Teller (magician)

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Teller
Teller - after the Penn & Teller show at The Rio in Las Vegas, Nevada, August 5, 2007.
Born	Raymond Joseph Teller February 14 1948 (1948-02-14) (age 60) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Residence	Las Vegas, Nevada
Nationality	American
Known for	Half of the comedy magic duo known as Penn & Teller
Occupation	Magician, Illusionist, Writer, Actor, Painter
Height	5'9" (1.75 m.)
Political party	Libertarian
Religious stance	Atheist
Website	Penn and Teller.com

Teller (born Raymond Joseph Teller February 14, 1948) is an American illusionist, comedian and writer best known as the silent half of the comedy magic duo known as Penn & Teller, along with Penn Jillette. He legally changed his name to "Teller" and possesses one of the few United States passports issued in a single name.^[1]

1 Biography
2 Teller speaks
3 Books by Teller
4 References
5 External links

Biography

Teller was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were of Russian Jewish and Cuban descent. However, as Penn Jillette revealed in the Bullshit! episode dealing with reparations, he only learned of his Jewish ancestry within the last decade. ^[2] He attended Central High School and Amherst College and taught Latin at Lawrence High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, hometown of Cal Dupre. Teller is an accomplished sleight of hand artist and is considered an expert on the history of magic. He is also a talented painter. He is an atheist, debunker, skeptic, and Fellow of the Cato Institute (a libertarian think-tank organization who also lists his partner Penn Jillette as a Fellow). The Cato Institute association is obvious and well documented in the Penn and Teller Showtime TV series "Bullshit!". Teller is the author of When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours!, a biography/memoir of his father. He has also collaborated with Penn Jillette on three books on tricks and magic. Teller does not speak while performing although there are occasional exceptions, usually when the audience is not aware of it. For example, he did the voice of "Mofo the psychic gorilla" in their early Broadway show with the help of a radio mike cupped in his hand. Teller's trademark silence originated during his youth, when he earned a living performing magic at college fraternity parties.^[3] He found that if he maintained silence throughout his act, spectators refrained from throwing beer and heckling him and focused more on his performance. Teller began performing with friend Weir Chrisemer as The Ottmar Scheckt Society for the Preservation of Weird and Disgusting Music. Teller met Penn Jillette in 1975, where they joined a three-person act called Asparagus Valley Cultural Society, which played in San Francisco. In 1981 they began performing exclusively together as "Penn & Teller", an act that still continues to this day.

Teller speaks

Despite his trademark of pantomime on stage, Teller has spoken in a number of films and television shows, as well as in numerous radio, television interviews, and whispered to audience members during the show in Las Vegas.

Teller plays an anthropomorphic cat, Mr. Boots, on an episode of Dharma & Greg.^[4] He also plays the character of Mortimer in the 2000 film adaptation of the musical The Fantasticks (nearly all of his dialogue was cut from the finished film). He also speaks in a guest starring role on the "Like a Hurricane" episode of Miami Vice in 1987.
In the 1987 movie Long Gone, Teller played the son of Henry Gibson (whom he strongly resembles) and deliberately imitated the strong Southern accent Gibson used in the film. Gibson and Teller are both originally from Philadelphia.
Teller also speaks several lines at the end of Penn & Teller Get Killed, after playing his usual silent role for nearly the entire movie. He also appears (and speaks) in Mysteries of Magic, Volume 3, and speaks occasionally in the travelogue series Penn & Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour, but tends to let Penn speak on his behalf. In one exception, Teller describes an encounter with an Egyptian magician and how he was fooled by the cups and balls trick.
During Penn & Teller's 1991 "Refrigerator Tour", Penn quips on stage, "Teller never talks", to which Teller comments in a normal speaking voice, "That's right, Penn."
Penn & Teller guest-starred on Babylon 5 in the episode "Day of the Dead". They played Rebo and Zooty, a pair of visiting comedians, the shorter of whom only speaks through a machine. Teller's character is shown to whisper in Sheridans ear during the denouement, saying "Because it tells me to".
Teller speaks extensively in the History Channel special Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery, though he is shot with a back light to hide his face in silhouette. He also speaks off-camera in the Showtime television series Bullshit! (usually in the form of profanity). On a celebrity episode of Fear Factor, Teller briefly breaks his silence by quietly exclaiming "Yes!" after learning he and Penn were advancing to the next round due to a competitor's failure to complete a stunt.
During "off the deep end," Teller screams whilst going down a water slide.
When Penn & Teller were interviewed on The Daily Show, one of Craig Kilborn's 5 Questions was "Teller! Say something!" In response, Teller covered his mouth, uttering "Fuck you, Craig", thus compelling the censors to bleep it or render it silent. A similar incident occurred on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
After most of their performances (including at their current showplace, the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada) the duo mingles with the crowd in the lobby for photos and autographs. Teller speaks to all comers, which was not always the case.^[5]
Teller also contributed an audio review of the book The Glorious Deception, by illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, on National Public Radio in July 2005.^[6]
The January 31, 2007 episode of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe has a lengthy interview with Teller.^[7]
In the special Penn and Teller's Invisible Thread, a scuffle with some military officers in an airport hangar after a conversation with an alien prompts Teller to shout his partner's name into a megaphone.
In an appearance on Late Night, Teller (portraying a dummy version of himself) speaks to David Letterman as a demonstration of how the dummy can talk, and later screams in pain.
In an episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! entitled "Nukes, Hybrids, and Lesbians", Teller burns himself with a match and mutters a swear under his breath.
In the August 20, 2007 episode of the New York Times' "Science Times" podcast, Teller is interviewed.^[8].
In the December 24, 2007 show All Things Considered Teller spoke at length about his stageplay version of MacBeth^[9].

Books by Teller

"When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours!": Joe Teller -- A Portrait by His Kid (2000) ISBN 0-922233-22-5
edited by Teller House of Mystery; The Magic Science of David P. Abbott (2005) ISBN 0-9710405-4-0 (incorrect ISBN -- could not find) link
Jillette, Penn and Teller (1992). Penn and Teller's How to Play with Your Food. New York: Villard. ISBN 0679743111.
Jillette, Penn and Teller (1997). Penn and Teller's How to Play in Traffic. Berkley Trade. ISBN 978-1572972933.