Penn & Teller

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By Leila Navidi · April 8, 2009 · 4:33 p.m.

An audience member participates in a routine as the punchline of a joke is unfurled during Penn & Teller's show at the Rio. Penn busily recruits audience members at each show.

Discovery Channel's Time Warp slows down Las Vegas stunts: Monday, June 15, 2009; Jennifer Grafiada; You may have seen Penn swallow fire, but you haven’t seen it like this: easing down his throat centimeter by centimeter as the flames emerge from inside his mouth. For a view this good you have to be Teller, or watching Discovery Channel’s Time Warp, which heads to Vegas for this Wednesday’s episode.

"The Girls Next Door" reality television star Holly Madison was among those who walked the red carpet at the CineVegas film festival's premiere of "Saint John of Las Vegas" Wednesday night at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Stars align for CineVegas: FILM FESTIVAL: Dennis Hopper, Jon Voight, Willem Dafoe, Sam Rockwell among those expected; Thursday, June 11, 2009; By Melissa Arseniuk; While the celebrities might not be exactly lining up for this year’s CineVegas film festival, Las Vegas’ miniature version of Sundance is attracting a decent number of stars both big and small.

Vegas names round out Forbes Top 100 list: Thursday, June 4, 2009; By Amanda Finnegan; A magical team, a longtime illusionist and a cooking legend all represent Las Vegas on Forbes’ annual list of "The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities." The Celebrity 100 is a measure of power based on money and fame.

Nathan Santucci, "Director of Covert Activities" for the Penn & Teller show at the Rio, creates props for the show, which he says is "more like a science lecture" than magic show. "I don't like magic, I don't do magic, I don't go to magic shows," says Santucci, who handles so much stage blood that his hands are permanently dyed red.

Good ‘magic’ is bloody science: Person of Note: Behind the scenes, ‘Director of Covert Activities’ keeps Penn & Teller safe, audiences in awe; Friday, May 1, 2009; By Brendan Buhler; Nathan Santucci has worked for Penn & Teller (hereafter referred to as “the guys”) for 15 years and 2,600 shows, both on stage and television, and for the past nine years has had the G. Gordon Liddy-esque job of “Director of Covert Activities,” which has many responsibilities, chief among them building and maintaining magic props.

Staying power is no trickery: MAGIC: Penn & Teller on their 35-year partnership, charity, religion, vice and the artistic freedom granted by Las Vegas; Wednesday, April 15, 2009; By Jerry Fink; The magic team of Penn & Teller could not be more different — or more alike. Both are brilliant, always exploring thoughts and ideals and holding firmly to their beliefs of atheism and libertarianism.

Penn Jillette performs The Beatles' "Come Together" with the Lon Bronson All-Star Band at Green Valley Ranch on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009.

Penn Jillette helps Bronson band create Vegas magic: Review: Foreigner's Domenick Allen also takes stage for show at Green Valley Ranch; Friday, January 30, 2009; By Mark Whittington; Now this is Vegas. “I’m a magician and I’m a juggler, so I’m going to sing for you,” says Penn Jillette, launching into a rambling explanation of how this song was written as the campaign theme for Timothy Leary’s bid for California governor, aborted when Leary ended up in jail.

Penn & Teller: Tricks, gags, laughs, jazz: REVIEW: Spectacle has it all, and it doesn’t disappoint; Monday, January 19, 2009; By Joe Brown; Now that nerds officially rule, and our brainy new president is stocking the White House with similarly intelligent, curious and articulate people, the time has surely come to appoint Penn & Teller as Magicians of State.

John Katsilometes talks entertainment and charity with Penn Jillette, who lives up to his role as the nonsilent member of Penn & Teller: Monday, April 16, 2007; Characteristically, the vocal half of Penn & Teller, who have been performing at the Rio for a little more than six years, was fast to share his opinions.

Columnist John Katsilometes: The opinionated license plates of Penn Jillette: Tuesday, January 3, 2006; By John Katsilometes; Jillette, who along with partner Teller, organized the third "Penn & Teller's 13 Bloody Days of Xmas" blood drive (which concluded Saturday), owns three Mini Coopers. All are his favorite color, bright pink, and each is fixed with a vanity plate: Jillette's other two plates read "GODLESS" and "NO GOD."

Columnist John Katsilometes: Getting to the pint at a blood-letting with Penn Jillette: Tuesday, December 20, 2005; By John Katsilometes; Penn Jillette knows how to generate positive news.

Playing the Fool: Vegas comics have turned pranks into an art form: Tuesday, April 1, 2003; By Kristen Peterson; Several years ago a group of colleagues at Bell Labs in New Jersey told their boss Arno Penzias a 1978 Nobel Prize in physics honoree that they were working on a highly advanced voice recognition system.

Penn and Teller at home in cynic city: Friday, February 7, 2003; Frazier Moore; NEW YORK -- For their new Showtime series, Penn and Teller chose a title that proclaimed their skepticism for such things as weight-loss products, feng shui and creationism; for end-of-the-world forecasts and the purity claims by bottled-water marketers; for ESP, sex aids and "second-hand smoke."

'Penn & Teller' the talk of the town -- literally: Friday, October 4, 2002; How can anyone complain about a "Penn & Teller" performance?

Penn's State: Friday, August 3, 2001; Kimberley McGee; Don't let Penn Jillette fool you.

Columnist Joe Delaney: Penn & Teller settle in for longer run at Rio: Friday, July 20, 2001; Joe Delaney; Penn & Teller are settling into the Rio's Samba Theatre for longer and longer periods ... This engagement continues through Aug. 19 ... Just as Siegfried & Roy, Lance Burton and David Copperfield differ in presentation from each other as practitioners of magic and the illusionary arts, a Penn & Teller performance is another entertainment experience entirely.

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Penn & Teller

Occupation: Comedy magic duo
Venue: Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino since 2001.
Official Web page: www.pennandteller.com
Penn Jillette's Twitter page: twitter.com/pennjillette
Years performing: 1975 to present.
Birthdays:Penn Francis Jillette was born March 5, 1955, in Greenfield, Mass. Raymond Joseph Teller was born Feb. 14, 1948 in Philadelphia, Penn.
Early career: Performed as part of a three-man act, with Weir Chrisimer, "Asparagus Valley Cultural Society," doing shows in Amherst, Mass., and San Francisco. Teller used his skills as a magician and mime and Penn used his clowning and juggling skills to create their act.
Breakthrough: After performing on the streets and small clubs, the pair teamed up in 1981 as Penn & Teller. The 6-foot-7 Penn is the vocal half of the duo, while the 5-foot-9 Teller keeps silent during their act. They became acclaimed for their off-Broadway show and in 1985, they won an Emmy for their PBS special, "Penn & Teller Go Public.
Tickets: Vegas.com.

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