05x06 - Penn & Teller Against the World

[bunniefuu]

[jazz music]

♪ ♪

[cheering and applause]

- From the
Penn & Teller Theater

at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas,

here's our host:
Alyson Hannigan!

[cheering and applause]

[rousing music]

♪ ♪

[cheering and applause]

- Welcome to a special episode
of "Fool Us."

Tonight, it's Penn and Teller
against the world.

Each season, we search
for the best magic on Earth,

and tonight, we lined up acts

from all four corners
of the globe.

Penn and Teller have never seen
these performers,

and likely aren't familiar
with their methods or mentors.

Ladies and gentlemen,

with the weight of the world
on their shoulders,

here are Penn and Teller!

[cheering and applause]

[rousing brass music]

♪ ♪

As always, anyone who fools
Penn and Teller

wins an all-expenses-paid trip
to Las Vegas

to perform
in their legendary magic show.

So let's look
at our first contender.

[fireworks crackle]

- [speaking Japanese]
- In Japan,

there are ancient
magic families

that teach their own styles
of magic.

I was crazy about magic,

so I joined
the Fujiyama family to learn.

They're the only family
that still teaches

a traditional Japanese style.

[dramatic percussive music]

At first
I learned other things,

like traditional art,
dancing, and music.

Then, when I was ready,
they taught me tricks

and techniques.

♪ ♪

- I want to show the world

the beauty
of the Japanese culture,

and to keep
its traditional magic alive.

Tonight, I'm bringing this
to Penn and Teller,

and the secrets I inherited
from the Fujiyama family

is how I plan to fool them.

[cheering and applause]

- Please welcome
Taijyu Fujiyama!

[dramatic percussive music]

♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

[chime ringing]

[exotic music]

♪ ♪

[laughter]

[singer vocalizing]

♪ ♪

[applause]

♪ ♪

[cheering and applause]

♪ ♪

[applause]

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[laughter and applause]

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[applause]

♪ ♪

[laughter]

[cheering and applause]

- [laughing]

- Taijyu Fujiyama!

[cheering and applause]

- I'm gonna bow.
Thank you.

That was exquisite.

Oh, that was so beautiful.

- [speaking Japanese]
- Thank you very much.

- Can you explain the story
behind that--

that magic performance?

both: [speaking Japanese]

- That story is a fox transform
to the many characters

and fool people.

- That's so beautiful.

My daughter's studying Japan,
so she's gonna--

she taught me the--
if you bow--

if you show deep respect
you bow fully.

Is that--is she right?
Is she a good student?

- [speaking Japanese]

[laughter]

- I think so.
- Oh good, yay!

[laughter and applause]
Phew.

Okay.
[laughs]

Thank you.

Um, how did you know
about "Fool Us"?

Both: Ah.

[laughter]

- Hmm, I might have asked
a trick question.

- YouTube...
[speaking Japanese]

- Ah.

[laughter]

Yeah, okay.

Well, let's go to the guys

and see if they figured out
how you did it.

- Wow.
You know, I'm so glad

that we're finally getting

different kinds of magic
on the show.

I mean, this is
the kind of magic

that we were not
brought up with.

It's not our style.
And also--

well, it's great,
and it uses some techniques

of magic that are--
that really, really important.

It uses repetition,
where it looks like

kind of the same trick,
but it's done a different way.

And there's a different method
on all of the masks,

that was really wonderful.
We, uh--we love that,

absolutely adored that.

Um, we also loved how,

uh, there's
choreographed movement.

You know, in--
in Western magic,

you very much want
to make everything look,

um, as natural as possible.

We're always trying
to be natural.

But in this, you have
that choreographed movement

that looks just wonderful.

And we loved the way the, uh--

the costume was perfect.

It looks perfect for the act,

and also helps the act.

The movement is perfect,
the parasols, the fans.

We, um--we loved every bit
of this,

and loved how different it is.

And we think with a little
of what we said,

if you can translate that
properly--

it's impossible to translate
some of this, I know--

but I, uh, I hope
you can get across

that we loved it,

and think we have
a pretty good idea

of how it was put together.

Don't want to give away
too much.

Although you can, if you want,
in your language.

[laughter]

[clears throat]

- [speaking Japanese]

- Word for word!
[laughter]

Word for word!

- [laughs]
[applause]

- Better than Google!

- Thank you so much.

- [laughing]
[applause]

- Okay.

Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Taijyu Fujiyama!

[cheering and applause]

- Time for a break.

More of the best magic on TV
coming up!

[rousing brass music]

♪ ♪

[rousing brass music]

[cheering and applause]

- Welcome back to "Fool Us."

Let's meet our next
sharply-dressed charlatan.

[fireworks crackle]

- I am Pit Hartling, and I am
from Frankfurt, Germany.

I might be one of the most
un-German Germans there is.

I mean, I don't drive a car,
no beer--

I'd rather have a glass
of orange juice

to a beer any day--

and I do comedy,
and at the same time,

I've always taken magic
quite seriously.

I learned English and Spanish
to read magic books,

just to be able to learn
and get to know more.

So I've been into magic
since I was 10.

For me, it was all one big,
fun adventure,

and that hasn't
really changed.

I'm usually quite sharing
and very open,

but for some reason,
this trick I've always held

a bit close to the vest.

Now, it's time to try and fool
Penn and Teller with it.

[cheering and applause]

- Along with two
randomly-selected members

of our audience,
welcome the card magic

of Pit Hartling.
[applause]

- Thank you.
Thank you very much, everybody.

Oh, wow.
Thank you very much.

Eh, well, you've heard it,
my name is Pit.

I am officially Germany's
most successful magician

in the weight class
under 130 pounds.

So there you go.
[laughter]

And we have with us tonight,
uh, Terry, right?

And what's your name?
- Connor.

- Connor,
thank you for helping.

Now, I think I may have made

an interesting discovery,

about the physical properties
of a deck of cards.

All right?
Um, but to show you that,

it's important that the cards
are really well shuffled.

So we shuffle that, maybe
give them one these as well.

And Connor, you know,
after shuffling a deck,

you always need
to cut the cards, okay?

- Yep.
- So maybe if you could--

Maybe move half over there
for me, so we know

the deck is shuffled and cut.
Okay, very good.

- Uh.
[laughter]

- So now--what?
Okay, I'm kidding.

Just to see
who's paying attention.

We try that again.
- Okay.

- Maybe if you can cut
one more time.

And then, of course, I have
to take the bottom half

and place it on top.
Right?

And then--and we're good.
- Okay.

- So, now what we...
[laughter]

Come on.
[laughter]

This whole fooling thing
is tougher than I thought.

- [laughs]
- But you know what, Connor?

Can you take those cards,
and you shuffle them, okay?

You mix up the deck
so we can be really sure

everything is well mixed and--
yeah, you keep shuffling.

You can actually shuffle
as much as you like,

'cause I'm going
to do this trick, uh,

with this deck anyway.
[laughter]

Yeah, it's just always,
I mean--okay.

No, you keep shuffling.
We--we actually, uh--

We need both decks, okay?
So, here, shuffle that again.

Uh, two
thoroughly shuffled decks.

Oh, and then, by the way,
those are, uh, real shuffles,

okay?
So they're not strange magic

kind of things.
Real, honest shuffles, okay?

Are you happy
with your shuffle?

- And I cut it, too.
- Oh, maybe you did

all the work.
Maybe another round of applause

for our shuffler, here, Connor?
Thank you for helping.

That's really good.
[applause]

And, um,
I noticed one day

that decks of playing cards
actually behave a lot

like musical instruments,
so they can be in tune

or out of tune
with one another.

And, um, you can actually
synchronize decks

using sound waves.

Now, it may sound strange.

Have you ever
synchronized decks?

Here's--here's how that goes.
First you look at the top card.

For example, here we have
a king, okay?

King of Spades,
can you see that?

Okay?
Uh, could you hold on to that?

Maybe just in your hand, there.

And let's look
at the other card, here--

is an ace, for example.

So it's not the same card.

But we are going to change that
right now.

And we just use
the right frequency.

So if you could hold that
in your left hand, there,

and then slowly and softly
move it a bit.

And we go with a sound;
it goes like

♪ Dee-de-lee-de-lee ♪
Can you join in?

We go...
Both: ♪ Dee-de-lee-de-lee ♪

[laughter]
- Come on, please.

That's science, okay?
[laughter]

And, um--but you remember
those two cards

that were not the same?
- Uh-huh.

- Let's have a look
at them now.

Can you turn the card over
and maybe--

Ah, you see that?
They're synchronized.

So we're getting somewhere.
[applause]

That seems to work.
You place that there, okay?

Wanna try that again?
Okay?

Maybe you have a look at, uh--
at your next card.

Just turn it over
and see what you have.

Is it the same?
No.

Look, I've got that one
you got, uh, and eight,

for example, yeah?
[stammering]

And, uh, now the idea
is to try that again.

But by now you know the lines,
of course, okay?

So, very slowly--
I won't even come close--

you go like this:
♪ Dee-de-lee-de-lee ♪

both: ♪ Dee-de-lee-de-lee ♪
[laughter]

- Sounds good.
And have a look,

and maybe it happened again.
And now we have

exactly the same card again.
So, yeah.

I mean, it's physics,
ladies and gentlemen.

Now you place that there.
[cheering and applause]

Okay?
Now, so far we've tried this

with the top card,
but we can use any card.

Well, you just have
to change pitch, okay?

So, uh, Terry,
maybe could you name, say,

a number between 5 and 10.
What would you like?

- Six.
- Six, okay.

Now six of course
is a bit lower in the deck,

okay, so it's--it's not
♪ Dee-de-lee-de-lee ♪

But six is actually
♪ Doo-do-loo-do-loo ♪

Can we try, okay?
[laughter]

We go...
both: ♪ Doo-do-loo-do-loo ♪

- The key point--
the key point here

is, uh, dignity, okay?
Very important.

[laughter]
And, um, let's see

if that worked.
I'll go first.

That's one, two, three,
four, five, six.

Place that out
and the rest on top.

And maybe, Connor,
can you do the same thing?

Let's see, that's..
both: One, two, three,

Four, five...

- And the sixth card goes
to the side.

You can place the rest on top.

And, uh--now remember,
those were two genuinely,

thoroughly shuffled decks,
right?

Now, the card
at the sixth position

in my deck happens to be
the four of diamonds.

Now, Connor, could you show us
which card you shuffled

to the sixth position
in your deck?

And it is exactly
the same card.

Can you see that?
Exactly the four of diamonds.

So thank you very much.
Here we go.

That's pretty cool.
[applause]

Oh, but you know what?
That--

That worked pretty well,
actually.

We might as well try
and go all the way, okay?

Should we try and synchronize
the whole decks?

We can do that, maybe.

Could you hold the deck
in your hand again?

Oh, but for this,
I need all your help, okay?

Maybe you can all join in.

We use the collective resonance
of our audience here tonight.

So, are you ready?

Okay, here we go.

all:
♪ Dee-de-lee-de-lee ♪

Perfect.

The Penn & Teller Singers,
ladies and gentlemen.

That--that works really well.
[laughter]

Now, I wonder what happened
to those decks?

Um, Connor, could you turn over
the top card?

Let's have a look.
And you have an ace.

And look, I've got an ace.
That's pretty good.

Just place it there.

You have a look
at the next card,

let's see what that is.
You've got a three,

and I've got a three.
Very good.

Maybe the next card.
That's looking good.

You've got a seven,
I got a seven.

So, I--I go first.
Look, I've got the queen.

Yeah, show it, show it.
You have a queen.

I've got the five,
and what do you--

you've got the five.
Look, I got the two,

and you got--show everybody
the bottom card,

just to see
how far that actually reaches.

Oh, well maybe we are not quite
on the bottom yet.

We go
♪ Doo-do-loo-do-loo ♪

And yes, now there we have
exactly the same card.

And, uh, so we take this,
and I think we did it.

Each and every card
completely synchronized

throughout the whole deck,
up to the very last.

Thank you very much.
That is synchronizing decks.

There you go.
[cheering and applause]

- Pit Hartling!
- Thank you very much.

[cheering and applause]
Hi.

Hello, Alyson.
- Wow.

- Good to see you.
- Nice to see you.

Do you think you fooled
Penn and Teller?

- Well, you know,
Penn is also a musician,

so he's very familiar
with all those frequencies

and sound waves and stuff.

He might actually understand
the physics of that

better than I do.
I'm not sure.

- You never know.
- Have you ever had

what people might consider
a real job?

- Ah.
[laughs]

Well, uh, back in Frankfurt,
uh, at university,

I studied psychology
and linguistics

and philosophy.

So, uh, no.
[laughter]

Not really.
- [laughing]

- So tell me about magic
in Germany.

- Um, magic is actually
doing pretty well

in Germany right now.

We have between maybe 30 and 40

small, uh, close-up theaters

built specifically
to watch magic.

So in that respect,

it is almost little bit
like an G--Golden Age, I think.

- Awesome.
- Yeah.

- All right, well,
let's check in...

- See if they can
guess your magic.

- Let's see what happens.
- Boys.

- Boy, that's--boy,
that's a beautiful routine.

- Oh, thank you.
- Uh, you don't usually

see things that complex.

You have--you have one thing,
then you add on to it,

you add on to it,
and you add on to it.

And there's just more
and more things just--

just piling up,
one thing after the other.

There's just a complexity.
And then, uh, one of the things

that's wonderful about magic
is after you've, uh--

just a little ways in,

uh, you do these
really heavy provers,

and then we start to trust you.

And as you know...
- That's true.

- That's a huge mistake
in magic.

- That is true.
- [laughing]

- As you would know, right?
- Yes, yes, as we would know.

So we think we've given you
a few little, uh, hints

to can take to the bank, there.
- A few--Yeah, that's true.

I think I can accept
that happening.

- Okay, good.
- Thank you.

- Okay, the figured it out.
- Yes, I think they did.

- Well, thank you.
- Thank you very much,

it was nice to be here.
- Pit Hartling!

- Thank you, bye-bye!
- Glad you came.

We'll see you, man, again.

[cheering and applause]

- After the break,
Penn and Teller try

to bust more magicians.

They'll also perform a trick
of their own.

Don't go anywhere.

[cheering and applause]

[rousing brass music]

[rousing brass music]

[applause]

- Welcome back to "Fool Us."

Some magicians use methods
that are underhanded.

This next magician
is from Australia,

so she uses methods
that are down-underhanded.

[laughter]
Take a look.

[fireworks crackle]

- In Australia, everybody
has a kangaroo

in their backyard.

I've grown up with magic.

My dad's a very well-respected
magician in Australia,

so I've grown up with it.

And we've been working together
now for about 36 years.

I heard some
of my dad's friends

talking one night
about the water t*rture escape.

And I of course piped up
and said, "Hang on a minute.

"I could anything as good
as what you could do."

And there was no turning back.

I was the first woman
in the world

to perform Houdini's
water t*rture escape.

That was a good feather
in my cap.

I have two tricks
that are unique.

No one else in the world
is doing them.

This is Australia
versus Vegas,

and it's on.

[applause]

- Please say g'day
to Helen Coghlan!

[cheering and applause]

- Thank you.
Thank you very much.

I'd like to show you a trick
which is the only one

of its kind in the world.

This, of course,
makes it unique.

I'm using a glass,
also a plastic tube.

On each end of the tube
are two caps,

and you'll notice
that these caps have a hole

right in the center.

Now, the reason for these holes

will become obvious
in just a moment.

I'll take the glass
and fill it with milk.

I'll fill it right up
to the top--

to about there is fine--

cover the glass.

But I'd like to show you,
or mention to you,

that the glass
completely fills the tube,

and there is no gap
between the glass and the tube

for any sneaky little business.

Place the top cap on.

Now, if I took
a solid copper rod

and told you I could
push this rod all the way

through the glass of milk,

you might think
that was impossible.

But we all know with magic
that sometimes, the impossible

is actually possible.

Take that right out
the other end.

[audience amazement]

Take the top cap off,
take off the tube,

and all I can say
is, "Cheers."

[cheering and applause]

Thank you.

Now, because I have come
all the way from Australia,

I thought I'd give you
two tricks

for the price of one.

And the next trick
is also one of a kind.

It's actually a trick

using my grandfather's
old tennis racket.

He doesn't use it anymore.

He's dead.

[laughter]

Now, I hope you don't mind,

but I'd like
to take the liberty,

at this point,
to rewrite the rules.

And let's agree that

if even one of these two tricks
fools you,

I still get
to take home the trophy.

[laughter]
- I'll take that as a "yes."

- Okay.
[laughter]

Alyson, can you please
give me a hand with this trick?

- Sure.
- Would you please like

to make sure it's empty.

Show everybody that there's
nothing in the cover.

- Yep.

- I'll show everybody
the racket.

Happy with that?
- Yes.

- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.

- Now, with this trick,

there is just a word
of warning:

Don't blink, or you'll miss it.

[audience amazement]

- Wow.
- Game, set, and match.

Thank you.
[applause]

- Wow, Helen Coghlan!

That's incredible!
[applause]

Ah, wow.
- Wow.

It was so quick,
I'm glad I didn't blink.

- I'm glad it worked.
- Yes.

[laughter]

So you've been doing magic
for--for how long?

- Oh, pretty much
for all my life.

My dad's a magician, um--
Arthur Coghlan;

he's a very well-respected
magician in Australia--

so I've grown up with magic.
- And did you come up

with this trick, or did you
and your father..?

- Dad came up with that trick,

so that's why
it's one of a kind.

- So did your dad
come with you tonight?

- He did.
Mum and Dad and my daughter

have made the trip
from Australia.

- Yay.
[applause]

Where are they?
- Over there.

- Hi!
[applause]

So, do you think you'll fool
Penn and Teller?

- Yes.
- Yes.

I like your confidence.
How come?

- Well, for this--
to start with,

this is the only one
of its kind in the world,

so they wouldn't
have seen that.

And hopefully they won't
have figured out...

- Right.
- How to do it.

- [laughs]
All right, I think it's time

to check in with the dudes.
- Okay.

- Guys.
- All the way from Australia,

uh, hailing with your--
your little tricks.

- Yep.
- And you gave us two tricks.

Then you came out
and you kind of framed

the tennis racket thing,
kind of an elastic way

that kind of said
we had a---

do both of them.

And, uh, I think
I've given you a--

maybe a little bit of an idea
of how one of them, um...

- Yep.
- Might be done.

One of them, uh,
did not fool us.

The other one we're--
we're kind of puzzling about.

Um...uh, yeah,

there's two tricks, uh--

Well, the one trick we got.
We got the one trick.

- Okay.
- No problem on that.

[laughter]
- Okay.

- Would you like a sketch
on how the one trick is done?

'Cause we have that one.

We could--we could
get that built, right, today.

[laughter]

We got one, there's no--
and we'd like to tell you,

we'd like to change the rules
right now and say,

"If we figured out one of them,
I think we figured out--"

[laughter]
- But...

- No deal!
- We thought--we thought maybe

uh, that the--the milk thing

had a little gasket
in the bottom,

but then the wand came out dry.

And that bugged us.
[laughter]

And then we thought you had

a little channel
in the center of it...

but we saw the overhead shot...

and it was milk
all the way across.

And that bugged us.
[laughter]

So let's get back
to the tennis racket.

[laughter]

- No, no, no.

Let's stick with the milk.
Let's stick with this.

- We got you nailed
on the tennis racket thing.

So we think
we would like to give you...

half a trophy.

[laughter]

But since this is television...
- It's a fooler!

- And you came all the way
from Australia

We were gonna give--
but the tennis racket!

Can we tell you,
brothers and sisters

of "Fool Us"...
- Oh, no.

- The tennis racket
did not fool us!

- Whoo!
Awesome!

- That fooled us.

Nicely done.
- Aww.

Helen Coghlan ladies and gentlemen.

[cheering and applause]

- Tennis racket
didn't fool us!

[cheering and applause]

- Penn and Teller are fooled!

And we're just
getting warmed up.

They're taking on
more magicians

when "Fool Us" returns.

[cheering and applause]

[rousing brass music]

[rousing brass music]

[cheering and applause]

- Welcome back to "Fool Us"!

When we scoured the Earth
for the world's best magicians,

we found our next performer
in Israel.

Take a look.

[fireworks crackle]

- Basically, as a mentalist
you can read minds,

you can bend spoons,
you can move objects.

I don't claim to have
supernatural powers,

but I have superhuman powers.

[spooky music]

Besides being a performer,
I'm also an inventor in magic.

Some of my ideas, they take
over a decade to come out

because I'm my own,
eh, biggest critic,

and I if I don't like it a 110%,

it's not coming out
for the world.

I'm using real objects,
sharp objects.

One time I performed something
called "the spike effect",

where I was trying to find
a hidden knife

with my eyes blindfolded.

Because I let my guard down,
the knife went through my palm.

Penn and Teller know so much
about magic,

but because what I do

is something
that nobody else does,

I might actually fool them.

[applause]

- Please welcome
the powerful mind

of Menny Lindenfeld!
[applause]

- Thank you.
Thank you.

Alyson, hi.

Would you please come here
and take a seat?

Right here.
- Sure.

- The amazing Alyson,
everybody.

[applause]

Alyson, in a moment--

In a moment,
I will attempt

to manipulate matter
without touch.

- In fact, I'm going
to teach you how to do this.

- Thanks.
- You know, it's like

bending a spoon, basically.

But instead, I'm going to use
these, uh, metal objects

that I have collected
from the audience

before the show.
- Wow.

- So, for example,
here we have a--

a glass filled with coins.

And, please,
examine these coins.

And while you do,
I want to also show

that I have here
a few eyeglasses

that I have, uh, collected,

and I would like to thank those
who lended me their glasses,

and also apologize

that they won't be able
to see my show.

[laughter]

And, Alyson, one more thing.
I also have this.

- Oh.
- Yeah!

- Now, that is a saw...
- Somebody likes saws.

And I did not collect this
from the audience.

- Oh, thank goodness.
- Right.

And the reason
I have chosen the saw

is because the blade
is made of hardened steel,

and no matter what you do,

this cannot be bent,
basically.

- Right.
- All right?

But we come back to this
in a moment.

Would you please,
uh, take any coin out?

Just one coin, and hand me
the rest of them.

And I want you
to sign your coin.

Perfect.

And you can blow on the coin
to make sure the ink is dry.

- [blowing]
[laughter]

- Very nice.
- [laughs]

- And I'll take the coin.

I just want to show it
to the camera again.

This is Alyson's coin
with Alyson's signature.

Now, Alyson, I promised
that you are going

to do this tonight, right?

So here's what I want
you to do:

I want you to take
your right hand,

and open it like this.

Take the coin, put it
in your right fist, like so,

hold your hand straight out,
like this,

and concentrate on the coin
the entire time.

Now I'm going to show you
exactly what to do, okay?

I'm going to use
the other coins,

and I'm going to stand
right here.

And here's
what I'm going to do.

I want you to think,
in your mind,

that this coin
is becoming softer,

and softer, and softer.

Its just becomes softer.

It's all in your mind.

And slowly start
massaging the coin.

- Mm.
- Can you feel it bending now,

in your hand?
- Maybe?

- Yes, it's starting
a little bit, right?

Yeah.
Turn your hand around

and open your hand.
I want you...

- [gasps]
- To put your coin right here.

Now, I wanna show this...
[audience amazement]

To the audience.

This is your signature
right there, yes?

- Yes.
- The coin is bent,

and it has bent
in your closed fist.

I didn't do it, she did.
[applause]

Wait, wait, wait,
please, no, no.

I want to show you first
that--

what happens
to the other coins.

You see, this coin is bent,
this coin is bent,

this coin is bent,
this coin is bent.

In fact,
every single coin there

is now bent.

The amazing Alyson,
ladies and gentlemen.

- That's amazing.
[applause]

That's totally...
- And Alyson,

I'm going to try some more.

Can you look at me, please?
- Yeah.

- I'm gonna put this
on your face like this.

Oh, can you look
at the camera?

- Whoa.
- Doesn't she look good, right?

- Oof.
- Yes. [chuckles]

- Oof.
- It's a little hard.

It makes you dizzy,
a little bit, right?

- Somebody is definitely not
seeing this show.

- Can you look at me?
- Yeah.

- Okay, Alyson, here's what
I'm going to ask you to do:

In--I want you to put
both your hands like this.

And I want you to focus
your e--

on this spot right there.
- Right there.

- Yeah, exactly.
- Okay.

- Be very serious about it,
okay?

- Yeah, I am.
- Now, here's what we are going

to try to do.
Okay, are you ready?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

[sharp exhale]

Focus with me.

[mystical music playing]

[long inhale]

[audience amazement]

Look, let's do
some more bending.

[audience amazement]

Alyson, let's put this on you.

Right there.
Look, look at her.

[laughter]
[cheering and applause]

- [indistinct]
- Wow.

- Alyson, um,
let's do some--

something more.
Here, take this.

Put this on.
This is for protection, okay?

And I want you to put
this on as well, right there.

Perfect.
And if you don't mind,

can you stand right here
next to me?

I'm going to ask you,
which one do you prefer?

Take this.

Take it out,

and here's what I want you to--
hold it--

okay, I'm gonna hold it.
It's very dangerous.

- I've totally used
a saw before.

- Now, hold this like so.
- Okay.

And this is going to be
the indication saw.

You know what that means?
- No.

- It means that in a moment,

we are going to compare
these two saw.

Just like this, all right?
And I want you to concentrate

on the saw with me, okay?
- Okay.

- [deep breath]
- On my saw?

Your saw.
- My saw.

- Oh.
[laughter]

♪ ♪

[audience amazement]

- Look, it bent a little.

Let's do some more.

♪ ♪

[audience amazement]

- Wow.
[applause]

- Teller, this is for you.

And Penn, you like glasses,
so I'm gonna--

I'm gonna bring these to you.

[cheering and applause]
- Menny Lindenfeld!

Whoo! Ah.

[applause]

So, was that a good idea
to give 'em the stuff?

- I hope. I hope.
[both laugh]

- Wow.

So when did you decide
you could start bending metal?

- Well, I come
from Israel, right?

And in Israel,
everybody looks up to one guy--

his name is Uri Geller.

He was, eh, in the '70s
very famous,

and he made spoon-bending
very famous.

- Yes.
- And since I was a kid,

when my friends would,
uh, stand outside in the field,

play soccer, right?

I would stand
in front of flowers,

try to move them
with my mind.

- Oh.
- And at one point,

it actually did move...
- Nice.

- And I was super excited
about it.

Today I look back
and I know it's just the wind

that did it, but, uh...
- Yeah.

[laughter]
Yeah.

Have there been any props

that you just couldn't bend?

- Well, not--not yet, anyway.
- Oh, good.

- The biggest thing
I've ever bent

was a jet engine,
the blade of the jet engine.

- Wow.
- Which of--

Which was the hardest thing
to ever do,

but it was okay, yeah.
- So, did I really

do that trick?
- Yeah.

It's in your hand,
it's your signature,

and--and take this coin,
it's for you.

- Yes, I do want to.
Are you gonna give the--?

- Although, you--
you owe a quarter

for somebody in the audience.
- Oh, okay.

[laughter]

Okay, I think they're ready.
- Yeah, they are?

Okay.
- Let's go check with them.

Boys.
- Ah, Menny.

Boy, there's a lot
going on here.

You do one of
our favorite things in magic,

which is, uh, doing apparently
the same trick

with different methods
all the time,

all the way through.
- Right.

But there's--the most
important thing you use

is a wonderful technique
of magic,

which is
the displacement of time.

Just things happening
in a different time

than we might think
they were happening.

- Right.
- And I also love the fact

that for one of the tricks--
and I won't say which one

unless you push me--
but, um, you were doing

a great deal of effort
to do the exact opposite

of what it looked like
you were doing.

- Exactly.
- Yeah.

- Are you with them?
- Yeah.

You're too smart, man.
[laughter]

- They're very smart.
- Thank you, thank you so much.

- Now, you didn't fool them,
but you entertained us.

- All right, thank you.
Thank you so much.

- Thank you.
Menny Lindenfeld!

- Thanks.

[cheering and applause]

- Up next,
we make Penn and Teller

disappear from their chairs

and make them reappear
on this stage.

The bad boys of magic,

Penn and Teller,
perform right after this.

[cheering and applause]

[rousing brass music]

[rousing brass music]

[cheering and applause]

- Penn and Teller are so good,

and not only do they give away
other people's secrets,

they also give away their own.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Penn and Teller.

- If you can stay right there,
Alyson.

We're gonna show you
a little trick now.

We're gonna show you
this trick, Alyson,

and then we're gonna teach
you and the whole audience

how it--how it's done, okay?

This is one, uh, with,

uh, you buy three or four
containers of mints,

so these little mini-containers
you see there.

You just take two of them

and just, uh, dump 'em out.

So you've got, uh,
two empty containers

of mints, and one
full container of mints.

And this takes the form
of a gambling game.

You know that the mints
are in that one

and these two are empty, right?

So, Alyson, very carefully,

just watch Teller's
fancy moves--

we'll teach you this later--

and just see if you can follow
where the mints are, okay?

You knew where they were
to start.

Now keep your eye on him,
watch him--

he's holding two
at a time, there.

Now, Alyson, which one
of these three containers

now contains the mints?

- Uh, the middle one?
- The middle one?

Well, Alyson, you were wrong,
because it's...

[rattling]
it's actually over there, okay?

We'll watch again.
He's gonna mix it up.

You know where they are now.
Keep your eye on him.

Try to make it
a little easier this time.

Now, Alyson,
where are the mints?

- Definitely the middle one.
- Definitely the middle one?

Well, Alyson, you didn't--
[rattling]

You didn't get that right.
- [groans]

We'll make things
a little easier for you.

We'll take, uh, one of the ones
and put 'em aside

so we only have two left.

We'll take one of
the empty ones, put it there.

And now we'll just,
uh, mix 'em up again.

Now, you know where it is.
- Mm-hmm.

- Watch carefully, now.

There.
Where is it now, Alyson?

- Right one.

- No, Alyson...
- [groans]

- It's actually not
the right one.

Now, we promised you, Alyson,
that we would show you

how this was done, okay?
So why don't you take

one of the empty ones
and hold that

right in your hand, okay?
And Teller will take

the full one and put it
in his hand, okay?

Now watch this, Alyson.
If you were to guess right,

we would just do this,
and move them from...

[rattling]
His...

[rattling]
To yours.

- What?
- It was all done

with real magic.
Open that up, you'll see

that that's where
the mints are, right there.

[audience amazement]
- Oh, my goodness.

- Now obviously, Alyson,
we don't do it

with real magic.

We do it with--
it's the fact that

you can't really tell
the directionality of sound.

So Teller can just take
any one of the empty ones

and make it look
like it has...

[rattling]
Mints in it.

Remember at the beginning
I said carefully buy three

or four of the tins?
We actually buy four,

and one of the tins
is right up his sleeve...

- Oh.
- Like that.

Whenever he shakes his hand...
[rattling]

He can make it seem
like he's got that, there.

Now, mints are not
quite loud enough,

so what you might want to do
is take the container

and fill it with, you know,
some metal nuts, there.

- Oh.
- Gives it a little more sound.

And also, Teller loves nuts.
[laughter]

And then when he does it,

he can do it
with the whole body.

[rattling]
[laughter]

- There's a trick
you can do at home.

- Wow.
- Just get yourself

four mints containers
and a few nuts.

- [amazed exclamation]

[cheering and applause]

Whoo!
That's all for tonight,

If you want more of "Fool Us,"

we'll be here waiting for you
when you come back.

'Till then,
goodnight from Las Vegas!

[cheering and applause]