Penn Jillette Takes on Cheerleading and Vaccinations in the 8th Season of his Hit Show

Penn Jillette, the magician and comedian who is half of the famous Penn and Teller duo, is also a pal of Kinky Friedman’s, which is always helpful when trying to gain favor with the I-Man, as Penn did today while promoting the 8th season of his and Teller’s Showtime series “Bulls*it.”

“We are now the longest running show in the history of Showtime,” Penn told Imus. “Which is, I believe, the definition of ‘damning with faint praise.’”

The new season of the show, which Imus safely referred to all morning as “Bullship,” begins on June 10 at 10pm, and exposes the inherent hypocrisy of many of the popular beliefs and sacred institutions in our culture. Like, say, cheerleading. 

“In 1972 or ‘73, Feminists pushed through a federal law that said cheerleading could not be considered a sport in schools,” said Penn. “The unintended consequence, which we often get from laws, is that the people who train cheerleading and watch after the girls involved in that sport don’t have the kind of training that they have for football, basketball—the boys sports.”

As a result, there are more injuries—and even deaths—in cheerleading than in any other sport, because, as Penn eloquently put it, “They’d throw the smallest girl 25 feet in the air, and forget to catch her.”

But really, that episode of “Bullship” is about something far more important. “It gives us a chance to talk about this great injustice,” said Penn.  “And also show topless young women with no underwear.”

Penn’s partner-in-entertainment for 35 years has been Teller, who does not speak, a phenomenon that Penn said predates their time together. “Teller worked his way through college doing magic at frat parties,” said Penn. “I’ve forgotten exactly what ring of Dante’s hell that is, but it’s close to the center.”

While working those dreadful events, Teller found that if he shut up, “people simply got tired of heckling him,” said Penn.

The two are known for dispelling the secrets of magic tricks when they see fit to do so. “Sometimes it’s interesting to see the machinations, and sometimes its not,” he added.

Known for his candidness, Penn told Imus he is amazed by the people hounding President Obama to do more about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “What is he supposed to know about this?” Penn wondered. “It’s like you’re getting heart surgery, and people on the radio are going, ‘Call in and say how it should be done! What do you think? Let’s take some callers here!’

Another topic he and Teller will cover on “Bullship” this season is the link between vaccinations and autism, which has never been definitively proven but which celebrities use as the basis for encouraging parents not to vaccinate their children.

“We decided what we needed to do was find a Playboy model with larger breasts than Jenny McCarthy and have her topless, reading the real scientific information,” said Penn.

He continued, “We thought if we brought some B-level celebrities and some D-size cups into the mix, then maybe we cold do a little bid for truth, justice, and the medical way.”

It’s about as logical as anything anybody else has proposed.

-Julie Kanfer