04x05 - Does This Trick Ring a Bell?

[bunniefuu]

[jazz music]

♪ ♪

[cheers and applause]

- From the Penn & Teller
Theater

at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas,

here's our host,
Alyson Hannigan.

♪ ♪

[cheers and applause]

- Welcome to "Penn & Teller:
Fool Us,"

where magicians work

to deceive, confound,
and confuse us.

In other words,
they're a lot like politicians.

And now the co-speakers
of this house.

One won the popular vote.

The other
took the electoral college

in a landslide.

Penn and Teller!

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

The rules are simple:

Fool Penn and Teller;

perform with Penn and Teller

in their world-famous
magic show.

With that in mind, check out
our first contender.

- My name is Dyno Staats.

I am a mad scientist
and steampunk magician.

Steampunk specifically focuses
on the Victorian era,

when science was still new

and it was almost like magic
to people.

I've always been interested
in the mad scientist character

in books and movies.

I approach my magic
with the scientific method.

You try the experiment.
It fails.

You try to figure out why.

You just keep going
until you get it right.

It's extremely important for me

to create all my props
to match me.

Even if it's something
real simple

that you can buy,
I'll remake everything.

If I fool Penn and Teller,

it will mean validation
for what I'm doing.

Sit back, relax,
and come watch,

because something
might go horribly wrong.

[applause]

- Please welcome
the steampunk magic

of Dyno Staats.

- Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, people
come from all over the world

to try and fool Penn and Teller
with magic.

The problem: Penn and Teller
don't believe in magic.

You have to fool Penn and Teller

with something
they do believe in:

science!

[thunderclap]
[laughter]

So tonight,
ladies and gentlemen,

we're going to do
a science experiment.

Penn, would you happen to have
a $1 bill on you

I could use for this experiment?
- I do.

- I'll come get that from you,
if I may.

Excellent.
Thank you, sir.

Now, it may interest you folks
to know

that everything in science is
made up of atoms and molecules

that are tightly compacted
together,

including Penn's bill.

In between the atoms
is lots and lots of empty space,

tons of it.

There's actually more nothing
in this bill

than there is bill here,
but if you fold it over,

you bring the molecules
closer together,

making it denser.

We can fold it over
again and again

and bring it closer
to singularity,

much like a black hole.

Now, unfortunately, I am not
a Large Hadron Collider.

I cannot crush this bill down

to the size and space
of a single atom.

Instead,
what we're gonna do is,

we're gonna take this bill apart

atom by atom,
molecule by molecule,

bit by bit.

And to do that,
we need to use...

science!

[thunderclap]
[laughter]

I have a pen in my pocket.

I have a Teller in my pocket.

[laughter]

Yeah, here we go.

Gentlemen, would you please
join me up on stage?

Penn, I'll have you come here
stage right

and Teller stage left.

Give them a round of applause
as they come on up.

Thank you very much.
[applause]

Hi, there.
- Hello. How are you?

- I'm well, thank you.

Would you please, sir,
take that?

And we're going to have you
mark your bill

right there for me, please.

We're having Penn sign
his bill, marking it

in case something goes
horribly wrong

with the experiment,

we can recognize it again
later,

which almost never happens.

Totally safe.
- Good. Nice to hear.

[laughter]

- Okay.

Now, um, we can start
the disassembly process

on a macro scale

by rendering the bill asunder
thusly.

We can keep going this way,
taking it apart atom by atom.

And atoms are separating
at some point here.

Now, unfortunately,
I cannot take this apart

at an atomic level,

atom by atom,
molecule by molecule.

We have to use
something different for that.

So in the meantime, Penn,

would you please be so kind

as to hold the pieces
of your bill right there

so everyone can see them?

Thank you.

I have brought with me,
ladies and gentlemen,

the Staats Laboratory,

a disintegrating chamber.

Patent pending.
[laughter]

Uh, do you know how to use--
can you release that?

- Yes.
- Thank you, sir.

We take the pieces
of Penn's bill

and place them here
on the suspension platform

and place it inside
the airtight containing unit.

[light music]

[exhales]

[humming noise]

And I will take those back, sir.
Thank you.

Now, it does us no good
just to take the bill apart.

We have to put it
back together again.

And to do that,
I have brought with me

the Staats Laboratory
reintegration chamber.

♪ ♪

Open sourced.
[laughter]

Now, Teller,
it's going to be your job

to monitor this unit

and make sure nothing goes
horribly wrong with this.

♪ ♪

Hold on a second, Teller.

For you, I have here--
here we go.

[horn honking]

It's gonna be one squeeze
for "yes" and two for "no."

Got it?

[honks twice]
Excellent.

Okay, we can communicate.

Now, at this moment, gentlemen,
you'll notice

you have some safety goggles

in front of the jars
in front you.

We'll put them on
at the same time together

on the count of three

so it looks all synchronized
and cool.

Ready?
One, two, three.

Yeah.
Science is cool.

What's gonna happen, now, Penn:

I'm going to have you push
the red button

in just a moment,
and when you do,

you will hear
a little alarm go off.

That alarm will be your cue

to take one step just back,
away from the machine...

- Okay.
- For your safety.

Understand?
Excellent.

Now, Teller, after that's done,

I'm going to have you push
the red button on your jar.

You'll hear
a little alarm go off.

That'll be your cue to take
one step back from the machine

for your safety, understand?

[horn honks]
Excellent. Okay.

Penn,
push the little red button.

[beep!]

[faint beeping]

[audience murmurs]

Penn, do you see your bill
inside that jar?

- I do not.
- You do not. You do not.

It worked.
I mean, it worked!

Of course it worked.
I'm a genius.

- Nice.
- Excellent.

Teller, push
the little red button.

[grand music]

♪ ♪

Hold on.
We have a misfire.

Don't approach it yet;
this could be dangerous.

We have to take care of this.

We probably have some
cross-contaminating radiation

between the khyber
and the dilithium power sources.

[laughter]

[applause]

[horn honks]

- Thank you.

Do you see the pieces
of Penn's bill

inside the jar?

Excellent.

Good. Okay.

[laughter]

I don't want
to get near it.

Go ahead;
open the jar up,

and take a look there.

Yes.

Would that be
Penn's signature on the bill?

Yes, it is,
ladies and gentlemen.

Look at that.

Not only Penn's bill,

but it has reconstituted
together

back into one single, solitary
piece of...

[laughter]

That's, uh...

[laughter]

This is not a failure,
ladies and gentlemen.

No, you see...

the bill did teleport

from that side of the stage
to that side of the stage,

and it does have
Penn's signature still intact.

And not only that,
but Penn now has

a wonderful souvenir
of our time together on stage.

And that's not failure,
ladies and gentlemen.

This is redefined objectives.

Science!
[thunderclap]

[cheers and applause]

I believe that's yours.
- Thank you, sir.

- Thank you very much.
You may take your seats.

Thank you very much, sir.
You can take your seat.

Thank you very much.

- Dyno Staats!

Aw!

That was so cool.

I love that you incorporate
science in magic.

- I've always loved science,
yeah.

- Yeah.

- And ever since
I was a little kid

watching a lot of
science fictiony movies,

you know, everything from
"Jurassic Park" to "The Fly"

to "My Stepmother is an Alien,"

all those fun movies
that are really cool.

- Yeah, and you get to wear
the cool goggles.

- I do. I love 'em.
They're awesome.

- Those are amazing.
- Thank you.

- Yeah, and how long
does it take you

to do your mustache?

[laughter]

- That's the question, isn't it?
- Yeah.

- In the morning,
it only takes me, like, a minute

to put wax in it
and get it straight and--

- Really?
- Yeah.

It took me a lot longer
to grow it.

- [laughs]
All right.

Well, let's go see
what the boys have to say.

- Well, you know, Dyno,
that wasn't just magic.

That was also...science!

[thunderclap]
[laughter]

See, it's--it's our show.
We have the power too.

- Holy crap.
It works for everyone.

[laughter]

- That's a terrific act.
- Thank you.

- We liked the whole theme
and everything else,

the Dr. Frankenstein,

the throwing the switch.

All of that stuff you did
was just fabulous.

The lab coat is wonderful.

I think we'd look
really, really good in them.

The props are beautiful,
that whole steampunk theme.

The idea of doing
the mismade bill,

which is a standard,
with a signature

and a transposition
from one side to the other

is a really nice use of that,

having it signed and mismade

with the reference
to "The Fly" movie

makes the mismade bill
mean something,

which it usually doesn't.

We liked all of it.

We're not going to give
any flap

about the props or any of it.

And, you know, you're right;
we don't believe in magic,

and we do believe in science!

[thunderclap]

Boy, that's fun to do.

We think we have a pretty good
idea how you did it.

What do you think?

- Uh, well, I think
their hypothesis

is fairly close to accurate.

- Well, thank you so much.

Dyno Staats,
ladies and gentlemen.

[applause]

We have plenty more magicians
to mess with your head,

including our headliners,
Penn and Teller!

So stick around.

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

- Welcome back to "Fool Us."

I predict
that you're about to meet

our next magician.

- I had a past
that I am not proud of.

I was what was known
as a grifter or con man,

kind of lived in the shadows.

Back in 2005 or so,

I needed to disappear.

I went on the run
and ended up in Las Vegas,

and I was living
under a false identity,

and I looked up,
and Penn Jillette walked by.

For some reason,
I had to say hello.

He was kind to me,

and everything that he knew
about me was a lie.

Penn's kindness
helped me realize

I didn't like who I'd become,

so I turned myself in.

I spent five years of my life
in prison,

practicing bizarre magic
and spirit magic,

every aspect from mentalism
to cards to coins.

I've been performing magic
since I walked out of prison.

Now here I am as my true self,

trying to con Penn and Teller
with magic.

[applause]

- With three randomly selected
members of our audience,

here is the mysterious
Aiden Sinclair.

[cheers and applause]

- Ladies and gentlemen,

every illusion begins
with a lie.

And in the year 1848,
there were two little girls

in Hydesville, New York,
that told a lie,

and that lie became

one of the greatest illusions
of all time--

in fact, an illusion that's
performed to this very day

but not by magicians.

It is an illusion
that is performed

by, well, charlatans
and confidence artists.

You see, these two little girls
told a lie

that they could talk
to the dead.

And, in fact,
at this very moment,

somewhere in America,
there is some fraud medium

who's still trying
to convince people

that their ghost could
"cross over."

That being said, I'd like to try
a little séance magic

for Penn and Teller tonight.

Alyson, would you care
to join us at the séance table?

It's going to be a lot of fun.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the séance table.

Now, I know there are some
creepy things in front you.

There is a spirit board
on the table.

A lot of people are sensitive
around Ouija boards.

That's way older and creepier,
so don't let that bother you.

Alyson, the doll, I know,
can be a little weird.

Some people actually believe
if you look them in the eyes,

they'll steal your soul.

This is Evie.

Evie is one of the artifacts

from the historic
Stanley Hotel.

She actually belonged
to a young lady

whose name was Lillian McGuire.

She passed away, sadly,
by her own hand

in the year 1926.

Evie, some people believe
she does contain a spirit,

and tonight I'd like to see

if that spirit will come out
and play, so to speak.

And to do this, I'd like to play
a game of hide and seek.

Now, obviously, not with her
but with a thing.

In my pocket,
I have a little bag.

And in that bag
are four things--

very simple things, actually,
when you think about it,

nothing haunted or creepy.

In fact, I want you
to be assured

that all of this stuff
on the table,

as creepy as it is,

it's not going
to follow you home

and haunt you or possess you
with demons

or give you nightmares

unless it does.

So...
[laughter]

In my hand,
I have a few things.

I have three black beads
and a pearl,

something that a young girl
would be drawn towards.

And that's what we're going
to play hide and seek with.

The idea is, we're going
to place all of those things

into the bag,
give the bag a little mix,

and I'm going to ask each of you
to reach into the bag

and take out a thing.

Obviously, you're either
going to take a black bead,

or one of you will take
the pearl.

I'd like you to make
this selection

in complete secrecy.

Do not peek.

If you don't know
what you have,

there's no way I could read
your body language

and get a tell.

It'll truly be up to the spirit

to try to find the pearl.

Are you willing
to reach into the bag?

- Yes.
- You're a very brave woman.

Please reach inside the bag.
Take your time.

Make sure you have something.
Hide it in your fist.

One thing, one thing only.

Have you got something?
- Yes.

- Excellent.
We'll give this a little mix.

Sir, if you would take
the next thing.

I'll look away.
Please reach into the bag.

Take one thing, one thing only.

You have a thing, sir?
- I do.

- No peeking.

Young lady on the end,
are you comfortable

taking a thing, one thing,
one thing only?

And, Alyson, the last thing
is all yours.

You can take the whole bag

if it's easier
to reach in there that way.

Once you have something,
hide it in your hand.

- Okay.
- Perfect.

And just throw the bag away.

We won't need that again,

because it's not about me;
it's about her.

What I'd like to do

is see if there is a spirit
present within Evie.

So I'd like you to focus
all of your attention on her,

and you may get a sense

that she wants to communicate
with you.

You may start to feel
your skin prickle.

You might feel a little tap
on your shoulder.

If anything like that happens,
do let us know.

Do keep your hands in plain view
so she can clearly see them.

And, Evie, if you are present
with us this evening,

I'd like you
to just give us a sign.

It can be any sign at all.

Let us know
that your presence is here,

and perhaps you could actually
tell us

on what side of the table
that pearl is.

If you could just...

audience: Oh!

So you guys are off the hook.

- [laughs]

- Would you open your hand?

Do you have a black bead?
- Yes.

- Ladies and gentlemen,
that is one.

Do you have a black bead?

That is two.

You can place it
on the table, sir.

No nightmares for you.
[laughter]

- Good.
- You guys, sorry.

It's the eye contact thing,
I think,

but very simple.

One of you, we now know,
obviously has the pearl.

One of you, obviously,
has a black bead.

I'd like to use the spirit board

to give her a way
to truly communicate with you.

What I'd like you both to do

is focus on that spirit board
there.

What I'm hoping is this.

I'm going to ask each of you
to say a phrase,

and that phrase will be,
"Evie, I have the pearl."

One of you will tell the truth,
and one of you will lie.

I'm hoping
that she might give a sign

to whoever tells the truth.

Are you comfortable
saying the phrase?

- Mm-hmm.
- If you would.

"Evie, I have the pearl."

- Evie, I have the pearl.

- Did you feel anything?

Little tingle, little tap,
anything at all?

- Mm-mm.
- Okay.

Alyson?

- Evie, I have the pearl.

[dramatic musical flourish]
- Whoa.

- What a delight.

- I'm going to stand over here.

[laughter]

So I'm going to go with you.
- Okay.

- Young lady,
would you open your hand?

Do you have a black bead?
- Yes.

- Alyson, do you have a pearl?

- Oh, I must.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

the spirits have spoken.

[applause]
Thank you very much, guys.

You can leave it there
on the table.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you
very much for coming up.

You guys can return
to your seats.

Alyson, thank you so much.

- All right!
- Thank you.

- Aiden Sinclair!

- Wow.
- And Evie.

[applause]

So you work at a haunted hotel?

- Well, we prefer to think of it
as a historic hotel.

- Right.

- You know, people get
married there every day.

They have anniversaries,
family reunions.

It's a happy place...

unless you get the heck
scared out of you.

But no,
it's a wonderful hotel.

- What attracted you
to magic?

- Honestly,
when I got in trouble,

I knew a little bit,
and when I went away, I studied.

And I knew that because of--
my crimes

were really kind of
deception-based.

And I think everybody has
a gift,

and, unfortunately,
mine was a gift of deception.

That being said, there are
positive ways to use it.

And what's cool about it now

is that I spend most of my time
not performing

working with at-risk kids,
kids that are at that age

where they're just about
to get in trouble.

And if you can get
one of those kids

to stay in school, graduate,
and do something,

it's an amazing thing, so...

- Absolutely.

- I'm very thankful.

- Well, and you're such
an inspiration,

showing them
how you turned it around.

- You know, nobody wants
to go to jail.

Nobody wants to go
to prison.

And, honestly, it's not fun.
It sucks.

But I went on my terms,

and I'm able to have
the life I have today

because of that decision.

And my life is
exponentially better.

- Such an inspiration.

- So thank you.

- Well, thank you
for sharing your story.

Let's go to the guys and see
what they'll share with us.

Penn, Teller.
- Wow.

- I'm still reeling
from the--

from seeing you again.

- It's an honor.

- You had an accent
back at that time.

- I did.
You remembered.

- I do.
I do.

A very heavy accent,

which I believed completely,
by the way.

- And I'm sorry
that I fooled you then.

[laughter]

It was not--it was not my desire
to do any harm.

- Oh, no, I know that.

- Your hospitality
has changed my life,

so I can't thank you enough.

- And I'm so glad
you've come around.

And you've also picked

an area where we care
very much about honesty.

- Likewise.
- Talking about the dead.

And you did a very wonderful job

putting that
in historic context.

I think that
it's really important

to say--you know,
everybody thinks,

when they see one of
these things in a magic show,

they wouldn't be fooled.

But in the real environment
when people are doing this,

they are being fooled
day in and day out.

- Every day.

- And scammed
out of lots of money.

And, more than that,

scammed out of the respect
and the love

and the dignity of people
that have passed on.

- Very much so.

- I'm so glad
you're doing it right.

And also you've done that
by putting a frame around it.

And we liked the whole outfit.
- Thank you.

- We like the tie.
We like the shirt.

We like the jacket.

We really like the rings.
- Thank you.

- We like the pants, the shoes.

Everything gives
that whole impression,

makes the whole trick work.

- It does.
It really does.

- And even though we might have
a slight idea,

I don't think the audience had
the remotest idea

of how anything was working
on any of this.

I think you fooled
almost everyone in the room.

Unfortunately, we don't think...
- I did not fool you.

- The two people right here.

So good to see you again.
- Likewise, Penn.

Thank you very much.
It's truly an honor.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.

- So good to see you again.
- Thank you so much.

- I'm so glad...
- You helped.

This is because of you.

both: Thank you.

- Aw.
- Thank you, guys.

Ladies and gentlemen.
- Thank you, Aiden Sinclair.

[cheers and applause]

Enjoying our show?

Well, we aren't finished
with you yet.

More outstanding illusions
on the way.

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

- Welcome back.

So far, no one's fooled
Penn and Teller.

Let's see if our next act
has what it takes.

- I have a background
in contemporary circus.

I combine theatrical pieces
with mime, magic,

and object manipulation.

Sometimes you see a picture
of something,

like surreal paintings
like René Magritte

and Salvador Dali,
and you think,

"How could I make that

into a magic trick?"

You should be able
to take a snapshot

anywhere in the act

and it's an interesting picture.

I like
the classical silent acts,

and I want to create
the same feeling.

I think that magic should be
so clear

that you don't have to say
anything.

[cheers and applause]

- Our next magician
will leave you speechless.

Here is Axel Adler.

[applause]

[romantic classical music]

♪ ♪

[applause]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[cheers and applause]

Axel Adler!

[cheers and applause]

That was--that was
just so lovely

and almost like watching
a dance.

Beautiful.
- Thank you.

- All right, while they talk,
let's discuss.

Are all of your tricks silent,
or do you...

- I do some talking tricks also
but mostly silent,

because you can travel anywhere
in the world and perform.

- And you're from Sweden?

- Yes, I'm from
Stockholm, Sweden.

- Nice.

[applause]
- Yeah, yeah.

- If they can't figure it out,

will you tell us how it's done
in Swedish?

- I can tell you now
in Swedish.

How is that?
- Sure.

- Um...

[speaking Swedish]

- That's basically
what it sounds like

when Penn talks.

- [laughs]

So that's how it's done.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- All right, well,

let's just hear the same thing
in English, maybe, from Penn,

'cause that's what it's gonna
sound like in my brain.

- Boy, we are so glad
we studied Swedish.

That was really worth it.

It made this part of the show
a lot easier.

What a beautiful act.

What a really beautiful act.

And, you know, one thing
the audience may not know

that's so nice about this is,

a lot of the acts
we have on here

are fairly angly, you know?

You can watch them from, well,
sometimes two seats

and that's all
they look good from.

This works good all around.

You don't have anything
that's angly.

It's just beautiful.

It's just you out there--
your mime, your moving.

All the strength
involved in that that's hidden

is really--is really wonderful
and terrific.

And just a whole different
flavor of act.

I mean, I don't know
if it's a Swedish flavor of act,

but we have acts
from all over the world,

and this is
a whole different style

from a lot of other things
we do.

We not only liked it;

we really, really, really
liked it.

We think we have
a pretty good idea

how you did most of the stuff,

but, man, did we love it.

We just dug it all the way.

- Thank you.

- Did you understand
anything in there?

- Yeah,
I really understand it.

- [laughs]

- All right, well,
thank you so much.

Axel Adler!

[cheers and applause]

Our magic bus is full of
the world's best illusionists,

and the next stop is right here.

Stay close.

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

- Welcome back.

It takes all kinds
to fool Penn and Teller,

and this next act
is truly one of a kind.

Take a look.

- When I was growing up,

I was a very solitary kid,

and I could spend hours
and hours in my room reading.

Human beings
are story-consuming machines.

I tend to look at each piece
of magic as a story.

I write the end first.

That's just an easy way for me
to structure my work.

The ideal scenario is,

at the end
of this piece of magic,

Penn and Teller look
at each other and they go,

"Mm-mm-mm.

"You got it.

You fooled us."

That's my ideal scenario.

[applause]

- From Chicago, Illinois,

please welcome
the devious David Parr.

[applause]

- Hi, I am David Parr.

Alyson, I will need your help.

Will you join me?
- Sure.

- I have a seat for you here.

- Oh, why, thank you.

- My lady.

Alyson, we are going to play
a little game.

- Okay.

- And the name of this game
is Follow the Leader.

- [laughs]
Okay.

- So watch carefully.

Wait for the bell.

And then act accordingly.

- Okay.

- Are you ready?
- Yes.

- Here we go.
- All right.

[playful classical music]

[laughs]

[bell rings]

♪ ♪

[bell rings]

♪ ♪

[bell rings]

♪ ♪

[laughter]

- [laughs]

- Errrr!

Huh, huh, huh.

Ha, ha, ha.

[laughter]

[bell rings]

♪ ♪

Hmm.

Should have worked
on my shuffling skills

while I was on break.

[laughter]

Uh...

♪ ♪

Uh, okay.

[bell rings]

♪ ♪

Looking for a hint.

- [chuckles]

♪ ♪

- [sighs]

♪ ♪

Oh, dear.
Ah.

There it is, okay.

[laughter]

♪ ♪

[cheers and applause]

[bell ringing]

David Parr!
Amazing!

[applause]

So do you think
we fooled them?

- I don't know.

- Come on.

'Cause can I share the trophy
if we did?

'Cause, like,
that was kind of me.

- That was all you.

- [laughs]

- Now, this has
a cool backstory.

- Yeah, what is that?

- About a year ago,
I was hit by a car...

- Ooh.

- Outside of the airport
in Chicago.

And the impact snapped my leg
in two places.

- Ah, this is not
a cool story so far.

- Well, it has
a happy ending.

- Okay.

- So I was out of commission
for three months.

I couldn't walk.
I couldn't drive.

- Ugh.

- So to maintain my sanity...

- Mm-hmm.

- While I was stuck in the house
for months on end,

I decided to focus
all my energy

on developing one new piece
of magic

that I could then perform
in the show when I recovered.

- Yeah.

- And you've just experienced
the result

of that three months
of effort.

- Aw, that's amazing.

- Yeah.
- Well, that's great.

[applause]

So...

I don't really want
to break my leg

to come up
with something that cool,

but what a great way
to turn a bad situation

into something positive.

- Exactly,
and it's totally ruined

the showbiz phrase
"break a leg."

- Yeah.

- I cannot say it
to anyone anymore.

- No, no, you just say
"good luck"

at that point, yeah.

Ready to find out
what they think?

Gentlemen?

- Uh, I think we can
figure this out.

Uh, I think
we're almost there.

All we'd like you to do
is break both our legs.

[laughter]

Leave us in the hospital
for a year,

and we believe
we can get it.

- Happily.

- We don't think
there's a deck switch.

We don't think
there's marked cards.

We don't think
there's double backers.

We don't think
there's double facers.

Uh...we don't think jack.

[laughter]

We have no idea,
I mean no idea.

- Oh, my god.
- Maybe got a guess.

- That's a fool!

[applause]

You fooled them!
Yay!

- Thanks for helping.

- Oh, my god, that's amazing.

We did it!
Yay!

[applause]

That was so cool!

Whoo!

That's fantastic!

David Parr, everybody!

[cheers and applause]

Yay!

We still have one last trick
up our sleeves,

and it's a doozy.

Our very own Penn and Teller
are up next.

Stick around.

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

[jazz music]

[cheers and applause]

- For the past 40 years,

not only have Penn and Teller
been dazzling audiences,

but they've also been
pissing off other magicians.

Here they are carrying on
both traditions.

Penn and Teller!

[cheers and applause]

- You know, the most exclusive
private magic club in the world

is called The Magic Circle.

It's in London.

Our friend David Copperfield
is a member.

The judge on this show,
our mentor, Johnny Thompson,

is a member.

Amazing Randi is a member.

And we were thrilled,

'cause recently
they got in touch with us.

They have a museum right there

on their property
there in London.

They were doing an exhibit
on the b*llet catch,

a very famous American trick.

We have a version of it,
and we were thrilled,

'cause they wanted
some memorabilia

for their museum.

So we sent them
the actual helmets we wore

the first time we performed
that trick,

sent them a picture
to go with it,

even wrote an article
for their magazine.

And then we said to them,
"Well, you know,

"we sent that all off.

Do we get to be members?"

And they said no.

[laughter]

And the reason was
their bad translation

of this Latin motto,
"Indocilis Privata Loqui,"

which they have mistranslated

into "not likely
to give away secrets."

And The Magic Circle said
in so many words

that they don't care
about magic as an art form.

They don't care about magic
as entertainment.

They only care about magic
as keeping secrets,

a little coven
of old men in London

keeping their stupid
little secrets.

[laughter]

And as you know,
we've been known

to give away
a magic secret or two.

So we wondered
if we could actually do

a magic trick successfully

while giving away
a lot of the stuff

we've given away on TV
about that very trick.

And the first major thing
we gave away in 1985,

we were on the David Letterman
television program,

and we said that all blindfolds
used by magicians were fake.

We stated that categorically,
and we stand by that.

We have someone to help us here.

What is your name,
our newest friend?

- Leah.
- Hello, Leah.

My name is Penn.
This is Teller.

Now, Leah, you're going to be
a blindfold

that cannot be faked.

Your job, Leah, is to make sure
that Teller can't see.

And no reason
to bite out his eyeballs.

Just temporarily take
the heels of your hands.

Put them right over
Teller's eyes just like that.

And no need to be gentle;
it's not me, okay, Leah?

Just like that, Leah.

Now, make sure he can't see.

The other thing we're accused
of giving away,

which is ludicrous, because
everybody already knew this,

but we have mentioned
marked cards.

Now, marked cards are
very, very hard to check for.

Even professional gamblers
sometimes can't do it.

But Leah's going to.

The cards are going
to be dealt, Leah, face down

into Teller's right hand.

Now, if they were marked,
which they are not,

if they were marked,

Teller would have to see
the back of those cards

for the marked cards to work.

Your job: make sure
he can't see at all

and also that he doesn't
turn his head, okay, Leah?

That's your whole job.

I'm going to do the card trick

for somebody
in the audience here.

How about you, sir,
with the glasses, front row?

Right up here.

[applause]

And what is your name,
my newest friend?

- Tim.
- Hello, Tim.

Now, Tim, if you want to do
a card trick,

one of the easy ways to do it

is to know what card is gonna be
picked in advance.

That's called a card force.

We gave that away

on the Johnny Carson
television program.

And one of the easiest
card forces

and also one that's used
by professional magicians,

one right now on The Strip,

is to have 52 cards
that are all exactly the same.

They just have a card selected

and know what card
it's gonna be.

But Tim's gonna show you

that those cards are not
all the same, are they, Tim?

I'm going to try
to show you all of them.

You can see them.
They're not the same.

Another way to force a card
is with sleight of hand, Tim.

You can just take a--you can
take sleight of hand--

we gave this away
in a TV special--

and force the bottom card
or the top card,

even a middle card if you
hold the break under it.

But I'm going to make sure
there's no sleight of hand,

because they're going to be
right in Tim's hand.

I'm going to give you a bunch
of the cards here, Tim.

Just take those right there.

And just--I'm not even
gonna look at you,

but fan them out like this.

Just fan them out like this.

And just look at one of
the cards in your hand.

Look at one of them.

Just look--think of it.
Just think of it.

Don't cut to it.
Don't point to it.

Just think of one of the cards
you're seeing in your hand.

You got one of those, Tim?
- Yup.

- Okay, just think of it.

You didn't indicate it
in any way, right?

- Nope.
- Close up the fan.

Close up the fan,

and now give the cards
a good shuffle, Tim.

Give them a good shuffle.

Or give them that kind
of shuffle.

That's fine too.

But mix them up
so you have no idea.

And you only thought
of the card, right?

- Yup.
- And you're mixing it up.

So you don't even know
where that card is

in the deck, do you?

And we'll mix it up
with the cards that I shuffled,

and now there's no idea
where your card is

in that deck.

- Nope.

- And you're the only one
in the world

that knows
what your card is.

- Hopefully.

- Now, one of the techniques
used in magic

is to confuse
the sequence of events.

Now, I really do not want
to do that now, okay?

Now, I did not force
the card on you.

Is that right, Tim?
- Yeah.

- You're sure
there's no secret whispering

or any sort of psychological
thing right there.

So I don't know
what the card is.

Now, I'm going to now
take these cards

and hand them to you.

The order of the cards
will not change.

I'm not going to touch them
again, okay?

So remember that.

I don't know what the card is.

No one in the world does.

You've got the cards
in your hands now.

Now that they're safely
in your hands,

say the name of the card
you just thought of.

- Sevens of hearts.

- Seven of hearts, okay.

Now, you're going to go
over there, Tim,

and you're going to stand
on this side of Teller

so he can still be seen
by the camera.

You're going to deal the cards
one at a time from the top

into Teller's right hand,
face down.

- Okay.

- You will go
until he stops you.

I will not say a word.

Deal them one at a time
from the top, face down,

in Teller's right hand.

Leah!

You make sure
Teller can't see.

That's your only job.

Okay, Tim.

Go deal the cards
from the top

into Teller's right hand,
face down.

[laughter]

- All right, Teller!

[laughter]

He stopped you.

Leah, for even a moment,

did he get a glimpse
of those cards?

- No.

- Tim, face the audience.

Are you sure that card
was not forced on you?

- Yes.

- You had no idea
where it was in the deck.

- No.

- Loudly, the name of the card

you just thought of, Tim.

- Seven of hearts.

- Look at the next card.

Show it to the audience.

Right in front of your chest.

Hold it still.

[cheers and applause]

Out of a shuffled deck,

a simply thought-of card.

You can keep that card
with you.

Thanks so much, Tim.

Thank you so much, Leah.

Thanks, Tim.
Thank you, Leah.

And, you know, Magic Circle,
we have a seal too.

It's dedicated to you.

It looks like this.

Magic Circle,
we don't want to be members

of your stupid club anyway.

[laughter and applause]

- Wow.

Ah!

Well, we gave you a taste
of every type of magic tonight.

What else would you expect
from Vegas

but a magic buffet?

Dig in with us again next week.

Good night!

[cheers and applause]