100 replies to this topic

[wragged2]

Penn Jillette
Penn & Teller
56
Las Vegas, NV
Opportunity Village

https://twitter.com/#!/pennjillette

Meet Penn Jillette

Edited by wragged2, Jan 7, 2012 @ 6:41 PM.

[Higgie]

Is Penn the one who doesn't talk? If so, how's he gonna take part in CA? I'm thinking he must be the one that DOES talk?

[hackysacky]

Yes, Penn is the one who does talk.

[marketdoctor]

He's also the one who was once on Dancing with the Stars and Celebrity Poker Showdown (in addition to doing the talking on several shows with Teller), and has guest starred (sometimes alone, sometimes with Teller) on a lot of TV shows where they need a first-rate magician.

He's got the work ethic to do well (you don't become as good a magician as he is without it), and he stands out in a crowd, which would help with any "draw people to your sales booth" events. His biggest weakness is that his stage persona has a dislike of stupid people, and he might cross the line without knowing it (or caring.)

Whether or not Teller (the half of Penn & Teller who rarely speaks) will be making cameos is an interesting question.

[sassygoddess1]

I met Penn before one of his shows in Toronto, quite a few years ago. I arrived early at the Mirvish Theatre with my boyfriend, and Penn & Teller showed up early as well, and talked to us for a while. I can't imagine any other celebrity being so friendly and accessible!
I am definitely rooting for Penn and George. None of the other apprentices interest me at all.

[Kali12]

I went to their show here (not LV) last summer. They were fantastic and, as is their habit, waited afterwards to talk with anyone who wanted to come up and meet them.

But, as impressed as I was by their show (not just "magic", very thought-provoking), I was unprepared for Penn's strong leadership skills. Among other things, he came up with the team name, got everyone up and going right away, came up with the way to brand the sandwich, performed on the street and drew the crowds, and modestly turned the credit back to the project manager when Paul praised him to Trump. (Oh, and gave the advice, "Don't say anything to them--except nice stuff" when the women came back from the BR--and being first up to give up his seat to show his respect and manners).

He was quiet when it was good to be quiet (not stepping on other comic's lines) and spoke when he had something important to say. And he lead everyone to concensus without being the least bit bossy.

He also made the best joke imo when George suggested "Galactic Force" for the name and he came back with "Enterprise".

He's a brilliant guy, but I forgot how experienced he is as being part of a team--and leading a production crew for so many years. I'm hoping he'll go all the way.

[MillieLee]

He is really good. I've never seen a Penn&Teller -show live, but I've watched all episodes of "Bull****!", "Tell A Lie" and "Fool Us". I really like to believe that he has the right mix of carnival skills, humor, talent, tact and leadership skills to take him all the way to the end.

[marketdoctor]

I really like to believe that he has the right mix of carnival skills, humor, talent, tact and leadership skills to take him all the way to the end.

I agree. My only concern is that he's coming off as TOO positive, and that they're setting him up for the "hero takes a fall" plot line. In a rational universe, he'd be a heavy frontrunner; but this show (like life) doesn't always seem rational.

If nothing else, he's set himself up well for more "competitive reality" gigs if he wants them.

[Quiet1ne]

Penn did an interview recently (can't remember where) in which he said whenever he said or did something he did not want aired, he would break out into "Hey Jude" knowing the producers would never spring for the song rights and that scene would end up on the cutting room floor. Pretty ingenious way of getting a positive edit.

[seasquared]

I have seen Penn & Teller several times and one of the aspects of his "magic" is his ability to read people's body movements and to implant subliminal suggestions to that person in order to get them to behave the way he needs them to in order for the trick to work. I have no doubt he is using those same techniques to read the board room atmosphere and coax the conversations to benefit his agenda. Good for him. It's about TIME somebody figured out the way to win in this game and not just let their ego steer their firing.

[Kali12]

Penn did an interview recently (can't remember where) in which he said whenever he said or did something he did not want aired, he would break out into "Hey Jude" knowing the producers would never spring for the song rights and that scene would end up on the cutting room floor. Pretty ingenious way of getting a positive edit.

I wonder if he's just being funny or actually did that. (Either way, typically clever).

Very interesting to me that so far he's kept his demonstrated skillset to juggling and swallowing fire--carnival novelties. So smart.

I have seen Penn & Teller several times and one of the aspects of his "magic" is his ability to read people's body movements and to implant subliminal suggestions to that person in order to get them to behave the way he needs them to in order for the trick to work. I have no doubt he is using those same techniques to read the board room atmosphere and coax the conversations to benefit his agenda. Good for him. It's about TIME somebody figured out the way to win in this game and not just let their ego steer their firing.

Unlike Trump (whose obviously never seen their act), Penn has surely studied this show and applied his intelligent mind to coming up with a game plan well in advance. I forgot how much of his skillset involves psychology and ability to read people.

He's probably too much of a threat (to Trump's ego) to make it to the end, but I so want to see his game play evolve (including, in my vision, a wonderful finale where he makes Trump disappear).

When (if) Trump ever sees what Penn is actually capable of professionally, he will be dumbstruck. (Hopefully this will happen soon--I can't stand him!)

[sissykay]

I'm very impressed with him so far.

[Quiet1ne]

I found the interview where Penn discusses the "Hey Jude" thing.

Attack of the Show ‏ @aots
.@pennjillette tells us what it's really like to be on Celebrity Apprentice. Also, monkeys! http://g4.tv/xxbrRR

[blueang]

Just piping in to say how much I adore, admire, and respect Penn Jillette. I don't imagine TPTB will let him win, but he's obviously an incredible human being. I hope he wins a boatload of money for Opportunity Village. Peace out.

[scarletine]

I've been having a blast watching Penn. He's so awesome. I volunteered the hubby for one of their tricks during one of their Vegas shows a few years ago. He asked us to stick around after the show, and we talked with him and Teller for a good 20 minutes, and he is just as funny, smart, and charming as he comes off on the show.

I came home from that trip with a mad crush on the guy, and this show has definitely revived that. :)

Edited by scarletine, Mar 16, 2012 @ 11:35 AM.

[Unanimous]

New fan of Penn here. I've never seen the Penn & Teller show and wasn't very familiar with Penn before watching him on the Celebrity Apprentice. That led to reading his tweets and then following his podcast. The guy is impressing me with the way he's portrayed on the show and in his very engaging podcasts. He also seems intelligent, well-informed, pretty self-aware and very honest. He said in his bio on the CA site that he wasn't willing to hurt anyone to win, and that may be his undoing.

I've never seen a Penn&Teller -show live, but I've watched all episodes of "Bull****!", "Tell A Lie" and "Fool Us".

Are these available to watch anywhere?

Edited by Unanimous, Mar 18, 2012 @ 6:54 AM.

[TWoP Pembleton]

Are these available to watch anywhere?

Bullshit

Tell A Lie

Looks like Fool Us (a UK show) is not available online but was sold to BBC Worldwide so it may show up on BBC America at some point.

Clicker is a great site to find where shows are available online, and it will tell you if they're free or not.

[Kali12]

If you ever have a chance to see Penn & Teller in Las Vegas (at the Rio) or in on the road appearances (I saw them near Santa Barbara last year at the Chumash Casino)., it is a fantastic show. Funny, thought-provoking, intelligent and really mystifying. After their shows, they both go come down into the theater and talk with anyone who's interested. Great guys!

It makes sense that he was only willing to play along with Trump up to a point (that point being "not hurting anyone"--something DT will find completely unrelatable). That may be part of the reason he and Adam bonded so well, despite disagreeing on the task -- that "loyalty, honesty, responsibility" thing.

[Jextella]

Still loving Penn - even after Clay called him out. I think Clay is every bit as condescending as Penn. They just go about it differently.

Penn is better off for that discussion tonight. Now someone needs to do the same with Clay.

My personal theory is that when people call out other people like that, they do so because they are trying to make a point - and that point is that they are right and the other person is wrong. It has little to do with making a situation better.

All we saw tonight was Clay tell Penn that Penn's behaviour was wrong - by Clay's standards.

So far, I'm liking Dee and Paul in that I haven't seen either presume themselves to be so wonderful that they should know how to tell others how to act. I like how Dee characterized Penn, i.e. a fact-checker. I know a few super knowledgeable and smart people and fact-checking, etc. is often a knee-jerk reaction to having info in one's head. It's a challenge for them to balance the social side of things that way. I'm not saying this is Penn's issue (I don't think he is much of an intellectual...he has a lot of knowledge, but I'm not convinced he's of the super braniac ilk...but neither is Clay), but it could be. And if it is, I'd sort of be ok with it.

Oh, and Penn was pretty cool in that he didn't shoot back in any sort of maniacal self-defense mode. He took it and at least tried to consider it. I will be curious to see how that relationship plays out.

Edited by Jextella, Mar 19, 2012 @ 1:41 AM.

[Kali12]

My personal theory is that when people call out other people like that, they do so because they are trying to make a point - and that point is that they are right and the other person is wrong. It has little to do with making a situation better.

All we saw tonight was Clay tell Penn that Penn's behaviour was wrong - by Clay's standards.

ITA. I didn't see Clay trying to make it better--he just was criticizing Penn and didn't seem to understand how he might be feeling. Very smug, imo. I thought Penn showed great self control throughout--kept his cool, stayed quiet and, if he shut down a bit, he still worked hard and contributed to the task.

Clay seemed much more full of himself to me than Penn did.

I thought Dee's comment that Penn was a "fact checker" and "the most likable know-it-all you could meet" probably was part of the problem. Some people (Lou, and Clay are two of them, I think) are uncomfortable with people they perceive as significantly smarter than they are. I thought Clay was bright before but now I don't think quite so much.

[blunz]

I've always enjoyed Penn, both as a magician and a polemicist. His display of petulance last night did not become him, and I was disappointed to see it.

Clay was right to call him out on his stonewalling the brainstorming process. They have an incredibly short window of time to come up with a concept. If Penn had been allowed to continue, the men would have had nothing because as Dee pointed out, Penn was not allowing any idea to mature into a fully-fledged concept. I think Clay nailed it: he wanted Lou to fail. Lou could have thrown up the greatest idea in the world and Penn still would have found a way to shred it. That way, when they finally did come up with a concept it would be rushed and half-assed and because Lou would be the star no matter what, it would have bombed, making Lou vulnerable for firing.

Then after Penn was called out for being unhelpful, he gives his team the cold shoulder. Sure, he had just been criticizing Lou for ages. But when he's criticized for the first time this whole process? He turns into a poor sport. I realize it must have been tough to hear after having been deservedly praised for everything he had done up to that point, but damn.

When Clay later tries to address the issue, Penn tries to stonewall him, too. First he goes into Lou-style conspiracy mode. Because Clay couldn't have been criticizing Penn because he genuinely thought Penn was being a bully, of course. No, Clay had to be "setting Penn up" for elimination because Clay does not like him! When that didn't work, he tried to make Clay feel bad about his word choice. Both of those looked to me like attempts to get Clay to apologize so that Penn could regain the power he had over Clay and the group, and so that he would never have to address the actual thrust of what Clay was saying (i.e. Penn is not perfect). When Clay refused to coddle Penn and kiss his ass, Penn gave him the silent treatment. Wonderful.

I love Old Penn and I hope he comes back soon, because New Penn is a sulky child. He may be smarter and more well-read than everyone else in the room, but his display tonight showed that he does not possess the social skills to win. I think if New Penn is permanent he'll outlast most of the women, Lou and maybe Paul, but that's it. Then he'll fall on his sword because he's just so above everything.

If Old Penn comes back, I think he could be final two.

[Unanimous]

I thought Penn showed great self control throughout--kept his cool, stayed quiet and, if he shut down a bit, he still worked hard and contributed to the task.

I think so too, and I believe that he shut down rather than get sucked into bashing someone (Lou, Clay) and thereby hurt someone else. I think that took a lot of control and kindness to refuse to lash out in return.

I believe that Clay is clever and very calculating, and recognized that Lou's alliance could be "bought" with some support and attention. It soon became obvious that Lou would founder completely unless others pretty much took charge and Clay saw an opening to do this, and soon after Lou is parroting Clay in calling Penn "superior". This made Clay "look good" as well as turning some of the guys against Penn, which is I think why Penn said that he never felt so "set up" in his life. Clay is smart, knows how to play the game, is good at manipulating people, seeing their weaknesses and taking advantage of them, all "skills" that make him a frontrunner in winning IMO. Penn does suck up in the BR to Trump, but he also hasn't trashed anyone so far, abiding by his decision that he won't hurt anyone in order to win. That will harm Penn's chances in this game, so naturally Trump will get rid of him soon. Trump wants to drive people to be nasty and backstabbing and those who refuse will be gone for not cooperating (Adam, Tia, probably Penn), and those who will get down and dirty will be rewarded. Too bad.

Then he'll fall on his sword because he's just so above everything.

Penn may fall on his sword, but not because he's so "above everything". If he refuses to trash anyone (and he already showed this in handling his first stint as PM), then that's why he'll fall on his sword, just like Adam and Tia.

Edited by Unanimous, Mar 19, 2012 @ 4:38 PM.

[walkingguide]

Penn was explaining that the way they did brainstorming in comedy writing WAS to try to poke holes in the ideas thrown out. Instant criticism is expected in the circles he usually works in. That's different from how brainstorming is done in my place of business, where you toss out ideas, write them ALL down and don't criticize ANY of them. Instead, you look at the list and select the best ones for further development rather than trashing each one. It's a different process, and I can see how Penn's process was intimidating and viewed as negative by the team. I'm sure the comedy writers he works expect to have to defend and refine their ideas and appreciate THAT process. But if you expect the non-judgmental type of brainstorming, you'd be irritated with what Penn was doing.

Full disclosure: I love Penn, I love his podcast, I love Bulls***! I've been to P&T in Las Vegas twice and love going every couple of years.

As he shows in his podcast run-down of Celebrity Apprentice, he takes criticism of his behavior and demeanor to heart. Also, at some point he was operating with almost no sleep due to having another gig the day before. He says when confronted, he generally gets very quiet and retreats rather than meeting confrontation with confrontation. He said to expect to see in sulking for a couple of episodes.

[Unanimous]

As he shows in his podcast run-down of Celebrity Apprentice, he takes criticism of his behavior and demeanor to heart. Also, at some point he was operating with almost no sleep due to having another gig the day before. He says when confronted, he generally gets very quiet and retreats rather than meeting confrontation with confrontation. He said to expect to see in sulking for a couple of episodes.

I agree. Penn owns his behavior and is willing to see others' POVs (in his podcasts and on twitter). I honestly think that he's misunderstood a lot because of his physical appearance and he's often "on" with his "carny" persona and can be loud and boisterous. I think that it's easy to believe that Lou mistakenly thought that Penn might "appreciate" his "tough guy greetings" (as Clay described them), and it took him a while to realize that they were not appreciated at all.

[Drapers4thWife]

"Fool Us" was an absolutely great show. It was a competition where unknown magic acts from around the world performed in front of Penn & Teller and, if Penn and Teller couldn't figure out how the illusion was done, the winners won a trip to Vegas to open for P&T. Even the acts who weren't at a level to fool P&T got a lot of encouragement and praise from them, and with those that did "fool" the guys, it was great to see Penn and Teller's genuine excitement and glee at seeing an illusion they couldn't figure out.

[SunFun]

I missed sseing all of Penn's behavior that apparently annoyed Clay, so I can't comment on if it warranted confrontation.

As for Penn, he was so obnoxiously giddy on DWTS that I've very surprised by his lower-key persona on Apprentice, even thought he'd be one of the last standing. Maybe the competitive Clay did too. Hmmm.

[3 is enough]

Someone tweeted Penn yesterday and asked "How can you stand stand Aubrey? I couldn't put up with that idiot". His response: "Big tits".

Gotta say I was a bit taken aback by that response, even though I'm aware of his reputation.

[WileyCoyote]

Someone tweeted Penn yesterday and asked "How can you stand stand Aubrey? I couldn't put up with that idiot". His response: "Big tits".

Gotta say I was a bit taken aback by that response, even though I'm aware of his reputation.

It may not be politically correct... but I actually think that's a hilarious answer.

The subtext to it is that's she's got nothing else recommending her. Really, if Aubrey was a woman we could summon even an ounce of respect for otherwise, then Penn's smartass reply would be unfairly demeaning and sexist. Here, I believe, there's a shading that makes it a tolerable answer, even if very risque. Its not the smartest thing he's even done, saying this (he's gonna catch a lot of shit), but I can see why he couldn't resist himself in saying it.

[Jextella]

Outside of the Apprentice, I could give two bits about most of them - including Penn. I was never a fan of Penn and Teller, and I never will be.

Meanwhile, I actually really, REALLY like Penn on the Apprentice. I love how he conducts himself on tasks and in the board room. Penn has a very pleasant matter-of-fact delivery. He explains poor performance clearly but in the least offensive manner I've ever heard on that show.

He just rattles off the day's events and moves on. I love that about him.

Reg. the episode in which Clay called him out....couple of things...everyone on the team was frustrated with Lou at the time. Penn was no different and likely caught up in the idea that everyone there had - Lou is difficult. In shooting Lou's ideas down, Penn was simply stating his thoughts. I didn't see it as an attempt to sabotage - although maybe it was. There wasn't enough footage shown to make a proper determination.

Clay, on the other hand, held Lou's hand like he was one of his special needs children - esp. during the photoshoot.

In a round-about way, I'd say Penn was more respectuful by simply treating Lou as an equal. Clay's kid-glove handling was an ackowledgment that Lou needed assistance.

[Kali12]

He just rattles off the day's events and moves on. I love that about him.

Me, too. I've also learned from him how to answer Trump's question, "Who should I eliminate?" if I'm ever on this show. (ha)

As Penn pointed out this week, "I always say 'the project manager'" which, of course, is obvious, but I'd never thought of saying it. It may not be true, of course, that the PM is most deserving of going, but it's a nice neutral answer if you're on the spot and don't really WANT to tell DT why x,y, or z is so terrible on your team or the other.