Sign In
Upcoming Event
Free Newsletter
Comic magician Penn Jillette spoke to the crowd of 700 at the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance Annual Dinner. PHOTO/ Wayne Becker of Zerbe Photography.
Penn Jillette entertains at Reading chamber dinner
Stacy Wescoe//May 22, 2025//
Listen to this articleHeadlined by comic magician Penn Jillette with a Las Vegas theme, The Greater Reading Chamber Alliance celebrated the Berks business community at its 112th Annual Dinner.
Nearly 700 people attended the event at the Santander Arena.
The night featured showgirls, photo opportunities featuring a vintage convertible and an Elvis impersonator.
During Jillette’s interactive speech in which multiple audience members helped during his tricks, he spoke about how he and Teller wanted to do magic differently.
“Magic is always claiming it can do something you can’t and laughing at you about it,” he said.
Instead, he and Teller wanted to build trust and be honest with their audience, much like businesses need to with their customers.
“Magic doesn’t fool you because you are stupid,” he said. “It fools you because it is stupid.”
He said there is beauty in the “aha moment,” that should be celebrated, and that is one of the reasons he and Teller are the longest running show in Las Vegas history.
The GRCA also honored 50 companies with Business Excellence Awards
Winners in Category one were for-profit companies, with revenues of at least $1 million in each of the past three fiscal years.
