[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- From the Penn and Teller Theater
at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas,
here's our host Brooke Burke.
♪ ♪
- Welcome to "Fool Us."
Are you ready to see some magic, everyone?
[crowd cheering]
Yeah! All right! Well, let's do it.
Give it up for the stars of our show, Penn and Teller.
♪ ♪
[applause]
Each magician performing tonight
has a shot at fooling Penn and Teller,
and if they do they'll return to Las Vegas
to perform in their world famous magic show.
We'll also throw in a trophy just for fun.
Now, let's meet the first act of the night.
- I'm a builder. I make crazy stuff.
I built a catapult to shoot hamburgers to my neighbor.
You got it?
I built an aerosol can flame thrower
just to kill mosquitoes.
And I built a table
out of a barrel that magically serves beer.
And that fun creativity fuels my magic.
But when the pandemic hit I couldn't perform
and my wife is a flight attendant,
so she was out of a job.
So, we were stuck together in our one bedroom apartment
with nothing to do.
So, we had to get creative.
We started making videos and posting them online.
Oh, uh! Hello!
So, we started making a lot of comedy stuff,
some bar bets, riddles,
still a little bit of magic here and there,
and it worked.
Now we spend at least half our time
making videos and traveling the world.
Woo!
The world is our oyster.
Except now, I'll be going up against Penn and Teller.
This isn't one of our little videos,
this is the toughest magic test in the world.
I better be good.
Or lucky.
[applause]
- Please welcome the Canadian comedy magic of Wes Barker.
- Yeah!
[applause]
Today I'm gonna try something I'm not very good at.
Talking to women.
No, that's not really it,
but I will need help with this
'cause I find it really hard to do.
Brooke, do you mind helping me with this one?
- I would love to help you, yes. - Brooke, everybody!
- I'm sure you're gonna be great at it.
- I'm actually gonna stand in front of you
'cause I don't want you to see what I'm writing
and I'm going to try to predict the future, okay?
I'm gonna need your help with this,
but right now your job is very easy,
you just have to keep your eyes open and your mind blank.
And I will write down a few things that you will say.
Right now you say nothing, think nothing.
In a minute, Brooke is gonna say a color.
I'm pretty good with the colors, so this should be all right,
but they get harder.
So, then after that she's gonna say a number
between one and 1000.
That's a lot of numbers.
Okay, trust yourself, Wes.
You can do this, come on, believe in yourself.
It's hot in here, right?
[laughter]
Okay, so try-- you got this.
Come on, Wes, believe in yourself. Yes.
That's wrong, for sure.
It's the heat, right? It's not the lights?
It's the lights, not the stress? Okay.
The last one's even harder because it's an animal.
And there are, like, so many animals.
Brooke might even know more animals than I know.
So I'm gonna have to-- phew!
I mean, I'm just gonna have to...
I'm dying here, I'm really sweating it out here.
Hang on-- don't rush the stage, ladies.
All right, okay, I'm gonna just-- phew, I'm just--
I'm just gonna go for it here, I'm just gonna try and--
I'm gonna go with maybe this, like that.
Yeah. Okay, I'm locked in.
Brooke, are you still awake back there?
- I am. - All right, perfect.
Here we go-- Let's try this.
Name a color.
- Blue.
[gasping]
[applause]
- All right, here we go.
Name a number between one and a thousand.
- Uh...
173.
- Two for two!
[applause]
All right. Let's finish strong here.
Can you name an animal?
- Lion?
- Three for three! Three for three!
You killed it. Absolutely great job. Wonderful job.
Oh!
- Was I supposed to do that?
[laughter]
- I think I got away with that, right?
- Well, I'm supposed to support you up here
so, like, I didn't want to, like--
- No, it was the best!
You see this guy's face right there?
He was, like, "Magic is real!"
And then I turn around, he's, like, "Son of a--"
It's my favorite thing, I love it so much.
But you're right, and you're right.
Magic is real until you know the trick, right?
That's the best part, right?
Between knowing the trick and seeing it, it's so good.
And that's why I've got no sleeves, right?
Magicians, no sleeves, because the trick was always--
you know, something is up his sleeve.
And now I've made you guys mistrust my own shirt, right?
Like, "Something is on the back of his shirt."
So, the only logical thing to do
is the next part, we do no shirt.
We're gonna do no shirt!
[cheering]
We're doing no shirt!
Doing no shirt!
You stopped cheering. Why did you stop cheering?
[applause]
[cat calls]
Some of that applause feels sarcastic.
Brooke, what do you think, huh?
- Umm... - Don't worry about it.
All right. We're gonna fix-- we'll fix it,
we'll fix it, we'll fix it.
We'll fix it with this.
It's no problem, right?
- Want me to help you? - Yeah,
you're gonna have to help me for sure.
Can you give me a piece about, like, that big, maybe?
- Sure. - Then I could-- put some--
We can fix this. - Want another piece?
- Yeah, I need one from-- yeah. For sure.
Like this...
See, now some magicians don't even use tape,
right, so, you guys are lucky.
Go like this, yeah, like that.
- Okay, one more?
- All right, so we do like this. - All right.
- I'll do this one, here we go.
Like this. I need to get a long one down here.
Hang onto that. - All right.
- All right, so, sometimes...
Sometimes this, you know,
people are gonna have a hard time
explaining it at work tomorrow, right?
Like, "Yeah, the magician came out, ripped his shirt off."
"I don't think you went to a magic show."
All right, can you give me a piece
that's exactly eight inches?
I gotta do some more work on this one here.
Exactly eight inches. - Exactly?
- Yeah, exactly. If you can, exactly.
- Is this, like, a set-up? - If you don't know,
let's try and figure it out--
I got it, okay, I'll take care of it.
Whew, jeez.
If some people are wondering why I did this trick on TV,
I'm wondering that too.
All right, here we go.
[laughter]
I think we're pretty much...
I'm definitely--
You're probably thankful I'm a magician, not a stripper.
Sorry about that. Okay, here we go.
I think-- - Kinda look like a stripper.
- It's gonna hold together pretty good.
I feel like we kinda-- Yeah, that feels pretty good.
See, look at that. It'll hold together. Now...
[applause]
- You okay? - Well, it's good,
because it's, like, it's nice--
even when you see every step of the trick
it can still be a lot of fun.
- Looks good. - Yeah, I think it looks great.
- You look great. - I mean, I do agree,
it's nice in magic when there is some magic, obviously,
so we'll just have to get rid of that piece right there.
- Wow!
[applause]
- Woo! Thank you! - Wes Barker, everyone.
[applause]
That was amazing. - Thank you, it was really good.
- Oh, my goodness.
I was gonna ask, when you first started doing this trick,
did everyone, like, rush the stage?
I mean, shirt off, like right at the get-go?
- Surprisingly, that's never happened, so I dunno...
- And what if I didn't read the back-- what--
- Oh, it's very stressful for me,
'cause I sit there going, like, "Can she read?"
- "Am I gonna play along?" - Or, yeah, play--
I didn't know if it was a setup, was I blowing it,
was I supposed to be genuine?
I heard "Magicians lie," like, I'm, like, "What do I do?"
- No, you did great.
- How did you come up with this trick?
- You know, I've been doing the gag part for a long time,
the turning around and letting that...
And then, this part I've actually been working on--
the ripping the shirt part-- for, like six years.
- I mean, that was amazing. - 'Cause I love the idea
of ripping a shirt-- the image for me, onstage,
how I come up with tricks, always with the image, right?
I'm like, "The image of a ripping a shirt off
"is cool," you know?
- I'm just trying to figure this out.
I mean, this close, I'm this close,
nothing up your sleeve. That was amazing.
- So, yeah, do I wish I had a better body?
Yeah, you don't need to keep bringing that up.
- No, it was working. It was all working for you.
All right, Wes.
-Moment of truth time? - Let's rip off the Band-Aid
and let's see if Penn and Teller know how you did the trick.
You ready? Boys? - I'm ready.
- Yeah, Wes, really, really good.
You know, there's one thing we don't allow on the show
and that is what's called "Instant Stooging."
If you don't know that, that's what was done to you, Brooke.
Instant Stooging is where you bring someone up
who's not set-up ahead of time
but then they know what to do automatically.
So, we really worried about you doing that,
then you turn it into a joke, and then we were happy,
'cause you were on our side. I like that--
- I was worried, I didn't know what to do.
- You figured it out right away.
But, I'll tell ya,
this shirt thing was really wonderful,
'cause you see cut and restored, destroyed and restored,
is a standard in magic, done with rope, done with cards,
done with paper, done with newspapers,
but doing it with a shirt really turns the whole idea inside-out.
Makes it a really new thing and really, really wonderful,
and really funny, and using gaffer's tape
as, essentially, the magic wand
to make the restoration happen,
is a really, really smart idea.
Really funny, really good, you're really wonderful,
and we don't think you fooled us.
- Oh! - You are 100% right, so--
- Wait a minute, does that mean they know the magic secret?
- They definitely know it, they definitely know it.
Thanks for letting me rip my shirt off for you guys,
I really appreciate it. - Oh, well you fooled me.
I totally enjoyed that, we loved that.
Wes Barker, everyone. - Ah!
- Oh, come back and see us, Wes!
We've got more amazing magicians
to take on Penn and Teller when we come back.
Don't go away.
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- Welcome back. In the mood for a miracle?
Meet our next magician.
- My name is Henry Evans from Argentina
and I am living a dream.
I've been lucky enough to win many prizes.
I have been invited all over the world to give workshops,
perform on TV,
opportunities beyond my wildest imagination.
When another magician perform one of my tricks
my dreams are multiplied.
Even the trick I will show Penn and Teller tonight
came from a dream.
When I woke up I checked everywhere
to see if the trick already existed.
It didn't.
Tonight, I'm turning a dream into reality
for you, Penn and Teller.
And if I am lucky,
I will wake up tomorrow with the trophy.
[applause]
- All the way from Argentina,
give it up for Henry Evans.
[applause]
- Thank you.
[applause]
A long time ago somebody asked me
we magician can win at the casino.
And my answer was, "No, it's impossible."
We cannot deal the cards,
we cannot touch the cards,
that's why it's impossible.
Impossible till now.
Because tonight five spectator will help me
with a deck of cards like this one in their hands
and I will try to control those cards without touching them.
Imagine we are at the casino, yes?
Playing a poker game, yes?
You have the ability to give yourselves
the highest poker hand.
That is what I will do tonight.
So, this is the perfect moment.
You have a deck of cards inside the bag.
Can you please take them out, yes?
You have-- yes.
And now, what we will do is something very interesting.
First of all I will have you opening
and fan like this, the cards,
so everybody can see the cards.
Like this, face to the audience first-- very good.
So, everybody can see the cards, and it's very interesting.
You can show to the audience,
you can show them to your friend next to you.
So, everybody can see the cards are shuffled,
but anyway some people want to shuffle.
If you would, shuffle the cards.
It's very important-- don't show me the faces of the cards,
so it's harder for me to control them.
So, shuffle like this.
Look-- the face to the audience, know the faces.
Very good. Oh, I love your shuffle.
Remember this exact moment.
Five spectators are shuffling completely the deck.
And when you finish your shuffle
you will take the cards like this.
Hold in your one hand only, like this.
Very important. And you will--
I want you five cut the cards
and complete the pack, very clear way.
And now you will cut in the middle, half and half.
Half in your right hand and half in your left hand.
Very clear.
And now, important question...
You will say "Right," moving the cards, or "Left."
If you say "Right," all of you will place the cards you have
in the right hand inside the bag and we will not use it anymore.
But if you say "Left," you will place the cards
you have in the left hand inside the bag
and we will not use them anymore.
Left or right, you decide.
- Right. - Right?
Please, put the cards
you have in the right hand inside the bag.
Yes, yes, put all the cards--
okay, and you have only a few cards.
You can shuffle a little more.
Remember, don't show me the faces.
Wow, this will be fantastic.
[laughter]
Now, the most important thing.
When you finish hold the cards in one hand.
Remember that we are in the casino
and maybe cameras are hidden everywhere.
So, I don't touch the cards.
Only you-- You will show the top card so everybody can see,
it can be any card.
For example, seven of clubs,
and put in the middle please.
So, I don't know now. Oh, my God.
You remember I touch the cards any time?
Never, never, never.
What I will do now is something very special.
You will hold one deck like this
and you will put the other hand-- look.
Like this. Put your fingers like this.
And please, make a big smile for the audience.
And now, in very slow motion, you take the top card,
with your fingers only, like this.
Using your fingers. Take it. Take it with your fingers.
And the rest of the cards inside,
inside the bag.
Yes. Put all the cards inside the bag.
So, you have only one card in your hand.
Put it here so nobody see.
Think about it.
You shuffled the cards.
You made very decision.
And after many shuffles,
there is only one card left in your hand.
Yes or not? - Yes.
- If you remember in the beginning
I promise you a winner hand.
I never touch the cards.
When I do this you will show your card.
And we start with you, one by one.
Are you ready? Show your card.
Ten of clubs. Show!
Jack of clubs.
This is ace of heart, it's a good card.
King of clubs. And ace of clubs!
Okay, this is maybe not a royal flush.
But, okay, I can do something special with you, yes.
Because, if you see, I have many cards here, right?
And, of course, tell me, this is a more difficult thing.
Any number from one to ten, anyone.
- Seven. - Seven.
One, two, three, four, five, six...
Can you show the number seven, please, to everybody?
Yes! Ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of clubs!
[applause]
Royal flush!
Take the cards out. Yes.
And you will place the ace of clubs
and all the cards you have-- yes, very clear-- here.
Take all the cards and put them here, very good.
Ah-huh, I love that.
And this is a special present for my friends here. Wow.
Because this clear bulb will be for you.
So, you can examine them.
It's an honor for me to be here with you.
Thank you very much. - Thank you.
- Henry Evans, everyone!
[applause]
They're looking very puzzled over there.
[laughter]
Where's the strangest place that you've ever performed?
- I will tell you something.
You know, I do magic in parties sometime
when I was, maybe, 20 years old, okay? In the beginning.
And one day I arrived to the show, prepared everything,
and it was just for two person.
- There were two people? - Two people only in the home.
They say, "Yes, it's my present to my wife."
[laughter]
"Because I love her and I know she loves magic.
"That's why I hired you, and the show is only for us."
It's okay. Why not?
- All right, Henry,
Penn and Teller have been puzzling for a little bit,
but let's see if they have figured out your trick.
- Oh, my God. - Are you ready Henry?
- I am ready-- - Boys?
- Oh, Henry, wow, that's such a great act.
I mean, to do a card trick with people from the audience
where you give them decks and you don't touch the decks.
It's incredible.
But there's a problem, Henry. - Oh, okay.
- And that is that we like magic.
That's the only problem. We like magic.
Which means we occasionally go to see magic
when we're not sitting in these seats.
And I don't know how many years ago it was,
two, three, four years ago, you played here in town
at a magicians convention,
and my buddy, Mac King, took me to see you.
And we watched the whole routine
and my mind was completely blown.
And I said, "There's now way. That's impossible."
And Mac King looked at me
and he said, "You will not believe what Henry does."
And I said, "If he goes on 'Fool Us,' he just fools us.
"He just takes the trophy."
And Mac King said, "No, no, you're not gonna believe this,
"I'll tell you what he does."
And I said, "What does he do?"
And Mac King laid it out in detail, beat by beat by beat.
- Really? - He ratted out your ass.
And then we watched the act.
And I thought back on what Mac King told me.
And it's so complicated I couldn't remember it,
so you fooled us anyway.
I knew what it was and you fooled us!
[applause]
Congratulations.
[applause]
- Thank you for seeing me. - Hey, that was beautiful, man.
- Teller, oh my goodness.
Take your trophy, you deserve it. Congratulations!
We have a fooler, everyone.
Henry Evans!
Thank you, Henry. Thank you so much.
[cheering and applause]
I didn't know where you were going with that, Penn.
Penn and Teller have given up another "Fool Us" trophy.
Will it be the only one tonight?
Well, come back and find out.
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- Welcome back, everyone.
One more fooler is out in the wild
and another might get discovered
when Penn and Teller face this next magician.
- Shadows have always fascinated me.
They are a powerful metaphor for fear and the unknown.
I perform this act in places
where I do not speak the language.
It doesn't matter where. Somehow, they understand.
I try to create magic all the time.
Writing tricks in my journals every day.
Soon I will be publishing a book about magic.
I cannot think of anything I would rather do with my life.
I saw Penn and Teller for the first time
performing live for my birthday.
Exactly ten years later, on my birthday,
I get to perform for them.
It is the greatest gift I could ever ask for.
Penn, Teller; this trick is my gift to you.
[applause]
- Put your hands together
for the magic of Gonzalo Albinana.
[applause]
[gentle music]
[inhaling]
[exhaling]
[inhaling]
[exhaling]
[inhaling]
- There is a shadow.
A shadow that's been following me since I was a kid.
A shadow that lives inside of all of us.
Some say that this shadow is fear.
I don't know.
When we face our fears they lose some of their power,
they become smaller.
♪ ♪
Fear attacks us when we are alone.
But tonight we are not alone.
Tonight you're here with me.
Thank you, please come on and join me.
Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thanks.
[applause]
Let's imagine that fear is a cage.
This one, for example.
They say that if you want to help somebody with fear
all that you need to do is to offer your hand.
I'm gonna ask you to put your hands together like that,
and one up front-- great.
If you try to hide it it makes no difference.
It makes no sense, we know it's there, right?
I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes.
In a moment I'm gonna ask you to breathe,
to think on your fear, think on your habit.
Let it slow.
I'm going to walk away.
I'm going to leave you alone with a fear,
but please don't worry, don't move,
don't do anything,
just think on your fear and breathe.
I'm gonna do the same thing as you do.
We're gonna count to three and separate our hands.
One...
Two...
Three.
[gasping]
That's it, yeah.
Amazing, thank you.
Thank you, you're free. You're free.
There is no longer any fear, you know? It's incredible.
I wish-- I wish it is that easy.
I wish it is that easy to make the fear go away,
but, you know, fear is a stubborn--
[gasping]
And it comes back to hit you in the chest.
To take your breath away.
♪ ♪
Living with fear
is like living with a plastic bag over your head.
♪ ♪
It's a terrible feeling.
♪ ♪
Fear...
It stops you from seeing the world clearly.
Fear isolates you.
Fear suffocates you.
If you ever feel trapped like that do what my father told me.
Just stand up and take a deep breath.
[inhaling]
[exhaling]
[inhaling]
[exhaling]
[inhaling]
[exhaling]
[gasping]
[applause]
And there comes a moment when the fear goes away.
You can feel it, you can hear it, you know?
It's-- it's gone.
It's no longer there, you're-- you're free.
You're free to live your life, you're free to leave it behind,
you're-- you're free. I'm free.
I can feel it, you know?
And it...
If it ever comes back, you know, if it...
I-- it-- it--
[gasping]
It all comes rushing back.
The fear. The doubt. The panic.
Surrounding me, like it never left.
And, you know, I'm tired.
I'm tired of living with fear.
I'm tired of having it with me all the time.
I'm tired of it's weight.
But I can't make it go away.
I can't make it go away.
So, please, make it go away.
I don't want to see it anymore.
[gasping]
[applause]
- Gonzalo Albinana!
Gonzalo, give me a hug!
- Thank you very much.
- Come and talk with me.
That was so heartfelt and so tender.
- Thank you.
- Has magic helped you deal with fears in your life?
- Yeah, all the time, actually.
The only way that I know how to confront fear
is to make it into a magic piece, so, yeah.
- Can you share with us a little bit of your process
and how you conceptualize the idea?
- Of this act? - Yeah.
- This effect is a very old effect in magic.
It's something that has been a little bit lost in history.
So, I started as a kid performing it
and then I was realizing
that it was something more for me to say with it
than only the magic.
And Teller was the huge inspiration for me
with his shadow act.
- So, this trick was actually inspired by Teller?
- In a way, yes, in a way. Kind of all my magic at this moment.
Yeah, so...
- Okay Gonzalo, it is time now
to see if you fooled Penn and Teller.
- Oh, Gonzalo, you've taken this to a level of theater
where you really held the entire audience's hearts in your hand
and really made it mean something so profound
that we really want to leave the audience with that.
The important thing is what happened
in the audience's minds
and what you created up there
which was so, so beautiful.
And you did that by using a prop
that you made mean something.
You made it mean fear.
You made it mean more than just "jail cell," more than that.
And I'm going to avoid saying what that object was
to Blackstone and Billy McComb
because once I say the word that the other people did with it
it becomes silly,
and it'd be unfair to the audience
to take that image away
and make it something else
that's essentially light and silly.
I hope that just saying Blackstone and Billy McComb
tells you that the silly version we know,
and if even if you were using the silly prop,
you did it better.
So, on every level it was just fabulous
and I'm avoiding saying anything
because I want the audience to stay
with that beautiful, theatrical feeling that you created
and then say, for our silly show,
that we don't think you fooled us.
- So, Gonzalo, it sounds like Penn and Teller
know the secret to your magic.
- Sounds like that, yeah. They are the greatest.
- Well, let's give him a really warm
happy birthday round of applause everyone, you were amazing.
Thank you. Gonzalo Albinana everyone.
[applause]
We still have more amazing tricks on tap
and we'll pour out more magic right after this.
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- By land, air, and sea,
we welcome the best magicians in the world
to the shores of Las Vegas.
I see our next magician on the horizon.
- I'm Keona and I live in London.
I've been around magic illusions my whole life
because my mom is a vicar in England.
During services my mom used to use flash paper.
We write down all the things that we've done wrong.
And then, poof, they're all gone.
[angelic music]
When I was younger I really struggled with ADHD
and made it really difficult to focus.
The bad thing was it wasn't very good for my grades.
But the good part is it makes me incessantly curious.
I crave new experiences and adventure.
Just like this.
So, I've channeled it.
I can sing, I can juggle,
and I've found magic.
And it's given me a new focus in life.
Penn, Teller, I can do a lot of things.
But can I fool you?
Let's find out.
[applause]
- Big Ben is telling me that it's time for a trick
by English deceiver Keona.
[applause]
- Hello. So, I'm kind of new to magic as I'm only 20.
And, of course, magic has been around for hundreds of years.
And from what I can tell
it's gonna be pretty hard to fool you guys
because how could I possibly know
everything that you know.
But what I do know is how to shop online.
So, I went and bought a trick that all the reviews said
was a trick that will fool Penn and Teller.
Five stars, guaranteed.
[laughter]
And so I knew this was the right trick to fool you guys
because it has an actual book in it.
I know, I know; so last century.
[laughter]
Now, I'm gonna let you check through
to make sure that this is a perfectly ordinary book
and that there is nothing gimmicked in any way.
And whilst you do that
I'm gonna need something to scribble on.
Also very last century,
but it'll do.
Now, can we agree that this is a perfectly ordinary book?
- Teller thinks so, that's good enough for me.
- Okay, fab.
So, for the next part of the trick
we're gonna need to generate a random page number.
So, the trick comes
with 500 numbered flying tiles.
One for each page in the book.
We might need some more help.
Brooke? - Sure.
- Could you help us out? - Love to help.
What can I do?
- So, as you can see there all different numbers here.
251, 28, 19, 7, 223-- all different.
I'm not gonna ask you to pick one out
as that wouldn't be random. - Okay.
- So, instead, please could you...
use this net.
- Okay. - To swipe them out of mid-air.
- Sure. - Okay.
We might need some more help.
Stagehands, could I get some help, please?
Thank you.
I feel like we might need one other thing.
- Okay.
[laughter]
- Okay.
Now I think we're ready.
- Okay, I'm ready.
- Okay, come here.
Just catch them. - Okay.
- Okay. Ready? Make it rain!
[cheering]
How fun is that?
- Okay.
[cheering and applause]
All right. How did we do?
- That is a great job.
I'm glad that you did this and not me.
So, please reach in and pick out any one you like.
- Okay.
How's that? - Perfect.
- Should I show everyone? - Yeah, please.
- Okay.
- What number did you pick, Brooke?
- 35.
- Penn, Teller, please could you turn to page 35
and read the first line of the first paragraph-- silently.
- Okay. - Yeah.
Thank you, Brooke. - Thank you.
[applause]
- Now, I have no idea what that line says.
Have you read it? - I have.
- Okay, perfect.
Please, could you focus and concentrate
on what the line says
so that I can read your mind and see what's written down.
Okay...
Okay, keep concentrating. I think I've got it.
Okay, just a few little details... Perfect.
Okay.
Now, Penn, for the first time,
please could you read that line out loud?
- "The door banged in the wind
"as my son, Edward, lurched into the hall."
- Okay.
Now, before I show you
what I scribbled down on the whiteboard,
let's take some time to review how we got here.
First, I gave you a perfectly ordinary book
that you checked and there was nothing gimmicked.
Next, we generated a random page number
so that you landed on a random page and a random line
that no one could have forced, predicted,
or secretly printed.
And when you read out that line you mentioned a door, yes?
- Yes. - Well...
Would you believe it, because...
I read your mind and I drew that door.
[gasping and applause]
- Keona everyone!
That was amazing!
What's the most fun thing about magic for you?
- It makes you feel like you could potentially do anything
that you want to in life if you put your mind to it.
- What type of magic are you looking forward
to experimenting with?
- I think mentalism is really cool.
Tricking people, making people believe,
and seeing that you can read their minds is incredible.
- And what do you do in your every day life
when you're not performing magic?
- Mountain walking, I do a lot of.
Since I'm from England there isn't that many big mountains
but in the Lake District there are some nice hills
and you can always have a jam sandwich at the top with tea,
which is really nice.
- That sounds amazing.
All right, Keona, I can't read Penn's mind,
so I think we're gonna have to ask them
if they've figured out your trick.
Are you ready? - I'm ready.
- All right, let's do this. Boys?
- Hey Keona, really good.
I happen to really like Book Tests a lot.
That's what this is called in the magic lingo.
And I want to tell people something
that's really, really important.
This book has a cover on it
that says, "A Perfectly Ordinary Book."
Which is, of course, completely jive-ass.
You would never have a perfectly ordinary book.
But the reason that's there is not for magic purposes,
it's for television purposes,
because we can't show the cover.
And within here is a book that you can actually buy.
And I can't say the name of that book,
then I would have defeated the purpose of changing the cover.
But this is a real book and what I can say about it
is you worked really hard.
You've read this book really carefully.
And you chose this book really carefully.
Even though it's a real book.
And we love the way this whole trick works.
One of the problems with Book Tests,
and mentalism in general,
is that they're always uninteresting looking.
It's just a person talking, a person writing.
You've got the two ladders there, which is really nice,
and you've got all the different color papers,
which we thought, at first, was part of the system
of running the trick,
and then we figured out, no,
you really have a lot of numbers up there.
You said 500. You have a lot of numbers up there.
And you read this book very, very carefully.
And one of your problems,
probably the only thing that stopped you
from, we think, fooling us,
is the fact that we published a book
with the same qualities.
And, uh, we have done a Book Test very similar to this.
So, I think, because of that, you did not fool us.
Did I sneak enough stuff in there
that you've got an idea, Keona?
- Yeah.
- Did all of that magical lingo make sense to you,
'cause it sure didn't make sense to any of us.
- Yeah. Thank you so much everybody.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Keona everyone, thank you so much.
[cheering and applause]
Well, this commercial break
will be somewhere in-between one and 52 minutes long.
Pick a number and see if you're right.
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- Welcome back to "Fool Us."
Our Las Vegas legends Penn and Teller
like to close every show on a high note,
and I've been told that it doesn't get any higher
than this next trick.
Give it up for Penn and Teller.
[applause]
- Well, Brooke, I get to do things my way.
See, Teller and I have a little bit of a disagreement.
I like things really old fashioned.
I like things done by sleight of hand.
Done by skill, done by practice.
Teller likes new-fangled stuff.
He likes the mechanical stuff, things like that.
But I like to just show off with some--
some sleight of hand, some, almost, juggling.
So, I'm gonna do it my way this time.
I'm gonna have you pick a card.
Tell me when to stop, would you please?
- Stop. - Right near the top.
Good. Take a look at that card.
Show it to the camera. Memorize that card.
Let them all get a look at it, make sure you don't forget it.
You're gonna see that card stuck to the ceiling.
Put that right back in there.
- How's that? - Then we shuffle it up.
Now, you've seen the Card on the Ceiling.
It's not an original trick with me. I didn't invent it.
If you go to a magic bar, they're all over the world,
if you first walk in
you'll often see cards all over the ceiling
because magicians have done this trick.
It's a trick of pure skill,
and the higher the ceiling, of course,
the harder it is to do the trick.
So, I'm gonna try to get your--
you've get it clear in your mind, right?
I'm gonna try to get your card to stick to the ceiling.
We have a camera up there. - This is a really high ceiling.
- Yeah, yeah, it's, like, 75 feet.
I don't think it's ever been done this high
and this difficult before, but I'm gonna give it-- Teller?
Keep it down, I'm trying to think here, Teller.
Teller is playing with a new toy of his.
- Of course he is.
- See, up between the lights, there is a camera up there.
You remember your card, right?
I'm gonna throw it in the air. There's--
Teller! Keep it down!
Teller's got all these new toys.
I'm gonna throw it in the air,
it's gonna go right to the ceiling.
Look at that place in the ceiling.
You all set? And...
One! Two! Three!
Ah! Oh--
Teller! Teller! Teller!
You screwed up the whole trick.
But there it is, stuck right there.
Is that your card? The six of clubs.
It could have been on the ceiling,
that would've been so impressive.
Can you imagine seeing that on the ceiling?
But instead it's on some stupid gizmo of Teller's.
- You guys are crazy.
Penn and Teller have brought tonight's show
for a smooth landing.
And a brand new episode of "Fool Us"
will take flight next time.
Goodnight everyone!
- Coward! Come in here, you coward!
[laughter and applause]
Think I'll stop? I'll take you the [Bleep] out.
[Bleep] you!
[applause]