NPR

Penn Jillette: Fool Us Once

Ask Me Another rises from the ashes in Phoenix, AZ with Penn Jillette! He pulls back the curtain on his distaste for magic, his strictly working relationship with Teller, and his love of being fooled.
Penn Jillette on Ask Me Another in Phoenix, Arizona.

Magician Penn Jillette prefers tricks to illusions: "which is just gluing two front surface mirrors together at 45 degree angles, and then the sides look like the back!" He doesn't particularly like spending time with his stage partner Teller: "We wanted to work together, but there was no sort of affection." And he doesn't even like magic: "I was never fond of it."

So whatthis renowned performer, whose show at the Rio Hotel and Casino is the longest-running headliner act in Las Vegas, enjoy? Being fooled. "It's the best feeling in the world," he told host Ophira Eisenberg at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. "You don't get into magic 'cause you wanna fool people. You get into magic 'cause you wanna be fooled. And then you keep chasing that first high."

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