Penn Jillette's 'Dancing' Diary

To prepare for his upcoming appearance on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, comedian/magician Penn Jillette is employing the black magic of Botox injections to make his wrinkles disappear—and chronicling the treatment on Penn Says!, his Web series on Sony’s Crackle.com.

 So why did Jillette, 52, decide to go under the needle? “I didn’t really decide,” he tells B&C. “My manager and my wife said I should do it.” Seems he was won over by the argument that the injections—which he doesn’t plan to continue after they wear off in a few months—would reduce the time he’d have to spend in the make-up chair. “I don’t look in the mirror very much,” he adds. “You can cover my face with magic marker—I wouldn’t notice. But they say it looks better [with the Botox].”

 It isn’t the first time Jillette has tackled the subject of plastic surgery. In one episode of his Showtime series Bullshit!, he and partner Teller explore the stay young industry, ultimately concluding that we should embrace the inevitability of growing old. Jillette doesn’t think his recent decision contradicts that point. “We make it clear in the plastic surgery show that people should do whatever they want with their bodies,” he says. “I have a friend who put silicon in his head to make it look like he had horns.”

Some minor facial adjustments aren’t the only preparation Jillette has undergone in advance of his appearance on Dancing With the Stars. “I’ve lost 47 pounds, and I have been working with my partner Kym [Johnson] for about a week, every day all day,” Jillette says. “The surprising thing is that I’m actually trying, I’m working as hard as I can.”

As for critics who think the 6’6 magician isn’t nimble enough to bust a move on the show, Jillette thinks they may be in for a surprise. “I have some experience [dancing] oddly enough,” he says, explaining that his time spent with Ringling Bros. Circus taught him a few smooth moves, though not necessarily dance steps he could use on ABC “It wasn’t ballroom [dance], it was show dance.”

And what will become of his Las Vegas show while he appears on ABC? “I’m still doing the show in Vegas,” he says. “I’m doing it with sore feet.”

Watch part one of Penn Jillette’s trip to the doctor below, courtesy of Crackle.com, and check out part two (not for the faint of heart) here.