Teller (magician)
Categories: 1948 births | American actors | American writers | American magicians | Skeptics | SubGenii
Teller (born Raymond Joseph Teller) is American magician, best known as the smaller, silent half of the comedy magic duo known as Penn and Teller.
Teller was born on February 14, 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but has since had his name legally changed to Teller. He attended Amherst College and taught Latin at Lawrence High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Teller does not speak while performing although there are occasional exceptions, mostly when the audience is not aware that it is his voice that is being heard. His trademark of not speaking began as a way of dealing with audience hecklers.
Teller began performing with a friend, Weir Chrisemer, as the Ottmar Scheckt Society for the Preservation of Weird and Disgusting Music: they joined up with Penn Jillette and renamed themselves the Asparagus Valley Cultural Society.
Teller is an accomplished sleight of hand artist and is considered an expert on the history of magic. He is also a talented painter.
Despite his trademark of never speaking, Teller has spoken in a number of films and television shows. Teller played an anthropomorphic cat, Mr. Boots, on an episode of Dharma & Greg. [1] He also played the character of Mortimer in the 2000 film adaptation of the musical The Fantasticks. He voiced himself in the 1999 "The Simpsons" episode "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder". He also appeared (and spoke) in Mysteries of Magic, Volume 3. He spoke several lines at the end of Penn & Teller Get Killed. He also speaks occasionally in the travelogue series Penn and Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour, though even in this series he mostly lets Penn speak on his behalf.
Teller is the author of When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours!, a biography/memoir of his father.
Books
- "When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours!": Joe Teller -- A Portrait by His Kid (2000, ISBN 0922233225)