Fan Request: Penn & Teller's First Appearance | Letterman 

Penn tells the story about this appearance. He said his adrenaline was so high he had tunnel vision was only seeing black and white and everything was happening in slow motion.

Hah..I somehow missed this one! Back when my friends and I were kids (I'm 51 now), we tried to replicate the P&T SNL skit/trick, where they do the entire thing upsidedown! We had a basement with windows which were ground level, so of course my brother and I thought it would be a great idea to nominate our best friend, "Sparky", to hang from his legs, into the basement interior. Where we had many props hidden under a mounted table. It was quite an elaborate setup, if I do say so myself! We had a fake drinking cup Velcro'd to the table, and cards that he would pick up and would magically disappear into thin air. As well as a monkey puppet that looked like it had come to life, no strings either! Anyway, we showed this to family and friends, who had no knowledge of the original P&T SNL skit, or of what we were doing, and all of them were stumped! They must have come up with a dozen different ideas, not one of them was , "oh! He's hanging upside down, from the basement window, with the camera, also upside down, along with an upsidedown coffee table!". I've never been more proud of something we've accomplished,, (sad, I know!). I thought for sure that Sparky's face turning from a normal shade, to beet red, from all of his blood rushing to his head (poor kid!), would have given it away, but nope! Anyway, I just wanted to share this with someone, even if no one reads it. -Matt

Wow, Penn sounds so different here! Teller sounds exactly the same.

so sad, both dead on the same day. Now that's a magic trick. RIP Penn and Teller

Penn's ponytail is on the wrong side.

I saw Teller talk on Miami Vice. Learn to love it.

I remember watching watching this on the night. I was immediately a huge P&T fan from this trick on.

In 2019 Penn and Teller headlined a magic convention that was run by Richard Kaufman, who wrote one of those reviews in one of the magazines they showed. Their one request was that their introduction before they took the stage would be Richard Kaufman reading that review.

Dave’s reaction is the best thing, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh like that.

It's hilarious to hear some of those "reviews" knowing that P&T basically saved magic.

Got to see them live a few years after this. What a great show!

This was the first time I ever saw them. Absolutely blew me away, been a fan ever since.

Loved seeing Dave’s genuine shock and enjoyment of the trick. Always enjoyed Penn and Teller.

They have been classified as magicians since then. ‘The community’ hated them for explaining how some ‘magic’ tricks work. Love this blast from the past

Few things on TV astonished me as much as this. I saw it broadcast on TV and I screamed, cried, laughed, and acted it out for everyone I knew.

Yes! More Penn & Teller, please.

Wow! Different magicians on a crazy late night talk show. Dave made that happen. Wow!

Kind of funny seen Letterman's uncertainty about their act.

This was a fine show.

This was a great episode and always enjoyed Grant Tinker. Thanks Tom!