. Paranormal Mind Reading Magic, $29

Frédéric Da Silva, a European champion mentalist, at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday in the Laugh Factory Showroom at Horseshoe, 75 minutes, ages 5 and up. Paranormal is the best afternoon show on the Strip and its best ticket under $30 at the same time; the matinee slot returns the whole evening to you.

9. Mike Hammer Comedy Magic, $45

Downtown's answer, in the Canyon Club at the Four Queens: 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 70 minutes, clean language, edgy stunts, recommended for 13 and up. Mike Hammer is a guaranteed riot if you enjoy being part of the act and precisely the wrong ticket if you don't. General admission sees everything; the free valet at the Four Queens makes the trip easy.

10. Farrell Dillon at The Magicians Room, $19

A TV-credentialed magician for the price of a burger combo, 4:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday in a small room on the LINQ Promenade, 90 minutes. Fees roughly double the $19 to about $36 all-in and Farrell Dillon is still the best magic per dollar on the mid-Strip. Family-friendly, though the performer suggests 8 and up for some references.

11. Nathan Burton Comedy Magic Show, $25

Breezy comedy magic with big props at 4 p.m. in the Nathan Burton Theater inside FlyOver at the Showcase Mall, 70 minutes, all ages. Nathan Burton is the anchor of a family afternoon on the center Strip. Buy at the box office price; the same $25 seat shows up on resale sites at $150 and beyond.

12. The Conjurors, $44

Two performers, one parlor-sized room, and the most personal illusions in town: The Conjurors at The Magicians Room, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, 90 minutes, all ages with 7 and up recommended. A genuine discovery for people who like their magic close and interactive, and precisely wrong for anyone who would rather watch from the dark.

13. The Magic of Jen Kramer, $19.99

A credentialed headliner in the intimate Westgate Cabaret at the Westgate, 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, 75 minutes, ages 5 and up with a paying adult. Jen Kramer is the best cheap magic ticket nobody talks about, and the Westgate's own Monorail station removes the off-Strip excuse.

Opening October 15: Now You See Me Live

The stage version of the heist-magic films arrives at the MGM Grand Theater on October 15, 2026 with a run announced through January 5, 2027: four illusionists, 90 minutes, 7 and 9:30 p.m. most nights, dark Wednesday, ages 5 and up, from about $77. The production played London, but the Las Vegas staging has not opened, so treat Now You See Me Live as a large-scale gamble rather than a ranked pick until the reviews land.

Hypnosis, mentalism and the adults-only rooms

• Hypnosis Unleashed with Kevin Lepine, Four Queens, $34, 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, recommended 18 and up: a coin-flip by design that lands funny far more often than not, best on a Friday or Saturday when the volunteers are braver.
• Marc Savard Comedy Hypnosis, now at FlyOver rather than the V Theater, $28, select nights, mostly Friday and Saturday; the show is only as good as the volunteers, so send your most uninhibited friend up.
• The Mentalist, V2 showroom at Miracle Mile, $33, 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday, 16 and up: two decades of nightly reps in a bare-bones room.
• Ghost Stories, a 38-seat hidden chamber at 1923 Prohibition Bar in Mandalay Place, $85, Friday through Sunday at 6 p.m., 21 and up: storytelling plus close-up mind reading, and one of the most intimate tickets in the city.
• An R-Rated Magic Show, V Theater, $32, 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 18 and up: skilled card work with a roast attached.

Matinee or evening?

Five of the shows above start between 3 and 5 p.m., and the afternoon is where the value sits: Mac King at 3, Nathan Burton at 4, Paranormal at 4, Farrell Dillon at 4:30 and Jen Kramer at 5 all cost $45 or less and leave the evening free for a Cirque show or a dinner. The evening headliners cost more and run longer, and Shin Lim, Penn & Teller and Mat Franco reward adults more than small children. For the full field see magic shows in Las Vegas; for the cheapest of them, the best cheap shows under $50; for where magic ranks against Cirque and the residencies, the best Las Vegas shows.