We first heard of Pilobolus on Penn Jillette’s Sunday School podcast when Teller outlined his plans for a magic-influenced rendition of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Teller is following up on his very successful tour of Macbeth and provided his initial thoughts on how he would present The Tempest.

He told the podcast listeners the staging will reflect influence from Harry Willard and Tom Waits.

You need to listen to the full interview; we cannot do justice to Teller’s description and ability to describe a scene.

There are few people we can listen to for longer than five minutes.  Teller is someone to whom we could listen for days.  Perhaps it is his obvious love for magic or the great stories he has to share or his dramatic tone.

We do not know how or why but we can say we love listening to what he has to say.

Teller suggested they may enlist the assistance of the talented dance troupe Pilobolus to portray the monster Caliban.  He and Penn heaped praise a plenty on Pilobolus for a good ten minutes of the podcast.  We made a mental note to learn more of these dancing people.  If they are good enough for Penn & Teller, they are certainly good enough for us assembled philistines.

As usual, we digress.

Anyway, The New York Times reported today that the very same Pilobolus will be performing at the Joyce Theater this summer.  Penn & Teller will appear in Pilobolus’ new piece [esc], presenting “the ultimate in gripping, do-not-try-this-at-home choreography.”   Continue reading “Pilobolus, Penn & Teller This Summer” →