You know, Greenfield owns juggling the way Harvard owns comedy," said Penn Jillette, the louder, taller member of rogue comedy duo Penn & Teller, in a recent interview. Penn was referring to the fact that he and illusionary master Michael Moschen both learned to juggle in their hometown of Greenfield, Mass. Just how they learned is a point of contention, however.

"Michael Moschen lies," said Penn. "He always tells the story that he, his older brother Collin, and I went to the library and got juggling books, but it was really Collin and I who went there and starting playing around with stuff, and we taught Michael a few days later. He doesn't point out the fact that I taught him to juggle."

So SPOTLIGHT asked Michael to tell us his story.

"I blame Penn," said Michael. "Penn and I grew up as best friends in school. A little while later, we were next-door neighbors. Penn and my brother got books on juggling from the library and a few days later I joined in." (Notice Michael did in fact tell the truth.) Michael continued, "We juggled and got unicycles -- we got excited when our picture was in the paper because there we were, three weird guys on unicycles."

Years after the juggling began, the "weird guys" grew up and left Greenfield. Penn enrolled in the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College; Michael worked a few jobs and eventually landed in San Diego near his brother. Then over the phone, Michael and Penn began planning a show together. Before long, they were headed to New York.

"We called ourselves the 'Toss Ups,' said Penn. "We were going to call ourselves the 'Throw Ups' but decided that wouldn't go over so well. (SPOTLIGHT laughedr) Twenty-seven years old and that joke still gets a laugh! Anyway, we performed in nursing homes and little parks, anywhere that would give us $20. And it was terrific."

Though all good things come to an end, some ends are good themselves. Such was the case with the dissolution of the 'Toss Ups'. "Michael Moschen and I might be the only team in the world who had an amiable split," said Penn. "He wanted to focus on aesthetics; I wanted the jokes. It was the intellectual idea of exploring the truth through lies that I fell in love with, and that pulled me into magic, along with the opportunity to work with Teller, the best partner in the world. There was no fight; [Michael and I] continued to share the same house, and he helped out with the Penn & Teller show. I bought him his crystal balls. In fact, we both opened our own shows with the same routine."

"Instead of entertainment, I got more involved in the arts," said Michael. "[Penn and I] didn't really keep track of each other after we went our different ways. I did street performing, and I went to the Olympics in Montreal in 1976 to do street performance. That really opened up a whole new realm. I got involved with a dance company, so I started studying dance, and then I met a sculptor friend of mine, so I learned more about that art. Then I met a mime, a clown, and an acrobat, and got involved in those worlds." Michael applied for and received five NEA grants over the years. "The grants kept driving me forward. I didn't plan on spending my whole life doing this sort of work. You get the drive to succeed at what you're working on and it keeps snowballing."

And snowball it has! Moschen was a founding performer of the Big Apple Circus, and has starred in a Great Performances program on PBS. Michael is now performing a solo show combining elements from the past 15 years of his professional career, including elements of physics, sculpture and dance. In addition, Michael is a recent recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, an award the press has often dubbed the 'genius award.'

Through his success, Michael has ended up in a place similar to where he started. "Growing up in small town, I always wanted to travel, to see things. Penn & I both needed to break away, head to a city, I think," said Michael. "But now I don't live that differently. I live in a little town in Connecticut that's not a very different situation from where I grew up, and I love it."

Penn continues to work on the live Penn & Teller Show with his partner and friend Teller. The duo recently moved from New York to Las Vegas. "We lived in New York. We played Broadway forever. But there's no need to live in New York now that Disney bought it," said Penn. "I've never drank, I've never done any kind of drugs, and I'm very good at math, so for me, Vegas is just a cheap holiday on other people's money."

Penn and Teller have branched out beyond live performances. They are visiting scholars at MIT ("Science is my life," says Penn) and they just finished their first video. "We just finished a three-part documentary on street performances in Egypt, China, and India. That was very grueling because we had to leave the country. Don't ever leave the country - no matter how bad elections get."

Years after the guys went their own ways, they remain friends. "From the time I was six or seven years old, I made fun of Michael Moschen brutally. Actually I've had to hold back as an adult because people think it's a professional difference, like I don't like what he's doing. That's not it at all," said Penn. "We're just old neighborhood buddies. And it's amazing we're both still in show business."

"There's always been competition between Penn and I," explained Michael. "We're both smart guys who did really good in school. But we both knew we didn't want to just go to college. We're competitive about making it in the world intellectually. He does his wonderful art, and I do mine. We're both making it. If you look at Penn and I, one of the things we have in common is that we both have an extreme distrust for what other people say is reality. I take it poetically; he takes it differently."

?Both Penn and Michael will perform this season at the Fine Arts Center. "I'm going to wear a blue leotard and bring crystal balls on stage," said Penn. "Just kidding. I'll be yelling and shooting guns instead. You know, I'm excited to perform at UMass because it's the closest I'll ever come to performing at home."

Penn & Teller perform in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall Tuesday, February 6 at 7:30pm. The event is sponsored by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, WRNX 100.9FM, and Florence Savings Bank.

Michael Moschen performs in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall twice on Friday, March 30. First, he performs as part of the Performances Plus! Program at 10 am. Then he's back for a Center Series event at 8pm. The evening event is sponsored by The Recorder and Barnes & Noble.

For tickets, call the UMass Fine Arts Center Box Office at 413/545-2511 or 1-800-999-UMAS.