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Legendary magicians Penn and Teller received the Television Chairman’s Award for Industry Impact at the 2005 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual trade show, which took place April 5 to 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The award recognized the magical duo’s 50-year career in magic and the innovations they brought to broadcasting.
Penn Jillette and Teller sat down on the NAB stage for a conversation with April Carty-Sipp, NAB’s executive vice president for industry affairs.
The 50 Years
The presentation, part of the We Are Broadcasters annual event, began with a look back at Penn and Teller’s long history in entertainment.
Penn Jillette met Teller when Teller was a high school Latin teacher and Penn was a student. Their mutual interest in magic led them to eventually step on stage for the first time on August 19, 1975, at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Penn was 20 years old, Teller was 27. In a tribute to that beginning, the pair will return for the first time to perform at the Ren Fest this year on August 16.
From there Penn and Teller moved on to the streets of Philadelphia, where they developed their own special blend of comedy and magic, unlike any other. That special sauce eventually led them to Broadway, the Sydney Opera House, London’s Apollo Theater, and ultimately their record-setting show at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Their TV show, Fool Us, recently renewed for an 11th season, holds the record for the longest continually running American magic television series in history.
Not Like Others
NAB’s Carty-Sipp praised Penn and Teller for pushing boundaries and not doing things the same way as other magicians. She asked if there had ever been moments of doubt.
Penn recalled their first appearance (of over 20) on the David Letterman Show. “We set up the trick ahead of time, so the audience knew what was going to happen, but Letterman did not. At the climax of the trick, hundreds of cockroaches were let loose and got all over Letterman. He was so mad; he pushed me away. Later that night my mother called and said, ‘Well, your entertainment career is over.’ But the next day, Letterman called, apologized for getting mad and invited us back to the show.”
Carty-Sipp asked Teller why he chose his speechless persona.
Teller explained, “I got tired of listening to the typical magician patter. The red ball is in my right hand, now the ball is here. When you stop talking, it makes people very uncomfortable, and people focus on what you are doing.”
Shows and Shows
Penn and Teller have been on a variety of different types of TV shows, like Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, The Masked Singer, and Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Carty-Sipp asked what it was like preparing to do a sitcom.
Penn replied, “Those are machines. You go and you just get strapped in. We’ve also done dramas like Miami Vice. We’re kinda sorta cheating. I’m a poor actor. I just do what I’m told. I just got to be in a movie with Timothée Chalamet where I get to beat him up. Most people have paid their dues to get to this level. We haven’t.”
Teller agreed: “I got a compliment for a scene on Big Bang Theory. I was told it was really funny. What really happened? We shot it once. One of producers came over and whispered in my ear, “Do it this way.” Then we shot it again the way he said. That’s what made it funny.”
Carty-Sipp asked, “How do you get on these different shows?”
Penn replied, “We answer the phone with ‘We will’.”
Fool Us
Carty-Sipp inquired as to how they came up with Fool Us.
Penn said, “One of the ideas of the show is that we speak in code to the magicians. People can go Google that and can learn how everything is done. How do we know whether they fooled us? We just look in their eyes. Magicians are people who lie for a living but are true in their hearts. Of the 800 magicians who’ve been on the show, only two have argued with us.
“The odd thing about Fool Us [is that] we do not pretend to know anything. We talk about one thing. Did you fool us? Piff the Magic Dragon did not win but now has his own theater in Vegas. You can come on the show, not win, but still have it be a great thing.”
Teller added, “Everyone who comes on the show has been so thoroughly vetted that they are all wonderful.”
To see Penn and Teller live check their website.
More NAB
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