Teller
Teller
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntertainer
Date of Birth14 February 1948
CountryUnited States of America
absolute certainly given science spare
Given my absolute druthers, I would certainly like to see that every part of my body is used for spare parts for science.
fan foremost penn teller thinks
Nobody who is a Penn & Teller fan thinks of us first and foremost as magicians, but as a comedy team.
assumed happily life
I always assumed I'd spend my life happily performing in artsy-fartsy little theaters.
gore
If you read Shakespeare's stage directions, all the gore and violence is right in there.
joke merely people street time work
People come up to me on the street and make some little joke - like they'll say, 'Excuse me, sir, what time is it?' And I'll say, you know, '5:15,' and they'll say, 'Hey! Made you talk!' And that's merely a way of saying, 'I know your work and I like you.'
art threat
If there isn't at least the threat of violence in art, it tends to be kind of tiresome.
art
The place we want to explore unpleasantness in the real world is in art.
art form lie magic people
Magic is an art form where you lie and tell people you are lying.
understanding viewers
Magic's about understanding - and then manipulating - how viewers digest the sensory information.
audience engaging experiment hell magic perform time
Every time you perform a magic trick, you're engaging in experimental psychology. If the audience asks, 'How the hell did he do that?' then the experiment was successful.
apt sad
I'm more apt to cry at something beautiful than at something sad.
almost appear blood continue cut head indian knife magic magician money says street takes tends trick wanders
Indian street magic tends to be very gory, blood and guts. One trick is for a magician to take a knife and appear to cut his kid's head almost off. The magician then says to the crowd, 'Well I can continue to cut off my son's head or you can all give me some money.' Then he wanders around and takes 10 rupees from everyone and restores his son.
beauty
If you do something that you're proud of, that someone else understands, that is a thing of beauty that wasn't there before - you can't beat that.
bus leave life mistake step street
In real life, the most important decision you ever make is, where does reality leave off and make-believe begin? If you make a mistake about that, you're dead. You know, you're out on the street corner. You think there's no bus coming. You step out, you're dead.