Magic is an art form where you lie and tell people you are lying. Teller More Quotes by Teller More Quotes From Teller As a kid, I was a Hitchcock lover; I cared about the dark side of things. Teller dark sides kids In real life, the most important decision you ever make is, where does reality leave off and make-believe begin? If you make a mistake about that, you're dead. You know, you're out on the street corner. You think there's no bus coming. You step out, you're dead. Teller you decision mistake life Every time you perform a magic trick, you're engaging in experimental psychology. If the audience asks, 'How the hell did he do that?' then the experiment was successful. Teller you hell magic time Sometimes, magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect. Teller someone magic time sometimes When a magician lets you notice something on your own, his lie becomes impenetrable. Teller your lie own you Nothing fools you better than the lie you tell yourself. Teller lie yourself better you Reality seems so simple. We just open our eyes and there it is. But that doesn't mean it is simple. Teller eyes just simple reality People come up to me on the street and make some little joke - like they'll say, 'Excuse me, sir, what time is it?' And I'll say, you know, '5:15,' and they'll say, 'Hey! Made you talk!' And that's merely a way of saying, 'I know your work and I like you.' Teller me you work time Generally, magicians don't know what to say, so they say stupid and redundant crap like, 'Here I am holding a red ball.' Teller i-am know red stupid The silent thing onstage allows for a kind of intimacy that no conversation can have. If I just shut up, we're forced to look at each other and really confront that moment. Teller look moment shut-up conversation Onstage, I find absolutely nothing but exhilaration in not talking. Teller find nothing not-talking talking I'm more apt to cry at something beautiful than at something sad. Teller something cry sad beautiful Indian street magic tends to be very gory, blood and guts. One trick is for a magician to take a knife and appear to cut his kid's head almost off. The magician then says to the crowd, 'Well I can continue to cut off my son's head or you can all give me some money.' Then he wanders around and takes 10 rupees from everyone and restores his son. Teller me you money son In America, magic has never been an important part of peoples' lives. Teller never magic important america Nobody who is a Penn & Teller fan thinks of us first and foremost as magicians, but as a comedy team. Teller us nobody comedy team Doing beautiful things is its own reward. Teller own doing beautiful-things beautiful If you do something that you're proud of, that someone else understands, that is a thing of beauty that wasn't there before - you can't beat that. Teller someone you proud beauty I'm a lazy sod. Teller sod lazy If there isn't at least the threat of violence in art, it tends to be kind of tiresome. Teller be-kind violence kind art People do not come to a Penn & Teller show to see a magic show. They just don't. They come to see weird stuff that they can see no place else, that will make them laugh and make the little hairs stand up on the backs of their necks. Teller laugh weird magic people
