Roast Attendees Take Umbrage With Stunt By Penn & Teller -article on their sacrilegious stunt

Las Vegas Review Journal ^ | Jan 17 2003 | Norm Clarke

[First Amendment]

Is stupity/intolerance only permitted when someone is a celebrity?

No, stupidity and intolerance (and worse) is only permitted when the object is religious belief, God, or holy scriptures and teachings. Oops - can't insult Mohammed or the Koran, though.

Over the years there have been various disgusting and blasphemous plays or movies about Jesus, and also horrible insults involving homosexuality etc with respect to Hinduism (the followers of which are generally highly moral). So that's okay! IOW, open season on God and Godly morality.

[weegee]

Found this from Drudge today but there is no FR thread:

Dialogue begins about 'ghetto party'

It's exactly the sort of media response I was talking about to "outrageous" college events.

[CyberAnt]

Excuse me ... suicide bombers are NOT CHRISTIANS.

The god they believe in is the "god of this world".

A Christian, is "Christ-like". BIG DIFFERENCE!!

[TAIPAN22001]

Well stated. I agree.

[Claire Voyant]

By supporting these atheists, Lance Burton might have to take MUCH worse than a BULLET!!

These people are soooooo angry and mean, why would anyone go see them?

[Claire Voyant]

Satan has a smiling face. You should realize that.

[Sungirl]

How low can these people go?

[gridlock]

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that the Spanish Inquisition was a legitimate form of Christianity. I was just making the point that the nobody has been making fatwas in the name of Christ in the last 500 years of so. This does not imply that when they did so it was appropriate.

[Phantom Lord]

It's like Alice Cooper, who looked/acted like Satan on stage, but has always been a decent guy.

Alice Cooper for years had to keep his love of golf a secret. He said that if it was ever learned that he played golf his career was over and his reputation ruined.

[weikel]

Im sure many here are mad but im a heathen whos always like Penn and Teller so I just don't care.

[weegee]

Sounds like Disney will be broadcasting Penn & Teller during the Superbowl half time show.

From Usenet:

So, I just read that William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League, has asked ABC to cancel Penn & Teller's segment on this weekend's Superbowl.

Apparently, he has taken offense to their "graphic" performance at the Vegas Riviera last Thursday. Anyone know what the deal really is with this?

My general impression of Donohue from past such public complaints is that he's a media-hound douchebag, so I'm not surprised he's discovering a potential beef which will get cameras on him during Superbowl week. Also, he has a real bee in his bonnet for making life difficult on Disney, so the fact that the game is on ABC clearly puts this right up his alley. However, he generally reserves his criticism for cases of perceived anti-Catholic bias (he was the biggest voice hollering about Kevin Smith's "Dogma" before it was even released), but I'm having trouble figuring out what "graphic" Catholic insult P&T worked into their show.

I'm a big fan of P&T, but not a regular in this group. I'll try to keep an eye out for posted responses, but if anyone has the real skinny and could e-mail it to me at XXXXXXXX, it would be much appreciated. Hopefully, whatever the real beef here is, it won't prevent P&T from entertaining the country this Sunday. (For the record, an ABC spokesman said he had no knowledge of the complaint and so would not comment on it).

[weegee]

Other brief updates:

Daily Racing Form: Super airtime for Las Vegas?

While the NFL nixed Las Vegas's attempt to buy an ad during its Super Bowl broadcast, the city still will get its share of national exposure during the weekend, even if it's in an indirect way.

Comedians Penn and Teller are scheduled to be part of ABC's pre- and postgame coverage Sunday. However, the Rio Resort-Casino headliners are in hot water for a skit they performed last weekend at a roast of fellow shock comedian Amazing Johnathan. Penn, dressed as a Roman soldier, unveiled a shroud to reveal a near-naked Teller on a cross, while a midget dressed as an angel simulated certain unmentionable acts. The Catholic League, a 350,000-member organization based in New York that fights anti-Catholicism, has called for ABC to ban Penn and Teller from its broadcast.

The skit sounds like something Jimmy Kimmel, a Las Vegas native, might try. Kimmel - best known for his stints on the "Ben Stein Show," "The Man Show," and his prognosticating segments on "The NFL Today" - debuts his live late-night talk show on ABC after Sunday's game. Kimmel is proud of his roots. Keep an eye out for Las Vegas references and guests.

One show that is conspicuous by its absence from this year's Super Bowl festivities is "The Howard Stern Show." In each of the past two years, Stern had broadcast from the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel in the week following the Super Bowl, bringing his crazy cast of characters with him.

On his show this week, Stern said they won't be coming out this month and are looking into perhaps visiting this spring. Las Vegas gossip columnists have been speculating that the Palms, which is in direct competition for the hip demographic, may be able to lure Stern away from the Hard Rock now that Don Marrandino, former Hard Rock president, has left the property to work for Steve Wynn.

Arte Lange, a Stern sidekick, will be performing his stand-up act this Friday and Saturday at the Suncoast Showroom.

[weegee]

The only other "news" mention that came up when I searched for the "Catholic League" and Teller was another sports page reference:

Teen-ager part of ABC Super Bowl broadcast

[ snip ]

Part of the ABC telecast includes a segment by magicians Penn & Teller. They are to write down and hermetically seal the name of the winner, score and MVP before the game, then reveal their predictions on the postgame show.

However, Catholic League president William A. Donohue has asked ABC to cancel the Penn & Teller segment, protesting a graphic performance by the pair at the Las Vegas Riviera on Jan. 16.

Network spokesman Mark Mandel said ABC Sports president Howard Katz had not seen or received the letter and would have no comment.

[ snip ]

[Quix]

GREAT POST.

Sadly, this is but the beginning.

Wouldn't want to live in Vegas or down stream from Hoover dam. Not sure when. But the prognosis is not wonderful.

As a culture, we sure have a way of begging for lightening bolts in our era.

And it will get worse before it gets better.

Not only will citizens be considered odd if they object. They'll be considered odd if they don't participate.

Our slide toward the pit will not stop until after we have joined some Chinese communities during the cultural revolution. Body parts will hang in the meat markets. People will wait [if they are patient] for relatives to die so their table can have some meat.

Choices [other than those like between vanilla and chocolate ice cream] tend to be toward death or life.

And in a culture, they tend to be cumulative.

Choose life.

[Bullish]

Arrrrgghhh! These freaks should be fired, at least.

Don't worry, they'll get fired all right.

For eternity.

[weegee]

Here's the Daily Racing Form website link:

http://www.drf.com/news/article/43696.html

[weegee]

http://www.catholicleague.org/02press_releases/pr0402.htm#ABC%20ASKED%20TO%20CANCEL%20PENN%20&%20TELLER%20AT%20SUPER%20BOWL

January 21, 2003

ABC ASKED TO CANCEL PENN & TELLER AT SUPER BOWL;
RECENT ANTI-CHRISTIAN ACT CITED

Catholic League president William Donohue delivered the following letter today to ABC Sports director Howard Katz:

Mr. Howard Katz
Executive Director, ABC Sports
ABC Television Network
47 W. 66th Street
New York, NY 10023

Dear Mr. Katz:

I am requesting that you cancel the scheduled performance of Penn & Teller during the pre-game segment of the Super Bowl. The reason I am making this request has to do with the incredibly anti-Christian statement made by these two men on January 16. In front of 400 persons at the World Magic Seminar held at the Las Vegas Riviera, a nearly-naked Teller appeared on stage dressed as Christ on a full-sized cross. Then a midget dressed as an angel performed a simulated sex act on him. Penn unveiled the scene by pulling away a “Shroud of Turin” that covered the cross.

It would be much appreciated if ABC Sports were to now say that such conduct will not be rewarded by ABC and that therefore the scheduled appearance of Penn & Teller at the Super Bowl has been cancelled.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President

[yendu bwam]

Sounds like Disney will be broadcasting Penn & Teller during the Superbowl half time show.

Well, just a case of a slime company putting on a slime show. Slimes stick together. I avoid them.

[weegee]

Impending Super Bowl performance BUMP

[discostu]

I'd like to know what the patter was. The whole shtick is completely different if you throw in a line about disgraced televangelists in hotel rooms.