Theremin on Penn and Teller

This week Penn and Teller's "Bull Sh#t", featured Area 51. It had the obligatory non-theremin, theremin music through it. However one scene shows Teller playing an Etherwave Pro and Penn says something along the lines of "boy it's been spooky around here ever since Teller got that theremin"

Andy

Saw the PENN & TELLER theremin last night on TV. Posted the following to the Levnet this morning, and thought maybe some TWers might find it relevant....maybe....

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Season 8, Episode 6 of PENN & TELLER BULLSHIT entitled "AREA 51" features a Moog Music ETHERWAVE PRO
theremin.

Yes, those perennially potty-mouthed debunkers Penn Jillette and his mime sidekick Teller have done
a show on "area 51" in which Teller briefly plays an E'Pro theremin. Well, actually, he doesn't
really
PLAY the theremin. He pretends to play the theremin while we hear a synthesizer making eerie
theremin-like sound FX. While he plays, Penn Jillette clips his toenails in the foreground. Anything
to
keep the sophomoric fans of this show from changing the channel!

My problem with Penn & Teller is that whenever they decide to debunk something (health foods,
vitamins, yoga etc. ) they go out and find the craziest, most eccentric nutcase practitioners and
adherents they can find, and then proceed to make idiots out of them, which is not difficult since
the guests are already idiotic to begin with. With Penn's rude and often insulting voiceovers, even
a
serious and credible expert can be made to look like a clown. It's very entertaining but not
particularly informative. On the other hand, their show is about ENTERTAINMENT - not about education
or
documentation - and their audience is fairly young which could explain Penn's hyper sales-pitch,
televangelist on steroids delivery, and his endless stream of sexual references and four-letter
words.

The name of their show is "BULLSHIT".

Hey, I have nothing against sex or four-letter words, but I find the Penn & Teller formula becomes
increasingly boring each time I see it because the presentation is always the same. The subject
changes, but the approach to it is as predictable as Penn's incessant use of the word "f**k".
(Please note the coy, self-conscious use of asterisks).

Ennyhoo, if you want to see the theremin episode, you can view it online at the following URL. The
theremin is about halfway through.

http://www.megavideo.com/?d=6RN3JLXH

I love the show, it's one of the reasons I keep Showtime. I tend to be a skeptic, so the show play to my beliefs, or lack of beliefs.

If someone is seriously interested in any of the subjects P&T cover, well BS is the last place to look. I'm sure they would be the first to say this is entertainment, even though I believe Penn is on the board of the American Skeptics Society.

But like the poster on Mulder's wall says, "I want to believe"

Andy

Hey, I'm as big a skeptic as you are - and a cynic to boot! I guess what I object to is the shouting delivery, the incessant use of the word "fuck", and the gratuitous Animal House behavior (Penn clipping his toenails while Teller plays the E'Pro).

I've meet Penn several times years ago, and that's his personality. He's loud, likes women and dropping "F bombs"

I've seen Penn interviewed on network TV. He is a very bright and funny man even when he has to restrain himself. Comics these days cannot hold the interest of an audience without the constant use of "shock talk". This says more about US than it does about them.