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Magician and juggler PENN JILLETTE

NPR Reviewed Jun 30, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors
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Ricky Jay performed a show titled 'Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants' at Broadway's Second Stage.
52 · assistants
Ricky Jay, performer
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The article was rebroadcast on 6/19/87.
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The article was rebroadcast on 10/21/87.
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2: Magician and juggler PENN JILLETTE. He's one half of the comedy team of Penn and Teller. They are to traditional magic what the Rolling Stones are to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Penn and Teller revel in making fun of traditional magicians, whom they characterize as sleazy lounge performers. Their hit Broadway show was a mix of rock and roll, insults, self-injury and baffling illusions. When David Letterman invited Penn and Teller to "Late Night," the pair made hundreds of hissing cockroaches appear on Dave's desk. On "Saturday Night Live," they seemingly cut a live snake in half. Their home video and book were both titled "Penn and Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends"; their latest book is "Penn & Teller: How To Play With Your Food" (Random House). (REBROACAST FROM 6/19/87). RICKY JAY, one of the world's great sleight-of-hand artists: a scholar of the unusual, currator of the Mullholland Library of Conjuring and the Allied Arts, an actor and author of "Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women." Currently, JAY performs to sold out shows at Broadway's Second Stage, in a show directed by playwright David Mamet, "Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants." (REBROADCAST from 10/21/87). The AMAZING RANDY: a card shark who is skeptical about psychic phenomena and seeks to debunk it.

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