Jme
Member
Do you really want an answer? It's 100% a trick. Do you want to know to learn to perform it, or just cuz you're stumped?
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Penn & Teller Fool Us is back with season 2! You can watch online!
- Thread starter BreezyLimbo
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Do you really want an answer? It's 100% a trick. Do you want to know to learn to perform it, or just cuz you're stumped?
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
You sure? Did he have two gaffed cubes then? I'm assuming he's just amazing at solving cubes, but I could be (and want to be) wrong. I mean hell, I used to be able to solve a cube in 25-30 seconds and I wasn't even GOOD at it. I imagine a pro could do it in less than 10 with no issue whatsoever.
The real magic to me was how he managed to make the second cube match the first cube. There are SO many solutions to a cube that THAT mind fucked me more than the rest of his solvings.
megarockexe
Member
You can see where he has the cube in the bag and he quickly solves it as he stalls pulling it out. But still impressive.
Wow! The first season was one of my favourite shows and the only thing I bothered to watch on ITV. I had no idea that a US channel had picked it up for another season!
Shin Lim is incredible. Even though I figured out the theory of how he does most of the moves, the performance was spotless and there are some parts that completely baffle me (card switch behind his back!?!)
He has another performance on his Youtube channel with few different moves in it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZAc_aW6xcw
All of the act's so far have been entertaining.
Shin Lim is incredible. Even though I figured out the theory of how he does most of the moves, the performance was spotless and there are some parts that completely baffle me (card switch behind his back!?!)
He has another performance on his Youtube channel with few different moves in it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZAc_aW6xcw
All of the act's so far have been entertaining.
TheContact
Member
I watched like 6 episodes last night. This act was my favorite. He's so good
Check out his 52 shades of red on YouTube, equally impressive.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
This one is really amazing. I'm sure Penn and Teller know the basic theory of how he did it, but how he managed to get the 7 into the correct order of the deck whilst replacing the other 7 in there and sealing it...it really is a good trick
Here's Shin Lims 52 shades of red-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfmKMV_a0nw
Holy shit it's incredible. I think to me the best part is that he always makes a point of rolling up his sleeves so you can clearly see his forearms, there's no palming of the cards in his sleeves or anything. Slowing down the last part to .25% speed, I still can't tell how that box disappeared.
Nose Master
Member
The third one kind of exposed a need for a more strict set of rules regarding the performance they have to judge. He did like, 20 tricks. Even they said they caught how he did some of them, but not others. Card trick magicians being able to do 20+ tricks instead of one big trick is pretty silly.
NekoFever
Member
This is seriously one of my favourite shows. I'm so glad it's come back.
Mathieu Bich from the first season is great. I love Teller's reaction to the reveal:
http://youtu.be/LyZp4sPqBAI
That guy's got a credit in the tiny plunger trick too. He's got a knack for designing good tricks.
Other good ones are Michael Vincent, just for technical ability:
https://youtu.be/yFlkPaDo-ks
And Piff the Magic Dragon:
https://youtu.be/oiq-SbIW_Oo
Mathieu Bich from the first season is great. I love Teller's reaction to the reveal:
http://youtu.be/LyZp4sPqBAI
That guy's got a credit in the tiny plunger trick too. He's got a knack for designing good tricks.
Other good ones are Michael Vincent, just for technical ability:
https://youtu.be/yFlkPaDo-ks
And Piff the Magic Dragon:
https://youtu.be/oiq-SbIW_Oo
Victory Red
Member
First guy was whack. He obviously burned the original bill and forged the guys signature on a new one while he was pulling it out of his stomach as he was laying down. The serial numbers don't have to match because Penn/Teller don't see the bill.
That was stupid.
That was stupid.
My guess for the "tiny plunger" gag is a magnet. He's likely inserting some kind of tiny (but powerful) magnet between the cards, and it pinches the cards against the base of the plunger. He's probably tested it so it goes to the correct depth. That's my only logical guess, but maybe there's a different explanation.
Shin Lim was pretty crazy. Some insane sleight of hand and misdirection going on. I agree with others that the smoke likely comes from an e-cigarette (or dry ice pellets), and you can see him make a move to his mouth when he turns around and shows his back (where he's likely inhaling the smoke/pellet), which he breathes out when he turns around. Also, when he initially puts the cards in his mouth, some kind of tiny e-cig or whatever is likely underneath the cards.
Still, the disappearing marker parts and card sleights are just mind-blowing.
Shin Lim was pretty crazy. Some insane sleight of hand and misdirection going on. I agree with others that the smoke likely comes from an e-cigarette (or dry ice pellets), and you can see him make a move to his mouth when he turns around and shows his back (where he's likely inhaling the smoke/pellet), which he breathes out when he turns around. Also, when he initially puts the cards in his mouth, some kind of tiny e-cig or whatever is likely underneath the cards.
Still, the disappearing marker parts and card sleights are just mind-blowing.
NekoFever
Member
I'm fairly sure it's just surface tension from a new deck holding them together, which is why he lifts them quickly. The trick comes from sneakily breaking the tension in the right place, either by folding/bending the cards slightly or slipping something in between. I was reading magic forums discussing it and that's what people seemed to think was happening.
The best part of that trick is the guy's patter. The way he personifies the plunger and how Penn was getting into it was superb.
Risible
Member
I watched it again and can see how he did it. Bring hands together, curl right hand fingers in and grab pen cap between fingers, it just looks like both hands are flat and audiences assumes it is so. Shoot hands out and straighten fingers so pen disappears behind right hand, he then dips that hand down to stash it in a pocket in his pants.
Risible
Member
At quarter speed you can see the box is clearly gimmicked. I have no idea in what way though. It disappears so fast that it can only really be one of two things - camera trickery, which I don't think it is, or the box is attached to a spring loaded wire that pulls it quickly out of sight.
TheAbsolution
Member
Victory Red
Member
No idea how they do the bullet trick.
At first I thought they swapped guns and someone back stage took the bullet apart and brought it to the other person. But i dunno.
At first I thought they swapped guns and someone back stage took the bullet apart and brought it to the other person. But i dunno.
Man I love proxies
TheContact
Member
Wow. That pack disappearing at the end is mine boggling. I caught one slight of hand where he put the cards on the edge of the table and swapped them but all rest baffled me
BreezyLimbo
Banned
Yeah, it's probably tied to something that just pulls it at a blazing speed.
He does the same box switch in the P&T segment he did, that was probably the easiest catch watching it the first time around.
perfectchaos007
Member
He still technically does everything right in the deck switch. The diversion was him swiping the mat with his left hand to make the audience think he was just cleaning the area.
maybe highest rated summer show but the flash crapped all over penn and teller's fool us.
edit:
flash premiere
second ep of penn and teller fool us
that being said I love both shows and hope they stick around for a while.
I also need wizard wars to keep coming back as that is another solid magic show.
I imagine they can. We are in an age where it's not only the easiest it has ever been for people to learn magic (the internet plus video is a great thing) it's also the easiest it's ever been to find good magic (yay youtube and word of mouth over stuff like twitter)
I'm not sure how many episodes this season is, but it wouldn't be surprising if they saw well over 100 acts for this season and they just kept the good ones for tv.
I think the cube has to be rigged to correct itself.
perfectchaos007
Member
ep 3 should be up tomorrow.
it's more likely a variation of this
with some very good slide of hand and very good memorization techniques.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
It's possible to adjust the cube in a way that you can memorize 'steps' to completing it. Like, if you already have a completed cube, it's simply twisting it various times and memorizing which twists you made, and executing it backwards.
I've taken quite a liking to Shin Lim. He doesn't rely on broad scale distraction to fool you, like walking around the stage, talking or rapid body movements. He sets constraints for himself, and has to execute illusions under those constraints. Slow movement. Exposed arms. Top down view. No frills sleight of hand. His only tools for misdirection are his eyes and how he shows the objects. The routines on the whole are beautiful. Instead of feeling like a cheap sideshow, it feels like I'm watching art.
The Silver
Member
So have Penn and Teller ever ripped someone's act apart?
I don't mean to bash the guy because I like him very much, but much of that routine only works because of the fixed tv viewpoints.
But his execution and handling is quite perfect, there's obviously a lot of thought put into the flow of the routine. No wonder he's the FISM champ.
I'm thinking he always uses the same pattern when he prepares his own cube at the beginning of the trick, so when he's asked to stop, he knows he needs to perform, for example, the 17 first moves of that pattern to get a cube in that state.
Then, he makes it so the cube that stays on the table during the entire trick is that one, the one he personally prepared.
Finally, when the trick is about to end, he uses his pattern again on the cube he's holding while he's talking (up to the 17th move, in this example), so both cubes will look the same.
I think.
Episode 3 is up for VOD @ http://www.cwtv.com/shows/penn-teller-fool-us/
I agree.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Episode 3 was not as good as the first 2 by any stretch of the imagination. Too bad. But still fun because I LOVE magic. Spoilers just in case someone wants to not know how the episode goes down.
First act was nothing special - seen it before. But his execution was decent. It's the dollar bill stomach trick.
Second act (the digital magician) did some neat stuff. Most of his tricks were pretty obvious sleights. The last trick though...That makes NO sense.
Third act was...Odd. In fact, I didn't know what was happening until the very end. Once the end hit, it was all over. My issue is that the way he ended the trick wasn't very "loud". But it was still a moment of disbelief. Good on him for that.
Final act was fun. But I think the wife made a move that gave the whole thing away. I can't be sure.
And of course the Penn & Teller trick at the end is still one of my favorite tricks ever. I STILL do not understand how on EARTH they do it.
Second act (the digital magician) did some neat stuff. Most of his tricks were pretty obvious sleights. The last trick though...That makes NO sense.
Third act was...Odd. In fact, I didn't know what was happening until the very end. Once the end hit, it was all over. My issue is that the way he ended the trick wasn't very "loud". But it was still a moment of disbelief. Good on him for that.
Final act was fun. But I think the wife made a move that gave the whole thing away. I can't be sure.
And of course the Penn & Teller trick at the end is still one of my favorite tricks ever. I STILL do not understand how on EARTH they do it.
Jay Shadow
Member
No, cause they're not there to judge people. Penn has referred to the show itself as a trick. The competition doesn't actually matter. Some of the most successful magicians from the show have been people that didn't fool them. The exposure from the show is enough. They're just giving magicians a showcase on tv in the appearance of a competition show.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Hah, Brian Brushwood. Wow.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Just watched that. It reminds me why I had trouble with the show in the first place: wtf is with Jonathan Ross? Does he talk like that as an affectation or what?
Loved the trick though, that was amazing.
Nose Master
Member
Ring trick was botched pretty bad. You can see her dip down right before the curtain is raised to cover her, and she catches her foot on it while slipping out. Pretty sure they even inadvertently show that the rings can be spread apart before the curtain raise.
Rubix guy was cool, but it wasn't really magic. He can just solve cubes fast with one hand. You can see him still doing the last few moves as he pulls it out of the bag.
Rubix guy was cool, but it wasn't really magic. He can just solve cubes fast with one hand. You can see him still doing the last few moves as he pulls it out of the bag.
Caught up on the episodes and really enjoyed them, except the skateboard and chalkboard tricks. Those were a little dull. Everyone else was fun to watch and you can watch Lim's performance over and over.
One complaint about Lim's performance, upon seeing it a second time (and the 52 shades of red video), is that he should really drop the kneeling from his act. Like Penn says, one wrong move can break the illusion and it's so obvious that he kneels for a reason (to switch stuff out under the table obviously). He's so amazingly good at sleight of hand without the table so he should just drop that part, I feel.
One complaint about Lim's performance, upon seeing it a second time (and the 52 shades of red video), is that he should really drop the kneeling from his act. Like Penn says, one wrong move can break the illusion and it's so obvious that he kneels for a reason (to switch stuff out under the table obviously). He's so amazingly good at sleight of hand without the table so he should just drop that part, I feel.
But that's still sleight of hand just with a rubiks cube instead of a deck of card. Still counts IMO.
LyleLanley
Banned
Isn't that what almost all "magic" is?
Messypandas
Member
I'm gonna fool Penn & Teller... but first we gotta thank our sponsors.
meltingparappa
Member
Doctor said he had to take some serious blood pressure medication because of his weight, he opted to simply lose the weight.
Fairly amazing, although I'm still in the disbelief phase whenever he's on screen. He certainly looks more his age because of it.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I dunno. I think he looks damn good for someone north of his mid fourties.
meltingparappa
Member
Oh for sure!
I just feel like the extra weight rounded out his features and the weight loss naturally made his skin a little loser, which I associate with age.
Plus he possibly stopped dying his goatee, or maybe the 'before' in this photo is ancient.
Has some of that Randi dapperness to him now.
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