There. I said it. Is that all we need to get rid of these boobs?
Actually, I can handle Penn, the talker, however his monkey sidekick, Teller, says nothing and has to go. I get it that it is their “thing”. Teller is even comtracted to not speak. its a damn good thing, because if you look at a profile of him, it appears as if his entire frontal lobe has been removed.
Most “schtick” acts die off as they should. Dice Clay, Emo Phillips, even Bobcat Goldthwaite had to get rid of his drug induced screaming speech bit. I HATED this guy, and can’t believe he’s still around. But he has changed to not scream, and it’s interesting to hear him now because you can actually hear him.
The only guy that needed his schtick somewhat was Sam Kinneson, bit he died before his career had a chance to mature away from the nest scream I ever heard.
There doesn’t seem to be much support for my position, and I didn’t have enough anger to start a pit thread. I just thought it was something that needed to be said.k
Ok, they aren’t really all that funny. But they are not comedians, they’re magicians. Their act is one of the best of all time. Penn is the voice, storyteller, and the Jeff to Teller’s Mutt. But that is simply the surface of their act. Penn is an extraordinarily talented magician. Few have achieved this level of skill in sleight of hand. In addition, the pair construct an entertaining presentation of their art both in story and display. They go even further by revealing the complex methodology of their magic, followed by a further magic by demonstrating that the explanation is still insufficient to explain it. They’ve raised this technique common in simple tricks to an unsurpassed scale.
Why are you comparing Penn & Teller to stand up comics? They’re magicians (illusionists, Michael!). They might have a strong element of comedy in their act, but they’re magicians nonetheless.
I usually find them funny. And, I find the tricks they do amazing. If I were ever in Vegas seeing them would be near the very top of things I’d like to do.
I did know that their main claim to fame was as magicians, and I confess not ever seeing more than a trick or two, never an entire act.
But I saw them recently on two programs. One was the HBO series BULLSHIT!, and the other wasna show that they were judges for. I think the people came on stage and did a magic trick. If they stumped P&T, they won a prize or something.
The second show, about magic tricks and if you could fool them was interesting, but it was suck a dead spot when Teller looks like a Jeff Dunham creation, just sitting there, making faces, and nodding his head.
My wife was pulled up on stage in Vegas 2 years ago for this trick which apparently was a new one for them. It was hilarious, she was the only person there who got to actually experience the “magic”. I was very jealous.
I saw them at The University of Alabama in the mid 90s and they put on a great show. They hung out in the lobby after the show and signed autographs. I liked Bullshit, too. I’ve always found them entertaining.