Penn Jillette

At 69 years old, Penn Jillette has this physical status:

Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, singer, producer, comedian, television presenter, and best-selling author best known for his collaboration with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller.

The pair has appeared in numerous stage and television programs, including Penn & Teller: Fool Us, and Bullshit!, and they are currently headlining at The Rio in Las Vegas.

Jillette plays the role of orator and raconteur. He has written eight books, including the New York Times Bestseller, "God, No." Signs You may now be an Atheist and Other Mystic Tales.

He is also known for his promotion of atheism, scientific skepticism, the First Amendment, libertarianism, and free-market capitalism.

Early life

Jillette was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Valda Rudolph Jillette (née Parks) was a secretary and his father, Samuel Herbert Jillette (1912-1999), served at Greenfield's Franklin County Jail. After reading the Bible, Jillette became an atheist in his early teens. After asking questions in a youth group that ostensibly made skeptics of his peers, he was asked to leave the church. Jillette became disenchanted with traditional illusionist performances that presented the craft as genuine magic, such as The Amazing Kreskin on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He watched a show by illusionist James Randi and became enamored of his quest for magic that openly acknowledged deception as entertainment rather than a mysterious supernatural power at eighteen. Randi is the one person on the planet he loves more than relatives of his family, according to Jillette who adores him the most.

Jillette assisted with the creation and execution of a juggling act shortly after their 1973 graduation. Jillette debuted at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, a children's college. Weir Chrisemer, a mutual friend, introduced him to Teller in 1974. The three musicians later formed Asparagus Valley Cultural Society, which appeared in Amherst and San Francisco. Penn & Teller formed Penn & Teller in 1981 and later Broadway theatre company "Penn & Teller" toured nationally.

Personal life

Jillette is married to Emily Jillette, and they have two children, Zolten and Moxie Crimefighter.

Jillette has shared numerous stories about his left hand's red fingernail. In one, Jillette's mother begged him to get a manicure because people will be observing his hands. In reaction to this, he had all of his nails painted red as a joke. Jillette has also stated that the red fingernail provides excellent disguise and is just plain cold.

"People are asking about my fingernail," Penn says in direct response to concerns regarding his red fingernail. Wear my Dad's ring and my Mom's nail polish. "Just for remembrance and admiration." Jillette said on the podcast Skepticality in 2012 that he was considering changing the definition of the red nail polish, and that she should tell his daughter that it is for her. During his appearance on the Chopped Tournament of Stars (2014), he related the tale of his mother's request that he get a manicure for the reasons given above, but said he kept it out of love for her.

Jillette says he has an addictive personality and claims to have never had "too much as a puff of marijuana or a drop of alcohol" because he does not feel obliged to do it in moderation.

Jillette's blood pressure forced him to be admitted to the hospital in December 2014. He had lost 105 lb (48 kg) by his birthday, March 5, 2015. He follows Joel Fuhrman's nutritarian diet, which means he has no animal products, no processed grains, and no added sugar or salt. Penn is featured in Eating You Alive, a 2016 American documentary about food and fitness. Jillette said he is a vegan in a Big Think interview in 2020.

Jillette identifies herself as an atheist. "ATHEIST," "NOGOD," and "GODLESS" were among his cars' license plates. "They didn't give me 'INFIDEL,'" he said.

He wrote and read an essay for National Public Radio in 2005 claiming that he was "beyond atheism." Atheism does not believe in God... There is no such thing as God," I say. His atheism has influenced every aspect of his life and thoughts, and is as relevant to him as the devout's. Jillette encourages open debate, debate, and proselytizing on the subject of God's existence, feeling that the subject is too important for opinion to be kept private. Jillette does not dismiss those who believe in God: after a performance, he expresses his admiration for a fan who gave him a pocket Gideon Bible because he knew that this individual was truly concerned enough about him to assist him.

Jillette took the Rational Response Squad's "Blasphemy Challenge" in January 2007 and denied the existence of a holy spirit.

Jillette appeared in the SubGenius film 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the Subgenius, where he spoke favour of the parody faith.

Jillette has often referred to himself as a libertarian, and he has said in 2003 that he may regard himself as an anarcho-capitalist. He was a fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

Jillette said in 2008 that there aren't enough evidence to make an informed decision on global warming, that his gut told him it wasn't true, but that his mind says he can't prove it. He has changed his position since 2014, and now believes that climate change is occurring.

He said in 2008 that he "always" votes Libertarian, and that he approved Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for President in 2012 and 2016. However, he participated in a vote swapping campaign for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Nevada's swing state of Nevada in exchange for "10 or 11" of his friends' pledges to vote for Johnson in blue states like California and New York.

Jillette distanced himself from aspects of right-libertarianism in 2020, particularly around COVID-19. "[A] lot of the beliefs that I held dear, rugged individualism, individual rights, are back to bite us in the nuts," he said in a Big Think interview. "I]t seems that getting rid of the gatekeepers gave us Trump as president, but in the same breath, gave us not wearing masks and maybe gave us a heavy dose of overt bigotry."

Jillette endorsed Andrew Yang in the Democratic primary in the 2020 United States presidential election. He said he "used to identify as Libertarian" in an op-ed for CNN after the general election of that year, but voted for Joe Biden.

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Career

Jillette served as host and presenter of the first touring performance by avant-garde band the Residents in 1983. The performance (titled The Mole Show and based on their "Mole trilogy" of albums) featured Jillette coming out between songs telling long and intentionally pointless stories. The show was designed to appear to fall apart as it progressed; Jillette pretended to grow angrier with the crowd, and lighting effects and music would become increasingly chaotic, all building up to the point where he was dragged off stage and returned, handcuffed to a wheelchair, to deliver his last monologue. During one performance, an audience member assaulted Jillette while he was handcuffed to the wheelchair. In later years, Jillette would contribute to two documentary films about the Residents.

Jillette was a contributor to the now-defunct PC/Computing magazine, having a regular back-section column between 1990 and 1994.

Jillette was the primary voice announcer for the U.S.-based cable network Comedy Central in the 1990s.

In 1994, Jillette purchased a house in the Las Vegas Valley and dubbed it "The Slammer". It has been featured in dozens of television shows and articles and was designed by his friend Colin Summers. He formerly recorded music there, and conducted his radio show at the studio inside "The Slammer". In 2016, he sold "The Slammer" so that his family could move to a less remote location.

Starting in 1996, Jillette had a recurring role on Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Drell, the head of the Witches' Council. He and Teller both appeared in the pilot with Debbie Harry as the third member of the Council. The show was created by Jillette's friend Nell Scovell.

For a brief time in 1997, Jillette wrote bi-weekly dispatches for the search engine Excite.com. Each column ended with a pithy comment identifying which of the Penn & Teller duo he was. (For example: "Penn Jillette is the half of Penn & Teller that's detained at airports.") Jillette 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, but have been republished with permission at PennAndTeller.com.

Starting in 2003, Jillette, along with Teller, began producing and hosting the show Penn & Teller: Bullshit! on Showtime. In the show, the two analyze cultural phenomena, debunk myths, criticize people and aspects of society they deem "bullshit".

In 2005 with actor Paul Provenza, Jillette co-produced and co-directed The Aristocrats, a documentary film tracing the life of an obscene joke known as "The Aristocrats". It principally consists of a variety of comedians telling their own versions of the joke.

From January 3, 2006, to March 2, 2007, Jillette hosted, along with fellow atheist, skeptic, and juggler Michael Goudeau, a live, hour-long radio talk show broadcast on Free FM. The show, Penn Radio, broadcast from his Vintage Nudes Studio in his Las Vegas home. The most notable recurring segment of the show was "Monkey Tuesday" and later "The Pull of the Weasel". On March 2, 2007, Jillette announced that he would no longer be doing his radio show. He stated that he is a "show biz wimp" and decided to stop doing the show so he could spend more time with his children.

During the 2006–07 television season, Jillette hosted the prime-time game show Identity on NBC.

In 2008, Jillette was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, paired with professional dancer Kym Johnson. He was the first celebrity to be eliminated. A reference to his large feet as a sign of another large body part was censored in the West Coast airing.

During 2010–2011, Jillette did a bi-weekly show on Revision3 called Penn Point.

On August 16, 2011, Jillette's book God, No! Signs You May Already Be An Atheist and Other Magical Tales was released and made the New York Times Best Sellers shortly after, in the week of August 28, in the 14th position.

An avid upright bassist, Jillette frequently accompanies jazz pianist Mike Jones, who opens for the magician's Las Vegas show. On March 16, 2018, Jones released a live jazz album with Jillette entitled The Show Before the Show which consisted of ten tracks played by the duo at the Rio Las Vegas. Jillette additionally performed at the famed Green Mill Cocktail Lounge to coincide with the album's debut.

Jillette was one of the contestants on The Celebrity Apprentice season 5, beginning on February 19, 2012. He was fired from the show by Donald Trump during the Week 11 episode. Also on February 19, 2012, along with Michael Goudeau, he started the podcast Penn's Sunday School.

In 2013, he returned for the All-Star Celebrity Apprentice season, where he successfully made his way to the finale, raising $663,655 for the charity of his choice, Opportunity Village. On April 5, 2013, Penn and Teller were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the live performance category. Their star, the 2,494th awarded, is near the star dedicated to Harry Houdini. The following day they were recognized by the Magic Castle with the "Magicians of the Year" award.

Penn credits magician and skeptical activist James Randi for his career. During an interview at TAM! 2012, Penn stated that "If not for Randi there would not be Penn & Teller as we are today.": 1:40  He went on to say that "Outside of my family... no one is more important in my life. Randi is everything to me.": 5:34

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