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Penn Jillette

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Penn Jillette

Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955 in Greenfield, Massachusetts) is an American illusionist, juggler and comedian known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller as Penn & Teller.

Biography

Penn Jillette, the larger (6'6"/1.98 m compared to Teller's 5'9"/1.75 m), talkative half of Penn & Teller, once attended Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth Clown College, for which he has since apologized. Jillette became disillusioned with traditional magic acts that presented the craft as real by watching The Amazing Kreskin on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. At age eighteen, he saw a show by illusionist James Randi (The Amazing Randi), and became enamored of his presentation of 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.

He met Teller in 1975, where they formed part of a three-person act called Asparagus Valley Cultural Society which played in San Francisco. In 1981 he and Teller formed their partnership and went on to perform in their off-Broadway show and subsequent fame.

Penn married television producer Emily Zolten during an impromptu ceremony at a Las Vegas wedding chapel on November 23, 2004. Penn has alluded to living a polyamorous lifestyle while on the Adam Carolla radio show. Their first child, daughter Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette, was born on June 3, 2005 and their son Zolten Penn Jillette, on May 22, 2006. On a January 2006 episode of the radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Jillette explained that his wife suggested they use "CrimeFighter" because she herself does not have a middle name, people don't generally know other people's middle names, and they might as well "have some fun with it."

He occasionally notes with irony that although he lives and works in Las Vegas, he does not gamble (though he has written a book on how to win at poker), and claims he has never had a drink of alcohol or done recreational drugs. He is, however, an advocate of the legalization of all drugs.

Penn is an outspoken atheist, libertarian, and skeptic. One of his car license plates reads "DOG ON". In a rear-view mirror, his plate would read "NO GOD".

Projects

  • Penn appeared as "Drell" on the TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch and was a voice announcer for the U.S. based cable network Comedy Central in the 1990s. One of his earliest guest roles was on Miami Vice. He has also appeared in the TV Series Friends as an encyclopedia salesman.
  • Penn was also a regular contributor to 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. Penn and PC Computing parted ways over a dispute with a new editor. Penn felt the new editor was trying to tell him how to write his column and what topics he should be covering. Penn is unsure if he was fired or if he actually quit.
  • Penn appeared in a Cartoon Network show called The Moxy Show that began telecasting in 1995. He played the voice of Flea, who later became a title character in 1998. However, Flea's voice was replaced by an unknown actor in some episodes.
  • Penn appeared in the movie Hackers playing a security guard for the "Gibson" super computer.
  • For a brief period of time in 1997 Penn wrote bi-weekly dispatches for the (now) defunct search engine Excite.com. Each column ended with a pithy comment identifying which of the duo Penn was. (For example, "Penn Jillette is the half of Penn & Teller that's detained at airports.") Penn 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. However, one can view the columns [1] at Penn's actual site.
  • In July of 1999, Penn was granted U.S. patent 5,920,923 for the "Jill-Jet", a hot-tub jet specially angled for a woman's pleasure.
  • Penn has collaborated with avant-garde musicians The Residents and appeared on a double album on their label titled Ralph Records 10th Anniversary Radio Special, as well as played the part of the narrator for the band's Mole Show tour and penned the liner notes for "Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents", a tribute CD issued by Vaccination Records. Penn's own band is called The Captain Howdy. He was also a member of Bongos, Bass, and Bob, in which he played bass guitar. Penn is also the owner of the entire catalog of the band Half Japanese, headed by Jad Fair. He is featured in the Half Japanese documentary "The Band that Would be King". Penn and fellow Clown College alumnus Steven Banks collaborated in writing Love Tapes – a romantic comedy stage show which premiered February 2005 at Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood. As part of the preshow entertainment for his current Las Vegas show, Penn plays the double bass with pianist Mike Jones.
  • Penn Jillette, along with his partner Teller, produce and host Penn & Teller: Bullshit! (which recently wrapped up its 4th season), in which the pair analyze cultural phenomena, debunk myths, criticize people and aspects of society they deem "Bullshit", and generally have fun--with a bit of magic thrown in.

Appearance

Speculation arises from Penn'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 Penn first began performing, his mother told him to get a manicure because people would be looking at his hands. In response to this, Penn had all of his nails painted red as a joke. The one remaining red fingernail is in honor of his dear mother.
  3. The red fingernail provides excellent misdirection and is just plain cool.

Books by Jillette

  • Jillette, Penn (2004). Sock. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin. ISBN 0312328052.
  • Jillette, Penn (2005). How to cheat your friends at poker: the wisdom of Dickie Richard. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 031234905X.

External links

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