Posted on 01/21/2003 1:58:23 PM PST by weegee
A sacrilegious stunt by Penn & Teller that offended some at a major magicians convention was defended Thursday by fellow local headliners.
A group walked out of a roast of Amazing Johnathan on Monday after Teller, dressed as Christ on a full-sized cross, entered the room on a cart. A midget dressed as an angel performed a simulated sex act on the near-naked Teller.
Penn Jillette, in a Roman gladiator costume, unveiled the scene by pulling away a "Shroud of Turin" that covered the cross.
Rick Neiswonger, a longtime magician and local marketing executive, said "the majority" of the 400 who attended the roast were offended.
"They (organizers) warned everybody that something offensive was going to happen, but my God, where do you draw the line? I've seen Friar's Club ... Sam Kinison and Andrew Dice Clay, but this was beyond bad taste."
The roast was part of the four-day World Magic Seminar at the Riviera.
Monte Carlo headliner Lance Burton, a roaster, addressed the controversy during the awards luncheon finale Wednesday that drew about 1,000.
Reached Thursday, Burton said, "I told them, `You were warned ahead of time.' It was a roast; it was held late at night (midnight). I absolutely, positively did not apologize.
"I said Penn & Teller, Siegfried & Roy, Mac King, Amazing Johnathan and I all have different styles. That's good; that's what makes it an art form."
He added, "Penn & Teller are my dear friends and I would take a bullet for them, and you can write that," said Burton.
Amazing Johnathan said he was aware that a number of "gospel magicians" walked out and raised cane.
"This was performance art," said Johnathan, who moves to a new, open-ended run at the Flamingo on Saturday. "I know that Penn is a practicing atheist, and I agree with him that Christianity can be dangerous. Look at the Trade Center. That was done in the name of religion."
Penn & Teller declined comment
No, stupidity and intolerance (and worse) is only permitted when the object is religious belief, God, or holy scriptures and teachings. Oops - can't insult Mohammed or the Koran, though.
Over the years there have been various disgusting and blasphemous plays or movies about Jesus, and also horrible insults involving homosexuality etc with respect to Hinduism (the followers of which are generally highly moral). So that's okay! IOW, open season on God and Godly morality.
Dialogue begins about 'ghetto party'
It's exactly the sort of media response I was talking about to "outrageous" college events.
These people are soooooo angry and mean, why would anyone go see them?
Alice Cooper for years had to keep his love of golf a secret. He said that if it was ever learned that he played golf his career was over and his reputation ruined.
From Usenet:
So, I just read that William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League, has asked ABC to cancel Penn & Teller's segment on this weekend's Superbowl.Apparently, he has taken offense to their "graphic" performance at the Vegas Riviera last Thursday. Anyone know what the deal really is with this?
My general impression of Donohue from past such public complaints is that he's a media-hound douchebag, so I'm not surprised he's discovering a potential beef which will get cameras on him during Superbowl week. Also, he has a real bee in his bonnet for making life difficult on Disney, so the fact that the game is on ABC clearly puts this right up his alley. However, he generally reserves his criticism for cases of perceived anti-Catholic bias (he was the biggest voice hollering about Kevin Smith's "Dogma" before it was even released), but I'm having trouble figuring out what "graphic" Catholic insult P&T worked into their show.
I'm a big fan of P&T, but not a regular in this group. I'll try to keep an eye out for posted responses, but if anyone has the real skinny and could e-mail it to me at XXXXXXXX, it would be much appreciated. Hopefully, whatever the real beef here is, it won't prevent P&T from entertaining the country this Sunday. (For the record, an ABC spokesman said he had no knowledge of the complaint and so would not comment on it).
Daily Racing Form: Super airtime for Las Vegas?
While the NFL nixed Las Vegas's attempt to buy an ad during its Super Bowl broadcast, the city still will get its share of national exposure during the weekend, even if it's in an indirect way.
Comedians Penn and Teller are scheduled to be part of ABC's pre- and postgame coverage Sunday. However, the Rio Resort-Casino headliners are in hot water for a skit they performed last weekend at a roast of fellow shock comedian Amazing Johnathan. Penn, dressed as a Roman soldier, unveiled a shroud to reveal a near-naked Teller on a cross, while a midget dressed as an angel simulated certain unmentionable acts. The Catholic League, a 350,000-member organization based in New York that fights anti-Catholicism, has called for ABC to ban Penn and Teller from its broadcast.
The skit sounds like something Jimmy Kimmel, a Las Vegas native, might try. Kimmel - best known for his stints on the "Ben Stein Show," "The Man Show," and his prognosticating segments on "The NFL Today" - debuts his live late-night talk show on ABC after Sunday's game. Kimmel is proud of his roots. Keep an eye out for Las Vegas references and guests.
One show that is conspicuous by its absence from this year's Super Bowl festivities is "The Howard Stern Show." In each of the past two years, Stern had broadcast from the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel in the week following the Super Bowl, bringing his crazy cast of characters with him.
On his show this week, Stern said they won't be coming out this month and are looking into perhaps visiting this spring. Las Vegas gossip columnists have been speculating that the Palms, which is in direct competition for the hip demographic, may be able to lure Stern away from the Hard Rock now that Don Marrandino, former Hard Rock president, has left the property to work for Steve Wynn.
Arte Lange, a Stern sidekick, will be performing his stand-up act this Friday and Saturday at the Suncoast Showroom.
Teen-ager part of ABC Super Bowl broadcast
[ snip ]
Part of the ABC telecast includes a segment by magicians Penn & Teller. They are to write down and hermetically seal the name of the winner, score and MVP before the game, then reveal their predictions on the postgame show.
However, Catholic League president William A. Donohue has asked ABC to cancel the Penn & Teller segment, protesting a graphic performance by the pair at the Las Vegas Riviera on Jan. 16.
Network spokesman Mark Mandel said ABC Sports president Howard Katz had not seen or received the letter and would have no comment.
[ snip ]
Don't worry, they'll get fired all right.
For eternity.
Well, just a case of a slime company putting on a slime show. Slimes stick together. I avoid them.
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