Magic for Humans (2018–…): Season 3, Episode 1 - Power Trip - full transcript

[Justin]
Hey, man, you ever try one of these?

[water gushing]

- You hear that power?
- [man] Oh yeah, I hear it.

Whoo!

[laughs] I see you...

- Can't reach me.
- I can't reach you.

This baby's got some power.

Oh, my goodness.

I bet it's got some lift too.

Whoa!

Whoa, dude!



- [Justin laughing]
- What in the world?

Make it stop!

Hold up.

Damn.

[man] What in the [bleep]?

[exhales]

Sheesh.

I'm magician Justin Willman.

I've spent my life attempting
to master the art of magic.

Now, I'm using magic to master
the art of being human.

What the hell.

Real people.

- Real magic.
- How?!

No camera tricks.



This is Magic for Humans.

Power.

Whether mental,

magical,

or just raw physical strength,

ultimately...

it all comes from within.

[grunts]

A little bit of effort...

and a lot of belief...

we can do just about anything.

[grunts]

It also helps to have strong friends.

They say the average person
uses only 10% of their brain power.

Some use more...

Some use less.

Mom!

[Justin] But what if there was
a high-tech way

to unlock our full potential?

Well, since Steve Jobs never got around
to creating such a device,

I made one myself.

I'm on the streets tonight
talking about the power of the mind.

- Alright.
- Yeah.

Are you happy with the power
of your mind?

Could be better,

but right now it's okay.

Do you believe there's
a genius inside there?

- Actually, I do.
- Yeah.

- I do.
- Yeah?

I have a device to help
tickle the genius out.

- Want to see?
- Here we go.

This is it.

- Hold the chin strap there.
- Okay.

Let me adjust it on.

- It's very heavy.
- It is a little heavy.

I'll put it into standby mode, here.

Feel any different?

- No. No.
- Okay.

When you're not wearing a helmet
such as this

- can you solve a Rubik's Cube?
- No. [chuckles]

Take this Rubik's Cube.

In a moment, I'm going to say, "Twist!"
But do it behind your back.

Okay?

Don't think about it.

Just let your brain
do the movement for you.

- Okay?
- Okay.

Put that cube behind your back.

Just twist, twist, twist...

Twist, twist, twist...

Twist that cube.

And bring it out
when you feel like you've done it.

No.

Wait.

What's hap...
Did you guys drug us?

Oh, my god.

You solved a Rubik's Cube.

Let's try something.

- No. Do you have an Apple Watch?
- No.

Regular watch. Okay.

- Just a regular watch.
- Okay.

Not a big fan of Apple.

What time is it now?

- It's late. Yeah.
- 11:28.

Okay. I'm going to turn on
a section of your brain right now.

I'm going to give you the power
to be in touch with the gears of time.

Let me activate circadian mode

I'll pop the stem. Take the watch.

Just start spinning that stem there.

- Okay, spin the stem.
- Just give it a spin.

- Great. Push it in.
- Okay.

Lay it flat on your palm.

Fantastic. Now, tell me.
What time do you think is on that watch?

7:54.

Hmm. Interesting.

Would you be amazed if it was
exactly 7:54 on that watch?

- I would be.
- Check it out.

No.

What the...

No! [laughing]

Yeah.

I don't understand.

- [woman] It's the time.
- Wow.

- 7:54 exactly.
- I know.

I'm pretty shocked.

Yeah.

Do you know all the digits of pi?

- It goes on... forever, but...
- No.

Let's just flip on the memory setting.

I'm gonna let you glance at it
for a moment,

- but that's all your brain will need...
- Okay.

to absorb all the digits
in your powerful, genius mind.

- You ready?
- Just look.

Got it?

Boom.

You think you got it?

It's in there now.

I can even just turn it off.

- [helmet whooshes]
- Perfect.

- Fantastic.
- Okay.

Why don't you just...

No peeking, just tell us...

what pi is.

Go for it. Just recite it.

Three point one, four...

- one, five, nine...
- Yeah?

two...

six, five, three...

- You got this.
- Five...

eight, nine, seven, nine...

Yeah, you're doing great.
You're doing great.

...three, two, three...

Keep guessing.

...eight, four...

six, two, six...

four, three...

three...

eight...

...three, two, seven?

- [woman] Nah.
- How did you do that?

What the [bleep]? [exclaiming]

I don't know how I did that.

I literally don't.

How the [bleep] did you recite pi?

- How are you doing?
- Good, thanks. How are you?

I'm doing pretty darn good.

Good.

- I'm Justin. What's your name?
- My name is Susan.

Sweet!

Magic for Susans!

[man] Magic for Susans!

- Susan, do me a favor.
- Okay.

Envelope. Check it out.

- Okay. Now what?
- Yeah.

Well... I got paid and this
is what they gave me. So...

- Mm-hmm.
- ...I thought you could help me.

Give me a number from one to 100.

Fifty-four.

Fifty-four. Watch the envelope.

[cash register dings]

Count it.

Exactly 54 bucks.

How did... How did you do that?

[laughing]

- Do I get to keep it?
- You can keep it.

- How would you spend it?
- I'd buy something nice for my horse.

Do horses like magic?

Uh, no.

[man] Magic for Susans!

[Justin] As a kid who dressed like this,
there were plenty of insults

that eventually
turned into therapist bills.

So, to illustrate just how powerful
words can be,

I went to the front lines of verbal abuse:

middle school.

- Hello, friends.
- [kids] Hi.

Are you ready to learn
some word science?

[All] Yes!

Who can give me examples
of words that brighten your day?

My friend, she will always text me
and say,

"Have a good day.
Live life to the fullest."

My mom just texts me
how much she loves me.

Will your mom text me?

[laughing]

Who here believes that words have power?

Yeah?

Everybody but this gentleman.

Okay, alright.

So, you guys know how humans
are 70% water?

We're all familiar with
what makes up water.

- [kids] H2O.
- H2O.

Which means anything that works on a human
would also work on water.

You want to see
how powerful words can be?

- [All] Yes.
- Let's do an experiment.

Here's what we're going to do.

Let's just give science
a little bit of water.

[kid 1 laughs]

Perfect.

Okay.

I'm going to give the water
a little encouragement, okay?

I'm going to tell it positive things.

You can do it.

You're powerful.

I believe in you.

- Whoa.
- Wow.

I got your back.

- [kid 1 gasps]
- [kid 2] This is insane.

- Wait. What?
- No.

- [Justin] Yeah.
- When did water float?

It also goes the other way.

- [kid 1] Oh.
- [kid 2] Wait...

Anybody have an insult
I can throw at this water?

What do you got?

Nerd.

Yeah. You nerd.

- Wha... Whoa!
- Oh, my god.

Way to go with the nerd.

Wow. That one's classic.

Can I show you something else?

- Yes.
- Definitely.

Dirt.

Take the bag of dirt.

Now that they've seen
how words can affect water,

I wanted to show these kids
the power words can have...

Pick a seed, any seed.

...on a living organism.

Let's just plant that seed here.

A little water in there.

Why don't you take the dropper
and look at that water

and give it
some words of encouragement?

- [all laughing]
- Okay?

You're... so... beautiful.

Fantastic.

It might feel silly, but this water

is now charged with positivity.

Careful.

I'm scared.

Don't be scared.

I'm just going to give that seed

a little bit of this positive water.

[water droplets falling]

Now, normally it would take a long time
for a seed to grow,

but because you, my friend,
encouraged it...

Wait... wait... watch.

Just wait.

It won't take... Oh!

- [kids gasping]
- There it is.

[kids chattering excitedly]

Yes, there it is.

Look at that.

[Justin] A frickin' flower.

- Is this possible?
- Right.

Is that real?

Look. It's beautiful.

It's for you. Well done.

You made that happen with your words.

How cool is that?

Cool.

[Justin] Let's try again.

Now who believe that words have power?

[kids laughing]

Yes.

And that, my friends...

is the power of words.

[Justin] Words carry a lot of weight,
but when the power of words

is combined with the power of authority,

you can get people to believe
just about anything.

- Dr. Willman.
- Doctor.

I have an honorary degree
in Pseudopistomolgy

- from the University of Phoenix.
- Oh.

I placed an ad online

inviting participants to take part
in an experiment.

- Can we try a little experiment?
- Okay.

I'm going to make people believe
that this rubber prop...

is actually their real arm.

Seems unlikely.

This is a Fibonacci silk.
Let me show you how it works.

If I drape it like this...

The gap is now gone between your shoulder
and the rubber arm

and your brain fills in the gap.
It's called the Seinfeldian effect.

Simultaneously, because you cannot
see your real left arm,

your brain disassociates that.

That's called the Costanza effect.

Wiggle the fingers on your right hand.

Great.
Now wiggle the fingers on your left hand.

I'm gonna attempt
to establish a connection

using these.

I'm just going to rub the feather
along the fake arm

and your real arm that you cannot see.

Your brain starts to connect
the fake arm sensations...

and make them real.

Now, let's see how strong
this connection is.

Do you feel this?

Yes.

Do you feel this?

Yes.

- Do you feel this?
- Yes.

- Do you feel this?
- Yes.

- Do you feel this?
- Yes.

- Do you feel this?
- Yes.

- And that?
- Yes.

And that?

That's cool.

- Isn't that wild?
- Yeah... 'cause your hand is...

- Yeah.
- That's weird.

- The brain... connects them.
- That's interesting.

- Let's test how far that connection goes.
- Okay.

[Justin] The cold test.

Now, on your right hand
do you feel that?

I do.

- Cold.
- Yes.

- That's why I call it the cold test.
- Genius.

When I place it over here,
how does that feel?

Cold.

Keep in mind,
there's no science happening here.

Just the power of magic
and the power of BS.

Now, what do you feel?

Nothing.

You don't feel an ice cube
resting on top of your hand?

- No.
- Let's try another experiment.

I call this one...

[Justin] The heat test.

I'll be very gentle.

- I promise not to burn you.
- Okay.

I'm just curious if you feel... that.

[exhales]

- What did you feel?
- A little bit of heat.

Tell me how this feels.

Ahh! [laughs]

Now...

do you feel that?

- No.
- This?

- No.
- That?

No.

Ah! Hot!

[Justin] The pain test.

For the pain test,
I'm going to use this... pointy needle.

I'm curious.

Do you feel...

- that?
- Yeah.

- Isn't that wild?
- Yeah.

How does this feel?

Ah, that...
Yeah, I can feel it.

- Is it okay if I prick your real hand?
- Yeah.

No blood. Like acupuncture.

Do you feel that?

- No.
- Nothing?

Nothing.

Do you feel that?

No.

How about...

that?

- No.
- Anything now?

No.

Nothing.

- Nothing?
- Nothing.

Let's try something else.

[Justin] The hammer test.

Ow!

Oh! [laughing]

You're good.

- [groaning]
- Don't worry.

Wow.

Wiggle your fingers.

- Your hand's okay.
- [laughing]

[relieved groan]

If you don't mind stepping into
testing room 2,

we're gonna collect a urine sample.

I'm kidding.

It's in room one.

- Oh, really?
- You know what happens in number two.

Oh, no.

- I'm Justin.
- Hezekiah.

- Nice to meet you.
- Pleasure.

Can I show you some close-up magic?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

[laughing]

[man] Close-up magic.

A deck of cards.

- A tiny deck of cards.
- Tiny.

Would you...

just hold onto the deck of cards?

- Yeah.
- Hold it right here.

Yeah. There we go.

- Okay.
- Okay.

- Would you do me a favor?
- Yeah.

- Put the deck right there in my hand.
- [laughing]

- There you go.
- Nice, nice.

- Shake it up a little bit.
- A little bit.

Name any playing card.

Ace of hearts.

- Ace of hearts. Let's do it.
- Ace of hearts.

- Ace of hearts.
- Alright.

I'm gonna find it. You ready?

[whistles]

[man laughing]

That is nuts.

- Is that your card?
- Yes.

Where's he coming from?

- [continues laughing]
- [whispers] I can't tell you.

I appreciate you being this close, too.
[laughs]

Boop.

Beep.

[Justin] These days, you don't have to be
a doctor or a magician

to have power over people.

Social media can give anyone

the ability to influence the masses,

and that influence
can be quite profitable.

To find out if I have what it takes
to be an influencer,

I enlisted the help of three
social media celebrities

with over six million combined followers.

- Meet Griffin...
- What's up?

- ...Dytto, and Andrew.
- Hey, guys.

Hey guys, it's Andrew. It's a vlog.

We met at the World of Fruit,
a selfie-lover's paradise,

for a lesson in influencing.

So, listen. I thought we could
scroll through my feed a little bit.

Maybe you can give me some tips.

- For sure.
- Let's do it.

I asked them to be honest,
and I regretted it immediately.

What's the cover of this?

[Justin] Cover?

Is it intriguing, is it captivating?
Are you getting an audience from it?

Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. Okay.

How's this? It's a hot day.

- [Andrew] IceIceBaby?
- Yeah.

- Remember that song?
- I do. Yeah.

Sweet.

I'd say we look très chic. Right?

- Very cool.
- Yeah.

He loves swings.

My caption idea was:
"You're getting very sleepy."

They did not hold back.

That's just kinda creepy.

The caption is:
"Nothing like a tray of cold ones."

It looks a little forced.

But, like, it's not to the point
where it's like, "Oh."

- You know?
- Oh.

There was constructive criticism.

I don't know if I love the filter.

Yeah, the filter.
That's what I was thinking.

And some not so constructive.

My caption was:
"He's channeling his inner Gallagher."

For your age demographic,
I think that's...

[laughter]

[Justin clears throat]

I've always wondered,
does being an influencer

mean that you are less susceptible
to being influenced?

Yes.

Interesting.

Did you guys notice the red cloth here?

- Yeah.
- I did, indeed.

I was here a week ago. Took a selfie.

I'll give you guys a little peek here.

Just wanted to, you know...

- Is this an ad?
- ...whet the appetite.

Basically, it's going to be
my first endeavor at being an influencer.

Okay.

Speaking of which...

Since these guys get paid
to promote products,

I posed a challenge.

I gave them 50 unglamorous items
to choose from...

Gravy boat, toilet paper,
whatever this is...

...and gave them free rein

of 20 different selfie-licious rooms
to snap a pic.

Before I showed them my magic,

I wanted to see them work their magic.

I'm going to give you guys
5 minutes. Start...

now. How about it?

♪ Headed downtown with an L.A. crowd ♪

Okay, that's not flexible.

♪ Teach you just how we get down ♪

♪ First we glow up, then we show up ♪

♪ Then we make our rounds ♪

♪ No need to pose
I know you know us ♪

♪ Saw you peep our style ♪

♪ I'm coming ♪

♪ Can't keep a secret down ♪

♪ Coming ♪

♪ Watch me
I'll show you how ♪

[klaxon sounds]

Selfie sticks down. Come on back.

Right.

- Was it fun?
- [Andrew] Yeah.

- It was a blast.
- Yeah?

- It was difficult.
- I had a lot of fun.

Alright, you probably have

hundreds of photos on your roll right now.

- Oh, yes.
- Yeah.

- Yeah.
- Here's what I'd like you to do.

Each of you scroll through
everything you just took

and pick one photo

with one product in one location

that you think would make
the most unique Instagram post.

Okay?

Add a hashtag to it.
Don't let each other see.

Then you're all going to post
at the exact same time.

Okay? Ready?

Post.

Phones down.

[Justin exhales]

Is the suspense killing you?

- I want to see it!
- Yes.

Before we get to that, I'm curious. Um...

Raise your hand if you chose a pic
with the stapler.

- Nope.
- Mm-mmm.

Hemorrhoid donut.

No.

First aid tape.

A sexy coat hanger.

Raise your hand if you chose
the ice cube tray.

- Wait.
- Drama.

- Wait, what? Wait.
- [Andrew] I have a question.

- Wait, so...
- I don't like you.

- Hold on. [coughs]
- Wait, what?

Let's see.
Of the many places to take a photo here,

raise your hand if you posted a pic...
in front of the mirror wall.

The Disco Pineapple.

The Big Banana.

Raise your hand if you chose
to take a picture on the Watermelon Swing.

- Come on!
- Yeah.

[laughing]

Can I see the posts?

Yes, you can.

I don't like this.

- No?
- Wait.

Are you kidding me?

Yeah. What?

- I'm just...
- I'm sorry.

- I'm sorry.
- How does this...

Wait.

That's so interesting.

It is interesting. You're telling me.

I was here a week ago,
and I took a picture.

- Okay.
- I wasn't sure it was influencer worthy,

but turns out it was.

- No.
- The ice cube tray

on the Watermelon Swing
in front of my face.

The hashtag was "TrayCool."

- What were your hashtags?
- I don't even wanna talk about it.

[Justin] TrayCool. TrayCool.

I'm...

I'm shooketh.

Well...

I bet you have
the same question they have.

My question is how?

The answer's simple:

I wasn't here to take a lesson
in influencing.

I was here to teach it.

Do you think that you are less susceptible
to being influenced?

Yeah.

He loves swings...

You're getting very sleepy.

I'd say we look très chic, right?
Very cool.

Is it intriguing? Is it captivating?

Nothing like a tray of cold ones.

IceIceBaby.

[Justin] Yeah.

That's kinda creepy.

My caption was:
"He's channeling his inner Gallagher."

I don't like this.

Why are you in my brain?

- How does it feel to be influenced?
- [influencers laugh]

Um... [laughs] Confusing.

- You can have Instagram. I'm out.
- Yeah, confusing.

Uh, wow.

Our thoughts...

our words...

our actions...

all have power.

It may not always be obvious,

but it's always there.

So we should be careful how we use it.

Because, like my Uncle Ben used to say,

"With great power...

comes great responsibility."

Mom!

[upbeat electronic song plays]

[vocalizing]

[vocalizing]