02x11 - Where There's Smoke There's Magic

[bunniefuu]

From the Penn & Teller Theater
in Las Vegas, Nevada,

here's our host, Jonathan Ross!

Thank you very much.

Wow, thank you so much.
You're very kind.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Welcome to Penn & Teller Fool Us,

where Penn and Teller sit
in the Penn & Teller Theater

on the Penn and Teller show
that's named after them

where acts come out and try
and stump Penn and Teller for a chance

to come back here and perform
with Penn and Teller.

Wait until you see what
we have in store for you tonight,

but first, let me bring out
the stars of the show,

I can't remember if I mentioned
their name, but here they are,

Penn and Teller.

Lovely to see you again.

Penn, glad to see you here.

Gentlemen, if you'd like to
take your chairs,

the show can get started.

Penn and Teller, ladies and gentlemen.

It's always a treat to have
Penn and Teller here.

Now if you're wearing socks,

hold on to them because here
comes our first potential fooler.

Okay, so I'm Joel Meyers
and this is Spidey.

He's like the brother I never wanted.

I put up with Joel 'cause
he's good at magic.

When you tell someone you're a magician,

one of the things they're gonna
ask you is,

"Can you pull a coin out of my ear?"

- And you would think that...
- That's... My ring.

As comfortable as most people
are at walking and talking,

I see that level of comfort in
Joel when he's doing magic.

It's just second nature to him.

You put a deck of cards in his hand,
magic is going to happen.

Look, over your head, watch.

Look, look, look.

Look, he's coughing. Look.

I hate it when you do that.
What is this?

Look at this, watch this.
What is this?

In his mouth.
Did you see that?

Dude, I hate it when you do that.

Dude, I told you don't do that.

I couldn't think of anybody better
to be doing this show with.

Spidey has fooled me with so many things,
it blows my mind.

God, that was hard to say.

In our next duo, one guy specializes
in sleight of hand,

the other is a mentalist.

Together they're slightly mental.

Please welcome Joel Meyers and Spidey.

What's up, guys?
My name is Joel Meyers, and tonight,

we are going to tell you about something
called mentalism.

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

My name is Spidey, and I'm a mentalist,

which means I can read your mind.

No, he can't.

In a moment, I'm gonna do something
for you guys using this ordinary book.

Stop.

See, now why would he say that?
Ordinary book?

Why would anybody say that?

We didn't think it was an
unordinary book before, but now we do.

Go ahead.

And actually to do this,
I'm gonna borrow Mr. Ross.

So, Mr. Ross, if you can make
your way over here.

Ladies and gentlemen,
let's make some noise.

Thanks for being here.

Mr. Ross, I'm gonna flip through
the pages of this book.

I want you to say the word
stop whenever you like.

Make sure I stop when you say it.

- Stop.
- Right there, can you see

- the first word on that page?
- I can.

The first word, just lock
that in your mind.

- Boom.
- Here we go.

Wow.

What's happening right now?

Why does every mentalist and
magician insist

on doing this weird heavy breathing
as they pretend to harness

their magical powers?

Really, at the end of the day, at least
this guy's not involving you in it.

Put your hand on my forehead.

Breathe with me.
Breathe with me, up and down.

Yes, yes, yes, breathe. Send it to me,
send it to me, send it to me.

Good, good, good, good, yes.
Lock it in your mind.

Think of it.
Send it to me, send it to me.

- Yes, yes.
- Send it to me, yes.

- Focus, focus.
- After a ridiculous amount of time

and an even more ridiculous
amount of horrible acting,

not you, you're good,

the mentalist finally reveals
the chosen word.

For the very first time, Mr. Ross,

what was the word you were thinking?

It was "curiously."

- Curiously?
- Yes.

- Ladies and gentlemen, curiously.
- Wow, that was good.

Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ross.

Go head back to your place.

Thank you so much.
Thanks.

- Yes.
- No.

- No? Why?
- No.

Come on, man, that was ridiculous.

First of all, I mean, if we're
really gonna impress these people,

what is this book?

Nobody's even heard...
Instant Intuition.

Nobody's even heard of this book.
If we're going to impress these people,

we got to use a book
that everybody here would know.

- Where are we going to get that?
- Funny thing you should ask.

I just happened to bring
a couple of random books with me.

The classics, you guys, the classics.

Six random books.
Books like The Secret Garden,

Frankenstein, Dracula,

like Twilight, but better,
Robinson Crusoe,

Treasure Island, all the good ones.

Also, I think we need to have
a random page number selected.

A page number totally at random.

We could do that, sure.

Sir, over here in the front,
if you could just stand up.

You don't have to come up,
just right there is fine.

- What is your name?
- Patrick.

Patrick.

I guess most of those books
have about 200 pages.

Think of any number between


- Think of one. Do you have one?
- Yep.

And in fact, we're gonna show
this to someone in a moment,

so go ahead and write it down
right there in the circle.

Make sure I can't see it.
Just like that, and...

Also I think we need to find
somebody else that's totally at random,

like a completely random spectator.

- 'Cause we don't know him.
- Sure.

He could be anybody.
Somebody totally at random.

So, Patrick, do me a favor.

Rip out the post-it,
make sure I still can't see it.

Fold it in four.

Good.

And just pass it to
the person behind you,

- the gentleman behind you. Yeah.
- That's a good idea.

And then let's keep it moving.
Keep it passing. Left, right.

Keep it going, keep it going.
Left, right, back, front, whatever.

- Keep it going.
- Make it totally random.

- Keep it going, keep it going.
- And stop, stop right there.

What is your name?
Please stand up.

Sam.

Sam, here's the deal.

We have six books over here.

Six books.
We want to pick a random book.

We want you to pick
that random book, okay?

So I want you to name any number
between one and six for me.

- Four.
- Four. One, two, three, four.

Robinson Crusoe, cool.

Now also, Spidey, I think to
make this even more impressive,

I think you should write down,
like, your prediction ahead of time.

- Yeah, I can do that, sure.
- Cool.

Sam, I'm gonna bring this book
to you, is that cool?

- Yeah, that's great.
- So as I'm doing this, go ahead

and start unfolding that piece of paper.

Make sure I don't see it though.

Look at the page number that
Patrick wrote down, okay?

Sam, take the book.
I'm gonna stand back so I can't see it.

Sam, here's what I want you to do.

I want you to open up that
little piece of paper

with the page number
on it and then turn to that

page number in the book.

And as soon as you do that,
let me know you've done it.

- I've done it.
- You're good?

Okay, cool.
Spidey, you got a prediction?

Yeah, I do have something.
I just, you know,

I feel like we should have
something safe to put it in,

like an envelope or something.

What? Magic exists.

Sorry, that was awkward.

Okay, all right.

- So we're gonna open this up.
- I don't want to even see that.

Yes, and I'll seal it up.

It's a peel and seal.

Sam, are you at the correct page?

I am at the correct page.

Please have a look at that top line,
first word of that line.

If I did this correctly, I feel like
the first word of that line,

it's a very short word.
Maybe four, maybe five letters.

- Four letters, yes?
- Correct.

Correct, and then there's a
shorter word after that.

It's the third one I'm interested in.
I feel like that's a little bit longer.

There's a V in that word.

- Yes.
- Starts with a V.

There's a T.
No T?

Dude, what are you doing?
If you know the word, just tell us.

Why are you just fishing for letters?

- If you know the word, tell us what it is.
- I don't know the word.

What. Then what did you write
down on your prediction?

It's, like, a guess.
Kind of like a guesstimate type thing.

You, you guessed?

We're on national TV, and you,
dude, are you serious?

You guessed the word.

Hold on, guys. Okay, so, Sam,

the word that you're thinking of,

is that word... Dictionary?

- It is not.
- No, Joel, it's not...

You had your chance.
Is it dictionary?

Is it, like, Pictionary
or something that rhymes?

Joel, the word isn't dictionary.

I was saying the word is
in the dictionary.

Dude, every word is in
the dictionary, genius.

That's why I wrote something
on the back, genius.

Turn it around, look, show them.
There's a number.

Yeah, show, show.

Three, six, three, one, one.

It's a code.
It's a code.

What is the word?

- Voyage.
- Voyage.

Mr. Jillette, there is a dictionary
on your table next to you.

- There is.
- Can you do me the favor?

It says three, sixty-three, one, one.

Can you please flip to page 363?

- 363?
- It's 363.

Then it says one.

That means we're gonna be using the first
column on page 363 of two columns.

- Yeah, I got that.
- First line at the top.

- I got that.
- Now hold that for a sec. Do not say

- it quite yet.
- I won't.

You went to a random page,
selected at random.

It was a random book.

You were selected at random,
and the word was voyage.

Mr. Jillette, page 363, first column,
first word, please.

It's a noun or a verb.

It's a journey by ship.

The accent's on the first syllable.

- It's voyage.
- Yes, that was good.

Yes!

That works.
Thank you so much.

Joel Meyers and Spidey,
ladies and gentlemen.

Let's hear it for them.

Great job.
Very impressive.

And very funny as well.

Now you know how this works.
Penn and Teller are sitting there.

They're thinking about it.
Teller's got his book out.

They're going to be
writing down their ideas.

To see if they know how it happened.

When did you guys get together
because you weren't always

performing as a duo, were you?

No, we met, we met, like,
three or four years ago,

and literally just became
really close friends.

We have so many things in common,

and then at the same time,
we're completely

opposite and drive each other nuts
in so many ways.

But yeah, we met just a few
years ago, and so...

And you still carry on working separately

as well though even though...

Yeah, we're individual performers, yeah.

We do a bit of both.
We wanted to tackle this together

because I really enjoy
mentalism very much,

but Joel has a huge appreciation
for what Penn and Teller do,

and he's a huge fan,
and so he was able to take

the mentalism effect and make it
more fun, and sort of be,

like, let's give them something
that they're gonna appreciate.

Okay, it looks to me like Penn and Teller
have finished their deliberations,

so we'll find out what they thought
and whether they know what you did.

Gentlemen.

Okay, boy, we like two-person teams.

And also, I love the doing a
trick and then commenting on it

while you're doing it. I just love.

I love that busting
of psychics while you're doing

an amazing psychic thing.

You know, the interesting thing
about, about the two of us

is we have a lot of information
on this 'cause I have, I happen

to have a magnifying glass
just like this at home.

Which I thought was quite a coincidence.

And Teller has a pen
exactly like the pen

that fellow used to write down the number,
which is also a surprising coincidence.

And I would have the magnifying
glass and Teller would have the pen.

The other thing that's odd about
this trick is that you use paper books.

Damnedest thing.

When was the Gutenberg press?

Gutenberg press was the


Earlier. 16th ce...
And yet, for all that time,

you still couldn't
have done this trick except

for the past 10 or 15 years.

And I have this magnifying glass and
Teller has the exact same pen you used.

So I think you're fairly confident
they know what you were doing.

I think a pair of, a pair of
magicians just got schooled by

a more seasoned pair of magicians.

You know, I think you guys
came here wanting

to give us a good show, do you?
I think that was the main reason.

And you did that. It was a great show,
wasn't it, ladies and gentlemen?

They didn't fool them, but we had
a great time watching you work.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Joel Meyers and Spidey.

Take care, guys.

What's this behind my ear?

Oh, it's just our next potential fooler.

My name is Rick Lax,
and I invent magic tricks.

When you see a magician
do a magic trick,

they probably didn't think of it,

I did.

Every day, I just go to coffee
shops and think up new magic tricks.

I'm a little bit of a spectacle
because everyone else is out

drinking their coffee and
I'm making flowers disappear.

Eight years ago, I graduated law school,
and then I passed the bar,

and I drove all the way to Las Vegas
to write a book about deception,

and I just lost track of time,
and here I still am.

I came this close to being a lawyer.

I've spent so many years behind
the camera coming up with tricks

for other magicians,
and now it's my chance to go in

front of the camera and see what I can do.

But depending on how I do on Fool Us,
I might go back to law.

This next gentleman is a Renaissance man.

I don't know if that means he paints
chapel ceilings like Michelangelo,

or he's a kick-a*s
Ninja turtle like Raphael.

Let's find out as we meet Rick Lax.

Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome to the stage,

Misters Penn and Teller.
Come on up, guys.

Come on up.

Penn right here.
Teller right there.

Sure.

I'm about to make a shuffled
deck of playing cards

magically appear inside
the breast pocket of Mr. Penn Jillette,

and it's gonna happen right now.

Penn, reach in there and pull them out.

- I do have a deck of shuffled cards.
- I'll take them.

So I assume... Thank you.

I'm gonna give the cards a quick shuffle.

And as I do it, let me ask you,

before you put the cards in your pocket,

did you also shuffle them?

- Yes, I did.
- Okay, great.

Now, Teller, there's 12 cards in the deck
that I'm really good at memorizing.

I'm gonna go through the cards right now.

I'm gonna take out those 12,
and when I do it, oh, boy, is it boring.

Could not be more boring,
so I figured while this is happening,

one of us should entertain the audience
by reciting a nice, long poem.

We'll have someone else do it.

Penn, is there a poem you like?

Well, there's a few.

I've seen the greatest minds of
my generation destroyed by madness.

Do you want Howl?
Or do you want

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for...

The Outlook...

Wasn't brilliant for
the Mudville nine that day.

"The score stood four to two,
with but an inning more to play.

"And when Cooney died at first,
and Barrows did the same,

"a tragic silence fell upon
the patrons of the game.

"A straggling few got up to go
in deep despair.

"The rest clung to hope, which springs
eternal in the human breast.

"They thought, 'if only Casey
could get but a whack at that,'

"we'd put up even money, now,
with Casey at the bat.

"There was an ease in Casey's
manner as he stepped up to...

"There was pride in Casey's
bearing and a smile at Casey's face.

"And when responding to the crowds,
Casey lightly doffed his hat,

"no stranger in the crowd could doubt
'twas Casey at the bat."

Teller, you can see I took out
six black cards and six red cards.

I'm gonna ask you to give those
cards a wash,

Vegas style. Just mix them up.

And when he's done, I'm gonna look through
the cards, and I'm gonna try

to memorize the order very quickly.

And then, after I've got the
order memorized,

I'm gonna try to separate them out
into two piles, one with red cards,

one with black cards.

Let's see if I can do it.

So if I did that right, we should have
all the red cards on one side,

and all the black cards on the other side.
Let's see.

No, no, wait, wait, no, no.

See, I, no, that's kind.

It's kind, but I cannot accept
that much applause

for a subpar memory demonstration.

It's insulting.

If I'm gonna fool them, I can't just do
something that's hard.

I have got to do something
that is impossible.

So, I'm gonna do the same thing again,

but this time I'm gonna do it
with more cards.

And I'm gonna memorize
the cards as I recite the poem,

and then I'm gonna do
something impossible,

which looks like this.

Where was I?
"Mighty Casey at the bat."

At the bat, that's right.
"10,000 eyes were on him

"as he rubbed his hands with dirt.


"as he wiped them on his shirt.

"Then while the writhing pitcher
ground the ball...

"Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye,
a sneer curled Casey's lip.

"And now the leather-covered
sphere comes hurling through the air,

"and Casey stood a-watching
a haughty grandeur there.

"Close by the sturdy batsman
the ball unheeded sped,

"'That ain't my style,' said Casey.
'Strike one,' the umpire said.

"He bade the game go on.
He signaled to the pitcher,

"and again the dun sphere flew.

"And Casey stood a-watching,
and the umpire said...

"'Strike two!'"

That's right.

So, so I got these cards memorized.

You can see there's about 19 of them,
maybe 21.

There's 21.
I'm counting.

And, Teller, with your help
I'm gonna change the order of these cards,

so I can split them up into three piles,
four piles, five piles.

How many piles should I split
the cards up into?

Five piles.

All right, then I'll try to take
out about a fifth of the cards

here, that's pile number one.

Two, three,

four, and I got five, and another,
four and five.

So now I just have to keep track
of which pile is which,

which would have been easier
if you had picked three piles.

Five makes it harder.

Now I'm gonna reassemble them
in whichever order you want.

So if you point to a pile,
we'll put it in my hand.

Okay.

Next.

And now, Penn, a number.

Ten.

Ten.

One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Cut those to the bottom.
Teller, a number.

Ten.

One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

So things are pretty simple
from this point on.

All I gotta do is remember
the order the cards were in.

Remember how we changed the
order, track every single one

of the cards, and then split them
up into red and black piles

as we conclude the poem.

- Strike two.
- Strike two.

I'll continue from there.

"'Fraud!' cried the maddened thousands,
and the echo answered fraud.

"But one scornful look from Casey
and the audience was awed.

"They saw his face grow cold and stern,

"they saw his muscles strain,
and they knew that Casey would

"not let the ball go by again.

"The smile has left from Casey's lips,

"his teeth are clenched in hate.

"He pounds with cruel violence
his bat upon the plate.

"And now the pitcher holds the
ball, and now he lets it go,

"and now the air is shattered
by the force of Casey's blow."

"Oh, somewhere in this favored
land the stars are shining bright.

"The band is playing somewhere,
and somewhere hearts are light,

"and somewhere men are laughing,
and somewhere children shout,

"but there is no joy in Mudville.

"Mighty Casey has struck out."

Rick Lax, ladies and gentlemen.

Wow.

Well, you know how this works.
They're gonna sit down there.

They're gonna deliberate.
Let me ask you about

being here onstage because I think

everyone who comes out here is courageous,

but you've normally been behind
the scenes.

That's right. Usually I create tricks for
other magicians,

so this is a very new experience for me

coming out here and performing
for everybody.

I think it shows an enormous
amount of courage.

Let's hear it for Rick, because to come
out here and do this here in this setting,

wow, that takes a certain bravery.

And maybe a certain foolishness
as well, I don't know.

I don't know. But Teller looks...

It's always hard to tell
what Teller looks like,

but he looks a little surprised.

- He looks a little bit...
- I don't know.

Okay, well, let's go over to him.
Penn, Teller.

Boy, oh, boy.

- That was a good routine.
- Thank you.

And not only that, it was a very, very
flattering routine to, you know,

take Casey at the Bat, which we did
off Broadway and on Broadway.

We're just very flattered by you
using all this Penn and Teller minutiae,

all this trivia to make that so good.

Your performance, I love,
I love the nervous, nutty energy.

You got a little nervous.
Of course, when you sell this,

gives us a lot of information about it,

and we also copped a couple cards
from the table.

We also saw you take the box
and put that box in your pocket.

You put the box away
while you had the cards in your hand,

which means you could have at that moment,

have rung in a cooler,
and the cards could,

in some way, be doctored for you to be
able to figure out which to go which way.

All of that would be true if you
had not fooled us...

But you did.

Wow.

Really? What a moment!

Congratulations.

The guys want to say,
go around the front there

'cause they want to share with
you there while we bring this down.

Here you go.

We just don't know enough, man. Beautiful.

Thank you.

Rick, this is for you.

- Thank you.
- You fooled them.

You don't just get that delightful trophy,

you'll be coming back here to perform
as part of their act.

Rick Lax, congratulations.

Now one act has already stumped
Penn and Teller and earned

the priceless opportunity
to perform alongside them

in their amazing Vegas show.

Do I hear two?

Let's meet our next potential fooler.

My name is Marcus Eddie,
and I'm a creator.

I think one of the biggest
advantages I have in this show

is that I do create my own magic,
and so what you're going

to see is something original.

My favorite type of magic
is impromptu magic.

I can walk into any place and
pick up something

and immediately do magic with it.

My daughter Alysa helps me out
with some of the magic ideas that I have.

That was great.

Can you do it again?
Do it again.

Of course, children have that
great imagination,

and I just love having a jam session
with her about magical ideas.

That totally gets my mind working.

I truly believe that I can
change my life

and the life of my family,
doing what I do.

Will you please welcome Marcus Eddie.

My name is Marcus Eddie,
and magic has always been...

My escape.

That's why...

I've had this key with me
ever since I was a kid

to remind myself that

I can always unlock my
imagination to get through...

Anything.

Now I first realized this when studying
one of my favorite magicians,

Harry Houdini, who was also

one of the greatest escape artists
of all time.

Harry Houdini would defy
the laws of physics by passing

his body through solid brick walls,
which to some is the only way

he was able to escape from
handcuffs...

And chains.

Harry Houdini will be a symbol,
a voice for generations to come,

challenging fear every time
he stepped on that stage

saying, "Nothing can hold me."

Now, the idea of passing through
solid objects is what inspired me

to create something very
special for you, Penn and Teller.

Would you both mind joining me on stage?

Everyone, please help me welcome
Penn and Teller.

Hello, Marcus. How you doing?

What I'd like each of you
is to hold right here.

You hold right here,
and you hold right there.

What I'd like you to do is to
pull on the chain,

and as you back away to each end...

As you back away to each end,

feeling each link to make sure
it's completely solid.

Now you'll also notice that there's
a key tag at each end of the chain.

- Yeah.
- And what I'd like you to do

is to write your initials, draw a picture,

just mark it in a way that you'll be able
to recognize it when you see it again.

You can keep the markers.

- Wow.
- I'll take the chain,

and you can enjoy
the show from your seats.

Thank you so much for your help.

Now what you're about to see
may seem unbelievable.

Some of you may look at this as a trick
or a puzzle to be solved,

but I hope more of you look
at this as inspiration

in knowing that nothing is impossible.

I want to give everybody one last look
at the marks from

Penn and Teller.

'Cause in a moment,
I'm gonna pass this chain

right through the middle of my body.

Now there have been times where
I've felt held back

from accomplishing something in my life,

and magic has always been there
to remind me that no matter what,

I can always, if I use my imagination,
get through anything.

Penn, Teller, I want you to
check the tags to make sure

they are the same tags,

and you can keep that chain
as my gift to you.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you very much.

My name is Marcus Eddie.

Marcus Eddie, ladies and gentlemen.

Fantastic. Wow.

That was very, very impressive.

You know, I noticed there seemed
to be a theme

in what you were talking about.

Talking about
getting through things

and nothing being impossible.

Is that something you hope
to spread with your magic?

Is that a message you believe
in getting out there?

Yes, definitely. With magic

I want to inspire
everybody to let them know

that you can accomplish anything
that you want to.

You just gotta have the guts
to go for your dreams,

so there you go.

Now you weren't always doing this,
were you?

- No, I wasn't.
- What were you doing?

What was your job before this?

Most of my jobs were, like,
customer service,

cubicle jobs,
and I was just,

I felt like my potential wasn't being met,

so I just, I decided to take
a leap of faith,

and I really wanted to show my daughter
that she can also follow her dreams,

and she doesn't have to go the same path
that everybody goes through, so yeah.

Wow, that's a lovely thing.
That really is.

- So leading by example.
- Yes.

Okay, I think they're ready
to tell you what their verdict is.

Let's go to Penn. Penn,

what do you think of Marcus
and do you know how it was done?

Well, I gotta tell you, you know,
a lot of people come

up here with stuff that they've
gotten somewhere else.

Now this has a little bit of
a lineage with Harbin and with Bob Sheets,

but we really do believe you invented it.

This variation seems
to be very much yours.

We also love the fact, you know,
Teller and I are cheap carny trash,

so when you bribe us...

When you bribe us with
brand-new shiny chain,

and brand-new pens, we're very,
very eager to have you fool us,

but I think the fact is that if
you fooled us right now,

we'd want to go up there
and pat you on the back.

And I don't think you really did
completely fool us,

and I think you know what
I'm talking about. Is that right?

That's it.
You did a great job.

- Great job.
- What a great trick.

It is my honor to actually
perform for you.

Both of you have definitely been
an inspiration to me, so thank you.

It's a wonderful trick, man.
Wonderful trick.

Thank you so much.

So you're...

You're comfortable?

- And thanks!
- Yes, yes.

So, Marcus, you're comfortable
they busted you.

You didn't fool them this time.

- They are the masters.
- I gonna give you the chance.

Do you want to get that chain and
those pens back before you go?

- No, no, they're good.
- They're good?

Marcus, it was great to meet you.
What a nice, young man.

- Marcus Eddie, ladies and gentlemen.
- Thank you so much.

Congratulations.

Great job.

Let's meet our next heartwarming act.

I'm Bruce Gold, and I am
a comedy magician.

Though not always in that order.

What is it with kids and their
fascination with magic?

When I was 14 years old,

the first trick I bought was called
"The Appearing Cane."

When I was 15, I did a birthday
party for a neighbor.

It was a 30 minute show.

I was paid $30,
and I did the math, $1 a minute.

This is a genius profession.

I'm gonna be a magician.

I've always wondered about
the difference between a comedian

who does magic and a magician
who does comedy.

And I'm not really sure which one I am,

but I know if you're doing comedy first,

you better have a lot of laughs
in your show.

You know what's crazy?
I'll tell you crazy.

Crazy would be a network
television show where magicians

tried to fool Penn and Teller.

This next performer is a combination
of a stand-up comic and a magician,

which means his therapy bill
is twice as high.

Will you please welcome Bruce Gold.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, wow.

For this trick, I'm gonna need the help
of a lady from the audience,

so I'll just look for a friendly face.

Let's see, hi, you have
a very pretty smile. You help?

Give her some encouragement, right?

Take my hand.

Follow me. I've been here before.
I know the way.

Right over here to my right,
turn around, face the lovely people.

- Tell me your name.
- May.

Hi, May, nice to meet you.

Come with me right over here.

Um, are you afraid of snakes?

- No.
- Good. Ooh, ah, well.

Hunger Games, ah!

Snakes, bring it on.
I like your style.

All right, guess what I have?

- Snake.
- Snakes, plural.

Live one and a dead one.
Reach in, let's see which one you get.

Go ahead.

Oh, suddenly we're a little less
than cooperative.

All right, stay right there.
I'll protect you.

Underneath this box, something
far more dangerous than a serpent.

It's a toaster.

Wait, I can control it.

Brought my own frightened crowd
with me, May.

It's a toaster, or if you're a
thrill-seeker, a bath toy.

Now, um...

Did I not just say it was
dangerous, right? Okay.

May, have you seen the game
shows on TV with the prize girls?

- Yeah.
- Awesome. Okay, assume the position.

Let me help, let me help.
Stand right here.

Right here, right here.
Perfect.

A little more forward,
left hand out like so.

Good. Right hand out, palm up.
Perfect.

I'm gonna have the announcer
describe the toaster

and then you model it like the
prize girls on TV. Perfect.

Then I'll say, "Show them the card,"

and when I say that,
you'll lift this card up.

It has the price on the front,
and don't forget to smile.

Perfect, okay. All right.

Mr. Announcer, tell the lovely
May and all of us all about it.

Sure thing, Bruce.
Yes, it's no ordinary toaster.

It's a Toastmaster
for masterful toasting slice after slice.

- Show the card.
- Retail value, $19.95.

Big smile.

Wow, way to own it, May.

Well done.

And I have captured your moment
in this wallet-size photo.

This will be yours after
the show for...

May, I don't know if you noticed
as you modeled the toaster,

which you did superbly incidentally,
it's a one-slicer.

Real toaster made by Toastmaster
back in the forties.

But I wouldn't waste your time
with some wacky antique, May.

This is not just a one-slice toaster,
it's the world's only psychic toaster.

It's an adventure into the world
of wonder and ESP.

May, pick a slice, any slice.

I'll choose this one.

Now you may change your mind if you wish.

Okay.

Oh, good choice.
That's my favorite. Okay.

By the way, this trick is not
gluten-free. I apologize. Okay.

May, go ahead and memorize your slice.

It's white bread, just like me.

All right, go ahead.
Put it in the toaster for me.

Get that baby fired up.

Okay... and she cooks, too.

Awesome. Okay.

Ziploc bag right there.

Inside of it, a deck of cards.

People in the front, you might
see a familiar card here

in the plastic of the bag.

People in the back...

Come early next time.

Good, okay, great.

I'm gonna shuffle.
We'll let the lovely May select a card.

May, reach in there with your left hand,
just take out one card.

Just take one, don't be greedy.
Don't show me.

Don't show the audience.
Whatever you do, do not show

the psychic toaster.
Good.

Have you memorized your card, May?

- Yes.
- Good.

I will now pass the thought
of the card through May's body.

I know, you're thinking,
over my dead body.

Actually, May, the thoughts will
travel using a kitchen fork

because thoughts are electric,
so the fork is the conduit...

h*!

Yow.

Your turn.

All right, don't electrocute
yourself, just hold that.

Buzz!

Okay, I have some safety
equipment. One second.

Watching you.
Easy with that fork.

Okay, no need to tenderize
Mr. Magic, okay.

I'll take the fork.

Even as I speak, the toaster has begun
to singe an image into the bread.

I'll need your hand.

Perfect. Now, think of your card.
Stay in the show.

Think of your card flowing
through your body.

Here we go.

Ah! Did you feel our thoughts
race into the toaster, May?

- Yes.
- Remember who has the pointy fork.

Yes, she said.

Even as I speak, the toaster is
singing an image into the bread,

and if there is an image
on this slice of bread

that looks like the card that May
selected, will this be a good trick?

Yes.

It'd be a miracle.
Come on, people.

Mind reading toaster not a tad
unusual to some of you.

Okay.

May, tell me,
take a little step forward, if you would.

Tell me, what is the card
that you picked?

- Tell me.
- Uh, two.

Two, yes, two of diamonds, yes.

Show them, show them right out
in front like, two of diamonds.

Popping the bread out of the toaster.
Can you hold it up just like that?

Yep, take a look.

Can't buy a reaction like that.

It's really a two and a diamond.
It is a psychic toaster.

Wow.

Let's hear it for May.

Bruce Gold, ladies and gentlemen,
Bruce Gold.

- Bruce, that was great.
- Thank you, Jonathan.

Very funny, and also a great trick.

I have no idea how you did that,
of course.

But what is that, you said this
was a genuine toaster.

I've never seen a one-slice toaster.

Was this really something
that was for sale?

It's a real toaster

made back in the forties.
Apartments were very tiny then.

Yeah.

It struck me though, it was
a great mix of the comedy and the magic,

and that's very hard to bring together.

So congratulations to Bruce
once again for pulling that off

'cause it was so entertaining,

but I think the fellows may have

come to an agreement whether or
not they're right, you can say.

Gentlemen?

Well, you know, we're having
a great example here of comedy magic.

And in comedy magic,
many times people forget to do

the comedy and the magic.

And it's wonderful to see
somebody do both.

We're thrilled to pieces
to see a toaster on stage.

There's a great deal of
confidence with that.

The trick is a really, really good trick.

- Thank you.
- There's two pieces of information,

which is getting the image
onto the toaster,

and then there is you could
either worry about that as

how do you have 52 possible images
that could be burned onto a toaster.

Or there's another way to do that,
of course.

And it turns out that my daughter,
when she was maybe three years old,

she used a little plastic bag so
that there could be a random card

picked out of that, and did a wonderful,

wonderful job with that,
and as much as I love my daughter,

and as cute as she was
on The View,

you did a much
better job with that trick.

You didn't fool us, but you k*lled us.

Thank you so much.

Wow.
Thank you.

So, Bruce, just to confirm...

Yes.

They nailed you.
They know how you did it.

You think they're in the right area there?

They are in the right neighborhood.

I would say yes.

Bruce, well, you didn't fool
them, but you gave us all

a great show, didn't he,
ladies and gentlemen?

Bruce Gold, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you so much.

That was fabulous.

Mr. Bruce Gold.

Now these guys have been
performing magic together

for over four decades,

which makes this next trick the second
oldest one in the books.

The first oldest is pretending
to yawn so you can put your arm

around a lady's shoulders.

That's an oldie, but a goodie,
but here they are,

ladies and gentlemen,
the phenomenal Penn and Teller.

This is not intended to
glorify smoking.

That said... Looks simple, doesn't it?

But when you're dealing with
a master of sleight of hand

like my partner, Teller,

even the simplest activity
may be a complex deception.

Let's watch that routine again.

Is he really crushing out his cigarette?

Is he really adjusting his hat?

Is he really pulling out
a fresh cigarette?

Is he really bothered by that
itch in his left eye?

Is he really just lighting a cigarette?

To understand the complexity
of Teller's life,

you need to know the seven
basic principles of magic.

One, palm.

To hold an object in an apparently
empty hand.

Two, ditch.

To secretly dispose of an unneeded object.

Three, steal.

The opposite of ditch.

To secretly obtain a needed object.

Four, load.

To secretly move the needed object to...

Where it's needed.

Five, simulation.

To give the impression
that something that hasn't happened has.

Six, misdirection.

To lead attention away
from the secret move.

And seven, switch.

To secretly exchange
one object for another.

Teller needs nothing but a pencil,

one lit cigarette,
and a flashlight.

Let's watch that original
routine again.

But this time,
from the other side.

He palms the cigarette.

He simulates crushing it out.

He steals the palmed lit
cigarette and ditches

the lit cigarette in his ear.

He exhales smoke to misdirect
the smoke coming out from around his hat.

He steals the pencil.

He simulates taking the pencil,
which is simulating a cigarette,

from the nonexistent cigarette pack

and puts a simulated cigarette
in his mouth.

He rubs his eye to misdirect
as he loads the burning

cigarette from his ear.

He simulates a lighter
with a flashlight

and switches the lit cigarette
for the unlit pencil

under cover of misdirection
from the flashlight.

Palm, simulation, steal, ditch,
misdirection,

steal, simulation, misdirection,

load, simulation, switch, misdirection.

Looks simple, doesn't it?

Isn't that just beautiful,
ladies and gentlemen?

The exquisite talent of Penn and Teller.

A spectacular example of pure magic.

No smoke, no mirrors,
well, a little smoke.

That's our show for tonight.

There'll be more from
Penn and Teller Fool Us next time.

Thanks for watching.
Good night, everybody.