Fan Request: Penn & Teller's First Appearance | Letterman

Fan Friday Request:
"Hello,
I love the Letterman clips. They help me get through the day sometimes.
I have a request. Could you please post the first Late Night appearance of Penn & Teller (or one of the several Thanksgiving show appearances P&T made in the 90s)?
Best,
Scott Sullivan"
(From "Late Night," air date: 6/26/85)
If you have a clip you’d like to see, email us at [e-mail]
#pennandteller #magic #letterman
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[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Wow, Penn sounds so different here! Teller sounds exactly the same.

[@ROB-o-saur]

Penn tells the story about this appearance. He said his adrenaline was so high he had tunnel vision was only seeing black and white and everything was happening in slow motion.

[@videogameobsession]

Hah..I somehow missed this one! Back when my friends and I were kids (I'm 51 now), we tried to replicate the P&T SNL skit/trick, where they do the entire thing upsidedown! We had a basement with windows which were ground level, so of course my brother and I thought it would be a great idea to nominate our best friend, "Sparky", to hang from his legs, into the basement interior. Where we had many props hidden under a mounted table. It was quite an elaborate setup, if I do say so myself! We had a fake drinking cup Velcro'd to the table, and cards that he would pick up and would magically disappear into thin air. As well as a monkey puppet that looked like it had come to life, no strings either! Anyway, we showed this to family and friends, who had no knowledge of the original P&T SNL skit, or of what we were doing, and all of them were stumped! They must have come up with a dozen different ideas, not one of them was , "oh! He's hanging upside down, from the basement window, with the camera, also upside down, along with an upsidedown coffee table!". I've never been more proud of something we've accomplished,, (sad, I know!). I thought for sure that Sparky's face turning from a normal shade, to beet red, from all of his blood rushing to his head (poor kid!), would have given it away, but nope! Anyway, I just wanted to share this with someone, even if no one reads it. -Matt

[@MylesMacCauley]

I read it, and enjoyed it Matt, thank you for sharing!

[@videogameobsession]

Thank You.

[@TotinosPizzaRollz]

👍

[@revwillyg6450]

Nice! Sounds fun✌️

[@benjwah]

Dave’s reaction is the best thing, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh like that.

[@dylanotto1675]

you should see the one where the dump a bunch of roaches on Dave

[@chmod1777]

This was the first time I ever saw them. Absolutely blew me away, been a fan ever since.

[@oz_jones]

I can imagine! What a... sharp force

[@revwillyg6450]

Got to see them live a few years after this. What a great show!

[@-danR]

Gosh. They were so young, especially Penn. Sad for them to live only a few years longer.

[@revwillyg6450]

@@-danR they're not deceased. Alive and well

[@kjkapinos]

In 2019 Penn and Teller headlined a magic convention that was run by Richard Kaufman, who wrote one of those reviews in one of the magazines they showed. Their one request was that their introduction before they took the stage would be Richard Kaufman reading that review.

[@tamrasmith1744]

Loved seeing Dave’s genuine shock and enjoyment of the trick. Always enjoyed Penn and Teller.

[@batgurrl]

They have been classified as magicians since then. ‘The community’ hated them for explaining how some ‘magic’ tricks work. Love this blast from the past

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

And then they positively lost their minds when the Masked Magician came on the scene.

[@richinoable]

Few things on TV astonished me as much as this. I saw it broadcast on TV and I screamed, cried, laughed, and acted it out for everyone I knew. You had to catch these moments unless you had a friend who taped everything. It's funny that this was a debut, seems they're an institution and this is just one of their standards

[@bobbyk9815]

Penn's ponytail is on the wrong side.

[@Kyrei]

I remember watching watching this on the night. I was immediately a huge P&T fan from this trick on.

[@dbyrne231]

Yes! More Penn & Teller, please.

[@KungEMuller]

Wow! Different magicians on a crazy late night talk show. Dave made that happen. Wow!

[@ehrichweiss]

It's hilarious to hear some of those "reviews" knowing that P&T basically saved magic.

[@markjones952]

I saw Teller talk on Miami Vice. Learn to love it.

[@S1L3NTG4M3R]

yeah... I saw that too, on youtube a few months ago...

[@deputay]

Yes, and in the TV movie Long Gone...it throws you off at first!

[@user-ir4pp6qe6n]

Maybe you heard Teller talk. 😂

[@MiddleAgeBMX]

and you can see Don Johnson get taller as they walk to the bar because Johnson was on a ramp!

[@Pocketrocket-pj1us]

Wait! I get them mixed up. So, big or small? I saw the Big guy on Sabrina the teenage witch. He's really big now. He must be 7 feet tall, or he's got lifts.

[@88porpoise]

Kind of funny seen Letterman's uncertainty about their act. As a kid growing up they were the definitive magicians.

[@johncornell3665]

This was a great episode and always enjoyed Grant Tinker. Thanks Tom!

[@Honeygrip]

Still entertaining 😊

[@DoctorBiobrain]

This was a fine show.

[@ruthecker399]

love them both

[@AJScraps]

Always an iconic duo

[@BrentWigginsWords]

His name's Teller, but he won't tell you anything. He uses Penn to communicate though. Magic!

[@Hellwyck]

Penn talks for the both of them, Teller doesn't use Penn.

[@BrentWigginsWords]

@@Hellwyck I was speaking figuratively.

[@ChicCanyon]

​@@Hellwyckr/whoosh

[@-danR]

@@BrentWigginsWords And you spoke punderfully as well.

[@Nick_Lavigne]

I'd love to see the Paul Shaffer memorial museum again. something like that, in the skit he is an attraction like Lenin's body.

[@NicholasMoreau]

FYI: Requests are taken through their email in the upload description, they don't take through the comments.

[@davelinn32115]

I recall Don Geronimo playing the end clip on his WAVA show. Is that him yelling, "Say hi to Washington" from the audience?

[@kernicterus1233]

I wonder how they got on, is there a vid somewhere showing what happened to these guys?

[@gongqi67]

Eddie!

[@Pocketrocket-pj1us]

I just looked these goofs up. You know, just to see if they went on to anything. The only thing I found, was a video game, called 'Desert Bus' and a tiny (Tina) credit in a game called, Border fans 3. I guess it's about people who only make the edges of the puzzle and then stop. Sounds boring to me. At least the bus has a Horn. Too bad, they can't all be winners but it was nice of that old Weatherman to give them a chance!

[@Khronogi]

I forgot they were in BL3.

[@seandearmond519]

The bus game takes a few hours to really pick up, but there's a neat little boss battle with an insect.

[@revwillyg6450]

Penn's voice changed a lot over the years. Smoker maybe?

[@danielkoga9937]

Nah... Projecting your voice for years will do it to your throat. Even teachers suffer from this.

[@revwillyg6450]

@@danielkoga9937 true. Henry Rollins sounds like that too and he's never smoked

[@SanchoKobe]

I think Penn did smoke for awhile, but he also yelled a lot and lived a generally unhealthy lifestyle until he got to be older and realized he wasn't gonna live to see his grandkids grow up unless he changed.

[@-danR]

@@SanchoKobe After he went on that famous potato diet and dropped like 100 pounds, his voice lost its boom. He sounded like a wheezy ghost ever after.

[@SanchoKobe]

@@-danR Oh yeah I remember the potato diet now. He claimed it was the greatest thing ever.

[@thomasd4738]

the three smartest people on television

[@Middleman9595]

these guys seem pretty good. Pity they never took off.

[@daverapp]

The weirdest thing is that they're not wearing matching suits.

[@FrankBenlin]

Fool us, again.

[@leanthonyjtoddisshivarearh4507]

It's Just Show Biz😊

[@S1L3NTG4M3R]

:)

[@eltzrothm1]

Where are the cockroaches?

[@jimmyjames2022]

Teller kills me, but not sure about this Penn fellow, he seems a bit sketchy. Maybe if Teller went out on his own.

[@gerrydooley951]

so sad, both dead on the same day. Now that's a magic trick. RIP Penn and Teller

[@r0bw00d]

What are your talking about? They're both still alive.

[@-danR]

@@r0bw00d Alive and well and touring Australia as of this date, July 25, 2024.

[@jimi-w]

@@-danR Sure buddy, “Australia”

[@zugunruhebirdingtours329]

RIPenn & Teller

[@r0bw00d]

What are your talking about? They're both still alive.