Penn Jillette
Magician, Author & Atheist · b. 1955
Penn Jillette is an American magician, author, and the larger, louder, talking half of the Las Vegas duo Penn & Teller(his partner, Teller, performs in silence). Beyond the stage, he is one of the most visible and outspoken atheists in American entertainment — a self-described “hard” atheist who makes the case for unbelief with humor rather than hostility.
Jillette says he became an atheist as a teenager, after reading the Bible cover to cover. The experience that was supposed to deepen his faith ended it instead — a story he has told often and built much of his nonfiction around. He went on to write God, No! and Every Day Is an Atheist Holiday!, arguing that a life without gods is not empty but unusually rich.
From 2003 to 2010 he and Teller hosted Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, a Showtime series that applied a magician’s understanding of deception to psychics, faith healers, alternative medicine, and religion. Who better to expose a con, the show argued, than two men who fool people honestly for a living?
Atheism, stated plainly and positively
Jillette doesn't hedge: 'There is no God and that's the simple truth.' But his framing is hopeful rather than bleak — without a heaven to defer to, this life and the people in it become the whole point, and kindness has to come from us.
The Bible made him an atheist
Like a number of unbelievers, Jillette traces his atheism to actually reading scripture cover to cover as a young person. Far from confirming his faith, a close reading dissolved it — a recurring theme he returns to in interviews and in God, No!
A magician's eye for deception
Decades of fooling audiences for a living gave Jillette an unusual expertise: he knows exactly how people are misled. On Penn & Teller: Bullshit! he turned that craft on psychics, faith healers, and alternative medicine — the people who use the magician's tools while claiming the powers are real.
Honesty over politeness
His most-shared moment is about a stranger who kindly gave him a Bible. Rather than mock the man, Jillette praised him — arguing that if you genuinely believed someone faced eternal danger, staying quiet to avoid awkwardness would be the unkind thing. He asks believers and atheists alike to say what they actually think.
How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? If I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn't believe it — there's a certain point where I tackle you.
The case for honest belief
Jillette’s most widely shared moment isn’t an attack on religion at all. After a show, a man gently gave him a Bible. Instead of ridiculing him, Jillette went on camera to praise the man’s sincerity — and to challenge believers who hold that the stakes are eternal yet stay silent to avoid being rude. It captures his whole posture: he would rather people argue openly and honestly than perform a polite agreement nobody means.
Essential works
Best quotes
“There is no God and that's the simple truth. If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.”
“Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help.”
“If you believe that there's a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell... how much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
“Atheism is not a religion. It's the absence of one — and reality is plenty.”
“It's a magic trick. There's no real magic. And once you understand how you can be fooled, you stop being so sure you can't be.”
Continue exploring
What is atheism?
A clear introduction to what atheism actually means.
New Atheism
The movement Jillette's brand of outspoken unbelief belongs to.
James Randi
The magician who built modern skepticism out of exposing frauds.
Deconversion
What the journey out of religion actually looks like.
Recommended reading
Our full list of books, articles, and resources.