# Penn and Teller are NOT funny. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759 "2012-09-15T03:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/21 "2012-09-15T14:22:08Z")
I must live under a rock who is this act you speak of? Ok I have heard of them but only in the last few years and only on the sdmb. What am I missing? Never mind I don’t care… ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/22 "2012-09-15T14:29:35Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I must live under a rock who is this act you speak of? Ok I have heard of them but only in the last few years and only on the sdmb. What am I missing? > Never mind I don’t care… What the heck is the point of this post? If you want to know who they are, there are links in this thread and piles of videos, articles, and photos all over the internet. It would take you all of five seconds to find yourself some educational material on the subject. And if you don’t care, don’t tack on a “never mind” phrase at the end and then post it anyway. When you write out a comment and then decide it’s not worth posting, _don’t post it_. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/23 "2012-09-15T14:46:24Z")
> [@DonLogan](#): > > I wonder if they make mimes sign similar contracts. Yes, but they are not allowed to talk about it. Lawyers call it a non-disclosure agreement. Penn and Teller’s stick may not be your thing. Thats okay. I kinda like them myself. What I really like is that I get the impression they are actually nice people who happen to have become somewhat rich and famous. Unlike many of the self important, self absorbed, stupidly opinonated, irresponsible jackasses that seem to dominate pop culture these days. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/24 "2012-09-15T15:00:55Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > having a tv talk show with one guy that doesn’t talk is like having a radio show with a ventriloquist. Edgar Bergen had a very popular radio show. He was a ventriloquist, and his most famous dummy was Charlie McCarthy. He also voiced Mortimer Snerd and Effie Clinker. Once a new technician was working on the show, and he kept moving the microphone from Edgar Bergen to the dummies when Charlie, etc., were “talking”. Nobody could figure out what the problem was. :smack: IIRC, Teller was being heckled at a show and stopped talking. He learned that people heckle less often if the talent doesn’t respond to them. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/25 "2012-09-15T15:10:18Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Edgar Bergen had a very popular radio show. He was a ventriloquist, and his most famous dummy was Charlie McCarthy. He also voiced Mortimer Snerd and Effie Clinker. You were whooshed, methinks. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/26 "2012-09-15T15:15:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > …Penn is the voice, storyteller, and the Jeff to Teller’s Mutt… I think you mean for this to be reversed. Penn is Mutt, the tall, loud one. Teller is Jeff, the smaller one. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/27 "2012-09-15T15:17:45Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > I think you mean for this to be reversed. Penn is Mutt, the tall, loud one. Teller is Jeff, the smaller one. Also correct. I seem to have suffered some form of dyslexia last night. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/28 "2012-09-15T15:47:20Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > IIRC, Teller was being heckled at a show and stopped talking. He learned that people heckle less often if the talent doesn’t respond to them. As I recall, Teller said that when he was starting out as a professional magician, he found that people paid more attention to his magic if he wasn’t talking. If he was talking, they’d listen to what he was saying. But if he was silent, they’d look at what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/29 "2012-09-15T15:51:07Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > They’re cool motherfuckers No, I like Penn and Teller but they’re not cool. Penn especially - he’s too desperate to be cool to ever achieve it. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/30 "2012-09-15T15:51:19Z")
P&T are funny. They are not howlingly, early-Robin-Williams or middle-period-George Carlin funny, but no one wants them to be. What is amazing about them is that they can be as funny as they are _given_ the professionalism of their illusions. Classically, illusionists weren’t very funny at all, even if they tried. Penn is an alpha geek. He has a gruff likeability, and ironically, seems to have a very high trust factor for a guy who made his name faking people out. _Bullshit!_ probably helped. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/31 "2012-09-15T15:54:53Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > An illusion, not a trick. A trick is something a whore does for money. …or candy. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/32 "2012-09-15T15:59:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As I recall, Teller said that when he was starting out as a professional magician, he found that people paid more attention to his magic if he wasn’t talking. If he was talking, they’d listen to what he was saying. But if he was silent, they’d look at what he was doing. Which, if you think about what magic generally involves, is a pretty damn gutsy thing to do. And it tells you how good those guys are. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/33 "2012-09-15T15:59:10Z")
What is a “trust factor”? Is this a PUA thing? Not snarking intentionally, but you say it as though it’s a real thing. I’ll grant you that Penn has some ability as a huckster/conman thing…that’s his shtik, right? I respect his abilities – in fact the team is worth praise simply because they are good at what they do, just like rush Limbaugh or Tom leykis or Michael savage are very good at what they do. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/34 "2012-09-15T16:03:15Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > What is a “trust factor”? Is this a PUA thing? Not snarking intentionally, but you say it as though it’s a real thing. He’s got enough - let’s call it cred, not trust - that he can advertise products on occasion. I don’t speak PUA; I don’t believe in it. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/35 "2012-09-15T16:08:12Z")
Ok, cred I can understand. I think we are on the same page about most things. Just checking! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/36 "2012-09-15T16:09:31Z")
I wonder how old the OP is, or how far back his awareness of Penn & Teller goes. When I think of them, I think back to when I first became aware of them, when they were known only for their magic act—before the side projects like _Bullshit!_, Penn’s voiceover work, etc. Back in the 80s and 90s they’d show up on late night TV—shows like Letterman, Carson, SNL—and do one of their bits, and it would be great. If you heard that Penn & Teller were going to be on, you’d stay up late to see the show. The tricks would be amazing, but they’d also be quirky and funny and have their own unique sensibility. This was in the heyday of the great TV illusionists like Doug Henning and David Copperfield, who went for spectacle and glamor and beauty and mystery. Penn & Teller I saw as taking the piss out of those sorts of acts: they were equally good as magicians, but where Henning or Copperfield would use doves or sequined dancing girls, Penn & Teller would use lobsters or cockroaches. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/37 "2012-09-15T16:10:55Z")
And they also absolutely eviscerate charlatans and frauds in brutal fashion. For that alone they should be respected. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/38 "2012-09-15T16:17:11Z")
To the above about Doug henning … Never heard of him before, but that pinged my meter to plug Doug Haning, for my money the most interesting jazz pianist working anywhere today. Super nice guy, too, and he gives lessons. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/39 "2012-09-15T16:35:05Z")
I was in Vegas over Labor Day weekend and my bf and I went over to the Rio to check out their show. I was ENTHRALLED. Seriously, it was really great. Funny, thought-provoking, the the illusions were really cool. I am not a ‘magic’ person, but it was really awesome. And Teller came out afterwards and signed stuff/took pictures with everyone that wanted to. He took a photo of the 3 of us with my phone (using the front camera). He did talk. He is soft-spoken. Next time I go to Vegas I would definitely see their show again, and maybe even spring for the main level seats (we had front row of the mezzanine, great seats still) so we’d have that slight chance of being picked to go on stage 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759/40 "2012-09-15T17:06:50Z")
:Penn and Teller are the Reebo and Zooty of their time. Brownie points if you get that without Googling.😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-and-teller-are-not-funny/634759.md?page=3)