Penn & Teller was one of the best live performances I've ever seen. That being said, Penn is almost as much as a whackjob as Trump.

Close2TheEdge: I like Penn. I really do. But, that was sad. It's tragic to know that he is not that much different from Bristol Palin. Both are attention whore "celebrities." The difference is that Bristol is sincerely, genuinely vacuous, while Penn tries to pretend that he is above it all.

FTA:

"We celebrities are desperate pigs."

"Greed and clawing for fame got me to the point..."

"Like all desperate celebrities, I've been on more than one reality show."

I mean, I guess it's sad that that's his attitude, but I didn't come away with the impression that he was portraying himself as above it all... quite the opposite.

Anyway, I generally find him entertaining. Since pre-recorded entertainment is the closes I'll ever be to interacting with him, that's enough for me.

I like Penn. I really do. But, that was sad. It's tragic to know that he is not that much different from Bristol Palin. Both are attention whore "celebrities." The difference is that Bristol is sincerely, genuinely vacuous, while Penn tries to pretend that he is above it all.

Henry Rollins does the same thing- he sucks cock all day long playing pretend and then can't talk enough trash about everyone he worked with while cashing his huge paychecks. haha, sure it was an EXPERIMENT there but hey, whatever helps him keep his cred, right?

"Penn Jillette's secrets of "Celebrity Apprentice": Donald Trump is a whackjob"

And...?

sweet jesus that was a painful read -- I got to his complaints about Clay Aiken calling him condescending and had to quit

I like Penn Jillette. I don't care if he is a jerk. I am not friends with him. I like his magic tricks and am entertained by his Bullshiat! show. Everything else doesn't matter to me.

Dwight_Yeast: LonMead: "Penn Jillette's secrets of "Celebrity Apprentice": Donald Trump is a whackjob"

And...?

Amusingly enough, Penn Jillette is also a complete wackjob.

Never got that impression. I always thought of him more as a verbose guy who is always kind of "in character", but that character is based on himself... a guy with really strange tastes and stranger friends who has the means to sustain his strange lifestyle. I've heard him tell crazy carnie stories on nerdist.... and what happens when a carnie makes a ton of money? You get Penn Jillette. I still think he's entertaining, though.

omeganuepsilon: He's not as much of a magician as a comedian, and the time on the BS show, a comedian more like George Carlin than Jeff Dunham.


The difference being George Carlin was funny and could actually write.

Mad Scientist: Didn't Trump's Vegas steakhouse get closed down this past weekend for health law violations?

Just asking questions...

/I agree with Jillette about reality shows being a sign that the end is near for TV.

//If you watch a reality show, kill yourself.

Yes, TV is dead. There certainly aren't some of the most compelling, interesting , and well acted shows in its history on right now. We aren't seeing movie actors heading back to television to get better roles.

(Rolls eyes)

If you're stupid enough to watch shiat like Celebrity Apprentice, the end is probably near. But to castigate all shows for the failings of reality tv is equally stupid.

/and Penn is part of the problem. Tell your massive ego to say no when the next Celebrity reality show comes along. You're as much of a whore as the rest of them.

Didn't Trump's Vegas steakhouse get closed down this past weekend for health law violations?

Just asking questions...

/I agree with Jillette about reality shows being a sign that the end is near for TV.

//If you watch a reality show, kill yourself.

rickythepenguin: Adam Carolla pretty well dissected the show after he got booted. not as in how bad it was / "i got kicked off, here's sour grapes", but just how manufactured and "cooked" it was. (i know, news flash).

like he mentioned how on some presentation for the contest, he did like, 10 minutes of standup on some car, and the audience loved it. Arsenio and Jillette both agreed. But, the way it was cut, they made it look like the audience wasn't laughing, and Pauly apparently said something like, "get off the mic" and they cut to commercial. so Adam's thing is like, "in real life, I killed, the room was exploding with laughter, but they chopped it up into a 30 second clip that was completely manipulated to tell a false narrative."

so who cares.

That may very well true, but I'll have to take a huge grain of salt before I believe Dr. Drew's sidekick made more than 5 people laugh on any occasion after the year 2000.

Adam Carolla pretty well dissected the show after he got booted. not as in how bad it was / "i got kicked off, here's sour grapes", but just how manufactured and "cooked" it was. (i know, news flash).

like he mentioned how on some presentation for the contest, he did like, 10 minutes of standup on some car, and the audience loved it. Arsenio and Jillette both agreed. But, the way it was cut, they made it look like the audience wasn't laughing, and Pauly apparently said something like, "get off the mic" and they cut to commercial. so Adam's thing is like, "in real life, I killed, the room was exploding with laughter, but they chopped it up into a 30 second clip that was completely manipulated to tell a false narrative."

so who cares.

Close2TheEdge: I like Penn. I really do. But, that was sad. It's tragic to know that he is not that much different from Bristol Palin. Both are attention whore "celebrities." The difference is that Bristol is sincerely, genuinely vacuous, while Penn tries to pretend that he is above it all.

Penn isn't so much an attention whore as a money whore. If it means he'll make more money, he'll do it. He is an anachro-capitalist, after all.

snowshovel: As far as the whole complaint of "he's hates the shows, but he'll still go on them," unless you are someone like Tom Hanks, if you are a Hollywood performer, the mantra in Hollywood is "there are no bad paying jobs," and as long as it fits in your schedule, you do it.

And this. Ben Kingsley didn't do a Uwe Boll movie because he wanted to win an award, he did it because Boll promised him 2 weeks of work inbetween award-bait movies and a nice paycheck.

When anyone watches anyone do anything, the watched people do whatever they're being watched doing a little better for the short time while they're being watched.

That's an awkward way to word that.

/Go be fat and do magic tricks,stop trying to write.

PirateKing: I've always liked Penn. He's usually the first to admit that he's a pompous prick.

I was at a show early in Penn & Teller's career, and Penn introduced them as,"I'm Penn, the obnoxious jerk, and this is Teller, whom I pay to put up with me."

I've always liked Penn. He's usually the first to admit that he's a pompous prick.

I did laugh at the line about Trump's Hair^TM looking like cotton candy made of piss though.

I made it through the first sentence of the second paragraph. That man's writing is horrifyingly bad.

Horrible writing aside, I thought it was interesting. Unlike most reality shows that are stocked with Baristas trying to get a break into Hollywood and Bristol Palin types trying to extend their 15 minutes of fame , it's sort of an interesting take about being on a reality show where everyone has had a lot of experience being in front of a camera for many hours a day....and why they still come of as yelling jerks. 

As far as the whole complaint of "he's hates the shows, but he'll still go on them," unless you are someone like Tom Hanks, if you are a Hollywood performer, the mantra in Hollywood is "there are no bad paying jobs," and as long as it fits in your schedule, you do it.

Penn hated it so much that he is going to be on the next season of "All-Stars." What a ridiculous attention whore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apprentice_%28U.S._season_13%29

keithgabryelski: sweet jesus that was a painful read -- I got to his complaints about Clay Aiken calling him condescending and had to quit

I got to ego depletion and decided I had better things to do.

Penn has a point, of course, but he can't write for shiat.

The only good takeaway from that is his description of Trumps hair. Otherwise that was pretty schizophrenic. It's like he was going to write something slamming Trump and the show, and it got hacked to death by attorneys