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Penn & Teller Fool Us is back with season 2! You can watch online!

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Z

zulux21

Member
Messypandas said:
I was wondering whether they would introduce rules to safeguard against things like that. Its not really fair to the people that get through with truly jaw-dropping stuff.
Click to expand...

I am going to have to disagree here.

concept of the show, to fool penn and teller.

It really shouldn't matter how you do it. If you add extra misdirection that they fall for (aka get fooled by) that is merely adapting for your audience.

It's called fool us, not fool us completely :p

I mean is it not more unfair that someone can put on a jaw-dropping show and then not get a chance to perform in their act because penn or teller knows the guy that created the basis of the trick?

this show focuses on new unknown techniques even if they aren't as impressive as other techniques as you need to hit something penn and teller don't know.
 
M

methane47

Member
zulux21 said:
I mean is it not more unfair that someone can put on a jaw-dropping show and then not get a chance to perform in their act because penn or teller knows the guy that created the basis of the trick?
Click to expand...

Instead we get a boring routine with two mediocre magicians and a skateboarder.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
Caelus said:
I really enjoyed the coloring-in blow up doll trick, I know Penn and Teller mentioned it had basis in a different trick involving cartoon bunnies but I think coloring in a blind date and getting a blow up doll along with the guy's comedy adds a really funny layer to it.
Click to expand...

I didn't like him at all. He came off like a sleazy Vegas act. I know that's what he is essentially, but I still don't like it.

The Shocker had some ribald jokes too (I liked the "but not your mom or your sister" line) without coming off like an ass.
 
M

meltingparappa

Member
zulux21 said:
I am going to have to disagree here.

concept of the show, to fool penn and teller.

It really shouldn't matter how you do it. If you add extra misdirection that they fall for (aka get fooled by) that is merely adapting for your audience.

It's called fool us, not fool us completely :p

I mean is it not more unfair that someone can put on a jaw-dropping show and then not get a chance to perform in their act because penn or teller knows the guy that created the basis of the trick?

this show focuses on new unknown techniques even if they aren't as impressive as other techniques as you need to hit something penn and teller don't know.
Click to expand...
Posting on mobile and probably getting everything wrong because it's hard to double check, but...

There was an act that Penn and Teller were confident they knew how it was done, and asked the magician to open a prop to reveal a pocketed card.

It was a great moment when the magician sighed, and opened the box to reveal the words "nope" and the two LOVED the deliberate insider fakeout with an extra punchline, and the audience ate it up too.

Contrast that to the couple in question, and Penn and Teller were sure the trick involved something they very easily caught. The couple then argued on stage that wasn't how it was done, and when caught in an awkward standstill like that, Penn and Teller saved face by cutting into a segment taped in post of them 'deliberating' backstage and agreeing that they were fooled, just so things wouldn't come off as generally unpleasant on the show. More diplomatic then cutting them, at least.

The potential theoretical safeguard is to prevent something like that - for what seemed like a fairly straight forward standard trick, I would err on the side of the two of them catching the gimmick, and then a performer saying "no", defensive, probably being a weasel as Penn said, and seemingly a little openly hostile on stage in front of a live audience sucks the fun out of the entire concept of the show.
 
B

BreezyLimbo

Banned
meltingparappa said:
Posting on mobile and probably getting everything wrong because it's hard to double check, but...

There was an act that Penn and Teller were confident they knew how it was done, and asked the magician to open a prop to reveal a pocketed card.

It was a great moment when the magician sighed, and opened the box to reveal the words "nope" and the two LOVED the deliberate insider fakeout with an extra punchline, and the audience ate it up too.

Contrast that to the couple in question, and Penn and Teller were sure the trick involved something they very easily caught. The couple then argued on stage that wasn't how it was done, and when caught in an awkward standstill like that, Penn and Teller saved face by cutting into a segment taped in post of them 'deliberating' backstage and agreeing that they were fooled, just so things wouldn't come off as generally unpleasant on the show. More diplomatic then cutting them, at least.

The potential theoretical safeguard is to prevent something like that - for what seemed like a fairly straight forward standard trick, I would err on the side of the two of them catching the gimmick, and then a performer saying "no", defensive, probably being a weasel as Penn said, and seemingly a little openly hostile on stage in front of a live audience sucks the fun out of the entire concept of the show.
Click to expand...

There have been plenty of magicians on the first season and this one that kinda have that face that says 'Oh I just want to tell them no they're wrong...'. Like, the skateboard couple kinda did sour me as well, they were so *adamant* that's not what happened. Maybe it really wasn't, but yeah it takes two to tango and P&T were gentlemen about it.

Daria said:
Is this show in the same lines as their older Penn & Teller Bullshit one?
Click to expand...

It's completely different. The premise is, you have magicians who try to 'fool' P&T with their acts in order to get a chance at opening for them in Vegas. It's great IMO because the knowledge P&T have to offer make for interesting conversations at the end of each act, and usually the acts themselves are either funny or interesting.
 
M

Messypandas

Member
zulux21 said:
I am going to have to disagree here.

concept of the show, to fool penn and teller.

It really shouldn't matter how you do it. If you add extra misdirection that they fall for (aka get fooled by) that is merely adapting for your audience.

It's called fool us, not fool us completely :p

I mean is it not more unfair that someone can put on a jaw-dropping show and then not get a chance to perform in their act because penn or teller knows the guy that created the basis of the trick?

this show focuses on new unknown techniques even if they aren't as impressive as other techniques as you need to hit something penn and teller don't know.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree, because I don't think its in the spirit of the show. Let me expand a bit on my reasoning. I know magic is all about misdirection blah blah lying to the audience, but what the act did in the first season was a little different; they misrepresented the engineering of their trick on purpose.

Heres the act:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn_teFAyt58

When he gets slapped over the head at 2.57, he actually slips the chosen folded card into his mouth. When the partner takes the card out of his mouth with the tongs at 4.16 he obscures the card and holds it noticeably weird to look like hes switching it. They could have walked up to Teller, gave him the tongs and had him pull the card out of his mouth without ever touching it, and it would be the same trick - more impressive, but would narrow it down for P&T about their methods.

Heres how they normally perform it, and they quite visibly don't obscure the card.

https://youtu.be/hSd1wLStkKE?t=133

It just creates a problem. P&T can only give one valid guess. P&T could perform the trick the exact same way as those did it but just with using a card switch at the end, and it has the exact same effect. So they know how to do the trick, but its not the way they did it so they get through. I just think that makes for cheaper wins.

Daria said:
Is this show in the same lines as their older Penn & Teller Bullshit one?
Click to expand...

I've only seen a couple of episodes of Bullshit but I don't think this is anything like that. Its a variety show with a few live magic tricks per espiode, and if Penn and Teller can't guess how its done they win a prize.
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Daria said:
Is this show in the same lines as their older Penn & Teller Bullshit one?
Click to expand...

No, not at all.

This is a show where up and coming magicians perform a short 5 minute routine for Penn & Teller. If Penn & Teller can't guess how they did the trick, then those performers get to open for P&T on their Vegas stage show.
 
U

UpperCaseN

Member
I never heard of this show before but a friend shared the Shin Lim performance on facebook. I loved it and am working my way through all the previous episodes 1 a day now.
 
Hoho for breakfast

Hoho for breakfast

Member
Messypandas said:
So Penn and Teller said they were more stumped by the dinner table effect from season 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwCNTxS_RWo

Anyone got any faves?
Click to expand...

That's pretty incredible. I'd have to imagine the "random" people were involved in it somehow. I have no idea how though unless everyone was in on it.

edit: I guess just the girl would need to be in on it since she hand picked them. I wonder why they didn't ask about the girl being random.
 
S

StealthGoblin

Banned
Does the US version have a guy who knows how it was done on the side in case of arguments? In the UK if it came down to a stand off, the guy who was told how it was done would step in via radio mic and make a decision either way.
 
Y

Your Entertainer

Member
Hoho for breakfast said:
That's pretty incredible. I'd have to imagine the "random" people were involved in it somehow. I have no idea how though unless everyone was in on it.

edit: I guess just the girl would need to be in on it since she hand picked them. I wonder why they didn't ask about the girl being random.
Click to expand...

My guess:

Each envelope message contains the same thing - three paragraphs. He cleverly says to "read YOUR message" - thus prompting each guy to read the message for their table. There's a blank that states "fill in your name" here. They get the food from the back of the lid/table/smell or some combination of the three. It entirely depends on the three dudes not being dicks and ruining the whole thing. If they had shown the "message" on camera, this obviously would not be a plausible explanation. Any reason this can't be how it's done?
 
L

Loxley

Member
One of my favorite acts they've ever had was Piff the Magic Dragon. The guy didn't end up fooling P&T, but his act was just fantastic and very funny.
 
M

Messypandas

Member
My favourite was probably Shawn Farquars sealed deck trick

http://youtu.be/CRpz0zuAGVs

It actually lead me to buy the trick. Very beautiful but very elaborate. I've noticed P&T aren't that shit hot on card tricks. There was an old man in the first season that fooled them with an old schoolyard self-working card trick. A lot of them involve maths if they're not just sleight of hand moves, and unless you have a refresher on every math related card trick you can't openly state how it works. Not a knock against them, but card tricks are definitetly harder to guess.
 
M

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Loxley said:
One of my favorite acts they've ever had was Piff the Magic Dragon. The guy didn't end up fooling P&T, but his act was just fantastic and very funny.
Click to expand...
He was on Matters of Illusion, another magic show on CW, last night too.
 
TheContact

TheContact

Member
Messypandas said:
I have to disagree, because I don't think its in the spirit of the show. Let me expand a bit on my reasoning. I know magic is all about misdirection blah blah lying to the audience, but what the act did in the first season was a little different; they misrepresented the engineering of their trick on purpose.

Heres the act:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn_teFAyt58

When he gets slapped over the head at 2.57, he actually slips the chosen folded card into his mouth. When the partner takes the card out of his mouth with the tongs at 4.16 he obscures the card and holds it noticeably weird to look like hes switching it. They could have walked up to Teller, gave him the tongs and had him pull the card out of his mouth without ever touching it, and it would be the same trick - more impressive, but would narrow it down for P&T about their methods.

Heres how they normally perform it, and they quite visibly don't obscure the card.

https://youtu.be/hSd1wLStkKE?t=133

It just creates a problem. P&T can only give one valid guess. P&T could perform the trick the exact same way as those did it but just with using a card switch at the end, and it has the exact same effect. So they know how to do the trick, but its not the way they did it so they get through. I just think that makes for cheaper wins.



I've only seen a couple of episodes of Bullshit but I don't think this is anything like that. Its a variety show with a few live magic tricks per espiode, and if Penn and Teller can't guess how its done they win a prize.
Click to expand...

Wow nice post I was curious about that purposeful slight of hand he did but in the Britain show there's not any way he could have switched it. These guys are brilliant for doing that to pen to fool them to get to Vegas. And that is a crazy card trick
 
P

perfectchaos007

Member
Messypandas said:
My favourite was probably Shawn Farquars sealed deck trick

http://youtu.be/CRpz0zuAGVs

It actually lead me to buy the trick. Very beautiful but very elaborate. I've noticed P&T aren't that shit hot on card tricks. There was an old man in the first season that fooled them with an old schoolyard self-working card trick. A lot of them involve maths if they're not just sleight of hand moves, and unless you have a refresher on every math related card trick you can't openly state how it works. Not a knock against them, but card tricks are definitetly harder to guess.
Click to expand...

How much did that trick cost you?
 
M

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
RetroMG said:
Is that show good? Is it anything like Fool Us or Wizard Wars?
Click to expand...
You have to really enjoy magic, I think. It's pretty low budget; you can tell they filmed the entire season over the course of a few days by renting a venue in Vegas, giving out free tickets, and having dozens of acts perform their routines. They then go in and chop up specific tricks and string them together with Dean Cain.

A quirk of this is that eventually you start to see different acts in different episodes performing literally the same tricks. But I think it's still fun to see working magicians do their thing.
 
M

Messypandas

Member
perfectchaos007 said:
That's not bad! I've learned plenty of (free) tricks on youtube, but I imagine if I actually paid for a trick that I would feel compelled to master it. Instead, I generally half-ass learning a trick so I fuck up my performance half the time at parties.
Click to expand...

I'm the same, generally like doing simple card tricks and sleights but when I saw this I knew it was going to be a be a premium "wowza" effect. The only problem is its not something you can easily do imprompt and like the reviews say its better if you wear a blazer.

If people want to learn some cool tricks, check out Xavier Perrets videos on youtube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5QtMriwXAq4

Hes like an awesome mixture of Brad Pitt and Christopher Nolan.
 
R

RetroMG

Member
morningbus said:
You have to really enjoy magic, I think. It's pretty low budget; you can tell they filmed the entire season over the course of a few days by renting a venue in Vegas, giving out free tickets, and having dozens of acts perform their routines. They then go in and chop up specific tricks and string them together with Dean Cain.

A quirk of this is that eventually you start to see different acts in different episodes performing literally the same tricks. But I think it's still fun to see working magicians do their thing.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I'll give it a try. I do really enjoy magic. I don't practice enough to be any good, but I enjoy watching people do it. (And I'm decent enough to entertain my little nephews at family dinners.)
 
A

Anteo

Member
Hoho for breakfast said:
That's pretty incredible. I'd have to imagine the "random" people were involved in it somehow. I have no idea how though unless everyone was in on it.

edit: I guess just the girl would need to be in on it since she hand picked them. I wonder why they didn't ask about the girl being random.
Click to expand...

There are no plants, the cards actually have text like this:

When you read this card, fill the blanks:
_____(your name here) will be instructed to... where it will be serve ____(name of the food here)

So basically, the guys just played along when they saw the cards. You can even tell some of them look dissapointed when they look at the text lol.

Also, I believe this was revealed by one of the bird eye cams that shows the text in a few frames. Penn also commented on this trick too in a later video
 
E

Enk

makes good threads.
Anteo said:
Also, I believe this was revealed by one of the bird eye cams that shows the text in a few frames. Penn also commented on this trick too in a later video
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to the video by chance? I was always curious to hear some of their afterthoughts on the ones that fooled them.
 
M

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
MBison said:
Was this on tonight? DVr didn't record
Click to expand...

Yeah, there was a new episode tonight but my DVR didn't catch it either.

Which is weird as I have an htpc with mythtv as the recording software and it tried to record it, but failed.
 
M

MBison

Member
The toughest part about this show is not knowing exactly how things are done.

Like Amazing Allison, I imagine that's an easy trick but I have no clue how it's done. Anyone? :p
 
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