Teller (14 February 1948, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) movies list and roles

Magic is the art of creating false (but funny or beautiful) cause-and-effect relationships. That's our area of expertise. When we do it on a...Show more »

Magic is the art of creating false (but funny or beautiful) cause-and-effect relationships. That's our area of expertise. When we do it on a stage, the audience is fooled, but only for the moment, only in the theater. They know they're watching a show. They know it's all tricks. They do not go home and try to float in the air or catch bullets in their teeth. [But] When we see scam artists peddling false cause-and-effect as reality; when we see the tools of theater and poetry used to victimize the vulnerable; when we sick people submitting to "medical procedures" that belong in a Three Stooges movie; all this enrages us. Show less «

If there existed even one psychic who had predicted that disaster, we'd be very, very interested. But, nope. What haunts me about 9/11 is th...Show more »

If there existed even one psychic who had predicted that disaster, we'd be very, very interested. But, nope. What haunts me about 9/11 is the horrible knowledge that those who did the deed did it to further the divine will. Whenever we hear a politician bless killing, we should think twice. Show less «

In real life, the most important decision you ever make is, where does reality leave off and make-believe begin? If you make a mistake about...Show more »

In real life, the most important decision you ever make is, where does reality leave off and make-believe begin? If you make a mistake about that, you're dead. You know, you're out on the street corner. You think there's no bus coming. You step out, you're dead. Show less «

When a magician lets you notice something on your own, his lie becomes impenetrable.

Nothing fools you better than the lie you tell yourself.

If you do something that you're proud of, that someone else understands, that is a thing of beauty that wasn't there before - you can't beat...Show more »

If you do something that you're proud of, that someone else understands, that is a thing of beauty that wasn't there before - you can't beat that. Show less «

Indian street magic tends to be very gory, blood and guts. One trick is for a magician to take a knife and appear to cut his kid's head almo...Show more »

Indian street magic tends to be very gory, blood and guts. One trick is for a magician to take a knife and appear to cut his kid's head almost off. The magician then says to the crowd, 'Well I can continue to cut off my son's head or you can all give me some money.' Then he wanders around and takes 10 rupees from everyone and restores his son. Show less «

I'm a lazy sod.

Sometimes, magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.

I'm more apt to cry at something beautiful than at something sad.

Doing beautiful things is its own reward.

Magic is an art form where you lie and tell people you are lying.

Generally, magicians don't know what to say, so they say stupid and redundant crap like,'Here I am holding a red ball.'

Magicians have done controlled testing in human perception for thousands of years.

As a kid, I was a Hitchcock lover; I cared about the dark side of things.

Nobody who is a Penn & Teller fan thinks of us first and foremost as magicians, but as a comedy team.

Neuroscientists are novices at deception.

I always assumed I'd spend my life happily performing in artsy-fartsy little theaters.

Comedically, unpleasantness is great fun.

Reality seems so simple. We just open our eyes and there it is. But that doesn't mean it is simple.

Given my absolute druthers, I would certainly like to see that every part of my body is used for spare parts for science.

I believe in art.

Magic's about understanding - and then manipulating - how viewers digest the sensory information.

Onstage, I find absolutely nothing but exhilaration in not talking.

If there isn't at least the threat of violence in art, it tends to be kind of tiresome.

If you read Shakespeare's stage directions, all the gore and violence is right in there.

In America, magic has never been an important part of peoples' lives.

The silent thing onstage allows for a kind of intimacy that no conversation can have. If I just shut up, we're forced to look at each other ...Show more »

The silent thing onstage allows for a kind of intimacy that no conversation can have. If I just shut up, we're forced to look at each other and really confront that moment. Show less «

People come up to me on the street and make some little joke - like they'll say, 'Excuse me, sir, what time is it?' And I'll say, you know, ...Show more »

People come up to me on the street and make some little joke - like they'll say, 'Excuse me, sir, what time is it?' And I'll say, you know, '5:15,' and they'll say, 'Hey! Made you talk!' And that's merely a way of saying, 'I know your work and I like you.' Show less «

People do not come to a Penn & Teller show to see a magic show. They just don't. They come to see weird stuff that they can see no place els...Show more »

People do not come to a Penn & Teller show to see a magic show. They just don't. They come to see weird stuff that they can see no place else, that will make them laugh and make the little hairs stand up on the backs of their necks. Show less «

The place we want to explore unpleasantness in the real world is in art.

The Boy Scouts of America is no longer entirely what people think it is. Essentially, it has been hijacked by religious conservatives.

Every time you perform a magic trick, you're engaging in experimental psychology. If the audience asks, 'How the hell did he do that?' then ...Show more »

Every time you perform a magic trick, you're engaging in experimental psychology. If the audience asks, 'How the hell did he do that?' then the experiment was successful. Show less «

People take reality for granted.

To most people who have a point of view, merely being on TV is an intrinsic good.