Penn & Teller: Fool Us (2011–…): Season 7, Episode 18 - Teller Gets Smashed - full transcript
Featured magicians include Jeki Yoo, Matthew Pomeroy, Natasha Lamb, Peter Wood and Lewis Starnes.
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- From the Penn & Teller
Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada,
here's our host,
Alyson Hannigan!
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome to "Fool Us,"
where nothing can stop us
from doing what we do best,
delivering TV's finest magic.
Joining us
from all over the world
are four astounding entertainers
who have two jobs to do.
First, dazzle us
with an amazing performance,
and second,
try to successfully fool
two of the greatest intellects
of illusion.
And here they are now,
our Mensa men of magic,
Penn and Teller!
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
Our first magician
is hoping to take home
a "Fool Us" trophy and a spot
in Penn and Teller's
Las Vegas show.
Let's meet them now.
[fireworks boom]
[cheers and applause]
- Give it up
for the unique magic
of Jeki Yoo.
- Hi, Penn and Teller. - Hi.
- Yeah, hi, Alyson. - Hi.
- It's a pleasure
to meet you guys,
and now let's start.
As you see,
I have a deck of cards,
and it's all different cards
and well-mixed, right?
- Yes. - Okay. I need your help.
Please pick any card you want.
Any card is okay. Just one.
- Okay. This one. - This one?
- Yes. - Okay.
And please sign your name
on the face of the card.
- Okay. - Now I'm gonna show you
a very mysterious
teleportation phenomenon.
It will be teleported.
It will be teleported
inside my left pocket.
Oh, my. - [gasps]
- Watch this. Okay.
The process is very simple.
I just put the card
in the middle of the deck,
and just count
one, two, and three.
That's it.
Your card moved
to my pants pocket.
- Oh.
- Would you like to see it?
- Sure. - Please check.
- Oh. I get to... okay.
- Please check.
- Oh, I don't know if this
is COVID-friendly, but...
- Yeah; is that your card?
- That is.
- Is that your signature?
- Totally.
Ah, that's neat. - [laughs]
Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Yeah. - All right.
It's cool, right? - Very.
- But it's not enough
to fool Penn and Teller,
so please, please pick
two more cards.
- Okay. - Any card is okay.
- I'll do that one.
- And one more.
- Um... - Just one. One more.
- I'll do this one.
- Okay. This one? This one?
- That one. - Okay.
And please sign your name
on the face of each card.
- Okay.
- And also please write
Penn's name here
and Teller's name here.
- Oh, okay. - Yeah.
And this means these cards
are only one of their kind
in the world.
Thank you.
- Should put Penn's name...
- So now I have
three signed cards.
See? You signed. - Mm-hmm.
- You signed.
And now I put these cards
in the middle of the deck
one by one like this.
And put it slowly.
Now I show you something
more surprising.
You wanna see it? - Yes.
- Do you remember when I was
here at the start of this,
there's one thing on this table.
Do you remember
what that one thing was?
- The envelope. - The envelope.
- Whew. - Yeah.
It has been here
since the beginning, right?
- Yeah. - You all saw it.
But see? You can hear the sound.
Inside the envelope,
there are one, two,
three cards in there.
But what I don't understand
is the face of these cards.
- No.
- Please check one by one,
slowly.
- Okay. - Yeah.
- Turn it all the way over?
- Yeah. Is that your card?
- Yes. - Right.
And one more and one more.
And the last one.
- [gasps] - Right?
- What? - Thank you so much.
Thank you.
- Oh, my. [laughs]
- All right.
Now I just put this...
- There's more?
- Yeah. Amazing.
- Oh, my goodness. - Yeah.
- Yeah. That's so cool.
- Okay. I have one more thing.
- Okay. - See?
I have three signed cards.
- Yeah.
- And now I put
these signed cards...
I put these signed cards
inside the envelope...
- Yeah. - Like this.
But it's gonna seem like
I'm doing a bunch
of different tricks,
but I will show you.
- Oh, hello.
- They all connect
one big miracle...
Into one big miracle.
All right.
Now let's play a simple game.
To play this game,
we need a red aces.
See? Here's one.
And two.
And between two red aces,
this is ace of spades.
- Oh. [applause]
- And your job is just to find
the ace of spades.
And now it's right here
on the top.
Yeah? But I don't wanna
make you confused, so...
- It's long past that, but okay.
- Yes; I don't wanna
make you confused,
so I use a sticker here.
So please write your initials
on the sticker.
- Okay. - Yeah.
All right. Thank you so much.
- Okay. - And now I'll attach
the sticker...
I'll attach the sticker
at the back
of the ace of spades.
And are you ready? - Uh-huh.
I think so. - Okay. Watch this.
One, two, three.
First, second, and third.
This is ace of spades.
One and two.
First, second, third.
Where is the ace of spades?
- Well, I think it's over there.
- Yeah.
Although there is a sticker
on the card,
yes, it's ace of spades.
Good job. Yeah.
It's easy, right?
- Yeah, well, yes.
- Let's do it again.
See? One, and two, and three.
First, second, third.
Where is the ace of spades?
- Right here.
- Of course. That's right.
But if I remove the sticker
and attach it here...
Oh, my...
where is the ace of spades?
- Right there? - Here?
- No. Right there. - Here?
But the ace of spades
moved here.
- What?
- Yeah, the sticker has powers.
So it can call
the ace of spades.
It's a special sticker.
Let me show you another example.
Look at here.
Look at the envelope.
I just attach the sticker
right here.
And please confirm this.
Is this your signature?
- Yes.
- Watch this.
As I rub like this,
it disappears.
Actually, it didn't disappear.
If I open
this envelope... oh, my...
There are three
signed cards in there.
And is this your signature?
- Yes. - This is yours, right?
- Yes. - Yeah.
- Yes. - As I told you,
the sticker has power.
But wait a minute.
Did you remember what I said?
If the sticker moves,
what follows?
- The card.
- Yeah, the ace of spades,
ace of hearts,
and ace of diamonds.
[applause]
So if these are aces,
what cards are on the table?
The first,
you signed card for Penn,
and second, you signed,
and third,
you signed for Teller.
Is it correct?
- Yes. - Correct.
Thank you. I'm Jeki Yoo.
[cheers and applause]
- Jeki Yoo! Wow.
Oh, my goodness.
- Thank you so much.
- You must fool everyone
with this trick.
- Yeah, I hope so. Yeah.
If I did it right,
I think I can fool them.
I don't know.
- I think so. - Yeah.
- And how many times
would you say
that you've performed
this trick?
- Yeah, actually,
I stopped this act in...
Five years ago, yeah,
because I wanted to do
some stage and more big stuff.
- Oh, yeah?
So which do you prefer,
close-up magic or big magic?
- Actually, I love
close-up magic more. Yeah.
- So then why'd
you make the switch?
- I met my wife.
Actually, she's also a magician.
- Aww. - Yeah, and she's doing
stage magic, and I want
to do something with her,
so I switched it.
- Aww. - Yeah.
I think my first time
in Vegas is 2014
to see Penn and Teller's show.
Unforgettable moment in my life.
- Aww. - So yeah.
I always dreamed
to be here again
as a... yeah... magician, yeah.
- And here you are.
- Yes. I'm here. Yeah.
- Okay. Well, let's find out
if they know
how you did your trick.
- Okay. - Boys.
- Jeki, what a great...
what a great act.
- Wow. Thank you.
- What a great act.
What great energy,
and just a power house.
And I gotta tell you,
I don't want to give
too much away here,
but we followed you.
We followed you really well.
We were almost getting
to the border of smug...
- Yeah.
- And then that sticker came in.
- Yes.
- And we know...
where you're
gonna put that sticker.
- Yeah.
- You're gonna put that sticker
on your "Fool Us" trophy.
- "Fool Us" trophy?
- Yeah, that's where
you'll put it.
- Yes. Okay.
- You fooled them! - What?
- You fooled them. - Oh, my.
- You fooled them! Yay!
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you so much! Yeah!
- Yay. - Yes.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you so much.
Thank you. - Oh.
- Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Jeki Yoo!
- Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Congratulations. - Bye.
- Oh. [both laugh]
Ah.
We have our first Fooler
in the house.
Will Penn and Teller
get fooled again?
Come back and find out
when "Fool Us" returns. ■ ■
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- Welcome back.
It's time for you to meet
our next act.
[fireworks boom]
- My grandma
is hugely important to me.
She knows hundreds
of card games,
but only one card trick.
- And this was the first trick
that Matthew ever showed me.
We met backstage at a show,
and that was that.
- Fast forward
five and a half years,
and we're getting engaged
on stage
in front of about 2,000 people.
- We did.
- We got engaged right after
the magic carpet ride
that flew over
the audience's head.
Our dream has always been
to perform in Las Vegas,
and the prize for this show
is to be part
of Penn and Teller's show.
- We have been here
in Las Vegas for 17 years.
- And I've heard...
just a rumor...
That maybe people get married
in Vegas as well.
- A wedding and a honeymoon
in Vegas?
Sounds all right to me.
We are definitely playing
to win tonight.
[cheers and applause]
- Joining us
from Durham, England,
is magical couple
Matthew Pomeroy
and Natasha Lamb.
- For us, magic is a playground
for the impossible,
a wonderful place
full of unexplainable
experiences.
- So allow me to share
an experience.
It was 1995.
I was six years old.
It was my birthday.
And it was the very first time
I saw and felt magic.
But for me, on that morning,
it wasn't cards or coins.
It wasn't ropes or rabbits.
It was a square piece of plastic
covered in stickers:
a Rubik's cube.
- The cube has 43 quintillion
possible scrambles.
And to put that
into a visual perspective,
it is the equivalent
of covering the entire Earth
with 300 layers of cubes.
- I got the cube in the morning
as a gift, a present.
I spent the whole day
shuffling and scrambling
until I handed it to my grandma.
And just before bed,
she instantly solved it.
And that was it... magic.
The feeling of real magic.
And tonight, I aim to give
that feeling to all of you.
But I begin with you.
Hello, my friend.
What's your name?
- Joe. - Joe.
Joe, I have a pen for you here,
and I have one very simple job.
Joe, I would like for you,
if you don't mind,
to sign that square.
- Yeah. - Do it nice and neatly.
Nice and clearly.
And let me know
when you've done that.
Good work, Joe.
Very artistic.
Thank you so much.
Now, Joe, I'm gonna show this
to every single person at home.
Lock and cement this
in your mind
just in case
you see it later on.
And, Joe,
I have one more job for you.
This one is far easier.
I would like for you to mix,
shuffle, and scramble the cube,
and keep doing that
until I come back to you.
- Okay. - Whilst the cube
is being mixed,
allow me to share
my favorite magical experience.
Last Christmas,
Matthew proposed to me
live on stage.
And as he got me this ring,
I thought it was only fitting
that I got him
something in return.
And what do you get
your magician fiancé?
- An impossible object.
A Rubik's cube trapped
and locked inside a jar.
This really is one my favorite
things in the entire world.
And I'll show you it
in just a couple of moments.
Joe, a perfect job, my friend.
Thank you so much for your help,
and I'm gonna take it back.
Thank you for helping.
- Matthew and I
are blessed to perform
all around the world.
And as we travel
from place to place,
country to country,
I collect postcards
along the way.
And right now,
we are being joined
by another member
of our audience.
Thank you so much
for joining me.
What's your name? - Aidan.
- Aidan, it's lovely
to meet you.
Now, Aidan,
I have here postcards
from all different places.
For example, we have New York.
We have Paris.
We have Edinburgh and Las Vegas.
Ooh, somewhere
we would love to perform.
And as you can see, they really
are all completely different.
And in a moment, Aidan,
I am going to get for you
to choose one of these
at random.
But just so you know
they're not in any order.
I'm going to give them
a mix just like so.
Okay.
So I'm going to get you
to say stop
whenever you want.
- Stop. - Okay.
Would you like this one?
Or you can have that one.
- I'll stick. - You'll stick?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Let's see which card you chose.
Ah. London.
Lovely. Thank you very much.
- So Tash collects postcards
and I collect Rubik's cubes
from all around the world.
And I have some here.
I've been using them to form
a picture, a structure,
and it's very nearly finished.
Look.
London.
The exact city Aidan
chose at random.
Bearing in mind he could've
chosen any other postcard,
and I gave him the chance
to change his mind.
And as you can see,
there is room
for just one more cube.
Is it possible?
- Is it possible
that somehow, someway,
the cube that you mixed,
shuffled, scrambled,
and signed,
the cube that sat on this table
since the very start
could maybe,
potentially, possibly,
fit inside that hole?
Tash. - Yes?
- What are the odds?
The odds, Matthew,
are 43 quintillion to one.
- But in our world of magic,
nothing is impossible.
You see, if you look closely,
not only is the picture perfect,
but, Joe, I believe
that is your signature
right in the very center.
- The joy of magic for us
is providing
unexplainable experiences.
Tash, wait. I'm really sorry.
Tash, look.
I mean, I think
there's one more memory.
One more moment that we can
share with everybody here.
If you take out that cube,
and if I retrieve the gift,
the present that you gave me,
I think an impossible
coincidence has just happened
here live tonight.
I'll show you what I mean. Look.
If we look very closely
and very carefully
you'll see... you'll all see...
That this side
matches perfectly.
Not only that,
if we turn it to the right,
this side matches.
We turn it again,
that side matches.
Hold your applause, please.
Sit down.
We'll turn it again,
this side matches.
In fact, the bottom matches.
Even the top matches,
and that is
completely impossible.
My name is Matthew Pomeroy.
- My name is Natasha Lamb.
- And together, we are...
[together] A perfect match.
- Matthew Pomeroy
and Natasha Lamb.
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you for having us.
- Oh, that was wonderful.
- Thank you. - [laughs]
- Do you guys actually
wanna get married in Vegas?
- Yes. - 100%.
- Aww.
- It was the thought plan
and sort of
it was what we spoke
about way before
we even knew about this show.
And now that it could be
a reality and a possibility,
we would 100%
get married in Vegas, yes.
- Agh... so who do you want
to marry you?
Elvis or Penn and Teller?
- Well, Penn and Teller
would be perfect.
I mean, if they're available,
we are.
So let's just... let's merge.
- Yes.
So, Natasha, I have to know,
how did Matthew win your heart?
- Well, Matthew brung his case
around and he literally did
a full theater show
in the front living room.
- Why not?
- The whole thing.
- That's awesome.
So you wooed her
for two hours with magic?
- Yeah.
I don't think it was wooing,
but luckily Tash said yes.
- Yeah. - Okay.
It's time to go to the boys.
Penn, Teller,
how do you think they did it?
- Matthew, Natasha, boy,
not only is your act
just loving
and gentle and beautiful,
but also very,
very innovative magic.
Lots of really,
really clever thinking.
But when you've got things
that work out
that perfectly, you know,
things that are "quatrillion"
chances of things.
You know, when we're trying to
say what are the chance of this
what are the chance of that,
we're forced
to make, uh, decisions
on how you might've done stuff.
And I want to say that
the selection of the cards,
that looks like
a brand-new thing.
But I can just tell you
that as a couple
in this whole routine,
you were not the only things
that are attractive
in this routine.
There's other things
that are attractive as well.
And having the final thing...
The London cube
there spelled out...
That was a whole
different switch
on the way you do
that kind of final thing.
And when that whole thing
is put together,
I will tell you,
that the way the magic is done,
the whole is greater
than the sum of the parts.
I thought it all went together.
I mean, there were a few things
that were a little sticky
for us,
but we think we got most of it.
But, man,
there was a lot to work out.
It was a beautiful thing
and really a perfect match
and we... boy, we had to put
our heads together,
but I think we got it.
What do you guys think?
- Well, it's an honor
and a pleasure and a privilege
to be on your show,
and I think you've got us.
- Okay, thank you. - Aww.
- Thank you so much. Thanks.
- Well, thank you so much.
You guys were such a delight.
- So good, so good.
- Matthew Pomeroy
and Natasha Lamb.
- Thank you for having us.
- Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
- Penn and Teller still have
to battle more magicians
and perform a trick
of their own.
We better give them
a quick break.
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back to "Fool Us."
One trophy has rained down
from above.
Is another Fooler
in the forecast?
Take a look.
[fireworks boom]
- My house is designed
like a theme park.
Every room has its own motif.
My shows are a lot
like that too.
I pay a lot of attention
to the details and the design.
Over many years, I have scoured
the world for magical devices
that no one else has.
The things that particular
magicians used decades
or even centuries ago that have
been forgotten by time,
I excavate them,
blow the dust off,
make them new.
If I have a special power,
it's mainly as a curator
of lost things.
And this is a trait
I share with at least
one other musician that I know
of, and his name is Teller.
So I wanted to bring something
totally unique,
and I believe I have.
But extraordinary claims
require extraordinary evidence,
so Penn, Teller,
you be the judge.
[cheers and applause]
- Give it up
for Baltimore's best,
Peter Wood!
[applause]
- I'm a collector
of the impossible...
Weird objects
and bizarre artifacts
with magical powers...
And I brought along
my latest piece.
This is Sir Henry Willoughby,
who possessed
the gift of X-ray vision.
Now, after Sir Willoughby's
death,
a few of his colleagues
did something rather strange.
They cut out his eyes.
I don't mean
on the guy's dead corpse.
I mean on the painting.
They cut out the eyes to see if
the painting of Sir Willoughby
shared any of
his real-life X-ray abilities.
Well, as soon as I acquired it,
I did what any of you would do.
I held it up to my face
to see if it worked.
And I looked at the wall.
I thought it was working.
Turns out it was just a window.
But, I am on the hunt
for a user who can unlock
its X-ray powers,
and tonight, I thought
we should test it with Alyson.
Would you join me
over here please?
Round of applause
for Alyson Hannigan.
[applause]
It is so nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Can I give you
these four envelopes, please?
Take a look over them.
Make sure that they're
all identical on the outside.
On the inside,
I've placed four different
colored pieces of cloth.
One's red,
one's yellow, one's green.
And one of has a blue piece
of cloth inside.
But just looking at them,
you can't tell
which is which, right?
- No.
- All right; with any luck,
that's where
Sir Willoughby comes in.
I'll take those back
from you, please.
Can you pick up
the painting, please?
Hold it up to your face,
and give us
all your best "shifty eyes
in a haunted house" look.
[laughter]
All right, that's perfect.
All right.
Now focus your energy.
Channel the power
of Sir Willoughby.
Look through the painting
at this envelope.
- Hm.
- And I'm hoping that
after a couple of moments,
you start to get the feeling
that it's either red or yellow
or green or blue.
When you get the feeling,
let me know,
and I'll put it
in the matching clip.
- Blue. - Blue.
That was good. That was fast.
All right. This might work.
Let's take a look at this one.
It might be green,
might be yellow, might be red.
Use the power of the painting.
- Green. - Green.
All right.
And this is important.
You're not reading any
instructions on here, right?
- No.
- Or on the back
of the painting?
This is just coming
to you, yeah?
- No, yeah.
- Okay. So green for this one.
Take a look at this one.
Might be yellow, might be red.
What color do you think
is inside there?
- Hmm. Yellow.
- Yellow. All right.
Coincidently going down
the line there,
but it's just
a coincidence, right?
- Totally. - Okay, just fine.
Now, that leaves red.
If you look at that one
and say, "It's red," perfect.
But if you look
at that one and think
it's one of the other colors,
I'm happy to trade
with any other color.
So do you like that for red
or should we trade?
- Hmm.
Trade that for yellow, please.
- Trade it for yellow.
We'll swap like that.
Do you like this one better for
red or should we trade again?
- Yes, thanks.
- Better for red, okay.
I believe Sir Willoughby's
work is done.
You can put him back
on the easel over there.
Thank you. All right.
Here comes the fun part.
If we tear this envelope open
and there's a red piece
of cloth inside
matching the color
that Alyson predicted,
that tells me that
there's some sort of connection
between Alyson's eyes
and Sir Willoughby's eyes.
I'm actually just
kind of curious
if there's any sort
of visual connection there.
Let me see.
Alyson is not nearly
as cartoony or grumpy
as Sir Willoughby is,
but anyway. That's for you.
So if Alyson tears that open
and there's a red piece
of cloth inside,
that helps to justify
the acquisition
of the painting, right?
But if Alyson tears that open
and there's not a red
piece of cloth inside,
please politely still applaud
her efforts, you know?
And at the same time, I'm going
to be looking for yellow.
So I'm looking for yellow,
and you're looking for red.
On the count of three.
You ready?
- Uh-huh. - One, two, three.
Tear it open. Reach inside.
I'm looking for yellow.
You're looking for red.
There we go. Hold it out.
- Whoo.
- Yes. Awesome. All right.
Throw it on the floor.
Let's not get cocky.
We still have two to go.
Uh, I'm gonna give you
one last chance.
Would you like
to trade envelopes?
- No. - Okay.
Now this is really interesting.
If we tear these open
and they're correct,
I'm gonna lose it
because that proves to me
that I have found someone
who can unlock
the power of that painting.
But, Alyson,
if we tear these open
and they're backwards
from what you expect,
you're gonna kick yourself
forever that you didn't trade
at the last minute. - Oh.
- Last chance. How do you feel?
- I'm still feeling okay.
- You still... okay.
That's fine. Tell you what.
You can go green.
That's for you. - Thank you.
- And I'm gonna go blue.
On the count of three.
[exhales] Hope this works.
I'm looking for blue.
You're looking for green.
You ready?
- Uh-huh. - One, two, three.
Tear it open. Reach inside.
I'm looking for blue.
You're looking for green.
That's the blue.
That's the green. That's Alyson.
And that is Sir Willoughby's
X-ray vision.
- Peter Wood. - Thank you.
- Yay. - Thank you so much.
- Do I get to keep the painting?
- Please.
The fact that I found someone
who it works with...
We'll talk tour schedule.
- So is Sir Willoughby
a relative of yours?
- No.
Not that I know of, at least.
- There's a little bit
of a family resemblance.
- I guess there is.
Hopefully I'm not quite as
grumpy looking as he is, but...
[laughter]
- Are you really a collector
of odd things? - Yeah.
I've got so much crazy stuff
in my collection.
I have a crate that holds
a device that allegedly
can transmit thoughts to people.
- Hmm.
- I have a rope
that knows the alphabet.
So a bunch of random things.
- And your props are beautiful.
Do you build them? - Yeah.
I grew up with a really well
stocked workshop.
My dad is
an amateur cabinetmaker.
My whole family
loves building things.
And when I was a young person,
I would go see props
and I maybe couldn't
afford them,
but I was able to build them
in my own shop.
- Nice.
You ready to check in
with Penn and Teller?
- Absolutely. I'm excited.
- All right.
Penn and Teller,
how did he do it?
- Peter, the first thing...
the first two words Teller said
when you finished
was, "That's cool."
We just really like it.
What I really love about this
is the first place
you'll wanna go with this
is some sort
of technology stuff.
All of us know the kind
of technology you could do
to get a similar effect.
Not the same effect.
And all of that is so jive.
We're so sick of it.
You could have done this act
just like this 100 years ago,
and it would have been just
as good and it's great now.
It's really nice.
It's a simple, beautiful plot,
and the method on it,
we think, is very, very subtle.
The method on it
is actually three methods,
and one of the methods is right
on the tip of our tongue
as we were getting the ideas,
trying to say them
to one another.
But we just loved the routine...
And also, and this is...
I don't think we've ever said
this before on the show...
It was really, really enjoyable
to do your thinking
along with you
to see this beautiful,
subtle method.
There's a lot
of logic work to do.
It's kind of a little bit like
Sherlock Holmes thing
to crack the mystery.
We kind of think we did.
I have a couple more things
I could say to you in code,
but if you think
we're on the right track,
I won't say anymore
because I think you had
a really good trick.
- What do you think, Peter?
Do they know
how you worked your magic?
- I think they do, yeah.
- All right.
Well, thank you so much.
Peter Wood!
- Thank you, guys.
[cheers and applause]
- Time for a quick break,
and then we're back
with more of TV's best magic.
Stay close.
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back.
You want more magic?
You got it.
Here's our next act.
[fireworks boom]
- My name is Lewis Starnes,
and I'm from London.
I studied history at university,
but when I graduated, I thought,
"What the hell am I gonna
do with a history degree?"
So I fell into advertising,
and actually, it turns out
that advertising is
the perfect training ground
for magic.
As an advertising strategist,
I've spent years hopefully
becoming an expert
on understanding consumers
and the decisions they make.
Little nudges to make sure
they purchase the products
I want to them to buy
or hopefully maybe winning
their hearts and minds
and changing their opinions.
You could say I've become
a master predictor
of people's actions.
Penn and Teller,
I've spent the last 15 years
nudging people
to buy certain products,
and tonight, I'm hoping
I can convince you
to buy my routine.
[cheers and applause]
- Let's head out
to jolly old England
for the magic of Lewis Starnes.
[cheers and applause]
- I wish I could be there
with you guys,
but alas, I cannot.
So I've done
the next best thing.
I've come to my local pub,
and I've found a random stranger
who looks a bit like you, Penn,
and another helper over here
who, quite frankly,
looks nothing like Teller.
So allow me to introduce
this trick
with the help of Not Penn
and Definitely Not Teller.
Thank you both for joining me.
My day job is in marketing,
so I get paid to know
what people want
even before they do.
So you could say I can
predict consumer behavior.
And what's more basic
consumer behavior
than the weekly grocery
shopping, right?
Here I have the last 35 items
of grocery shopping
that my wife and I bought.
We have pizza, bacon, eggs,
sugar, white wine...
you get the idea.
Popcorn, tea,
bottled water, bread.
Not Penn, as I deal cards onto
the table, whenever you like...
And look... we have different
things going by... orange juice...
Just shout stop
whenever you like.
- Stop.
- Right here? - Yeah.
- Can I ask you to hold
your hand out flat for me?
Look... we'll give you the very
next grocery item right there.
Had you said stop
one card earlier,
a second sooner,
it would have been bread.
But thanks to my mix of magic
but mainly marketing skills,
I knew that would be
the grocery item
you'd select today.
It's true. Check it out.
This bag has been on the table
since the very beginning,
and everything about you,
from the clothes you're wearing
to the way you're sitting,
tells me that you're a man
deeply committed
to dental hygiene.
Is that fair?
And that's how I knew
that Not Penn's
randomly selected grocery item
would be...
toothpaste.
Could I ask you to have a look
and show the audience
that my prediction is correct.
- Is it toothpaste?
- No, it's tomato ketchup.
- Tomato ketchup.
You know, when marketing fails,
sometimes I can resort
to magic.
Now, I know it doesn't
look like much happened,
but could I ask you,
Not Penn, just to hold
that plate out in front of you?
- Yeah.
- You're thinking
of one random grocery item.
Tomato ketchup.
Watch.
I don't know about you,
but that looks an awful lot
like tomato ketchup to me.
But could I ask you,
on behalf of the audience,
to maybe have a sniff or dare
I say even a taste?
Do we have ketchup?
- Yeah. That's ketchup.
- We've actually managed to
change toothpaste into ketchup.
But I guess I had
you pegged wrong, Not Penn.
And this sometimes happens
when I try and predict
the shopping
behavior of couples.
And I'm wondering
if maybe it was you,
Definitely Not Teller,
who was destined
to pick the toothpaste.
I'll tell you what,
just to satisfy my curiosity,
as I run through the cards,
would you just tell me
when to stop.
- Stop. - Right here?
- Yeah. - Have a little look.
And you've
picked toothpaste, right?
- No. - Still no?
[huffs]
Salt.
You know what?
I don't know if this gonna work
a second time,
but we started with toothpaste
which we turned ketchup
and now, hopefully...
[shaking]
[laughs]
No way.
You're thinking of salt.
I think we have...
- [scoffs, chuckles]
- Salt.
Thank you guys very, very much.
[cheers and applause]
- Lewis Starnes!
Hello, Lewis.
- Hi, Alyson. How are you doing?
- Good. So you do magic
by night and marketing by day?
- That's absolutely true. Yeah.
- Does it give you
special insight?
- Yeah. Definitely.
It's amazing how much you see
the comparisons
between the research
and the way you think people
are going to behave
and then the way
they actually respond to magic.
It's incredible.
- And how did you
get into magic?
- When I was 11 years old,
my best friend, Ben,
I went over to his house
for his birthday,
and he was supposed to be
getting a new computer game.
And for some reason,
his dad found a job lot
of Victorian magic tricks
on auction
because he's an antique dealer.
So he decided that year
that he was going to buy
those Victorian magic tricks
for my friend Ben
and not the computer game.
So when I got to his house
on that Saturday morning...
I'll never forget it...
he said, "You better come in.
I had a weird birthday."
And he just put on
a magic show for me.
And I was sold.
I was like, "This is amazing."
- Aww. Is your friend
a magician as well,
or is he just mad at his father?
- [laughs]
So he is still a magician.
Yeah. We both still do magic.
- All right.
Well, let's find out
if your pub magic
fooled Penn and Teller.
Guys.
- Hey. How are you doing, Lewis?
It's so nice to see a Brit
on the show.
I love going to England,
and I love seeing you
do magic at your pub.
What a wonderful routine.
It's just a great routine.
Just funny and breezy and nice
and right in there.
And you know, you coming here
on the screen
makes me think
of the British invasion.
I don't mean, you know...
I mean the British invasion
of music.
It makes me think
of the Rolling Stones.
Watching you, I'm thinking
of the Rolling Stones.
Their whole career.
First when they switched
from Mick Taylor to Ron Wood,
that was a great moment.
They used to be really rough,
then they got smoother,
and they did
the "Harlem Shuffle,"
then, for no reason...
no one forced 'em...
They did a lesser-known B side
of the Hindu shuffle.
They have done
so many wonderful things.
And when I see
the Rolling Stones
always billed
as the greatest [bleep]
rock and roll band
in the world, I see you...
And I see you, Lewis,
as the greatest [bleep]
pub magician we've seen today.
We loved it.
But we don't think
you fooled us.
- [laughs]
- Okay.
Did any of that
make sense to you?
- That all made good sense
to me, sadly, Alyson.
[laughter]
- So they know how you
did the trick?
- I think they definitely know.
Yeah. They got me.
- Aww. Well, thank you.
You didn't fool them,
but you did a great job
tidying your kitchen.
Enjoy that, and thank you
for entertaining us.
- We hope you got
some "Satisfaction."
- All right.
Lewis Starnes!
[cheers and applause]
Remember when I promised you
a trick from Penn and Teller?
Well, I'm about to deliver.
The stars of our show
take center stage
right after this.
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller
aren't just magic's
most accomplished duo.
They're also magic's
most eccentric.
Performing tonight's finale,
the mad scientists of magic,
Penn and Teller!
[cheers and applause]
- Teller and I are magicians,
but our first love is science.
We would've loved
to have been scientists
if not for all that school
and "having to be smart" stuff.
We both loved liquid air shows
where science teachers
would demonstrate what happens
when things get really,
really cold.
This is liquid nitrogen.
Some just call it liquid air
because the air we breathe
is 78% nitrogen.
The gas that we breathe
has been cooled down
to 320 degrees
below zero Fahrenheit
which in Celsius is...
We don't know.
Another reason we are not
in the sciences.
This liquid... now, Teller,
put your gloves on and goggles...
This liquid nitrogen
turns back into gas
at 320 degrees below zero.
So for the nitrogen,
room temperature is wicked,
wicked hot.
You can see it boiling off.
It just boils off everything
because it's really hot out here
to the liquid nitrogen.
Now the liquid nitrogen
is wicked cold,
and this is wicked dangerous.
If it splashes on you,
you get like...
It's like a burn
but it's frostbite.
There's interesting things
you can do.
You should have
your gloves on, Teller.
We have a rose here.
A nice supple rose.
We put that in the beaker,
pour in liquid nitrogen
just like scientists...
isn't that great?
We're gonna do
some magic tricks later,
but this is real science.
You pull this out here,
and it goes to nice brittle.
It's totally brittle.
It's great.
Now, this is a regular
rubber ball.
I can bounce this
just like that.
Regular rubber ball.
It lights up a little,
and that costs extra.
And we put that
in liquid nitrogen
and freeze it down.
You should have
gloves on, Teller.
That'll burn your skin.
You gotta be careful.
Don't try this home
because it's dangerous and also
because you probably don't have
liquid nitrogen around.
We have it here.
Now, this is not a magic trick.
This is real.
That bounced before.
No switch no nothing.
Now it's frozen.
Now that same rubber...
shatters just like that.
Isn't that pretty neat?
Now, if you take
a standard balloon
and put that
in the liquid nitrogen,
the balloon loses all interest
in what's going on around it.
All interest at all.
Just like that.
And what's happening is the air
inside the balloon is...
The molecules
are doing something.
And then it comes out here
and it blows up as the air
expands back inside it.
Wow, if we could do that
as a magic trick,
it would be really great.
Now, some people make ice cream
with liquid nitrogen,
but Teller and I
wanted to make popsicles.
It's our own invention.
So we have here
a really big beaker.
We pour in some liquid nitrogen.
Ah.
We can... oh, that scared me.
We can use this too.
You should have
your gloves on, Teller.
That scared me.
This is so dangerous.
Don't try this at home because
you can hurt yourself badly
and also you don't have
any liquid nitrogen probably.
Now, this is liquid nitrogen
popsicles.
We have here...
well, it's not orange juice.
It's like sugar water
that has some color in it.
We pour liquid nitrogen in,
and we're going
to make a popsicle.
Watch this.
Pour this into the beaker.
Teller takes a popsicle stick...
You should be wearing
gloves, Teller.
This is dangerous.
He's not wearing gloves.
He should be.
He reaches in
with a popsicle stick
and he pulls out
from inside the beaker
a beautifully formed popsicle.
Look at that.
I bet that would be delicious
but I don't want any.
And now we can take
what they call grape
which is just the same stuff
with a different coloring.
It's just stupid.
But put that in there,
and we just pour that
in just like this,
put in a popsicle stick.
Look what comes out.
A great popsicle. See that?
That doesn't really work.
That's a magic trick.
Anyway.
But what my children like to do
when they go
to a fast food restaurant
and they have all
the different flavors.
Afterwards, they'll do,
like, a kamikaze
with all the different flavors.
Teller likes to do that
with popsicles.
The two flavors in there...
You should be wearing
gloves, Teller.
You should... what are you...
- [yelping]
- Oh-oh-oh... you should...
If you're wearing gloves that...
See... you should've had...
you should've had...
You should've had gloves on
because now your hand
has shattered just like that.
[both scream]
- [laughs] [cheers and applause]
[sighs]
Another chilling performance
by Penn and Teller.
And with that,
we say goodbye for now.
Come back next time
for more of TV's best magic.
Goodnight.
[cheers and applause]
[Alyson speaking indistinctly]
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- From the Penn & Teller
Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada,
here's our host,
Alyson Hannigan!
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome to "Fool Us,"
where nothing can stop us
from doing what we do best,
delivering TV's finest magic.
Joining us
from all over the world
are four astounding entertainers
who have two jobs to do.
First, dazzle us
with an amazing performance,
and second,
try to successfully fool
two of the greatest intellects
of illusion.
And here they are now,
our Mensa men of magic,
Penn and Teller!
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
Our first magician
is hoping to take home
a "Fool Us" trophy and a spot
in Penn and Teller's
Las Vegas show.
Let's meet them now.
[fireworks boom]
[cheers and applause]
- Give it up
for the unique magic
of Jeki Yoo.
- Hi, Penn and Teller. - Hi.
- Yeah, hi, Alyson. - Hi.
- It's a pleasure
to meet you guys,
and now let's start.
As you see,
I have a deck of cards,
and it's all different cards
and well-mixed, right?
- Yes. - Okay. I need your help.
Please pick any card you want.
Any card is okay. Just one.
- Okay. This one. - This one?
- Yes. - Okay.
And please sign your name
on the face of the card.
- Okay. - Now I'm gonna show you
a very mysterious
teleportation phenomenon.
It will be teleported.
It will be teleported
inside my left pocket.
Oh, my. - [gasps]
- Watch this. Okay.
The process is very simple.
I just put the card
in the middle of the deck,
and just count
one, two, and three.
That's it.
Your card moved
to my pants pocket.
- Oh.
- Would you like to see it?
- Sure. - Please check.
- Oh. I get to... okay.
- Please check.
- Oh, I don't know if this
is COVID-friendly, but...
- Yeah; is that your card?
- That is.
- Is that your signature?
- Totally.
Ah, that's neat. - [laughs]
Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Yeah. - All right.
It's cool, right? - Very.
- But it's not enough
to fool Penn and Teller,
so please, please pick
two more cards.
- Okay. - Any card is okay.
- I'll do that one.
- And one more.
- Um... - Just one. One more.
- I'll do this one.
- Okay. This one? This one?
- That one. - Okay.
And please sign your name
on the face of each card.
- Okay.
- And also please write
Penn's name here
and Teller's name here.
- Oh, okay. - Yeah.
And this means these cards
are only one of their kind
in the world.
Thank you.
- Should put Penn's name...
- So now I have
three signed cards.
See? You signed. - Mm-hmm.
- You signed.
And now I put these cards
in the middle of the deck
one by one like this.
And put it slowly.
Now I show you something
more surprising.
You wanna see it? - Yes.
- Do you remember when I was
here at the start of this,
there's one thing on this table.
Do you remember
what that one thing was?
- The envelope. - The envelope.
- Whew. - Yeah.
It has been here
since the beginning, right?
- Yeah. - You all saw it.
But see? You can hear the sound.
Inside the envelope,
there are one, two,
three cards in there.
But what I don't understand
is the face of these cards.
- No.
- Please check one by one,
slowly.
- Okay. - Yeah.
- Turn it all the way over?
- Yeah. Is that your card?
- Yes. - Right.
And one more and one more.
And the last one.
- [gasps] - Right?
- What? - Thank you so much.
Thank you.
- Oh, my. [laughs]
- All right.
Now I just put this...
- There's more?
- Yeah. Amazing.
- Oh, my goodness. - Yeah.
- Yeah. That's so cool.
- Okay. I have one more thing.
- Okay. - See?
I have three signed cards.
- Yeah.
- And now I put
these signed cards...
I put these signed cards
inside the envelope...
- Yeah. - Like this.
But it's gonna seem like
I'm doing a bunch
of different tricks,
but I will show you.
- Oh, hello.
- They all connect
one big miracle...
Into one big miracle.
All right.
Now let's play a simple game.
To play this game,
we need a red aces.
See? Here's one.
And two.
And between two red aces,
this is ace of spades.
- Oh. [applause]
- And your job is just to find
the ace of spades.
And now it's right here
on the top.
Yeah? But I don't wanna
make you confused, so...
- It's long past that, but okay.
- Yes; I don't wanna
make you confused,
so I use a sticker here.
So please write your initials
on the sticker.
- Okay. - Yeah.
All right. Thank you so much.
- Okay. - And now I'll attach
the sticker...
I'll attach the sticker
at the back
of the ace of spades.
And are you ready? - Uh-huh.
I think so. - Okay. Watch this.
One, two, three.
First, second, and third.
This is ace of spades.
One and two.
First, second, third.
Where is the ace of spades?
- Well, I think it's over there.
- Yeah.
Although there is a sticker
on the card,
yes, it's ace of spades.
Good job. Yeah.
It's easy, right?
- Yeah, well, yes.
- Let's do it again.
See? One, and two, and three.
First, second, third.
Where is the ace of spades?
- Right here.
- Of course. That's right.
But if I remove the sticker
and attach it here...
Oh, my...
where is the ace of spades?
- Right there? - Here?
- No. Right there. - Here?
But the ace of spades
moved here.
- What?
- Yeah, the sticker has powers.
So it can call
the ace of spades.
It's a special sticker.
Let me show you another example.
Look at here.
Look at the envelope.
I just attach the sticker
right here.
And please confirm this.
Is this your signature?
- Yes.
- Watch this.
As I rub like this,
it disappears.
Actually, it didn't disappear.
If I open
this envelope... oh, my...
There are three
signed cards in there.
And is this your signature?
- Yes. - This is yours, right?
- Yes. - Yeah.
- Yes. - As I told you,
the sticker has power.
But wait a minute.
Did you remember what I said?
If the sticker moves,
what follows?
- The card.
- Yeah, the ace of spades,
ace of hearts,
and ace of diamonds.
[applause]
So if these are aces,
what cards are on the table?
The first,
you signed card for Penn,
and second, you signed,
and third,
you signed for Teller.
Is it correct?
- Yes. - Correct.
Thank you. I'm Jeki Yoo.
[cheers and applause]
- Jeki Yoo! Wow.
Oh, my goodness.
- Thank you so much.
- You must fool everyone
with this trick.
- Yeah, I hope so. Yeah.
If I did it right,
I think I can fool them.
I don't know.
- I think so. - Yeah.
- And how many times
would you say
that you've performed
this trick?
- Yeah, actually,
I stopped this act in...
Five years ago, yeah,
because I wanted to do
some stage and more big stuff.
- Oh, yeah?
So which do you prefer,
close-up magic or big magic?
- Actually, I love
close-up magic more. Yeah.
- So then why'd
you make the switch?
- I met my wife.
Actually, she's also a magician.
- Aww. - Yeah, and she's doing
stage magic, and I want
to do something with her,
so I switched it.
- Aww. - Yeah.
I think my first time
in Vegas is 2014
to see Penn and Teller's show.
Unforgettable moment in my life.
- Aww. - So yeah.
I always dreamed
to be here again
as a... yeah... magician, yeah.
- And here you are.
- Yes. I'm here. Yeah.
- Okay. Well, let's find out
if they know
how you did your trick.
- Okay. - Boys.
- Jeki, what a great...
what a great act.
- Wow. Thank you.
- What a great act.
What great energy,
and just a power house.
And I gotta tell you,
I don't want to give
too much away here,
but we followed you.
We followed you really well.
We were almost getting
to the border of smug...
- Yeah.
- And then that sticker came in.
- Yes.
- And we know...
where you're
gonna put that sticker.
- Yeah.
- You're gonna put that sticker
on your "Fool Us" trophy.
- "Fool Us" trophy?
- Yeah, that's where
you'll put it.
- Yes. Okay.
- You fooled them! - What?
- You fooled them. - Oh, my.
- You fooled them! Yay!
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you so much! Yeah!
- Yay. - Yes.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you so much.
Thank you. - Oh.
- Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Jeki Yoo!
- Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Congratulations. - Bye.
- Oh. [both laugh]
Ah.
We have our first Fooler
in the house.
Will Penn and Teller
get fooled again?
Come back and find out
when "Fool Us" returns. ■ ■
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- Welcome back.
It's time for you to meet
our next act.
[fireworks boom]
- My grandma
is hugely important to me.
She knows hundreds
of card games,
but only one card trick.
- And this was the first trick
that Matthew ever showed me.
We met backstage at a show,
and that was that.
- Fast forward
five and a half years,
and we're getting engaged
on stage
in front of about 2,000 people.
- We did.
- We got engaged right after
the magic carpet ride
that flew over
the audience's head.
Our dream has always been
to perform in Las Vegas,
and the prize for this show
is to be part
of Penn and Teller's show.
- We have been here
in Las Vegas for 17 years.
- And I've heard...
just a rumor...
That maybe people get married
in Vegas as well.
- A wedding and a honeymoon
in Vegas?
Sounds all right to me.
We are definitely playing
to win tonight.
[cheers and applause]
- Joining us
from Durham, England,
is magical couple
Matthew Pomeroy
and Natasha Lamb.
- For us, magic is a playground
for the impossible,
a wonderful place
full of unexplainable
experiences.
- So allow me to share
an experience.
It was 1995.
I was six years old.
It was my birthday.
And it was the very first time
I saw and felt magic.
But for me, on that morning,
it wasn't cards or coins.
It wasn't ropes or rabbits.
It was a square piece of plastic
covered in stickers:
a Rubik's cube.
- The cube has 43 quintillion
possible scrambles.
And to put that
into a visual perspective,
it is the equivalent
of covering the entire Earth
with 300 layers of cubes.
- I got the cube in the morning
as a gift, a present.
I spent the whole day
shuffling and scrambling
until I handed it to my grandma.
And just before bed,
she instantly solved it.
And that was it... magic.
The feeling of real magic.
And tonight, I aim to give
that feeling to all of you.
But I begin with you.
Hello, my friend.
What's your name?
- Joe. - Joe.
Joe, I have a pen for you here,
and I have one very simple job.
Joe, I would like for you,
if you don't mind,
to sign that square.
- Yeah. - Do it nice and neatly.
Nice and clearly.
And let me know
when you've done that.
Good work, Joe.
Very artistic.
Thank you so much.
Now, Joe, I'm gonna show this
to every single person at home.
Lock and cement this
in your mind
just in case
you see it later on.
And, Joe,
I have one more job for you.
This one is far easier.
I would like for you to mix,
shuffle, and scramble the cube,
and keep doing that
until I come back to you.
- Okay. - Whilst the cube
is being mixed,
allow me to share
my favorite magical experience.
Last Christmas,
Matthew proposed to me
live on stage.
And as he got me this ring,
I thought it was only fitting
that I got him
something in return.
And what do you get
your magician fiancé?
- An impossible object.
A Rubik's cube trapped
and locked inside a jar.
This really is one my favorite
things in the entire world.
And I'll show you it
in just a couple of moments.
Joe, a perfect job, my friend.
Thank you so much for your help,
and I'm gonna take it back.
Thank you for helping.
- Matthew and I
are blessed to perform
all around the world.
And as we travel
from place to place,
country to country,
I collect postcards
along the way.
And right now,
we are being joined
by another member
of our audience.
Thank you so much
for joining me.
What's your name? - Aidan.
- Aidan, it's lovely
to meet you.
Now, Aidan,
I have here postcards
from all different places.
For example, we have New York.
We have Paris.
We have Edinburgh and Las Vegas.
Ooh, somewhere
we would love to perform.
And as you can see, they really
are all completely different.
And in a moment, Aidan,
I am going to get for you
to choose one of these
at random.
But just so you know
they're not in any order.
I'm going to give them
a mix just like so.
Okay.
So I'm going to get you
to say stop
whenever you want.
- Stop. - Okay.
Would you like this one?
Or you can have that one.
- I'll stick. - You'll stick?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Let's see which card you chose.
Ah. London.
Lovely. Thank you very much.
- So Tash collects postcards
and I collect Rubik's cubes
from all around the world.
And I have some here.
I've been using them to form
a picture, a structure,
and it's very nearly finished.
Look.
London.
The exact city Aidan
chose at random.
Bearing in mind he could've
chosen any other postcard,
and I gave him the chance
to change his mind.
And as you can see,
there is room
for just one more cube.
Is it possible?
- Is it possible
that somehow, someway,
the cube that you mixed,
shuffled, scrambled,
and signed,
the cube that sat on this table
since the very start
could maybe,
potentially, possibly,
fit inside that hole?
Tash. - Yes?
- What are the odds?
The odds, Matthew,
are 43 quintillion to one.
- But in our world of magic,
nothing is impossible.
You see, if you look closely,
not only is the picture perfect,
but, Joe, I believe
that is your signature
right in the very center.
- The joy of magic for us
is providing
unexplainable experiences.
Tash, wait. I'm really sorry.
Tash, look.
I mean, I think
there's one more memory.
One more moment that we can
share with everybody here.
If you take out that cube,
and if I retrieve the gift,
the present that you gave me,
I think an impossible
coincidence has just happened
here live tonight.
I'll show you what I mean. Look.
If we look very closely
and very carefully
you'll see... you'll all see...
That this side
matches perfectly.
Not only that,
if we turn it to the right,
this side matches.
We turn it again,
that side matches.
Hold your applause, please.
Sit down.
We'll turn it again,
this side matches.
In fact, the bottom matches.
Even the top matches,
and that is
completely impossible.
My name is Matthew Pomeroy.
- My name is Natasha Lamb.
- And together, we are...
[together] A perfect match.
- Matthew Pomeroy
and Natasha Lamb.
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you for having us.
- Oh, that was wonderful.
- Thank you. - [laughs]
- Do you guys actually
wanna get married in Vegas?
- Yes. - 100%.
- Aww.
- It was the thought plan
and sort of
it was what we spoke
about way before
we even knew about this show.
And now that it could be
a reality and a possibility,
we would 100%
get married in Vegas, yes.
- Agh... so who do you want
to marry you?
Elvis or Penn and Teller?
- Well, Penn and Teller
would be perfect.
I mean, if they're available,
we are.
So let's just... let's merge.
- Yes.
So, Natasha, I have to know,
how did Matthew win your heart?
- Well, Matthew brung his case
around and he literally did
a full theater show
in the front living room.
- Why not?
- The whole thing.
- That's awesome.
So you wooed her
for two hours with magic?
- Yeah.
I don't think it was wooing,
but luckily Tash said yes.
- Yeah. - Okay.
It's time to go to the boys.
Penn, Teller,
how do you think they did it?
- Matthew, Natasha, boy,
not only is your act
just loving
and gentle and beautiful,
but also very,
very innovative magic.
Lots of really,
really clever thinking.
But when you've got things
that work out
that perfectly, you know,
things that are "quatrillion"
chances of things.
You know, when we're trying to
say what are the chance of this
what are the chance of that,
we're forced
to make, uh, decisions
on how you might've done stuff.
And I want to say that
the selection of the cards,
that looks like
a brand-new thing.
But I can just tell you
that as a couple
in this whole routine,
you were not the only things
that are attractive
in this routine.
There's other things
that are attractive as well.
And having the final thing...
The London cube
there spelled out...
That was a whole
different switch
on the way you do
that kind of final thing.
And when that whole thing
is put together,
I will tell you,
that the way the magic is done,
the whole is greater
than the sum of the parts.
I thought it all went together.
I mean, there were a few things
that were a little sticky
for us,
but we think we got most of it.
But, man,
there was a lot to work out.
It was a beautiful thing
and really a perfect match
and we... boy, we had to put
our heads together,
but I think we got it.
What do you guys think?
- Well, it's an honor
and a pleasure and a privilege
to be on your show,
and I think you've got us.
- Okay, thank you. - Aww.
- Thank you so much. Thanks.
- Well, thank you so much.
You guys were such a delight.
- So good, so good.
- Matthew Pomeroy
and Natasha Lamb.
- Thank you for having us.
- Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
- Penn and Teller still have
to battle more magicians
and perform a trick
of their own.
We better give them
a quick break.
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back to "Fool Us."
One trophy has rained down
from above.
Is another Fooler
in the forecast?
Take a look.
[fireworks boom]
- My house is designed
like a theme park.
Every room has its own motif.
My shows are a lot
like that too.
I pay a lot of attention
to the details and the design.
Over many years, I have scoured
the world for magical devices
that no one else has.
The things that particular
magicians used decades
or even centuries ago that have
been forgotten by time,
I excavate them,
blow the dust off,
make them new.
If I have a special power,
it's mainly as a curator
of lost things.
And this is a trait
I share with at least
one other musician that I know
of, and his name is Teller.
So I wanted to bring something
totally unique,
and I believe I have.
But extraordinary claims
require extraordinary evidence,
so Penn, Teller,
you be the judge.
[cheers and applause]
- Give it up
for Baltimore's best,
Peter Wood!
[applause]
- I'm a collector
of the impossible...
Weird objects
and bizarre artifacts
with magical powers...
And I brought along
my latest piece.
This is Sir Henry Willoughby,
who possessed
the gift of X-ray vision.
Now, after Sir Willoughby's
death,
a few of his colleagues
did something rather strange.
They cut out his eyes.
I don't mean
on the guy's dead corpse.
I mean on the painting.
They cut out the eyes to see if
the painting of Sir Willoughby
shared any of
his real-life X-ray abilities.
Well, as soon as I acquired it,
I did what any of you would do.
I held it up to my face
to see if it worked.
And I looked at the wall.
I thought it was working.
Turns out it was just a window.
But, I am on the hunt
for a user who can unlock
its X-ray powers,
and tonight, I thought
we should test it with Alyson.
Would you join me
over here please?
Round of applause
for Alyson Hannigan.
[applause]
It is so nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Can I give you
these four envelopes, please?
Take a look over them.
Make sure that they're
all identical on the outside.
On the inside,
I've placed four different
colored pieces of cloth.
One's red,
one's yellow, one's green.
And one of has a blue piece
of cloth inside.
But just looking at them,
you can't tell
which is which, right?
- No.
- All right; with any luck,
that's where
Sir Willoughby comes in.
I'll take those back
from you, please.
Can you pick up
the painting, please?
Hold it up to your face,
and give us
all your best "shifty eyes
in a haunted house" look.
[laughter]
All right, that's perfect.
All right.
Now focus your energy.
Channel the power
of Sir Willoughby.
Look through the painting
at this envelope.
- Hm.
- And I'm hoping that
after a couple of moments,
you start to get the feeling
that it's either red or yellow
or green or blue.
When you get the feeling,
let me know,
and I'll put it
in the matching clip.
- Blue. - Blue.
That was good. That was fast.
All right. This might work.
Let's take a look at this one.
It might be green,
might be yellow, might be red.
Use the power of the painting.
- Green. - Green.
All right.
And this is important.
You're not reading any
instructions on here, right?
- No.
- Or on the back
of the painting?
This is just coming
to you, yeah?
- No, yeah.
- Okay. So green for this one.
Take a look at this one.
Might be yellow, might be red.
What color do you think
is inside there?
- Hmm. Yellow.
- Yellow. All right.
Coincidently going down
the line there,
but it's just
a coincidence, right?
- Totally. - Okay, just fine.
Now, that leaves red.
If you look at that one
and say, "It's red," perfect.
But if you look
at that one and think
it's one of the other colors,
I'm happy to trade
with any other color.
So do you like that for red
or should we trade?
- Hmm.
Trade that for yellow, please.
- Trade it for yellow.
We'll swap like that.
Do you like this one better for
red or should we trade again?
- Yes, thanks.
- Better for red, okay.
I believe Sir Willoughby's
work is done.
You can put him back
on the easel over there.
Thank you. All right.
Here comes the fun part.
If we tear this envelope open
and there's a red piece
of cloth inside
matching the color
that Alyson predicted,
that tells me that
there's some sort of connection
between Alyson's eyes
and Sir Willoughby's eyes.
I'm actually just
kind of curious
if there's any sort
of visual connection there.
Let me see.
Alyson is not nearly
as cartoony or grumpy
as Sir Willoughby is,
but anyway. That's for you.
So if Alyson tears that open
and there's a red piece
of cloth inside,
that helps to justify
the acquisition
of the painting, right?
But if Alyson tears that open
and there's not a red
piece of cloth inside,
please politely still applaud
her efforts, you know?
And at the same time, I'm going
to be looking for yellow.
So I'm looking for yellow,
and you're looking for red.
On the count of three.
You ready?
- Uh-huh. - One, two, three.
Tear it open. Reach inside.
I'm looking for yellow.
You're looking for red.
There we go. Hold it out.
- Whoo.
- Yes. Awesome. All right.
Throw it on the floor.
Let's not get cocky.
We still have two to go.
Uh, I'm gonna give you
one last chance.
Would you like
to trade envelopes?
- No. - Okay.
Now this is really interesting.
If we tear these open
and they're correct,
I'm gonna lose it
because that proves to me
that I have found someone
who can unlock
the power of that painting.
But, Alyson,
if we tear these open
and they're backwards
from what you expect,
you're gonna kick yourself
forever that you didn't trade
at the last minute. - Oh.
- Last chance. How do you feel?
- I'm still feeling okay.
- You still... okay.
That's fine. Tell you what.
You can go green.
That's for you. - Thank you.
- And I'm gonna go blue.
On the count of three.
[exhales] Hope this works.
I'm looking for blue.
You're looking for green.
You ready?
- Uh-huh. - One, two, three.
Tear it open. Reach inside.
I'm looking for blue.
You're looking for green.
That's the blue.
That's the green. That's Alyson.
And that is Sir Willoughby's
X-ray vision.
- Peter Wood. - Thank you.
- Yay. - Thank you so much.
- Do I get to keep the painting?
- Please.
The fact that I found someone
who it works with...
We'll talk tour schedule.
- So is Sir Willoughby
a relative of yours?
- No.
Not that I know of, at least.
- There's a little bit
of a family resemblance.
- I guess there is.
Hopefully I'm not quite as
grumpy looking as he is, but...
[laughter]
- Are you really a collector
of odd things? - Yeah.
I've got so much crazy stuff
in my collection.
I have a crate that holds
a device that allegedly
can transmit thoughts to people.
- Hmm.
- I have a rope
that knows the alphabet.
So a bunch of random things.
- And your props are beautiful.
Do you build them? - Yeah.
I grew up with a really well
stocked workshop.
My dad is
an amateur cabinetmaker.
My whole family
loves building things.
And when I was a young person,
I would go see props
and I maybe couldn't
afford them,
but I was able to build them
in my own shop.
- Nice.
You ready to check in
with Penn and Teller?
- Absolutely. I'm excited.
- All right.
Penn and Teller,
how did he do it?
- Peter, the first thing...
the first two words Teller said
when you finished
was, "That's cool."
We just really like it.
What I really love about this
is the first place
you'll wanna go with this
is some sort
of technology stuff.
All of us know the kind
of technology you could do
to get a similar effect.
Not the same effect.
And all of that is so jive.
We're so sick of it.
You could have done this act
just like this 100 years ago,
and it would have been just
as good and it's great now.
It's really nice.
It's a simple, beautiful plot,
and the method on it,
we think, is very, very subtle.
The method on it
is actually three methods,
and one of the methods is right
on the tip of our tongue
as we were getting the ideas,
trying to say them
to one another.
But we just loved the routine...
And also, and this is...
I don't think we've ever said
this before on the show...
It was really, really enjoyable
to do your thinking
along with you
to see this beautiful,
subtle method.
There's a lot
of logic work to do.
It's kind of a little bit like
Sherlock Holmes thing
to crack the mystery.
We kind of think we did.
I have a couple more things
I could say to you in code,
but if you think
we're on the right track,
I won't say anymore
because I think you had
a really good trick.
- What do you think, Peter?
Do they know
how you worked your magic?
- I think they do, yeah.
- All right.
Well, thank you so much.
Peter Wood!
- Thank you, guys.
[cheers and applause]
- Time for a quick break,
and then we're back
with more of TV's best magic.
Stay close.
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back.
You want more magic?
You got it.
Here's our next act.
[fireworks boom]
- My name is Lewis Starnes,
and I'm from London.
I studied history at university,
but when I graduated, I thought,
"What the hell am I gonna
do with a history degree?"
So I fell into advertising,
and actually, it turns out
that advertising is
the perfect training ground
for magic.
As an advertising strategist,
I've spent years hopefully
becoming an expert
on understanding consumers
and the decisions they make.
Little nudges to make sure
they purchase the products
I want to them to buy
or hopefully maybe winning
their hearts and minds
and changing their opinions.
You could say I've become
a master predictor
of people's actions.
Penn and Teller,
I've spent the last 15 years
nudging people
to buy certain products,
and tonight, I'm hoping
I can convince you
to buy my routine.
[cheers and applause]
- Let's head out
to jolly old England
for the magic of Lewis Starnes.
[cheers and applause]
- I wish I could be there
with you guys,
but alas, I cannot.
So I've done
the next best thing.
I've come to my local pub,
and I've found a random stranger
who looks a bit like you, Penn,
and another helper over here
who, quite frankly,
looks nothing like Teller.
So allow me to introduce
this trick
with the help of Not Penn
and Definitely Not Teller.
Thank you both for joining me.
My day job is in marketing,
so I get paid to know
what people want
even before they do.
So you could say I can
predict consumer behavior.
And what's more basic
consumer behavior
than the weekly grocery
shopping, right?
Here I have the last 35 items
of grocery shopping
that my wife and I bought.
We have pizza, bacon, eggs,
sugar, white wine...
you get the idea.
Popcorn, tea,
bottled water, bread.
Not Penn, as I deal cards onto
the table, whenever you like...
And look... we have different
things going by... orange juice...
Just shout stop
whenever you like.
- Stop.
- Right here? - Yeah.
- Can I ask you to hold
your hand out flat for me?
Look... we'll give you the very
next grocery item right there.
Had you said stop
one card earlier,
a second sooner,
it would have been bread.
But thanks to my mix of magic
but mainly marketing skills,
I knew that would be
the grocery item
you'd select today.
It's true. Check it out.
This bag has been on the table
since the very beginning,
and everything about you,
from the clothes you're wearing
to the way you're sitting,
tells me that you're a man
deeply committed
to dental hygiene.
Is that fair?
And that's how I knew
that Not Penn's
randomly selected grocery item
would be...
toothpaste.
Could I ask you to have a look
and show the audience
that my prediction is correct.
- Is it toothpaste?
- No, it's tomato ketchup.
- Tomato ketchup.
You know, when marketing fails,
sometimes I can resort
to magic.
Now, I know it doesn't
look like much happened,
but could I ask you,
Not Penn, just to hold
that plate out in front of you?
- Yeah.
- You're thinking
of one random grocery item.
Tomato ketchup.
Watch.
I don't know about you,
but that looks an awful lot
like tomato ketchup to me.
But could I ask you,
on behalf of the audience,
to maybe have a sniff or dare
I say even a taste?
Do we have ketchup?
- Yeah. That's ketchup.
- We've actually managed to
change toothpaste into ketchup.
But I guess I had
you pegged wrong, Not Penn.
And this sometimes happens
when I try and predict
the shopping
behavior of couples.
And I'm wondering
if maybe it was you,
Definitely Not Teller,
who was destined
to pick the toothpaste.
I'll tell you what,
just to satisfy my curiosity,
as I run through the cards,
would you just tell me
when to stop.
- Stop. - Right here?
- Yeah. - Have a little look.
And you've
picked toothpaste, right?
- No. - Still no?
[huffs]
Salt.
You know what?
I don't know if this gonna work
a second time,
but we started with toothpaste
which we turned ketchup
and now, hopefully...
[shaking]
[laughs]
No way.
You're thinking of salt.
I think we have...
- [scoffs, chuckles]
- Salt.
Thank you guys very, very much.
[cheers and applause]
- Lewis Starnes!
Hello, Lewis.
- Hi, Alyson. How are you doing?
- Good. So you do magic
by night and marketing by day?
- That's absolutely true. Yeah.
- Does it give you
special insight?
- Yeah. Definitely.
It's amazing how much you see
the comparisons
between the research
and the way you think people
are going to behave
and then the way
they actually respond to magic.
It's incredible.
- And how did you
get into magic?
- When I was 11 years old,
my best friend, Ben,
I went over to his house
for his birthday,
and he was supposed to be
getting a new computer game.
And for some reason,
his dad found a job lot
of Victorian magic tricks
on auction
because he's an antique dealer.
So he decided that year
that he was going to buy
those Victorian magic tricks
for my friend Ben
and not the computer game.
So when I got to his house
on that Saturday morning...
I'll never forget it...
he said, "You better come in.
I had a weird birthday."
And he just put on
a magic show for me.
And I was sold.
I was like, "This is amazing."
- Aww. Is your friend
a magician as well,
or is he just mad at his father?
- [laughs]
So he is still a magician.
Yeah. We both still do magic.
- All right.
Well, let's find out
if your pub magic
fooled Penn and Teller.
Guys.
- Hey. How are you doing, Lewis?
It's so nice to see a Brit
on the show.
I love going to England,
and I love seeing you
do magic at your pub.
What a wonderful routine.
It's just a great routine.
Just funny and breezy and nice
and right in there.
And you know, you coming here
on the screen
makes me think
of the British invasion.
I don't mean, you know...
I mean the British invasion
of music.
It makes me think
of the Rolling Stones.
Watching you, I'm thinking
of the Rolling Stones.
Their whole career.
First when they switched
from Mick Taylor to Ron Wood,
that was a great moment.
They used to be really rough,
then they got smoother,
and they did
the "Harlem Shuffle,"
then, for no reason...
no one forced 'em...
They did a lesser-known B side
of the Hindu shuffle.
They have done
so many wonderful things.
And when I see
the Rolling Stones
always billed
as the greatest [bleep]
rock and roll band
in the world, I see you...
And I see you, Lewis,
as the greatest [bleep]
pub magician we've seen today.
We loved it.
But we don't think
you fooled us.
- [laughs]
- Okay.
Did any of that
make sense to you?
- That all made good sense
to me, sadly, Alyson.
[laughter]
- So they know how you
did the trick?
- I think they definitely know.
Yeah. They got me.
- Aww. Well, thank you.
You didn't fool them,
but you did a great job
tidying your kitchen.
Enjoy that, and thank you
for entertaining us.
- We hope you got
some "Satisfaction."
- All right.
Lewis Starnes!
[cheers and applause]
Remember when I promised you
a trick from Penn and Teller?
Well, I'm about to deliver.
The stars of our show
take center stage
right after this.
[cheers and applause]
[jazz music]
[jazz music]
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller
aren't just magic's
most accomplished duo.
They're also magic's
most eccentric.
Performing tonight's finale,
the mad scientists of magic,
Penn and Teller!
[cheers and applause]
- Teller and I are magicians,
but our first love is science.
We would've loved
to have been scientists
if not for all that school
and "having to be smart" stuff.
We both loved liquid air shows
where science teachers
would demonstrate what happens
when things get really,
really cold.
This is liquid nitrogen.
Some just call it liquid air
because the air we breathe
is 78% nitrogen.
The gas that we breathe
has been cooled down
to 320 degrees
below zero Fahrenheit
which in Celsius is...
We don't know.
Another reason we are not
in the sciences.
This liquid... now, Teller,
put your gloves on and goggles...
This liquid nitrogen
turns back into gas
at 320 degrees below zero.
So for the nitrogen,
room temperature is wicked,
wicked hot.
You can see it boiling off.
It just boils off everything
because it's really hot out here
to the liquid nitrogen.
Now the liquid nitrogen
is wicked cold,
and this is wicked dangerous.
If it splashes on you,
you get like...
It's like a burn
but it's frostbite.
There's interesting things
you can do.
You should have
your gloves on, Teller.
We have a rose here.
A nice supple rose.
We put that in the beaker,
pour in liquid nitrogen
just like scientists...
isn't that great?
We're gonna do
some magic tricks later,
but this is real science.
You pull this out here,
and it goes to nice brittle.
It's totally brittle.
It's great.
Now, this is a regular
rubber ball.
I can bounce this
just like that.
Regular rubber ball.
It lights up a little,
and that costs extra.
And we put that
in liquid nitrogen
and freeze it down.
You should have
gloves on, Teller.
That'll burn your skin.
You gotta be careful.
Don't try this home
because it's dangerous and also
because you probably don't have
liquid nitrogen around.
We have it here.
Now, this is not a magic trick.
This is real.
That bounced before.
No switch no nothing.
Now it's frozen.
Now that same rubber...
shatters just like that.
Isn't that pretty neat?
Now, if you take
a standard balloon
and put that
in the liquid nitrogen,
the balloon loses all interest
in what's going on around it.
All interest at all.
Just like that.
And what's happening is the air
inside the balloon is...
The molecules
are doing something.
And then it comes out here
and it blows up as the air
expands back inside it.
Wow, if we could do that
as a magic trick,
it would be really great.
Now, some people make ice cream
with liquid nitrogen,
but Teller and I
wanted to make popsicles.
It's our own invention.
So we have here
a really big beaker.
We pour in some liquid nitrogen.
Ah.
We can... oh, that scared me.
We can use this too.
You should have
your gloves on, Teller.
That scared me.
This is so dangerous.
Don't try this at home because
you can hurt yourself badly
and also you don't have
any liquid nitrogen probably.
Now, this is liquid nitrogen
popsicles.
We have here...
well, it's not orange juice.
It's like sugar water
that has some color in it.
We pour liquid nitrogen in,
and we're going
to make a popsicle.
Watch this.
Pour this into the beaker.
Teller takes a popsicle stick...
You should be wearing
gloves, Teller.
This is dangerous.
He's not wearing gloves.
He should be.
He reaches in
with a popsicle stick
and he pulls out
from inside the beaker
a beautifully formed popsicle.
Look at that.
I bet that would be delicious
but I don't want any.
And now we can take
what they call grape
which is just the same stuff
with a different coloring.
It's just stupid.
But put that in there,
and we just pour that
in just like this,
put in a popsicle stick.
Look what comes out.
A great popsicle. See that?
That doesn't really work.
That's a magic trick.
Anyway.
But what my children like to do
when they go
to a fast food restaurant
and they have all
the different flavors.
Afterwards, they'll do,
like, a kamikaze
with all the different flavors.
Teller likes to do that
with popsicles.
The two flavors in there...
You should be wearing
gloves, Teller.
You should... what are you...
- [yelping]
- Oh-oh-oh... you should...
If you're wearing gloves that...
See... you should've had...
you should've had...
You should've had gloves on
because now your hand
has shattered just like that.
[both scream]
- [laughs] [cheers and applause]
[sighs]
Another chilling performance
by Penn and Teller.
And with that,
we say goodbye for now.
Come back next time
for more of TV's best magic.
Goodnight.
[cheers and applause]
[Alyson speaking indistinctly]