The Unpleasant Book of Penn & Teller or How to Play with Your Food by Jillette Penn

by Penn Jillette

What kid of any age can resist a book guaranteed to make fellow diners blanch at restaurants or at the family dinner table? Mean, disgusting, vile, hilarious. The book that makes CRUEL TRICKS look like an etiquette guide. 35 black-and-white photos.

Genres: Humor, Magic, Nonfiction, Comedy, How To, Cooking, Food

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Penn Fraser Jillette is an American comedian, illusionist, juggler and writer known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was working at Random House, there was a big to-do because included in each book was a packet of impossible-to- open packet of "sugar" so you could prank your friends by giving them a sugar packet they'd go crazy trying to open at a fancy restaurant. The packet was supposed to be made of Kevlar so it couldn't be ripped. Well, not only were the packets relatively easy to open, but the sugar substitute inside turned out to be toxic. Oops! So they had to recall the books. A-hahahahahaha. Still, this is a really fun book -- I entertained people at a few dinners with the ghost sugar cube trick.

[Steve Odenthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome book The tricks shown here will still WOW most people. Told as only Penn and Teller (alright, Penn) can, even I could get the hang of these mysteries solved. I would recommend this to someone who loves sleight of hand or just plain wants to know some basic concepts. You won't be able to put a show together without an awful lot of effort in perfecting your style and charisma. You have to know that Penn and Teller will always have the upper hand. Great read for magic buffs.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

If nothing else, this book will make you laugh.

Penn writes this collection of jokes, pranks (mostly pranks...), mini science projects, stories and magic tricks with a distinct cynical and humorous voice. (I don’t know why but it feels like Teller didn’t write much of it)

He makes a lot of jabs at religion and spiritual beliefs. It was a bit much but if you can get past it (which I felt compelled to because I was the one who paid money to read this book and I wanted to get something out of it) then you can find yourself rather amused.

The thing that really pisses me off though is that the book refers to a bag of tools (to go with the tricks) that apparently comes with the book but I definitely didn’t get it. If you got this book used on Amazon, chances are you didn’t either. So that blows. That has nothing to do with the quality of this book, I’m just saying.

[Emy Shallow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book!! I'm a magician, and a huge fan of Penn & Teller, and this book was really amazing. It managed to teach actual tricks while being extremely funny! The balance between storytelling and teaching tricks is absolutely perfect, and I learned some new tricks to try out on my friends!! Highly recommend!!

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can honestly say without a trace of hyperbole that this is one of my all-time favorite books. Relentlessly clever, and persistent in its emphasis that the secret to successful magic-tricks is painstaking preparation and practice. I've used the fork-in-the-eye trick on more thimbles of coffee creamer than I care to remember. I've always wanted to do the custom pizza decorated as the selected playing card--what an awesome reveal that would be!

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one will be surprised to discover that at our dinner table each night, all kudos go to the one who made someone else do a spit take. The Spouse has to restrain me sometimes, as I have no compunction about discussing the most disgusting things I can think of. I suppose there's a reason why we rarely have guests for dinner.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for everyone who thinks that you can bend spoons with your mind or wonders why people vote against their best interests.Seriously, very entertaining book on the skill of lying.Should be required high school reading.

[Chad]

Pulling the tricks in this book while in junior high landed me squarely on my mom's shit list on a number of occasions.

[Sahra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very clever and funny. I don't think it's one I'd keep around teenage boys. I didn't like that it was sometimes a little vulgar...such is the style in showbiz.

[Fred]

Very fun book, Penn is always entertaining

[Jason Bilsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

awww. My copy didn't come with the extras.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing and entertaining, even if you never plan to put any of their pieces into practice.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Rachel Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book that's more than just magic tricks (though 'just' is not quite the right word for magic tricks, obviously). Not only are many of them clever as hell, the writing itself is as well. Even though this book is from over twenty years ago and has some more dated references, it's still very usable today, cause a lot less has changed regarding food than people might think.

Penn and Teller have many anecdotes and jokes throughout the book, from stories to philosophies to friends' stories. Interestingly, they even mention Pixar before Toy Story was made, among other people and friends.

It also warns about being the 'Parrot Guy' and informs the reader of the philosophy of 'NPD'. It also informs you how to get a free meal off of your friends. Unfortunately, you'd have to buy the book to find these things out, as I ain't no snitch helping people trying to cheat honest, hard-working magicians like Penn and Teller.

Highly recommended.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Funny!