EXCLUSIVEMagicians Penn & Teller Are 'Grateful' for Their Longstanding Career: 'We Are Much More Successful Than We Should Have Been'
Feb. 12 2024, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
Penn & Teller, the legendary duo who have performed together over the past five decades, are not planning on retiring anytime soon — in fact, it's quite the opposite.
"I don't think we have any other hopes than we love doing new tricks, we love performing at our theater in Las Vegas, we love having our TV show on The CW, and we hope that continues," the duo, who teamed up with Mucinex to make Mr. Mucus — the epitome of cough and congestion – disappear, exclusively told OK! on February 7 at Vanderbilt Hall Grand Central Station after their magic show.
The duo have been working together for over five decades.
The pair — born Penn Fraser Jillette and Raymond Joseph Teller — never thought they would get to where they are today. "We are much more successful than we should have been," Penn admitted. "We were carnival trash, we were working fairs. We expected to play for 200 people!"
These days, the stars have a lot going on — from their success Las Vegas show to their TV show Penn & Teller: Fool Us — but they're not tired of getting to perform for others. "I don't understand. There's so many people that complain about being bored or sick of what they're doing, but there's a lot of other jobs you can have," Penn said.
The pair recently performed at Grand Central Station in NYC.
"All we ever wanted to do was pick up tricks and show them to people. So, we started doing that almost half a century ago — and we're still doing it," Penn, who met Teller in the mid-1970s, recalled. "We're just grateful that people still want to see us. If they didn't want to see us, we'd just be doing it on a lower scale."
Penn & Teller have a TV show on The CW and Las Vegas residency.
To this day, Penn & Teller are thrilled they're still evolving. "The internet has given us magicians who don't look like us a chance," Penn said, adding that they do their shows to hear people's sweet reactions. "Having your name referenced is a nice feeling."
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"We have done more new magic than I think other magicians in history," Penn continued. "A lot of tricks that don't work just die, and the ones that go on live on forever. It's the survival of the trickiest."
Despite working in the business for quite some time, the pair's creative juices continue to flow. "We've written more tricks in the past three years than we have in any other three year period in our lives," Penn shared. "We're still creating stuff, whether it's good or not — that's for people to decide."
"We don't care where the theater is — just tell us when the soundcheck is, and we'll show up," he added.
Magicians Penn & Teller partner with Mucinex to make Mr. Mucus disappear during a magic show in New York.
Since Penn & Teller are constantly on the go, it made sense for them to team up with Mucinex to make Mr. Mucus — the epitome of cough and congestion — disappear during a recent show in New York City amid cold and flu season.
The duo have teamed up with Mucinex.
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"A cough can be a real drag and you want to make sure you can still do your shows," Penn said. "I try to get rest and eat right in order to not get sick."
"The fact that we got to do this trick live was amazing. We never made a big ball of mucus go away! They let us do a live trick in Grand Central Station, which was really fun! They also make a product we use, which is awesome," he added of Mucinex 12-Hour, which helps vanish anyone's cough and congestion symptoms.
