Penn and Teller were introduced to one another by Weir Chrisimer. From the late 1970s through 1981, the three made up an act called “Asparagus Valley Cultural Society” which played in San Francisco at the Phoenix Theater. This act was sillier and less “edgy” than today’s Penn & Teller act. Chrisimer helped to develop some bits that continued on to be performed by Penn & Teller; most notably Teller’s “Shadows” trick, which involves a single red rose.
By 1985, Penn & Teller were receiving rave reviews for their Off Broadway show and Emmy award-winning PBS special, Penn & Teller Go Public.[2] In 1987, they began the first of two successful Broadway runs. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, the duo made numerous television appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live, as well as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Today Show, and many others.
Penn & Teller had national tours throughout the 1990s, gaining critical praise. They have also made television guest appearances on Babylon 5 (as the comedy team Rebo and Zooty), The Drew Carey Show, a few episodes of Hollywood Squares from 1998 until 2004, ABC’s Muppets Tonight, FOX’s The Bernie Mac Show, an episode of the game show Fear Factor on NBC, NBC’s The West Wing, guest stars during an 2 part episode of the final season of ABC’s Home Improvement in 1998, 4 episodes during season 1 of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in 1996, NBC’s Las Vegas, and FOX’s The Simpsons episode Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder. They also appeared as Three-card Monte scam artists in the music video for “It’s Tricky” by Run-DMC in 1987, and are thrown out of a Las Vegas hotel room in the music video for “Waking Up in Vegas” by Katy Perry in 2009.
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