How do Penn and Teller describe themselves as an act?
While their social and political views are libertarian, the pair also describe themselves as teetotalers. Their book, Penn & Teller’s How to Play in Traffic, explains that they eschew absolutely all alcohol and drugs, including caffeine, though they do appear to smoke cigarettes in some videos. Penn has said that he has never even tasted alcohol, and that his tolerance is so low that his doctor only had to administer a minute amount of anesthetic relative to what one would expect necessary for a man of his size to undergo surgery. The pair have written several books about magic, including Penn & Teller’s Cruel Tricks For Dear Friends, Penn & Teller’s How to Play with Your Food, and Penn & Teller’s How to Play in Traffic. Since 2001, Penn & Teller have performed six nights a week (or as Penn puts it on Bullshit!: “Every night of the week . . . except Fridays!”) in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. Penn Jillette hosted a weekday one-hour talk show on Infinity Broadcasting’
Penn & Teller (Penn Fraser Jillette and Teller) are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard throughout their performance. They specialize in gory tricks, exposing quacks and frauds, performing clever pranks, and have become associated with Las Vegas, atheism, scientific skepticism, and libertarianism Penn and Teller were introduced to one another by Weir Chrisimer. From the late 1970s through 1981, the three made up an act called “Asparagus Valley Cultural Society” which played in San Francisco at the Phoenix Theater. This act was sillier and less “edgy” than today’s Penn & Teller act. Chrisimer helped to develop some bits that continued on to be performed by Penn & Teller; most notably Teller’s “Shadows” trick, which involves a single red rose. By 1985, Penn & Teller were receiving rave reviews for their Off Broadway show and Emmy award-w
The names Penn & Teller can conjure up any number of images. Their career ranges from stage to television to three best-selling books, sometimes doing magic tricks, other times calling out those they see as purveyors of, well, BS. “They’ve done it all on their own as well, in distinctively offbeat terms. They describe themselves as “a couple of eccentric guys who have learned how to do a few cool things.” Since first teaming up in 1975, when they combined Teller’s silent, occasionally creepy, magic with Penn’s clown college education and juggling expertise, the two have created an entertainment success story that went from the streets to small clubs to national theater tours.” Sources: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?
