Penn & Teller have been a cultural force for half a century. The “bad boys of magic,” as they once billed themselves, have been on Broadway, hosted several television shows and headlined a long-running show in Las Vegas. They have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But one honor had long eluded them: membership in the Magic Circle, the exclusive private society of magicians based in London.
That changed on Friday. Penn Jillette and Teller (whose given name was Raymond Joseph Derickson Teller) were inducted into the society on the steps of the London Palladium, where Penn & Teller have been performing a 50th anniversary residency.
For decades, there was resistance to allowing Penn & Teller into the Magic Circle, which was founded in 1905 and has about 1,700 members, because in their shows, they have been willing to reveal the secrets behind their illusions — a big no-no in the craft of magic.
But it’s a bit more nuanced than that, Marvin Berglas, the president of the Magic Circle, said in an interview. Yes, they reveal secrets, Berglas said, but then they “quite frankly blow you away with an entirely different and creative method.”
“There has perhaps been some criticism in the past for apparently exposing certain secrets,” Berglas said. “However, to those really in the know, the magic was always their original and artistic performances, whereby audiences thought they understood how something may have been done, only then to be utterly fooled by an entirely different original method. And for that, Penn & Teller really are the kings.”
In his remarks at the induction ceremony, a transcript of which was provided by a representative, Teller acknowledged the longstanding resistance to the duo’s inclusion in the society.
“We know this wasn’t easy,” he said. “We spent years making fun of the Magic Circle. But your members took the high road, forgave us, and welcomed us in.”
Teller said the duo looked forward to “enjoying the Circle’s huge resources” and “visiting with our friends at those midnight sessions where we chant in Latin, around a giant pentacle and slit the throats of ravens.”
“No, that’s a different club,” he added.
Penn & Teller’s relationship is one of the longest-enduring creative partnerships in the history of art, one held together in part by the deep affection the two share.
“We always claim we are not friends, but of course we are,” Teller told The New York Times last month. “When Socrates defines love, he talks about that being two completely different elements coming together like a male and female producing a child. And the product of that is the beautiful thing.”
The induction was the latest step in an evolution for the Magic Circle. Earlier this year, the society moved to reverse an error by inducting Sophie Lloyd, who, in 1991 posed as a male magician named “Raymond Lloyd” to enter the society at a time when women were barred. When she and an accomplice, Jenny Winstanley, revealed the ruse later that year, Lloyd was kicked out, even as the Magic Circle was beginning to accept women.
“We now believe we are a forward-thinking organization — not set in our ways — always happy to review the future of magic,” Berglas said on Friday.
In the case of Penn & Teller, Berglas said “the vast majority” of its members were on board with their induction. Even so, the Magic Circle messaged its magicians on Friday to reiterate its position.
“No doubt there’ll be a question about our decision, so we want to make things clear,” the message said. “The Magic Circle will always be against the willful exposure of magic effects just for the sake of it. However, seemingly revealing methods in order to enhance an experience of magic and wonder is not the same thing. And we respect the intelligence of our audiences.”
Berglas continued, “We recognize this is not a black-and-white issue, which is why we continue to foster and support a healthy debate about the future of the craft.”