Why does teller not talk

If you've partaken of pop culture in any form in the last 40 years or so, then you may be familiar with Penn and Teller, the legendary, iconoclastic magicians who have made their name exposing the secrets of the trade, performing for millions of adoring fans, and making us all laugh and think in equal measure.

Their CW series Penn and Teller: Fool Us , in which they challenge magicians to hit them with a trick — any trick — that they can't figure out, is merely the latest chapter in the career of a duo who have been performing together since You may also be aware of one remarkably consistent part of their schtick: one of them never shuts up, and the other never speaks. Teller who long ago had his name legally changed to that mononym has long served as the silent straight man to Penn Jillette's motor-mouthed funnyman, and in a recent Huffington Post interview, Jillette — speaking for Teller, as per usual — explained why this is.

And Teller just thought if he was quiet, they'd grow weary of heckling him. It sounds like a bit, but if it is, the duo have been consistent about it. In fact, Teller — who apparently does speak very well — has told the same story himself. The "rough environments" Jillette was referring to? Frat houses. And I am a small man of not particularly imposing proportions or voice," Teller recalled in an interview with NPR. So I found that if I turned off all the lights except for a few lawn spotlights that I carried with me and put them on me, and then did creepy things like swallowing razor blades I found that when I did that sort of thing, they paid attention to me in a way that if I had tried to assert myself over them, they wouldn't have.

It sort of undercut any kind of heckling. Teller went on to say that although he's not the only magician to utilize silence as part of their act, he feels that the way in which he does it is unique. The legendary magician revealed that the idea to remain silent while performing tricks in college.

And I am a small man of not particularly imposing proportions or voice. And if I had tried to assert myself over a room full of drunken kids groping their dates and drinking beer, they would not have paid any attention to me," he told the outlet.

Teller continued, "I found that if I turned off all the lights except for a few lawn spotlights that I carried with me and put them on me, and then did creepy things like swallowing razorblades I found that when I did that sort of thing, they paid attention to me in a way that if I had tried to assert myself over them, they wouldn't have. It sort of undercut any kind of heckling. The CW star explained that the lack of noise also provides a deep level of intimacy, adding, "A lot of people who don't speak onstage in magic blast the audience with music that is loaded with all sorts of emotions.

I think that's cheating. And by stripping away music, by stripping away speech, there is a level of intimacy that I feel with the audience that is deep. It's very deep. Distractify is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved.