PENN & TELLER'S PHOBOPHILIA (TV)
Summary
This comedy special focuses on unorthodox musicians Penn and Teller’s exploration into “phobophilia,” defined by the duo as “the love of fear.” The program opens as Penn explains about viewers’ enjoyment of screaming, after which Teller takes a knife and “cuts” his arm open, then “bleeds” onto members of the studio audience. Penn quickly climbs into the audience and says he’ll cut himself “for real,” taking a razor blade to his arm before the theater goes dark. Next, actor Paul Provenza demonstrates claustrophobia by being sealed in a pneumatic tube through which he must crawl to reach fresh air. Next, is a sketch in which a music video director auditions an actress for his new project. She proves up to his challenges, ending as she voluntarily gouges out her eye. The following bit involves Penn taking an audience member’s ring and having another audience member appear to swallow it. Teller then “pulls” it out of the man’s stomach with a fork. Next, a pile of autopsy photos are covered with a bowl of worms, after which the worms push forth the specific photo requested by Penn. Penn and Teller subsequently take part in a sketch about a spy that debates swallowing a potassium cyanide pill. A violence-filled tribute to the Three Stooges follows, with “Moe, Larry and Curly” ultimately showering the audience with a geyser of “blood.” The last sequence focuses on “the bullet trick,” in which Penn and Teller have bullets inscribed before loading them into guns and shooting them across a room into each other’s mouth. Finally, Penn and Teller return to Provenza, who is still stuck in the tube, and pour a bucket of rats onto him.
Details
- NETWORK: Channel 4 (United Kingdom)
- DATE: January 31, 1996
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:52163
- GENRE: Comedy/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection - United Kingdom; Comedy/Variety;
- SERIES RUN: Channel 4 (United Kingdom) - TV, 1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Penn Jillette … Executive Producer, Writer
- Teller … Executive Producer, Writer
- Heather Hampson … Executive Producer
- Alan Marke … Producer
- Cathy Cambria … Line Producer
- Declan Lowney … Director
- Gary Stockdale … Music by
- Penn Jillette … Host
- Teller … Host
- Paul Provenza … Guest
- David Strickland … Guest
- Kari Coleman … Guest
- Larry Fine
- Curly Howard
- Moe Howard