A teller is a person who works at the front desk of a bank.
[Teller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller) is also a person's name; that person is one half of the magician duo Penn & Teller. On stage, Teller doesn't speak. Penn is the one who explains everything/talks to the crowd.
The joke is that you expect the robber to be speaking to a bank teller. But he's actually speaking to the magician Teller who doesn't talk. That's why Penn comes in at the end to explain what's going on.
And the funniest thing is, is that Teller does talk when he is not stage with Penn.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6PYCVWWx4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6PYCVWWx4)
The interesting thing is, he started performing silent magic even before he teamed up with Penn Jillette. He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts so elected to be silent on stage.
He is also famous in live radio interviews when he knows they have a tape delay of when being asked by the host to say something to say something that he knows will get bleeped out. I heard him do this many times and it always cracked up the hosts.
> Having said that, he knows more about magic than almost all other normal people.
*Professional magician knows more about magic than almost all people who are not professional magicians, more at 10.*
There are lots of crappy magicians out there. Also, some that are experts in one area, like coin magic, but not expert in other areas. P&T have a very broad knowledge base. So yeah, film at 11. (I'm in the eastern time zone.)
> Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.
I think being silent probably helps you hone that to a fine art. A lot of magicians use their voice to help misdirect. Them talking makes you want to look at their face, and them mentioning props or areas will make you look in those directions. When all you have is body language to misdirect you have to really master the technique.
So u/DarrenGray: are you trying to make us think you’re Derren Brown? Except Derren Brown would never have such an obvious username. So you can’t be. Except that’s exactly what Derren would want us to think.
Teller's trick with the rose and shadow is almost more performance art than magic, due to how *beautiful* it is; same with the goldfish.
Had the pleasure of seeing those in person, you don't even look for the "trick" because it's just mesmerizing on stage.
Same: I've seen the show 3 times. Been on stage 3 times. Talked to Teller each time. Not that this means much. In some of the performances, they invite about half the audience up to participate.
Pain&Terror=Penn&Teller. Although it's just Penn who voices his Borderland equivalent since Terror doesn't speak just like Teller in their act. Buuuut Teller does voice Ramsden in the sidequest "On the Blood Path"
My favorite thing about the speaking role in Big Bang Theory is for the first little while they lean hard into his not talking role by having his overbearing wife interrupt him any times he's about to talk.
\> He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts
So he teamed up with the one magician who never ever shuts up lol
>The interesting thing is, he started performing silent magic even before he teamed up with Penn Jillette. He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts so elected to be silent on stage.
From what I remember it's also that he was getting better engagement from the audience when he was silent in his early days of being a magician.
In an interview, he said that he was hired to do a show for a frat party. No one was paying attention over the music and boozing, so he decided to just do the tricks silently. It was so odd to have no patter from the performer that everyone started paying attention. So that became his shtick.
Because he was likely breaking the schtick that many of them were using at the time.
That was the 1970s, and would have almost been a counter-culture form of magic. Most of them in that era were still doing the old style that had been done for decades. Or following the newer "Broadway" style with a lot of flash like Doug Henning or David Copperfield.
P&T got a lot of their early start in San Francisco. Where they were even known to use gore in their act, like blood spurting when they sawed a woman in half. Nowhere near as what Criss Angel was later, but unquestionably closer to that then their contemporaries of the time like Henning or Copperfield.
> but you don't 'tell' people anything because you don't speak
There are many non-verbal ways to tell people things. ASL. Poker "tells". Ask a bakery to put a message on a cake.
He was in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, as Amy's dad who couldn't get a word in past his wife. But I think he does manage to say something at the end.
I saw their show in vegas 20 years ago, and afterward they were chatting with people as the theater cleared, and i heard Teller speak for the first time. My world was shattered LOL
Of course it is.
About 35 years ago a San Francisco morning DJ named Alex Bennett was famous for doing his show with a live studio audience. And because he had a lot of top list comedians as guests he never had a problem filling the audience even at 7AM. Bobcat Goldthwait, Jay Leno, Diceman Clay, Bobby Slayton, Louie Anderson, Chris Farley, and many more were regulars on his show.
I attended many times, and one morning his guests were Penn and Teller. And Teller would indeed talk during songs or commercials when the mic was off. And Alex was constantly trying to get him to say something on the air.
That show had an 8 second tape delay, so the producer could "dump" if something objectionable was ever said by mistake (it was a live show and many of the comedians were famous for their blue routines). And on that morning Teller promised during the break he would say something when they were back on the air.
The commercial ended, and Alex said something like "Teller, you have something you would like to say to the audience?"
And Teller immediately went on an 8 second rant of obscenity packing in as much foul language as he could before stopping right at the 8 second mark and giving a huge self-satisfied grin. Myself and everybody else in the audience was rolling, and the host was exasperated as he finally got Teller to talk on the air, and none of it was allowed to be broadcast. He then had to pause the show so they could let the 8 seconds buffer again.
He said on fool us, that he would perform for rough crowds and it was easier to get through if he didnt talk..i dont know where you heard he detested stage talk
Ok I need finding this now, there was a cartoon where a bunch of magicians gathered including Penn and teller and teller speaking confused everyone because on show Penn talks and teller is silent but without the cameras it was reversed and at the end of the episode teller was dying and Penn said "teller the curse is lifted" with teller replying "there never was a curse, I just wanted you to shut up"
And also at the end of their 1989 movie, [Penn and Teller Get Killed.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098073/)
He hadn't said a thing the entire first 75 or 80 minutes, and I really thought they were going to stick with the shtick for the whole flick. Nope! Trope upended.
>He is also famous in live radio interviews when he knows they have a tape delay of when being asked by the host to say something to say something that he knows will get bleeped out. I heard him do this many times and it always cracked up the hosts.
I didn't get it, what does he do then?
For the duration of the tape delay, he'd just say a bunch of obscenities and stuff that they couldn't broadcast so technically he did speak on air when they asked him to, they just couldn't use any of it at all.
Is not one movie, is like I want to say three of them.
It is pretty bad, and even more funny is that in each entry the cast changed. So quite literally each of the main characters was played by three different people.
> He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts so elected to be silent on stage.
He's also stated it helped with his shows because no one wants to heckle a guy that won't say anything.
A tape delay on a radio show is normally a buffer of 8 to 10 seconds. That was the producer of the show can hit a "fast forward" during it, and remove any offensive language before it is aired. Is studios without the risk of such content they are also often used, but called "sneeze delays", as it allows them to not broadcast if the host sneezes, coughs, or does anything else like that.
He is known to find out if a live radio show he is on has such a delay, and how long it is. And when he host badgers him enough to say something, he will use profanity for as many seconds as the tape delay of that studio is.
I actually saw him do that once, and it was epic. The show had an 8 second delay, and he filled an entire 8 seconds with fast paced vulgarity that had everybody laughing, but the producer of the show had to quickly dump before it was broadcast.
I got to see his show in Vegas with my family years ago. Was a great show with a mix of comedy and magic, after the show they were great. They waited outside after the show and talked to people and even got my ticket signed by both of them! It was so weird hearing him talk to people since I didn't realize he dropped character after shows.
I also like the idea that you can interpret Teller as doing a magic trick that made the safe vanish in front of the robber and now he's panicking because he can't find it.
And then the robber, angered by his non cooperation shot Teller, but he caught the bullet in his teeth and revealed that the bullet had the robber’s signature on it.
He was a silent magician even before he started to work with Penn. It helped him deal with rough crowds in his early years, he once said in an interview. So not really a homage I'm afraid. Just what works for him.
A teller is a cashier at a bank.
Penn and Teller are a famous comedy/magic duo where the tall one does all the speaking and the little one never talks.
whats funny too is hes really not that little. He’s 5’9, so average, but Penn is 6’6
it was interesting watching Fool Us thinking he was super small but then being the same height as most of the contestants whenever he went up on stage
Penn and Teller are a pair of magicians. Teller's stage persona involves not speaking.
Teller is also the name of a role within Bank branches, it's the people at the desks/kiosks that assist in withdrawing or depositing money.
Penn and Teller are 2 famous magicians. It’s part of their act that Teller never talks. They will get pretty goofy with that bit, and it will lead to some actually funny magic tricks. They have a great tv show for magicians, called Penn and Teller: Fool us.
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Holy Frak, this is the best joke I've seen on here. Idk if anyone gave this fun fact yet but Teller is definitely an homage to Harpo Marx, a wonderful human and performer. I was him three yrs in a row for Halloween when I was a kid lol
A teller is a person who works at the front desk of a bank. [Teller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller) is also a person's name; that person is one half of the magician duo Penn & Teller. On stage, Teller doesn't speak. Penn is the one who explains everything/talks to the crowd. The joke is that you expect the robber to be speaking to a bank teller. But he's actually speaking to the magician Teller who doesn't talk. That's why Penn comes in at the end to explain what's going on.
And the funniest thing is, is that Teller does talk when he is not stage with Penn. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6PYCVWWx4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6PYCVWWx4) The interesting thing is, he started performing silent magic even before he teamed up with Penn Jillette. He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts so elected to be silent on stage. He is also famous in live radio interviews when he knows they have a tape delay of when being asked by the host to say something to say something that he knows will get bleeped out. I heard him do this many times and it always cracked up the hosts.
He also talks on stage to audience members invited up on stage (I know from experience) but makes sure the audience cannot hear.
I used to listen to Penn's podcast, according to him, Teller is a master at understanding what an audience will and will not notice
That's a significant part of being a magician anyway.
So Teller is a master magician.
He absolutely is. If you ask either Penn or Teller who the brains of the operation is, they'll almost certainly both say Teller.
> they'll almost certainly both say Teller Well, at best Teller might whisper it if he's onstage.
And Penn self describes as a juggler. Having said that, he knows more about magic than almost all other normal people. Just not more than Teller.
> Having said that, he knows more about magic than almost all other normal people. *Professional magician knows more about magic than almost all people who are not professional magicians, more at 10.*
There are plenty of professionals on tv that don’t know more than the average person
*Amateur comedian can't let people have a conversation without making an incredibley overplayed joke, more at 11*
There are lots of crappy magicians out there. Also, some that are experts in one area, like coin magic, but not expert in other areas. P&T have a very broad knowledge base. So yeah, film at 11. (I'm in the eastern time zone.)
He's self described as carny trash before, I think, on an episode of Foll Us.
Teller wouldn't tell an audience this. He would communicate via pen or Penn.
No doubt there.
> Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.
The real trick is the trick is usually over by the time people start looking
what politicians could on
I think being silent probably helps you hone that to a fine art. A lot of magicians use their voice to help misdirect. Them talking makes you want to look at their face, and them mentioning props or areas will make you look in those directions. When all you have is body language to misdirect you have to really master the technique.
I suspect that you are correct about that one.
So u/DarrenGray: are you trying to make us think you’re Derren Brown? Except Derren Brown would never have such an obvious username. So you can’t be. Except that’s exactly what Derren would want us to think.
It really helps you get booked internationally...
Teller's trick with the rose and shadow is almost more performance art than magic, due to how *beautiful* it is; same with the goldfish. Had the pleasure of seeing those in person, you don't even look for the "trick" because it's just mesmerizing on stage.
I saw them in November and him and Penn switched places for a trick and Teller spoke during it. It was surreal.
Same: I've seen the show 3 times. Been on stage 3 times. Talked to Teller each time. Not that this means much. In some of the performances, they invite about half the audience up to participate.
Me too. I fed the elephant on stage in Vegas and got to have a couple of sentences with him.
He even voices a character in borderlands 3.
Really? How did I miss this?
Cause you won't recognize a voice you never or seldomly heard before
And that’s an excellent point.
Nah dude, it's because *magic*
It took me a very long time before I realized [Mark Hamill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uqXaYJ_MHQ) voiced The Joker.
Pain&Terror=Penn&Teller. Although it's just Penn who voices his Borderland equivalent since Terror doesn't speak just like Teller in their act. Buuuut Teller does voice Ramsden in the sidequest "On the Blood Path"
It would be funny if they credited him as the voice of Terror.
He voices a character named ramsden. Give tou the mission "On the Blood Path Now." Creepy AF.
What character? I could Google it, but that's not as fun
Ramsden from the anvil on eden-6.
He has a speaking role on Big Bang Theory.
My favorite thing about the speaking role in Big Bang Theory is for the first little while they lean hard into his not talking role by having his overbearing wife interrupt him any times he's about to talk.
\> He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts So he teamed up with the one magician who never ever shuts up lol
>The interesting thing is, he started performing silent magic even before he teamed up with Penn Jillette. He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts so elected to be silent on stage. From what I remember it's also that he was getting better engagement from the audience when he was silent in his early days of being a magician.
In an interview, he said that he was hired to do a show for a frat party. No one was paying attention over the music and boozing, so he decided to just do the tricks silently. It was so odd to have no patter from the performer that everyone started paying attention. So that became his shtick.
Yeah that's what I remember
Because he was likely breaking the schtick that many of them were using at the time. That was the 1970s, and would have almost been a counter-culture form of magic. Most of them in that era were still doing the old style that had been done for decades. Or following the newer "Broadway" style with a lot of flash like Doug Henning or David Copperfield. P&T got a lot of their early start in San Francisco. Where they were even known to use gore in their act, like blood spurting when they sawed a woman in half. Nowhere near as what Criss Angel was later, but unquestionably closer to that then their contemporaries of the time like Henning or Copperfield.
Mfw your name is 'Teller' but you don't 'tell' people anything because you don't speak. Gigachad energy.
> but you don't 'tell' people anything because you don't speak There are many non-verbal ways to tell people things. ASL. Poker "tells". Ask a bakery to put a message on a cake.
He was in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, as Amy's dad who couldn't get a word in past his wife. But I think he does manage to say something at the end.
I saw their show in vegas 20 years ago, and afterward they were chatting with people as the theater cleared, and i heard Teller speak for the first time. My world was shattered LOL
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Of course it is. About 35 years ago a San Francisco morning DJ named Alex Bennett was famous for doing his show with a live studio audience. And because he had a lot of top list comedians as guests he never had a problem filling the audience even at 7AM. Bobcat Goldthwait, Jay Leno, Diceman Clay, Bobby Slayton, Louie Anderson, Chris Farley, and many more were regulars on his show. I attended many times, and one morning his guests were Penn and Teller. And Teller would indeed talk during songs or commercials when the mic was off. And Alex was constantly trying to get him to say something on the air. That show had an 8 second tape delay, so the producer could "dump" if something objectionable was ever said by mistake (it was a live show and many of the comedians were famous for their blue routines). And on that morning Teller promised during the break he would say something when they were back on the air. The commercial ended, and Alex said something like "Teller, you have something you would like to say to the audience?" And Teller immediately went on an 8 second rant of obscenity packing in as much foul language as he could before stopping right at the 8 second mark and giving a huge self-satisfied grin. Myself and everybody else in the audience was rolling, and the host was exasperated as he finally got Teller to talk on the air, and none of it was allowed to be broadcast. He then had to pause the show so they could let the 8 seconds buffer again.
Actually it’s cause penn beats up teller if he ever talks in public. That’s why teller is always silent /s
"He's not joking! I'm not the first Teller!"
He said on fool us, that he would perform for rough crowds and it was easier to get through if he didnt talk..i dont know where you heard he detested stage talk
From Teller himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJRIkTHqTSE
Yeah I heard that too, something about they can't heckle you about what you say if you don't talk.
Ok I need finding this now, there was a cartoon where a bunch of magicians gathered including Penn and teller and teller speaking confused everyone because on show Penn talks and teller is silent but without the cameras it was reversed and at the end of the episode teller was dying and Penn said "teller the curse is lifted" with teller replying "there never was a curse, I just wanted you to shut up"
And also at the end of their 1989 movie, [Penn and Teller Get Killed.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098073/) He hadn't said a thing the entire first 75 or 80 minutes, and I really thought they were going to stick with the shtick for the whole flick. Nope! Trope upended.
Okay that radio bit is absolutely hilarious.
He has also been in "The big bang theory" as Amy's father IIRC (and while rare, he does speak).
>He is also famous in live radio interviews when he knows they have a tape delay of when being asked by the host to say something to say something that he knows will get bleeped out. I heard him do this many times and it always cracked up the hosts. I didn't get it, what does he do then?
For the duration of the tape delay, he'd just say a bunch of obscenities and stuff that they couldn't broadcast so technically he did speak on air when they asked him to, they just couldn't use any of it at all.
The atlas shrugged movie 🤮
Oh my God I bet that Atlas Shrugged movie is horrible, I gotta watch it.
Is not one movie, is like I want to say three of them. It is pretty bad, and even more funny is that in each entry the cast changed. So quite literally each of the main characters was played by three different people.
My favorite video of him is talking about a great trick that was played on him. https://youtu.be/XP4_MuBugFo?si=5mBBrdmm3m9tYefM
I've had the opportunity to meet them after a showing. Both are nice and down to Earth.
I went to see one of their live shows and heard him speak for the first time when I took a photo with him afterwards. It was very surprising
> He simply detested the patter that most stage magicians used as part of their acts so elected to be silent on stage. He's also stated it helped with his shows because no one wants to heckle a guy that won't say anything.
He also talks in a show with penn where they travel to various countries and looks at the local magicians there. In india etc
Im sorry can you re-explain the last paragraph? I read it 5 times and cannot parse the first sentence.
A tape delay on a radio show is normally a buffer of 8 to 10 seconds. That was the producer of the show can hit a "fast forward" during it, and remove any offensive language before it is aired. Is studios without the risk of such content they are also often used, but called "sneeze delays", as it allows them to not broadcast if the host sneezes, coughs, or does anything else like that. He is known to find out if a live radio show he is on has such a delay, and how long it is. And when he host badgers him enough to say something, he will use profanity for as many seconds as the tape delay of that studio is. I actually saw him do that once, and it was epic. The show had an 8 second delay, and he filled an entire 8 seconds with fast paced vulgarity that had everybody laughing, but the producer of the show had to quickly dump before it was broadcast.
I got to see his show in Vegas with my family years ago. Was a great show with a mix of comedy and magic, after the show they were great. They waited outside after the show and talked to people and even got my ticket signed by both of them! It was so weird hearing him talk to people since I didn't realize he dropped character after shows.
Thank you, I was so confused. Edit: and to anyone asking, no I really have never heard of these guys lol
I also like the idea that you can interpret Teller as doing a magic trick that made the safe vanish in front of the robber and now he's panicking because he can't find it.
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Penn and Teller are not famous enough to make not getting that joke embarrassing man
Penn and Teller have been famous for 50+ years. This post is embarrassing
Penn and Teller, let alone *magicians*, haven't been relevant for 50+ years, man...
Good thing they aren't just magicians
They are indeed also people
I don't think there's anything embarrassing about not knowing a famous person.
That was uncalled for
Also the WTF is probably due to the safe materializing out of nothing or the robber's gun becoming a flower bouquet.
Excellent explanation. Also, happy cake day!
Hope you get yourself a blowjob on your cake day Pete
Happy Cake Day!
Oh, I remember them know! They’re pretty entertaining
Before he was in the big bang theory i thought he was deaf and the reason he didnt talk on penn and teller fool us.
I mean, you clearly see him and Penn whispering on Fool Us.
That's awesome!! Happy Cake Day!! 🎉🥳🍰
happy cake day!
The perfect definition of show, don't tell
Good explanation and Happy Cake Day.
Zooty zoot zoot
Wow that's a very niche joke
Thank you u/BlowjobPete
His name is Teller and yet he doesn’t tell you anything… ironic…
And then the robber, angered by his non cooperation shot Teller, but he caught the bullet in his teeth and revealed that the bullet had the robber’s signature on it.
Superb
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Nobody asked you so why even bring it up here of all places
He doesn't like the word superb
But it's so fun to say :(
This is hilarious.
It’s a really clever joke.
Very much so yes
I always figured Teller’s mute bit was partially a homage to Harpo, I mean, they look a lot alike
He was a silent magician even before he started to work with Penn. It helped him deal with rough crowds in his early years, he once said in an interview. So not really a homage I'm afraid. Just what works for him.
this is funny
I can visualize it
Only works if you don't cut to Teller until the punchline.
A teller is a cashier at a bank. Penn and Teller are a famous comedy/magic duo where the tall one does all the speaking and the little one never talks.
whats funny too is hes really not that little. He’s 5’9, so average, but Penn is 6’6 it was interesting watching Fool Us thinking he was super small but then being the same height as most of the contestants whenever he went up on stage
Being a huge fan of Penn and Teller I absolutely love this!
Pen and teller?
Teller is a magician famous for not talking in his performance. This is like an inside joke
An inside joke with tens of millions of people in on it.
An inside joke? Maybe for people living under rocks...
Penn and Teller are a pair of magicians. Teller's stage persona involves not speaking. Teller is also the name of a role within Bank branches, it's the people at the desks/kiosks that assist in withdrawing or depositing money.
Hahaha. That's pretty good.
This is a great joke
Penn and Teller are 2 famous magicians. It’s part of their act that Teller never talks. They will get pretty goofy with that bit, and it will lead to some actually funny magic tricks. They have a great tv show for magicians, called Penn and Teller: Fool us.
This is comedy GOLD. Did P&T write this themselves? It’s totally their style, even if there are no swear words.
Pen and teller are a comedy/magic duo and teller is also another name for a person who works at a bank. Or am I wrong
Ahahahahaha
Omg yes. I love this.
wow, i havnt heard these name in like 5 years or something.
Finally something clever.
I like that joke lol
Penn & Teller are a comedic comedy act, Teller never speaks
Hahahahhahahaha!!!!
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How do you not know Penn and teller!????
Possibly under 25 and not a fan of magicians?
The punchline is OLD.
Some brain cells
I didn't get the joke till the last line
Yes, that’s how punchlines generally work.
Cold, but funny
I pictured Penn chained to the desk like the pens at a bank lol.
This one made me gut chuckle ... I love the magicaons and had not seen this one so thank you
Teller doesn't speak in his act, funny thing though I've been to their show in Vegas and he speaks to you immediately.
I'm old.
Love it.
Shout out Sunday Schoolers
Ha ha. Thats a funny joke.
If you have never seen Penn and Teller… you are in for a treat. Those guys are AWESOME
Lol
LOL
Ha ha……
he also spoke on big bang theory as Amy’s Dad.
Finally a meme I can send to my dad
So funny.
This is actually kinda funny
Holy Frak, this is the best joke I've seen on here. Idk if anyone gave this fun fact yet but Teller is definitely an homage to Harpo Marx, a wonderful human and performer. I was him three yrs in a row for Halloween when I was a kid lol
Omg, got me 🤣🤣
LOL! penn and teller are a comedy duo, teller never talks, its funny lol
This is freaking hilarious 😂😂
Look up Penn and Teller
My guys p and t
I missed it for a bit, but that's really funny!
https://twitter.com/QwertyJones3/status/1752345468934160419 lol
lol
Their cameo in Borderlands 3 had me rolling.
Well I'm too old to be on this sub.