Teller (magician)

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Teller
Teller
Born	February 14, 1948 (age 59) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Teller (born Raymond Joseph Teller on February 14, 1948) is an American magician, best known as the smaller (5'9"/1.75 m compared to Penn's 6'6"/1.98 m and 300 pounds), silent half of the comedy magic duo known as Penn & Teller. 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

[edit] Biography

Teller was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were of Russian Jewish and Cuban descent.^[2] He attended Central High School and Amherst College and taught Latin at Lawrence High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

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 and a debunker.

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. He found that if he maintained silence throughout his act, spectators stopped 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, a "partnership" that continues to this day.

[edit] Teller speaks

Despite his trademark of never speaking on stage, Teller has spoken in a number of films and television shows, as well as in numerous radio, print and television interviews.

Teller plays an anthropomorphic cat, Mr. Boots, on an episode of Dharma & Greg. [1] 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). Along with partner Jillette, he voices as himself in the 1999 The Simpsons episode "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder," in which he urges Homer Simpson to take Penn's threats of violence seriously, claiming that "I'm not the first Teller!" He also speaks in a guest starring role on 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.

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 in Babylon 5 in the episode Day of the Dead. They played Rebo & Zooty, a pair of visiting comedians, the shorter of whom only speaks through a machine. Teller's character is shown to whisper during the denouement.

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!. 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. [2]

Teller also contributed an audio review of the book The Glorious Deception, by illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, on National Public Radio in July 2005. [3]

The January 31, 2007 episode of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe has a lengthy interview with Teller. [4]

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.