For nearly forty years the outrageous comedy team of Penn & Teller have amazed us, amused us and at times even grossed us out, but above all they have always kept us entertained.
The duo consist of: Penn Fraser Jillette who was born on March 5, 1955, in Greenfield, Massachusetts and Raymond Joseph Teller who was born on February 14, 1948, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Penn and Teller met through a mutual friend, Wier Chrisimer. In 1975 Penn, Teller and Chrisimer developed an act and began to performing together, their first gig was at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.
From the Penn & Teller Official Web Site: pennandteller.net
With sold out runs on Broadway, world tours, Emmy-winning TV specials and hundreds of outrageous appearances on everything from Letterman to Leno, Friends to The Simpsons, Chelsea Lately to Top Chef, comedy’s only team show no signs of slowing down.
With an amazing seven wins, including 2013, as “Las Vegas Magicians of the Year,” their 12-year run at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino makes them one of the longest running and most-beloved shows in Las Vegas history, outselling every other resident magician on The Strip.
Their acclaimed Showtime series, “Penn & Teller: BS!” was nominated for 13 Emmys and is the longest-running series in the history of the network. The show tackled the fakes and frauds behind such topics as alien abduction, psychics and bottled water. Their latest television venture, “Penn & Teller Tell A Lie” for the Discovery Channel premiered last October and Penn recently showed his business savvy once again on the newest season of NBC’s “All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.”
Their acclaimed documentary, “Tim’s Vermeer,” follows Texas-based inventor Tim Jenison on his quest to discover the methods used by Dutch Master painter Johannes Vermeer. The film, which was nominated for a BAFTA and shortlisted for the 2014 Oscars, is currently in theaters.
Along the way, they’ve written three New York Times Best-Sellers, hosted their own Emmy nominated variety show for FX, starred in their own Emmy winning specials for ABC, NBC and Comedy Central and produced the critically lauded feature film documentary The Aristocrats.
As individuals, they are just as prolific. Teller directed a version of Macbeth that toured the East Coast to raves from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and co-wrote and directed the Off-Broadway thriller “Play Dead.” Penn has written three books, including the 2011 New York Times Best Seller, “God No!”, hosted the NBC game show Identity and donned his ballroom shoes for the 2008 season of ABC’s hit Dancing With The Stars.
With inclusions in the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, as answers on Jeopardy and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, their status as cultural icons and the preeminent duo in comedy was once again reinforced when Katy Perry personally asked them to co-star in the video for her #1 song, “Waking Up in Vegas.”
In April 2013 they were honored with their very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
