What I Want to Do When I Grow Up

If you asked me when I was 17 what I wanted to do when I was in my 50’s – let’s imagine I could think of being in my 50’s – what I would want is to work with one of the most talented magic show biz minds that’s ever lived, have what is to my Greenfield, Massachusetts sensibility, not to Donald Trump, but to my sensibility, an unlimited amount of money, have a theater that, not to Lady Gaga, but to me is a huge theater – 1,500 seats, that’s pretty big theater, people coming to see us every night…And then be able to do crazy, crazy, crazy ideas that Teller and I think are beautiful with absolutely no one but the audience watching over us. 

Ceasars gave us the Penn and Teller Theater.  “Do the show you want.”  I mean, there’s financial stuff going on, but that’s what I’m talking about.  They have no artistic input whatsoever.  People come to see your show, they enjoy it, we’re fine.  Good-night, thank you very much.  We’ll have the slot machines.  It’s an amazing, amazing situation.  It’s beautiful, it’s powerful, it’s all life is.  The most important part of life is work, it’s the flow, it’s getting stuff done, feeling like you’re doing something.  We have that in spades.  We’re really, really happy.  

In Their Own Words is recorded in Big Think’s studio.

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