TheAgitator.com
Penn & Teller
Friday, April 18th, 2003I don’t know how I missed this — maybe it’s because I don’t have Showtime — but Penn & Teller (libertarians and Cato Mencken Fellows, both) have had a series on Showtime for over couple of months now. It runs Fridays at 11pm (with replays on Thursdays at 10pm) and it’s called “Bullshit!”
Wonderful.
A description from the website:
By their own admission, Penn & Teller have been dying to do a show like this. Confirmed skeptics and pro-science atheists (they refer to God as “an imaginary friend”), these magicians are big fans of the art of debunking.Whether demonstrating how history’s most perplexing magic acts are performed in their sell-out Las Vegas show and TV specials, or producing their own series that pulls the wool off the public’s eyes, Penn & Teller’s mission is to expose the truth to an otherwise desperate and gullible public.
In Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, the crusaders utilize principles of magic and trickery, as well as good old fashioned “hidden camera” sting operations, to smoke out these nonsense peddlers and reveal how they operate.
They also call upon the scientific community for back-up. Penn & Teller have discovered that the evidence debunking bogus operatives exists in countless books, scientific papers and government-sponsored expos̩s Рresearch that nobody else has presented to the public with such zeal, passion, and conviction.
As our increasingly anti-intellectual, anti-science culture moves on each day to new crackpot subject matters, Penn & Teller are there to aggressively shoot down whack-jobs and fuzzy thinkers, no matter where they originate.
Their attitude of serious, sober contemplation can be summed up in this quote about their current Las Vegas stage program: “We have been doing magic together for 25 years and are so sick of it we could spit. So, in the new show, we are moving into the field of religion and will be performing real miracles!”
No matter how popular a form of bullshit is – and regardless of what deep pockets or beloved figures support it – Penn & Teller are pit bulls for the truth, poised to tear down these myths in the most jaw-dropping fashion possible with their trademark wit and off-center comic sensibilities.
Beware faux miracle workers, yogis, dervishes, televangelists, zealots and cult leaders. Penn & Teller have you in their cross-hairs with a new series that strives to spark controversy, headlines and water cooler fisticuffs!
I think it’s deliciously ironic that a couple of guys who made themselves famous with trickery and illusion are hosting a television show dedicated to debunking quackery and junk science in the name of reason.
Episodes thus far have tackled everything from second hand smoke to alien abductions to creationism.
Tonight’s episode coincides nicely with Earth Day — it’s on environmentalism. It includes commentary by Cato’s Jerry Taylor, and from tree-sitting activist Julia “Butterfly” Hill — two names that heretofore may never have been mentioned in the same sentence.
I think I may have to place a call to Comcast in time for Thursday’s re-airing.
I saw the one about alien abductions a couple of months ago. I didn’t realize it was a series, or I would have made an effort to see the others. The show is great. I especially like how they exposed most of the wackos using nothing more than the wackos’ own testimony. It reminded me of the Daily Show correspondents when they go out and interview someone that collects toilet seats… or has a museum dedicated to pocket lint.
Damn it! I don’t have Showtime. :(
actually, p & t have been debunking “magical” tricks for quite some time. i’ve seen their act 10 times over the past twelve years. their books are excellent.
for musical jocularity i strongly recommend finding “bongos, bass and bob” somewhere.
I’ve been watching the show since I saw the first episode. Its great, everyone should watch it, its great to see a libertarian on tv other than bill maher.
If you like this, you might also like James Randi’s site: http://www.randi.org
Randi is a professional magician who’s made a career out of debunking myth, psychic and other frauds. Among other things, his organization puts up a 1 million dollar prize for anyone who can demonstrate paranormal abilities. Unsurprisingly, no one’s been successful claiming it yet. Haven’t read his books, but they’re on my list of things to get to.
“Bullshit!” is a great show. Order Showtime to see it.
Ok, i seen a special on Nostradamus on the history channel, where these 2 stupid magicians act totally skeptical to this concept. You ask why they didnt know this before it happened, well its written the way it is because its not supposed to help, but show our fate. You can only compare his writings to what has already happened to see the similarities. you said “where where they 9-10-01″, well nowhere does it give exact specific locations, dates, or people, thats why you can only see he was right after it happened. He prolly didnt come out and say names so it wasnt obvious, because he was a smart man, he knew to put hidden meanings, double meanings, and acronyms. Maybe you should have been more like Teller, and been silent that way you dont look like a skeptikal jackass. Hit me back with your nonsense response
Ok, i seen a special on Nostradamus on the history channel, where these 2 stupid magicians act totally skeptical to this concept. You ask why they didnt know this before it happened, well its written the way it is because its not supposed to help, but show our fate. You can only compare his writings to what has already happened to see the similarities. you said “where where they 9-10-01″, well nowhere does it give exact specific locations, dates, or people, thats why you can only see he was right after it happened. He prolly didnt come out and say names so it wasnt obvious, because he was a smart man, he knew to put hidden meanings, double meanings, and acronyms. Maybe you should have been more like Teller, and been silent that way you dont look like a skeptikal jackass. Hit me back with your nonsense response. I think magic is the fakest thing that could be done on this earth, and your skeptical?, hahaha, believe me Id never watch one of your shows, you cant act
Nostradamus is full of shit… you can contort anything to make it what you WANT to believe if you believe in it enough
I find it hilarious that you can defend this shit when they can’t predict the future… and the world is not gonna end… they had a person like every 5-10 years saying that the world was gonna end… and if you’re reading this, the world obviously hasn’t ended
AMERICA IS SLEEPING!!!
There was another episode of P&T where they showed that “psychic helper” ppl in crimes never find shit and if they do it’s a shot in the dark….
Why don’t you start looking at how much these ppl are wrong???
Look at what proof they have???
Look at how they defend themselves, because it sure isn’t with facts!?!?!?