Penn may refer to:

Places[link]

England

• Penn, Buckinghamshire
• Penn, West Midlands

United States

• Penn, North Dakota
• Pennsylvania
  • Penn, Pennsylvania
• Penn Lake Park, Pennsylvania
• Penn Township (disambiguation), several municipalities

Education[link]

• Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a public university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Pennsylvania State University, a public university with various campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania, United States
• Penn High School
• University of Pennsylvania, a private university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

People[link]

• Alexander Penn Wooldridge, American mayor of Austin, Texas from 1909 to 1919
• Alexander Penn (1906–72), Israeli poet
• Arthur Penn, American film director and producer
• Arthur Penn, also known as Arthur Serevetas, Australian actor
• Arthur Horace Penn (1886–1960), member of the British Royal Household
• Audrey Penn, American children's author
• B.J. Penn (born 1978), American mixed martial arts fighter
• Dan Penn, American musician
• Hannah Callowhill Penn, wife of the William Penn
• Irving Penn, an American photographer
• John Penn ("the American") (1700–1746), son of William Penn
• John Penn (architect) (1921–2007), a British architect
• John Penn (delegate) (1741–1788), Continental Congressman from North Carolina and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
• John Penn (engineer) (1805–1878), British marine engine engineer, invented lignum vitae bearing for propellor shafts, twice president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• John Penn (governor) (1729–1795), a lieutenant governor and later proprietor of colonial Pennsylvania
• John Penn (writer) (1760–1834), son of Thomas Penn
• John Penn (UK politician) (1848–1903), MP for Lewisham 1891–1903
• Kal Penn (born 1977), American actor and public servant
• An American entertainment family:
  • Leo Penn (1921–1998), actor
  • Michael Penn (born 1958), son of Leo; singer-songwriter
  • Sean Penn (born 1960), son of Leo; actor
  • Chris Penn (1965-2006), son of Leo; actor
  • Robin Wright (actress) (born 1966), actress; sometime known as Robin Wright Penn, former wife of Sean
• Mark Penn, American public relations CEO and campaign strategist
• Penn Jillette, member of the comedy and magic duo Penn & Teller
• Robert Penn, African-American sailor, recipient of the Medal of Honor during the Spanish-American War
• Penn Badgley, American actor best known for his role as Dan Humphrey on the TV series Gossip Girl
• Springett Penn (I), the second son of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania
• Springett Penn (II), son of William Penn, Jr. and a grandson and heir of William Penn
• William Penn (1644–1718), founder of Pennsylvania
• William Penn (admiral), English admiral
• William Penn, Jr., son of William Penn

Other[link]

• Penn (film), 1954 Tamil film Starring Vyjayanthimala
• Penn Club of New York City, located in New York City
• Penn Quakers, the intercollegiate athletic program of the University of Pennsylvania
• Penn (automobile), manufactured in Pittsburgh from 1910 until 1913
• The Penn, or The Stylus, a would-be periodical owned and edited by Edgar Allan Poe
• Penn, a one-time vampire villain featured in the Angel episode "Somnambulist"
• Penn ball manufacturer, a subsidiary of the Head company

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Penn Jillette
Penn Jillette after the Penn & Teller show at the Rio in Paradise, Nevada, May 23, 2007
Born	Penn Fraser Jillette (1955-03-05) March 5, 1955 (age 57) Greenfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Residence	Las Vegas, Nevada
Nationality	American
Occupation	Magician, illusionist, writer, actor, inventor
Years active	1974–present
Known for	Half of the comedy magic duo known as Penn & Teller
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1]
Political party	Libertarian Party
Religion	None (atheist)
Website
Penn and Teller.com

Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American illusionist, comedian, musician, and best-selling author known for his work with fellow magician Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free market capitalism.

Early life[link]

Jillette was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. His mother, Valda R. Jillette (née Parks) (November 8, 1909 – January 1, 2000),^[2] was a secretary, and his father, Samuel H. Jillette (March 14, 1912 – February 14, 1999),^[2] worked at Greenfield's Franklin County Jail.^[3][4][5] Jillette became disenchanted with traditional illusionist acts that presented the craft as authentic magic, such as The Amazing Kreskin on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. At age eighteen, he saw a show by illusionist James Randi, and became enamored of his approach to magic that openly acknowledged deception as entertainment rather than a mysterious supernatural power. Jillette regularly acknowledges Randi as the one person on the planet he loves the most besides members of his family.

Jillette worked with high school classmate Michael Moschen in developing and performing a juggling act during the years immediately following their 1973 graduation.^[5] In 1974, Jillette graduated from Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College.^[6] That same year, he was introduced to Teller by Weir Chrisemer, a mutual friend.^[7] The three then formed a three-person act called Asparagus Valley Cultural Society which played in Amherst, Massachusetts and San Francisco.^[5] In 1981, he and Teller teamed up as Penn & Teller, and went on to do a successful on- and Off Broadway show called "Penn & Teller" that toured nationally.^[5]

Career and showtime[link]

In 1994 Jillette purchased a home in Las Vegas and dubbed it "The Slammer".^[8] It has been featured in dozens of television shows and articles and was designed by his friend Colin Summers. He currently records music there, and previously conducted his radio show at the studio inside "The Slammer".^[9][10]

Jillette was also a regular contributor to the now-defunct PC/Computing magazine in the early 1990s, having a regular back section column between 1990 and 1994. True to form, the columns were often as much about Uma Thurman as actual PC computing issues. Jillette and PC Computing parted ways over a dispute with a new editor. Jillette felt the new editor was trying to tell him how to write his column and what topics he should be covering. Jillette asserts that he is unsure if he was fired or if he actually quit.

Jillette was the primary voice announcer for the U.S.-based cable network Comedy Central in the 1990s.^[11][12]

Starting in 1996, he had a recurring role on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as Drell, the head of the Witches' Council. He and Teller both appeared in the pilot with Debbie Harry as the third member of the Council. The show was created by Jillette's friend Nell Scovell.

For a brief time in 1997, Jillette wrote bi-weekly dispatches for the search engine Excite.com. Each column ended with a pithy comment identifying which of the Penn & Teller duo he was. (For example: "Penn Jillette is the half of Penn & Teller that's detained at airports.") Jillette made a habit of linking many words in his online column to wacky sites that generally had nothing to do with the actual words. The columns are no longer available on the current Excite.com site, but have been republished with permission at PennAndTeller.com.^[13]

Starting in 2003, Jillette, along with his partner Teller, began producing and hosting the show Penn & Teller: Bullshit! In the show, the two analyze cultural phenomena, debunk myths, criticize people and aspects of society they deem "bullshit".

In 2005 with actor Paul Provenza, Jillette co-produced and co-directed The Aristocrats (2005), a documentary film tracing the life of a dirty joke known as "The Aristocrats".

From January 3, 2006 to March 2, 2007, Jillette hosted, along with fellow atheist, skeptic, and juggler Michael Goudeau, a live, hour-long radio talk show broadcast on the radio station brand known as Free FM. The show, Penn Radio, broadcast from his Vintage Nudes Studio in Jillette's Las Vegas home. The most notable recurring segment of the show was "Monkey Tuesday" and later "The Pull of the Weasel". On March 2, 2007, Jillette, on Free FM, announced that he would no longer be doing his radio show. He stated that he is a "show biz wimp" and decided to stop doing the show so he could spend more time with his kids Zolten Penn Jillette and Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette.

During the 2006–07 television season, Jillette hosted the prime time game show "Identity" on NBC-TV.

In 2008, Jillette was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. He was the first celebrity to be eliminated. A reference to his large feet as a sign of another large body part was bleeped in the West Coast airing.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, Jillette did a spoken guest appearance on a song by Pakistani rapper Adil Omar. The song was titled "Spookshow" and produced by DJ Solo of Soul Assassins. The lyrics condemn religious extremism and encourage skepticism. It is set to be featured on a compilation album by Thick Syrup Records alongside artists like Matt Cameron of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Half Japanese and more.^{[citation needed]}

On May 24, 2010, Jillette began a bi-weekly show on Revision3 called Penn Point. It is currently on hiatus. The last update was posted on October 26, 2011.^[14]

On August 16, 2011 Jillette's book God, No! Signs You May Already Be An Atheist and Other Magical Tales was released and made the New York Times Best Sellers in its first week of publication.

An avid upright bassist, Penn frequently accompanies jazz pianist Mike Jones, who opens for the magician's Las Vegas show.^[15]

Jillette was one of the contestants on The Celebrity Apprentice season 5, beginning on February 19, 2012. He was fired from the show by Donald Trump on the April 22 episode of the show. Also on February 19, 2012, along with Michael Goudeau, he started the podcast Penn's Sunday School.

Business ventures[link]

Jill-Jet[link]

In July 1999, Jillette was granted U.S. Patent 5,920,923 for the "Jill-Jet", a hot-tub jet specially angled for a woman's pleasure. He has credited Debbie Harry of Blondie for suggesting the idea, as the two of them were once in a hot-tub and Harry made a remark about changing the jets for a woman's pleasure. Jillette liked the idea enough to pursue patent application at the USPTO under the patent title "Hydro-therapeutic stimulator".^[16] The abstract of the patent explains that a "discharge nozzle is located within the tub and connected to the outlet, mounted to the seat so that the discharged water from the circulation pump automatically aligns with and is directed to stimulation points (i.e., the clitoris) of the female user when the female user sits in the seat." An article in the June 2006 issue of Playboy shed additional light on the invention. Originally, it was to be called the "ClitJet", however he stated that "Jill-Jet" was more suitable because it included his name in the title. Also, "jilling off" is a colloquialism for female masturbation.^{[citation needed]}

On the Penn Radio show, telling the listeners about the photo shoot for the Playboy article, Jillette mentioned that he has a Jill-Jet installed in a tub at "The Slammer", and that several of his female friends and friends' spouses enjoy it a lot, but he is not aware of any other installations of a water jet in such a configuration anywhere else.

Vintage Nudes Studio[link]

Jillette created a private recording studio in his Las Vegas home.^[17] The addition, designed by Outside The Lines Studio and built by Crisci Custom Builders between October 2003 and June 2004 as part of his Las Vegas home,^[18] was named Vintage Nudes Studios by Jillette for playing cards that he had collected. The cards are displayed in the interior design in a manner which is meaningful to magicians.^[19] The studio was home to Free FM's Penn Radio show, and is currently the home of the Penn's Sunday School stream and podcast.^[17][20]

Personal life[link]

Jillette is married to Emily Zolten and has a daughter Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette and a son Zolten Jillette.

He says he has never used recreational drugs or alcohol. He is, however, an advocate of the legalization of all drugs and discontinuing the War on Drugs.^[21]

Jillette is an atheist, libertarian (he has stated that he may consider himself to be an Anarcho-capitalist),^[22] and skeptic, as well as an adherent to Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy, as stated on his Penn Says podcast. Jillette is a Fellow at the libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, and has stated that he "always" votes Libertarian.^[23] In January 2007, Jillette took the "Blasphemy Challenge" offered by the Rational Response Squad and publicly denied the existence of a holy spirit.^[24] His cars' license plates read "atheist", "nogod", and "godless".^[25] "Strangely enough, they wouldn't give me 'Infidel,'" he says.^[25]

In 2005 he wrote and read an essay for National Public Radio claiming that he was "beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God  ... I believe there is no God."^[26] His atheism, he has explained, has informed every aspect of his life and thoughts, and as such is as crucial to him as theistic beliefs are to the devout. Jillette welcomes and even encourages open discussion, debate, and proselytizing on the issue of God's existence, believing that the issue is too important for opinions about it to remain private. Jillette does not, however, dismiss all who do believe in God: A 2008 edition of his Penn Says podcast expresses his appreciation for a fan who brought him the gift of a pocket Gideon Bible after a performance because he realized that this individual sincerely cared enough about him to try to help him.^[27]

Jillette has stated that there is not enough information to make an informed decision on global warming, and that it is an emotion versus logic issue.^[28]

Red fingernail[link]

Speculation arises from Jillette's red fingernail on his left hand. From a FAQ from Penn & Teller's official website, there are three common answers:

1. It means he once shot a man for asking personal questions.
2. When Jillette first began performing, his mother told him to get a manicure because people would be looking at his hands. In response to this, he had all of his nails painted red as a joke. The one remaining red fingernail is in honor of his mother.^[29]
3. It's just cool and can also sometimes provide excellent misdirection.^[7]

On the episode of Penn Radio broadcast on November 29, 2006, Jillette related the real story behind his red fingernail. It began as a joke with his mother. When he was 18 years old, his mother advised him to keep his hands looking nice, since he then was working as a magician and his audience would be looking at his hands. Jillette colored the single nail red and showed it to his mother. He has continued to paint that single nail to the present. The color he uses is Jelly Apple Red (#054) by Essie.^[30][29]

Appearances[link]

Filmography[link]

• Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)
• The Growth (2009)
• The Aristocrats (2005)
• Michael Moore Hates America (2004)
• Fantasia 2000 (2000)
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
• Toy Story (1995)
• Hackers (1995)
• Car 54, Where Are You? (1994)
• The Residents: Twenty Twisted Questions (1992)
• Half Japanese – The Band That Would Be King (1991)
• Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989)
• Gandahar (1988)
• Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987)
• My Chauffeur (1986)
• Off Beat (1985)
• Savage Island (1985)

Television[link]

• Miami Vice
  • "Prodigal Son" (1985) TV episode ... Jimmy Borges
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
  • "Illusions of Grandeur" (1 episode, 1994) ... Romick
• VR 5
  • "Pilot" (1 episode, 1995) ... Mr.Orwell Kravitz
• Friends
  • "The One With the Cuffs" (1 episode, 1997) ... Encyclopedia Salesman
• The Drew Carey Show
  • "See Drew Run" (1997) TV episode ... Archibald Fenn
  • "Drew Meets Lawyers" (1995) TV episode ... Archibald Fenn
• Sabrina The Teenage Witch
  • "First Kiss" (1997) TV episode .... Drell
  • "Jenny's Non-Dream" (1997) TV episode ... Drell
  • "Terrible Things" (1996) TV episode ... Drell
  • "Pilot" (1996) TV episode ... Drell
• Babylon 5
  • "Day of the Dead" (1998) TV episode ... Rebo
• Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular 1998–99
• "Hollywood Squares" (1999–2004) regular
• The Simpsons
  • "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder"
  • "The Great Simpsina" (2 episodes, 1999, 2011) ... himself
• Dharma & Greg (2001)
• The West Wing
  • "In the Room" (2004) ... himself
• Penn & Teller: Bullshit! (2003–2010)
• The Moxy Show (original voice of Flea; later replaced by an unidentified actor in some episodes)
• Identity (premiered in December 2006); returned on March 16, 2008 on NBC and will air for seven weeks every Friday at 8 pm ET.^[22]
• Real Time with Bill Maher (2006) TV episode ... himself
• Dancing with the Stars (2008) ... himself^[31]
• Numb3rs
  • "Magic Show" (2008) TV episode ... himself
• "Glenn Beck" (Fox News)
• Handy Manny
  • "Halloween/Squeeze's Magic Show" (2008) TV episode ... Magic Marty
• Penn & Teller Go Public (1985) TV program produced by Community Television of Southern California and aired on Public Television stations.
• The Defenders
  • "Whitten v. Fenlee" (2010) TV episode ... Ruben Charters
• Fetch with Ruff Ruffman
  • "You Can't Teach an Orange Dog New Tricks" (2009) TV episode...Himself
• Penn & Teller: Fool Us (2010–)
• Real Time with Bill Maher (October 14, 2011) TV episode ... himself
• Penn & Teller Tell a Lie (2011–)
• Celebrity Apprentice 5 (2012)

Music videos[link]

• Ramones – "Something to Believe In"
• Run D.M.C. – "It's Tricky"
• Katy Perry – "Waking Up in Vegas"
• Too Much Joy – "Donna Everywhere"
• Rascal Flatts – "Why Wait"

Music[link]

• "The Horse You Rode In On" by Pigface
• "Spookshow" by Adil Omar

Books by Jillette[link]

• Jillette, Penn (2011). God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-1036-9. 
• Jillette, Penn (2004). Sock. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin. ISBN 0-312-32805-2. 
• Jillette, Penn (2005). How to Cheat Your Friends at Poker: The Wisdom of Dickie Richard. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 0-312-36068-1. 
• Jillette, Penn (1989). Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends. New York: Villard. ISBN 0-394-75351-8. 
• Jillette, Penn and Teller (1992). Penn and Teller's How to Play with Your Food. New York: Villard. ISBN 0-679-74311-1. 
• Jillette, Penn and Teller (1997). Penn and Teller's How to Play In Traffic. Berkley Trade. ISBN 1-57297-293-9. 

Podcasts[link]

• "Penn Point" on Revision3.com
• "Penn Says" on Crackle.com
• "Penn's Sunday School" at pennsundayschool.com

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (July 2011)

Find more about Penn Jillette on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource

• Penn & Teller's official website
• Penn's old YouTube channel (Available only in the United States, discontinued Apr 23, 2010)
• Penn's new YouTube channel (Available everywhere)
• Penn Jillette at the Internet Broadway Database
• Penn Jillette at the Internet Movie Database
• Penn Point Jillette's video blog on Revision3
• Penn Says Jillette's video blog on Crackle.com
• Penn Jillette columns includes Jillette's PC-Computing columns
• Penn Jillette/The magician-comedian-writer's secrets revealed! – Slate, February 4, 2006
• Penn Jillette/Telling It Like It Is, With Teller – AskMen.com interview
• "Voodoo and Violence", interview in Reason by Steve Kurtz
• Jillette's home "The Slammer"
• "Penn Jillette's 10 Commandments for atheists". USA Today. October 28, 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-10-28/penn-jillette-ten-commandments/50978982/1. 

Penn & Teller (Penn Jillette and Teller) are American illusionists and entertainers who have performed together since the late 1970s, and are known for their numerous stage and television shows. Their current Las Vegas show is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally does not speak while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance. They specialize in gory tricks, exposing frauds, and performing clever pranks. More recently they have become associated with atheism, scientific skepticism, and libertarianism, particularly through their television show Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.

Career[link]

Penn Jillette and Teller were introduced to one another by Weir Chrisimer, and they performed their first show together at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival on 19 August 1975.^[1] From the late 1970s through 1981, Penn, Teller, and Chrisimer performed as a trio called "The Asparagus Valley Cultural Society" which played in San Francisco at the Phoenix Theater. This act was sillier and less "edgy" than today's Penn & Teller act.^{[citation needed]} Chrisimer helped to develop some bits that continued, most notably Teller's "Shadows" trick, which involves a single red rose.

By 1985, Penn & Teller were receiving rave reviews for their Off Broadway show and Emmy award-winning PBS special, Penn & Teller Go Public.^[2] In 1987, they began the first of two successful Broadway runs. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, the duo made numerous television appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live, as well as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Today, and many others.

Penn & Teller had national tours throughout the 1990s, gaining critical praise. They have also made television guest appearances on Babylon 5^[3] (as the comedy team Rebo and Zooty), The Drew Carey Show, a few episodes of Hollywood Squares from 1998 until 2004, ABC's Muppets Tonight, FOX's The Bernie Mac Show, an episode of the game show Fear Factor on NBC, NBC's The West Wing, in a two-part episode of the final season of ABC's Home Improvement in 1998, four episodes during season 1 of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in 1996, NBC's Las Vegas, and Fox's The Simpsons episodes "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" and "The Great Simpsina" and the Futurama film Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder in 2009. They also appeared as three-card Monte scam artists in the music video for "It's Tricky" by Run-DMC in 1987, and were thrown out of a Las Vegas hotel room in the music video for "Waking Up in Vegas" by Katy Perry in 2009.

Their Showtime network television show Bullshit! took a skeptical look at psychics, religion, the pseudoscientific, conspiracy theories, and the paranormal. It has featured critical segments on gun control, astrology, Feng Shui, environmental issues, PETA, weight loss, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the war on drugs.

On Bullshit!, the duo described their social and political views as libertarian.

They have also described themselves as teetotalers. Their book, Penn & Teller's How to Play in Traffic, explains that they avoid absolutely all alcohol and other drugs, including caffeine, though they do appear to smoke cigarettes in some videos. Penn has said that he has never even tasted alcohol, and that his tolerance for certain drugs is so low that his doctor only had to administer a minute amount of anesthetic relative to what one would expect necessary for a man of his size to undergo surgery.

The pair have written several books about magic, including Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks For Dear Friends, Penn & Teller's How to Play with Your Food, and Penn & Teller's How to Play in Traffic. Since 2001, Penn & Teller have performed six nights a week (or as Penn put it on Bullshit!: "Every night of the week ... except Fridays!") in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino.

Penn Jillette hosted a weekday one-hour talk show on Infinity Broadcasting's Free FM radio network from January 3, 2006 to March 2, 2007 with cohost Michael Goudeau.^[4][5] He also hosted the game show Identity, which debuted on December 18, 2006 on NBC.

Their new television series Penn & Teller Tell a Lie premiered on the Discovery Channel on October 5, 2011.

Penn & Teller have also shown support for the Brights movement^[6] and are now listed on the movement's homepage under the Enthusiastic Brights section.^[7] According to an article in Wired magazine, their license plates are customized so they read, "Atheist" and "Godless", and when Penn signs autographs, he often writes "there is no God" with his signature.^[8]

Off-stage relationship[link]

Penn Jillette has told interviewer Larry King that a big part of the duo's success and longevity is due to them never having been close friends. They enjoy working together immensely, but have little in common besides magic. As a result of their drastically different lifestyles and interests, they rarely socialize or interact when not working. Jillette believes that their partnership succeeds precisely because they give each other a great deal of space off-stage.

Tricks[link]

Their tricks include Teller hanging upside-down over a cushion of spikes in a straitjacket, Teller submerged in a huge container of water, Teller being run over by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer, Teller swinging going through Penn's hands. Many of their effects rely heavily on shock appeal and violence, although presented in a humorous manner.

Sometimes, the pair will claim to reveal a secret of how a magic trick is done, but those tricks are usually invented by the duo for the sole purpose of exposing them, and therefore designed with more spectacular and weird methods than would have been necessary had it just been a "proper" magic trick. For example, in the "reveal" of one trick, while Teller waits for his cue, he reads magazines and eats a snack.^{[clarification needed]} Another example is their rendition of the cups and balls, using transparent cups.

Penn and Teller perform their own adaptation of the famous bullet catch illusion. Each simultaneously fires a gun at the other through small panes of glass and then "catches" the other's bullet in his mouth. They also have an assortment of card tricks in their repertoire, virtually all of them involving the force of the Three of Clubs on an unsuspecting audience member as this card is easy for viewers to identify on television cameras.^[9]

The duo will sometimes perform tricks that discuss the intellectual underpinnings of magic. One of their acts, titled "Magician vs. Juggler", features Teller performing card tricks while Penn juggles and delivers a monologue on the difference between the two: jugglers start as socially aware children who go outside and learn juggling with other children; magicians are misfits who stay in the house and teach themselves magic tricks out of spite.

In one of their most politically charged tricks, they make a U.S. flag seem to disappear by wrapping it in a copy of the United States Bill of Rights, and apparently setting the flag on fire, so that "the flag is gone but the Bill of Rights remains." The act may also feature the "Chinese bill of rights", presented as a transparent piece of acetate. They normally end the routine by restoring the unscathed flag to its starting place on the flagpole; however, on a TV guest appearance on The West Wing this final part was omitted.^[10]

One of their more recent tricks^[when?] involves a powered nail gun with a quantity of missing nails from the series of nails in its magazine. Penn begins by firing several apparently real nails into a board in front of him. He then proceeds to fire the nailgun into the palm of his hand several times, while suffering no injuries. His pattern builds as he oscillates between firing blanks into his hand and firing nails into the board. While performing he states that the trick is merely memorization, and explains that the fact that he does not flinch when he could be firing a nail into his hand should be a sign that the trick is not actually dangerous. A later revision to the trick replaced the false claims of memorization with a more open explanation, allowing the audience to enjoy the rhythm of the nail gun without fear of a serious mishap.^[11]

A trick introduced in 2010 is a modern version of the bag escape, replacing the traditional sack with a black trash bag apparently filled with helium. Teller is placed in the bag which is then pumped full of helium and sealed by an audience member. For the escape, the audience are blinded by a bright light for a second and when they are able to see again, Teller has escaped from the bag and Penn is holding it, still full of helium, above his head, before releasing it to float to the ceiling. The duo had hoped to put the trick in their mini-tour in London; however, it was first shown to the public in their Las Vegas show on 18 August 2010. In June 2011, Penn and Teller performed this trick for the first time in the United Kingdom on their ITV show Fool Us.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Books[link]

• Penn & Teller's How to Play in Traffic (1997, ISBN 1-57297-293-9)
• Penn & Teller's How to Play with Your Food (1992, ISBN 0-679-74311-1)
• Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends (1989, ISBN 0-394-75351-8)
• Sock 2004, ISBN 0-312-32805-2 (Penn Jillette sole author)
• How to Cheat Your Friends at Poker: The Wisdom of Dickie Richard 2006, ISBN 0-312-34905-X (Penn Jillette and Mickey D. Lynn)
• When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours: Joe Teller—A Portrait By His Kid 2000, ISBN 0-922233-22-5 (Teller sole author)

Other Media[link]

Music[link]

• "The Horse You Rode In On" by Pigface (Penn Jillette only)
• "Spookshow" by Adil Omar (Penn Jillette only)
• "Penn & Teller Present: Music to Look at Boxes By" (With Mike "Jonesy" Jones)
• "Never Mind the Sex Pistols" by Bongos, Bass, & Bob (Penn Jillette with Dean J Seal and Bob "Running" Elk)
• "Tattoo of Blood" by the Captain Howdy (Penn Jillette with Mark Kramer)
• "Money Feeds My Music Machine" by the Captain Howdy (Penn Jillette with Mark Kramer)
• "It's Tricky" by Run–D.M.C. (Penn & Teller shown throughout the video and at the end appear to take over the persona of Run–D.M.C.)
• "Waking up in Vegas" by Katy Perry (Penn & Teller are kicked out of their hotel room by Perry and her boyfriend. They later kick Perry out again.)

Jillette also toured with the Residents during the Mole Show, and hosted Ralph Records' 10th Anniversary Radio Special (1982). There is some mild controversy and confusion surrounding this. While the premise of 10th Anniversary Radio Special revolved around Jillette having never heard of the label or any of the bands on it (the Residents included), he was credited as a collaborator on the 1981 album Mark of the Mole,^[16] and he can be heard giving news bulletins in the first track. This has led some to speculate that Jillette may have been a Resident at one point.

Theater[link]

In 2008 Teller co-directed a production of Macbeth in Red Bank, New Jersey and Washington, DC.^[17]

Video games[link]

• Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors 1995 – Absolute Entertainment for Sega CD & 3DO, Unreleased.
• Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Spellbound 1998 – Simon & Schuster for PC – Voices for Drell & Skippy
• Desert Bus 2011 – Amateur Pixels.

The 1995 video game Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors featured an unusual mini-game called Desert Bus in which the player drove a realistic bus route between Tucson and Las Vegas. This mini-game became popular due to the fact that it imitated a real 8 hour bus ride. Once reaching the destination, the player gets 1 point and, if desired, can then drive the return route. The game was long and boring, but found a cult audience due to the dark humor and weirdness behind the idea.

The game has since been used in an annual charity called "Desert Bus for Hope" run by website desertbus.org. The site invites celebrities play the game streamed live online, with all proceeds being donated to Child's Play (charity). on November 14, 2011 an iOS port of Desert Bus was created and released in the Apple Inc iTunes store. The game was developed in conjunction with the Desert Bus for hope event and all profits from the game are donated to charity.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Penn & Teller

• Official website
• Penn's "Hydro-therapeutic stimulator" (aka Jill-jet) patent
• A man, a ball, a hoop, a bench (and an alleged thread)… TELLER!

Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan in 2011
Born	Piers Stefan O'Meara (1965-03-30) 30 March 1965 (age 47) Guildford, Surrey, England[1]
Nationality	British
Education	Chailey School Preparatory School
Alma mater	Harlow College
Occupation	Broadcaster, panellist, journalist, talk show host
Years active	1985–present
Employer	South London News (1985–88) The Sun (1989–94) News of the World (1994–95) Daily Mirror (1995–2004)
Known for	Newspaper editing Television work
Height	6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m)[2]
Television	Britain's Got Talent America's Got Talent Winner of The Celebrity Apprentice The Dark Side of Fame with Piers Morgan Piers Morgan On... Piers Morgan's Life Stories Piers Morgan Tonight
Spouse	Marion Shalloe (m. 1991–2008) «start: (1991)–end+1: (2009)»"Marriage: Marion Shalloe to Piers Morgan" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Piers_Morgan) (divorced) Celia Walden (m. 2010) «start: (2010-06-24)»"Marriage: Celia Walden to Piers Morgan" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Piers_Morgan)
Children	Spencer, Stanley, Albert
Parents	Eamon Vincent O'Meara (deceased) Gabrielle O'Meara
Website
www.officialpiersmorgan.com

Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (born Piers Stefan O'Meara; 30 March 1965), known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children.

Morgan branched into television mainly as a presenter, but has become best known as a judge or contestant in reality television programmes. In the UK, he was a judge on Britain's Got Talent. Morgan is best known in the United States as a judge on the show America's Got Talent, and as the winner of The Celebrity Apprentice. On 17 January 2011, he began hosting Piers Morgan Tonight for CNN in the timeslot previously occupied by Larry King Live after the retirement of host Larry King.^[3]

Morgan has authored eight books, including three volumes of memoirs.

Early life[link]

Piers Morgan was born on 30 March 1965, in Guildford, Surrey, England, to Eamon Vincent O'Meara, a dentist, of Dorking, Surrey,^[4] and Gabrielle Georgina Sybille (née Oliver).^[5] His father died when he was one year old; his mother subsequently remarried. He has three older siblings.^[6] His ancestry includes Irish, Portuguese, Scottish, and English.^[5][7] Morgan was raised Catholic.^[8] Named Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan by his stepfather, Morgan attended an independent school called Cumnor House^[9] from the ages of seven to thirteen, and then Chailey School, a comprehensive secondary school in Chailey, near Lewes, East Sussex, followed by Lewes Priory School for VI form.^[10] Morgan studied Journalism at Harlow College. After a brief career at Lloyds of London, he joined the Surrey and South London Newspaper Group in 1985,^[11] where he worked as a reporter on the South London News, and the Streatham and Tooting News. Morgan was recruited (he says headhunted by editor Kelvin MacKenzie) to join The Sun newspaper, specifically to work on the Bizarre column.

Career[link]

In newspapers[link]

Morgan's first major position in national media was as de facto editor of The Sun's show business column, Bizarre, under the editorship of Kelvin MacKenzie. In 1994, aged 28, he was appointed editor of News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, becoming the youngest national newspaper editor in more than half a century.^[12] He quickly gained notoriety for his invasive, thrusting style and lack of concern for celebrities' right to privacy, claiming that they could not manipulate the media to further their own ends without accepting the consequences of a two way deal. Morgan's autobiography The Insider states that he left the News of the World of his own choice and somewhat against owner Rupert Murdoch's wishes when he was offered the job of Editor at the Daily Mirror.

As editor of the Mirror, in 1996 Morgan was widely criticised and forced to apologise for the headline "Achtung! Surrender" a day before England met Germany in a semi-final of the Euro '96 football championships.^[13]

In 2000, he was the subject of an investigation after Suzy Jagger wrote a story in The Daily Telegraph revealing that he had bought £20,000 worth of shares in the computer company Viglen soon before the Mirror 's 'City Slickers' column tipped Viglen as a good buy.^[14] Morgan was found by the Press Complaints Commission to have breached the Code of Conduct on financial journalism, but kept his job. The 'City Slickers' columnists, Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell, were both found to have committed further breaches of the Code, and were sacked before the inquiry. In 2004, further enquiry by the Department of Trade and Industry cleared Morgan from any charges.^[15] On 7 December 2005 Bhoyrul and Hipwell were convicted of conspiracy to breach the Financial Services Act. During the trial it emerged that Morgan had bought £67,000 worth of Viglen shares, emptying his bank account and investing under his wife's name too.^[16]

In 2002, the Mirror attempted to move mid-market, claiming to eschew the more trivial stories of show-business and gossip. Morgan rehired John Pilger, who had been sacked during Robert Maxwell's ownership of the Mirror titles. Despite such changes, Morgan was unable to halt the paper's decline in circulation, a decline shared by its direct tabloid rivals The Sun and the Daily Star.^{[citation needed]}

Morgan was fired from the Mirror on 14 May 2004 after authorising the newspaper's publication of photographs allegedly showing Iraqi prisoners being abused by British Army soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.^[17] Within days the photographs were shown to be crude fakes. Under the headline "SORRY.. WE WERE HOAXED", the Mirror responded that it had fallen victim to a "calculated and malicious hoax" and apologised for the publication of the photographs.^[18]

In May 2005, in partnership with Matthew Freud, he gained ownership of Press Gazette, a media trade publication together with its 'cash cow' the British Press Awards, in a deal worth £1 million.^[19][20] This ownership was cited as one of the reasons many major newspapers boycotted the 2006 awards.^[21] Press Gazette entered administrative receivership toward the end of 2006,^[22] before being sold to a trade buyer.

On 4 May 2006, Morgan launched First News, a weekly paper aimed at seven to fourteen-year-olds. Upon its launch Morgan claimed that the paper was to be "Britain's first national newspaper for children",^[23] although this claim was without foundation: other newspapers aimed at young audiences have included The Boy's Newspaper (1880–1882), The Children's Newspaper (1919–1965), and Early Times (launched in the late 1980s). Morgan was editorial director at First News, responsible for bringing in celebrity involvement. He referred to the role as "editorial overlord and frontman".^[24]

In 2007, Morgan was filmed falling off a Segway, breaking three ribs. Simon Cowell and others made much of Morgan's previous comment in 2003, in the Daily Mail, after former U.S. President George W. Bush fell off a Segway, that "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off, wouldn't you, Mr. President?"^[25][26][27]

In television[link]

Morgan's career has diversified in recent years into television presentation and proprietorship. In 2003, he presented a three-part television documentary series for the BBC titled The Importance of Being Famous, about fame and the manner in which celebrities are covered by modern media.

He has co-hosted his own current affairs interview show on Channel 4 with Amanda Platell, Morgan and Platell. Morgan and Platell were put together because of their opposing political angles. Platell would interrogate guests from the right-wing, Morgan from the left-wing.^[28] The show was dropped after three series allegedly because of poor viewing figures, though the chairman of Channel 4, Luke Johnson, was reported not to like the programme.