Penn & Teller: Fool Us (2011–…): Season 9, Episode 5 - Teller and the Big Dummy - full transcript
- From the Penn
& Teller Theater,
at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas,
here's our host,
Alyson Hannigan!
- Welcome to "Fool Us."
If you've got a head
that needs scratching,
a jaw that needs
dropping, or maybe
even a belly that needs aching,
then you found the right show.
We have a fantastic
group of magicians
from all around the globe.
And they're here
tonight to try and trick
our two witty Wizards,
Penn and Teller!
Penn and Teller award a
spot in their Las Vegas show
and a sparkly "Fool Us" trophy
to any magician who fools them.
Tonight's first winner
might be our first act.
Take a look.
- Hi. I'm Apollo Riego.
And I'm coming
from New York City
by way of the Philippines.
When I was five, my parents
got me the cups and balls
trick for my birthday.
And they've been
regretting it ever since.
I was seven years old,
and we moved to Queens.
Being a first generation
American wasn't easy,
and it still isn't.
Money was always tight.
And my dad had to get two
jobs just to provide for us.
To get lunch money, I used
to perform in Central Park
and on the subway.
When I was 15, I got a job
at Rogue Magic and Funshop.
And it saved my life,
kept me out of trouble
and off the streets.
And it gave me a place
where I can hone my craft.
I like to use the skills I
learned from the magic shop
and from the streets to create
my own brand of urban magic.
I've gotta be able to stand out.
The trick I'm doing tonight
is stupidly dangerous.
Whatever you do,
do not try this at home.
- Put your hands together
for devilish deceiver
Apollo Riego.
- You know the
expression, hey, it's all good
till someone gets hurt.
Well, for magicians,
it's not always all good.
If you look up magic
gone wrong online,
you'll see a lot of people
hurting themselves
trying to do dangerous tricks.
There's screaming.
There's crying.
There's blood.
Why would anybody
ever try doing something
where they could get hurt?
So tonight, I'm gonna
do my magic with this.
Alyson?
- Mm.
I'm really scared of you.
- It's OK. I'll
scare it out of you.
- Hmm.
- Alyson, please
open this envelope
and pull out what's
inside very carefully.
Ew.
- This is a heavy
duty rotary blade,
sharp as a samurai sword.
Just to prove I'm not
lying, I'm gonna show you
how deadly this blade is.
Alyson, please hold the
envelope with the blade inside
like this on the top.
And I'm going to use these
two grapefruits to show you
what would happen if I
smash my hands directly
on the blade.
Hold it on the top.
Wait, can I have goggles?
Oh.
- If that was my bare
hand, it would have
cut right through my palm.
And I'd be gushing blood all
over your lovely stage floor.
- Ew - And we
wouldn't want that,
unless you're one of those
bloodthirsty YouTubers.
I see you.
Now, I have six more
identical envelopes here.
Five of them are
sealed and empty.
Alyson, please,
carefully take the blade
and place it in
the sixth envelope.
- Ew.
- Now seal it.
Now while I turn
away, please mix them.
This is going to create
some uncertainty, drama,
and a potential
insurance claim in case
this goes horribly wrong.
Now keep two.
- Keep two.
- And put the rest
on the table, please.
- OK. Hold on.
OK. I think I have two.
- All right.
- Yeah.
- Hold them up
separately, please.
- OK.
- All right. You got them up?
- I do.
- All right.
Now watch closely as I
risk severing an artery.
Actually, do you have a
pair of goggles on you?
- Yes.
- Where is it?
- In my pocket.
- This one?
- Yeah.
- Do you mind?
- For you or me?
- For you.
- Oh, no, I don't mind, then.
- Put them on. Just in case.
- Thanks. Thank you.
- Looks good.
- Great.
- Here we go.
- OK.
Ah!
- Paper cut, I hate
those. I'm sorry. Sorry.
It's all good. Don't
worry. Don't worry.
Now, you could pick up
one more or two new ones.
It's up to you.
We have no idea
where that blade is,
but I'm feeling lucky.
- OK. I'm gonna go two new ones.
- OK.
Oh, jeez Louise.
- Whew. Two more, please.
OK.
- Now, you know,
the odds of injury
are getting worse for me.
- Yeah, definitely.
- But if you guys want
to see me get maimed,
it's getting better for you.
That's just sick.
You can just put it up.
Good job.
Last two, please. Feel
free to mix them up.
OK.
- OK.
- Now, one of them
has the deadly blade
and one has nothing.
But I have no way of
knowing which is which.
So, Alyson.
- Hm?
- You pick.
Ever so slightly,
just lower one of your hands.
That one.
Are you sure?
- Yeah.
- Oh, boy.
- You make me
very, very nervous.
- OK.
- Let's try this out anyway.
Lower it all the way
please. No, that one.
Hold this one up.
Yeah.
Ah! Ah.
- Eww.
- Oh, my God.
Who put strawberry jam in here?
That's crazy.
- That's so rude.
- Was it you?
But no, I'm sorry.
Actually, Alyson, please,
open the last envelope.
- Can I just rip it?
- Sure.
Be careful.
- I can do it.
- And show everyone
that the deadly blade
was in there the whole time.
- Ewe.
- Thank you very much.
- OK.
Whew. Apollo Riego.
- Thank you.
- I don't know...
- Are you OK?
- I was. And, you
know, then you made me
put safety gloves on,
and I didn't know
if I should be more
worried for me or for you.
- Well, thank you.
- Is magic your career?
- Yes, it is, full time.
- That's fantastic.
And have you always known
that that's what you wanted to do?
- In college, yeah, when I
was writing a term paper.
- Oh. You're like, I
can't do another paper.
I'm a magician.
- I was, like, I'm out of here.
- Are you primarily
a street performer?
- No.
I haven't done street
magic busking in a long time,
but I used to do it as a
kid and on the subways
in New York City.
Actually, recently,
somebody was trying
to swap me away because I
made fire appear out of my wallet.
And I think he wanted to
call the fire department on me.
I was, like, are
you serious, dude?
Come on, man.
I'm just trying to shoot
some footage, you know.
- OK, Apollo.
Let's see if Penn
and Teller figured out
the method to your magic.
- All right.
- Hey, Apollo.
Man, really, really
like your style.
It's really, really good.
And it was just know that that
tongue in cheek people liking
to see danger
and still letting us
feel comfortable that
you were doing that.
And also, the peril being
so small and delicate
for a big stage show,
it's really, really nice.
And if you had a
choice of magicians,
you would have
chosen me because you
absolutely, 100% fooled me.
But, unfortunately, you don't
because there's me and Teller.
And Teller, I think,
followed you pretty well.
But I gotta tell you, you have
such an image in your mind.
You paint it so well with
the strawberry jam and all
of that, that if you
were to smash that,
you would get
blood all over you.
You'd be marked.
Alyson would have been marked.
The envelopes
would've been marked.
Everything would
have been covered
in blood if you'd done that.
So I will tell you,
you did fool me.
I did not follow it.
But then I talked to
my friend Teller here.
And I don't think
you fooled Teller.
And he gave me a few
little key words to say there,
that I think I snuck in.
So I'll ask you, did you
fool Teller do you think?
- No, I didn't fool him.
- Oh.
Well, thank you so much.
Apollo Riego!
- Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you.
- We've got plenty
more magic coming up,
including a trick from Penn
and Teller, so stick around.
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller are ready,
and we hope you are, too.
Let's meet our next magic act.
- People always
ask magicians, like,
how did you get into magic?
But when you're a woman,
the question is, why?
Is this thing on?
Hi. I'm Rachel Wax.
I grew up in Chicago, Illinois.
My dad is the one who
taught me how to do magic.
We even had a magic
show together in high school.
And we have matching tattoos.
I moved to New York
City to study fashion,
which was awesome.
But I really welcomed
magic back into my life
when I met this wonderful group
of people called The Magnets.
I've grown a lot as a
magician over the last few years
because of the
incredible friends
that I've made along the way.
Although, I've been
really lucky to have
a ton of role models in my life,
there's still a lot
of ground to cover.
There are so few women in magic.
I want to show the next
generation of female magicians
just what's possible,
even without a nose job.
- Put your hands together for
New York City's own Rachel Wax!
- So, I do live in New York,
and I work all kinds of events.
I do weddings, bat
mitzvahs, funerals.
And sometimes on
my way out of a gig,
I like to steal something,
you know, like a tip,
nothing big, nothing
crazy, just little things,
like a snack or a yarmulke.
I don't know.
But the last thing
I took was this.
It's a money gun.
I took it from the last
bachelor party I did,
which is my favorite event to
get asked to do because I get
to see the disappointment
in their eyes
when they realize
I'm just a magician
and all I'm going to
show them as a card trick.
But I thought it
was a cool item.
And I wanted to figure
out something to do with it.
And that's what I'm
going to show you today.
Alyson, would you
mind helping me out?
- Sure.
- Wonderful.
Now, Alyson, I have a stack
of cash here, but this is mine.
And I'm a magician, I can't
just be giving away money.
Do you have a bill
that you can contribute?
- I have $1.
- Oh.
Wonderful.
Fantastic.
Nice and crisp,
just how I like it.
Now, I do want to
make sure that we
don't lose track of your bill.
So I am gonna have
you sign it nice and big,
so everyone can see.
OK.
Wonderful.
Yeah.
Nice clear signature.
And I will sign...
the back.
Also nice and big. Wonderful.
Now, Alyson, a
quick question for you.
Have you ever shot
a money gun before?
- Not today.
- Oh, OK.
I mean, I figure at some
point. We're in Vegas.
You know what I mean?
Go ahead hold on to that.
And I want to be clear,
Alyson, that your bill is going
into the center of the stack.
It's not on the top.
It's not on the bottom.
So it won't fly
out first or last.
Would you open up that
money gun by pulling the tab?
It could be a little sticky.
Wonderful.
And do me a favor, just
confirm that that is empty.
- Oh. Yeah.
- Wonderful.
There's no other money in there.
And I will load this in.
Fabulous.
I'm going to have you
stand just a little further back.
- OK.
- So in a moment, Alyson,
you are going to shoot
that money gun in the air.
The money will go flying.
I'm gonna reach out
and grab your signed bill
out of the air.
Very exciting.
OK. But before we do that,
I wanna make this a
little bit more difficult
with something else that
I got at the bachelor party.
Not the yarmulke. Hold on.
Aha! A blindfold.
- Ah.
- For you.
- Oh.
- I'm just kidding.
It doesn't matter
if you can see.
- Right. That's funny.
- It's for me.
OK.
All right.
So like I said, you're going
to shoot the gun in the air.
I will reach out
and grab your bill.
Alyson, are you ready?
- I'm ready.
- OK, 'cause I'm not.
Just give me a sec.
All right.
OK. OK.
Ready?
- Yeah.
- So I will do this
completely blinded, Alyson.
It will be extremely
difficult. Ugh.
All right.
On the count of
three, you're gonna
shoot that gun
in the air. Ready?
- Yes.
- Three.
Two. One.
- Ah. Aha.
I got one. I got one.
I got one. I got one.
I didn't catch it, but I thought,
you know what I mean?
I thought...
- Yeah.
Yeah.
- All right.
All right. Let's see.
Alyson, not only
did I catch your bill,
but I have removed
the signatures,
making it a much better
magic trick if you think about it.
- That really is fantastic.
- No.
No. That didn't work.
But I can fix this.
It's not a big deal.
I'm going to give you
a consolation prize.
- OK.
- Yeah.
Whatever you want out of my bag.
I have all kinds
of goodies in here.
I have a box of red hair dye.
I don't know if
that's your shade.
- I mean.
- Surprise.
Mine's not real.
Let's see here.
I don't know if you'll need
the yarmulke as often as me.
- Probably not.
- OK.
- Are you a women's seven?
- Yes.
- You are? Oh, my God.
- I am.
- But these are
old and disgusting,
so you probably don't want that.
But what are the
chances? My word.
Let's see.
I have a snack.
- Oh.
I love snacks.
- You can have a snack.
The only other thing I
have is an EpiPen if you're
allergic to the snack.
No? OK.
Here, I'll take that.
And if you don't mind, go
ahead and rip that open.
- All right.
- And do you mind sharing?
- No.
- You, me, Penn, Teller
we'll make a feast of it.
Wait a second.
- Wait a second.
I'll take that gooey
mess from you.
- Whew.
- Go ahead and open that up.
And, Alyson, can
you confirm that that
is the bill with your
signature on one side
and my signature on the other?
- Yes.
That is miracle!
- Thank you so much.
- Yay.
Why don't you take that.
- Oh my God. Yeah.
For after.
- Yay! Rachel Wax!
- Well that was delightful.
Thank you.
- And now, you're just
standing on a pile of money.
- Yeah. Which is
really where I like to be.
It feels like home.
- Right.
Where do you usually perform?
- Usually, I perform
at a lot of cool venues
around Manhattan.
- Are they rowdy
audiences in New York?
- They are often
rowdy audiences.
I do have to really
work out my audience
management skills frequently.
- Yeah.
Can you do this trick or
you lose all the money?
- You know, so when I
do it for rowdy audiences,
I usually use fake
money because I
don't want to risk it.
- Right.
So what things do you
love most about performing?
- I like connecting
with the audience.
And I love talking
to people afterwards.
I like knowing how
I affected them.
You know, you never want
people to feel uncomfortable,
but you don't want to dull
yourself down too much.
- All right, Rachel, let's
check the boys and see if they
figured out your magic.
- Rachel, this is a
really, really big room,
and you just fill it up.
It's just fabulous.
- Thank you.
- You just have so much energy.
And it's so funny
and so natural.
- Thank you.
- It's just really great.
Are you always this energetic?
You just flip a switch
when you come on.
- You know, I'm
nervous ahead of time.
But I can usually flip a
switch once I get into the room
and into the zone.
- And we just loved
the whole routine.
But, you know, the first thing
you said when you came out
is you always like
to steal something.
And I don't think the
audience noticed but right
here on "Fool Us" you
were stealing something.
Yes.
So... - Yes, I was.
Yeah. You got me.
- Funny.
- That is the greatest way
to absolutely win while losing.
- Right?
- You make us feel like
idiots for busting you.
What could be better than that?
You know... - It's
kinda my thing.
- You always have to
remember to win the game
you're actually playing.
So although I don't
think you fooled us,
you certainly won this round.
- Thank you.
- You won the bigger
game. There's no doubt
about it in my mind.
- Thank you.
- We just love you.
- Thank you.
- So I'm guessing
they figured it out.
- They definitely
figured it out.
- Well, thank you so much.
You're so entertaining.
- Thank you.
- Rachel Wax!
The show must go on,
at least this one must.
We have more amazing magic
for you when "Fool Us" returns.
- Welcome back.
No more horsing around.
Let's saddle up for
this next magician.
- I'm Kolos from Budapest.
You may not know me,
but you've probably
seen me do magic.
Katy Perry shot the video
for her huge hit "Firework"
in Hungary.
They needed a magician.
And I got the call.
Hungary is a hotbed of
close-up magic right now.
We are in the bars, the clubs.
We are part of the nightlife.
It's an exciting time for magic.
I do street magic,
and I have a steady gig
performing for tourists.
It's made me a better
magician working close like that.
I'm a magic champion in Hungary.
In fact, I won the
Hungarian Magic Convention
five times in a row.
No one has done this before.
I lost my grandma recently.
She was my best audience.
And I even taught
her the techniques,
so she could tell me
if I made a mistake.
This performance,
it has to be for her.
She would be so proud if
I fooled Penn and Teller.
- All the way from Hungary,
please welcome Kolos!
- Hello. Thank you.
Hi, Alyson.
Tonight, I'm going to show
you a treasured family heirloom,
passed down for generations
from my grandfather,
to my father, to me.
It's a deck of cards.
And as you would expect,
every generation thinks he can
do it better than the last.
First, I'm going to show you how
my grandfather performed it.
Then I'm going to show you
how my father pulled it off.
And finally, I'm going to
show you how I do it today.
Now, the big
question, of course,
are any of us going to
fool Penn and Teller?
Well, there's only
one way to find out.
So let's start with
my grandpa's version.
I will use the very
same deck of cards
that he used more
than 50 years ago.
As you can see, it's not just
the cards that are worn out
but also the box itself.
He would start by asking
the spectator to name a card.
So, Alyson, please would
you name a card for me?
- Seven of diamonds.
- Seven of diamonds. Perfect.
Here we have seven of diamonds.
Then he would give a
marker to sign the cards.
So please sign the cards.
- Then you can only
do the trick 52 times.
Oh.
- And make sure you sign
it nice and big in the middle.
That's perfect.
Thank you.
Seven of diamonds signed.
Now, he was quite
clumsy with the cards.
He would simply throw
it back into the deck.
And then he poured the
rest of the cards on top of it.
It was quite a mess.
But then he said
something quite interesting
that this trick is
not about the cards.
This trick is all about the box.
And when you look at it, you
would discover something very
interesting, that the
backs of the cards
would be very similar
to the back of the box.
- Alyson, come. Can you see it?
- Yes.
- Very similar, right?
- Yes.
- So much so that he'd
do something amazing,
remove the back,
it becomes a card,
not just any card, but
the signed and selected
seven of diamonds.
That's quite a good trick.
But would this fool
Penn and Teller?
I don't think so, maybe
my father's version.
My father, he was more
elegant, very smooth, very precise.
He made sure
everything looked perfect.
He even, asked the
spectator say stop...
So please say stop.
- Stop.
- He placed the signed
card in that exact location.
He poured the rest of
the cards on top of it.
And then he squared
up everything real nice.
But then, he said the
same thing as my grandpa,
that this trick is
not about the cards.
This trick is all about the box.
And then he started
to play around with it.
And somehow, the
box became a card,
not just any card but
the signed and selected
seven of diamonds.
Being of the new generation,
he also tried to take
this to the next level.
He made the box
reappear from the cards.
Even more, he did
something quite impossible.
He plays the signed
card into the deck, made
a magical gesture like this.
Do you know what happened?
One card traveled invisibly
from the cards into the box.
And inside his box, there is
one card, and one card only,
which happens to be your
signed seven of diamonds.
I'm not sure how he did that,
but I guess Penn and Teller
could figure this one out.
Now it's my turn.
Of course, of
course, I wouldn't dare
to perform with such an
old, delicate deck of cards,
not to mention the box itself.
Fortunately, I don't
have to because, look,
I can just give myself a
brand-new box any time I want,
any time I want.
More than that, I can
just transform these cards
into a brand-new deck of cards.
But, Alyson, wait,
if the cards are new
and the box is also new,
then the contents of the box
must be new as well, not
just on the back of the card
but also the face of the card.
And that is my
thing that this is
your signed seven of diamonds.
- Kolos!
Wow.
That was really impressive.
- Thank you very much.
- And I really like
when I look over there
and Teller's mouth
is dropped open.
- Oh. That's what
I'm hoping for.
- Wow.
How did you come up with this?
Well, we are working
on this for more than
a year with my Hungarian
magic colleagues.
- Well, and also you
got it from your father
and his father.
- Yeah, of course.
- Right, right, right. Yeah.
How do you feel now,
now that you've done it?
- Well, I'm very excited.
I'm more nervous than before.
- Now that it's over,
you're more nervous?
- Well, we tried
to raise the bar
and do something really
special and show to the world
that there is some very
cool magic in Hungary.
- Oh, yeah.
All right, Kolos.
Let's see if you can take the
first ever trophy to Hungary.
- Hey, Kolos. Wow. That
was really, really nice.
And, of course, we
try to claim Houdini
as an American
magician, but he wasn't.
He was from Hungary.
So you've got a good
magic tradition there.
You know, it's very hard when
handling cards because you
want to look, like, the
tools that you're using
you know how to handle.
And you don't
want to look too slick
or look like you're
doing something.
And what was really, really
nice about your whole handling
was that nothing
looked at all fishy.
We were not seeing things
we shouldn't have seen.
And that may be
one of the greatest
compliments I can give you.
- Wow.
- If we weren't using
our logic, we
were just watching,
everything there was
a miracle, just a miracle
and looked absolutely wonderful,
and wonderful surprises
all the way through.
But now we got to play the game.
And we saw nothing on
your grandfather's trick.
Nothing gave it away.
But we know how you did it.
And we saw nothing
on your father's trick.
Nothing gave it away,
nothing even slightly wonky,
no weird moves.
But we knew what you were doing.
And then your trick came
along, and we were following it.
We were doing OK.
Then that damn new deck came in.
And then her signature
was on a new card
which was a complete surprise.
And the real surprise that came
as we were going through,
because we followed
your grandfathers, we
followed your fathers,
but the real surprise
was that you fooled us.
Congratulations!
We have a fooler!
- It was a beautiful thing.
- Thank you.
- Oh.
- Just a beautiful thing.
- I appreciate it.
- Man, getting that
card new, as well.
- Thank you. Thank
you. I appreciate it.
- Congratulations, Kolos!
Another "Fool Us" trophy
has flown down from the sky.
And the magic gods
aren't done with us yet.
We'll have more
when "Fool Us" returns.
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller
were just fooled.
But they have to
rub some dirt on it
and keep going because
here's our next possible fooler.
- I definitely got the
collecting bug from my dad.
Garage sales are his religion.
And growing up,
our house was filled
with the most random
things, definitely
collections of collections.
Now, I collect impossible things
and often those things find me.
I've developed
something of a reputation
for being an expert in this.
I scour the globe for things
that are strange and unusual.
And I'm always looking
for that one last thing that
will finish my collection.
The last time I
appeared on "Fool Us,"
I brought my most
recent acquisition.
This time, I brought something
that's been in my collection
for over a decade.
I've run so many tests.
I've taken it apart and
put it back together
more times than I can count.
My colleagues and I have
examined every piece of it.
But we are no closer
to discovering its secret.
So I brought it
here to Las Vegas
to get the opinion of
my two favorite experts.
Penn, Teller, let's
see if you can shed
some light on this mystery.
- Making his second attempt
to fool Penn and Teller,
collector of the
impossible, Peter Wood.
Thank you.
This is one of my
favorite impossible objects
in my collection.
It's an antique
light bulb display.
And, actually, it looks
like something you
might see in a home
improvement store today.
And a century ago,
a device like this
would help someone
decide what type of light bulb
they needed.
The two in the middle are
known as an Edison and a globe,
named, of course,
after Thomas Edison
and the Harlem Globetrotters.
Don't look that last one up.
The tube-shaped light over here
on the end is known as a tube.
And the tube shaped
light over here on the end
is known as a radio,
presumably because tube
was already taken.
And you'll notice
that each light
has a corresponding
information card with it.
And this has things like
wattage, price, manufacturer.
But something strange happens
when I rearrange these cards.
It's as though the switches
are controlled by the cards.
So, for example, this first
switch because the tube
is right above it when
I flip this one, that
makes the tube light light up.
And the second switch no
longer controls the globe.
That second switch now controls
the Edison because the Edison
is above it.
Actually, if I want
to turn on the globe,
I have to come all the way
over here to the third switch.
This third switch
controls the globe.
And the last one
turns on the radio.
And when I first saw it,
I didn't applaud either.
I know because my
wheels were turning, right?
Much like yours are right now.
As somebody who
collects these things,
I have to make sure
that what I'm acquiring
isn't a scam, a snake
oil, a parlor trick.
And I noticed that the card
order was exactly mirrored.
So maybe this is some
sort of a pre-programmed
mechanical trick.
Well, there's only
one way to test that.
We have to involve
some randomization.
And I think our randomizer
should be Alyson Hannigan.
Would you join me
over here please?
- Sure.
- Hello.
It's so great to see you.
- You too.
- Could you take
those for me, please,
and arrange them in any
random order that you like.
- OK.
- We're going to
see if the cards still
mysteriously control
the switches below them.
And our goal is going to be
to light up the lights in order
from the radio to the tube,
from Alyson down to me.
Perfect. OK.
So our goal is to light
the lights up in order.
So, Alyson, will you
have these arranged?
The second switch right here
is going to be for the radio.
How about you flip that
second switch see if it works?
Look at that.
- Oh.
- Awesome.
And then the globe is next.
That's the one over
here closest to me.
I'll get that one
for you. Awesome.
Then we go to the Edison.
That's the one nearest to you.
Flip that one for me.
And we've got the tube.
You want to do the
honors for the last one there
number three right there.
Yes. All right.
We did it. Good.
OK.
But now the skeptics
are still thinking, eh,
maybe it's technology, right?
Peter's got a guy, a buddy
backstage, with an app, right?
Or maybe Bluetooth?
Maybe there's a microchip
in the cards or something.
But no.
I want you to take these
cards for me, please.
Mix them around face
down, so that even
you don't know the order.
And I'd like you to lock
them inside this box please.
All right.
One of the things I love
about collecting the impossible
is I can share something
amazing with you, even if I
don't know how it works, right.
Oh, and, Alyson,
incidentally, you know,
when there are no cards
up here, something really
strange happens.
The switches don't
know what to do.
Try one.
Flip the switch for me.
Nothing happens, right?
Because there are no cards.
Try them all if you want.
The switches have a
sort of identity crisis, right?
But here comes the part
that convinced me that I
needed this in my collection.
Can you take this
box for me please?
See that table over there?
- Yes.
- Can you stand
behind the table, please?
- With the box.
- Please.
- OK.
- Make sure you're
not followed, make
sure there's no camera
peeking over your shoulder.
- Well, there's always cameras.
- I think they're
on the front there.
OK. But I want you to
feel alone over there.
- Yeah.
- Unlock the box
for me, please, and just grab
that very top card out, and take
just a little peek at it.
Don't tell me what's on it.
But just tell me when
you're looking at the card.
- Yes.
- All right.
Alyson, are you
thinking of the globe?
- Yeah.
- Yes.
Awesome.
Actually, I knew it because
there is a connection not only
between the
switches and the cards
but, Alyson, a human can act
as a medium between the two.
It's a kind of
electro telepathy.
I don't know. More testing.
Take a look at the second card.
Remember, Alyson is the only
person in the world who knows
where that second card is.
Alyson, are you looking
at the second card?
- Yeah.
- Is it the tube?
Yes. Sorry.
Keep going. Keep going.
I'm so excited. Take
a look at the third one.
Tell me when
you're looking at it.
- OK. Yes.
- OK. Is it the radio?
Alyson, but the question
is, can we do all four?
- Cool.
- Well, I think we just did.
That's the Edison.
And that is Alyson Hannigan.
- And that's Peter Wood.
He made it sound
like I did a trick.
- You did.
- Whoo!
- I just stood
there. You did it.
- That is so cool.
- Thank you.
- You must have a
really well-lit house.
- Yeah.
My degree is in
technical theater
lighting and scenic design.
And so I do have a theatrical
lighting universe in my house.
So I can control the colors
in different rooms and stuff.
- Do you want to
be my best friend?
- Yes.
- Great.
Mainly in October.
- Yeah.
No.
Halloween is my jam.
That's definitely...
That's the excuse
to make your house look crazy.
- Yes.
So what would you
have done if you
were born before electricity?
- I've always been fascinated
by different chemicals
that will make fire burn
with different colors,
you know, tones, so I
wonder if there's a way
you could do something like this
with four different
colored cards
and four different
types of fire.
- OK. Peter, let's
see if Penn and Teller
are bright enough to shed
some light on your trick.
- OK.
- Boys.
- You know, a lot of what
we do is try to conceal the fact
that we have unusual props.
We go to a great deal of trouble
to spend zillions of dollars
to build something that
looks like a cardboard box.
And I really like how refreshing
it is that you come out and say,
these are impossible objects.
So we can just kind
of relax and not say,
is that something I can
have in my living room?
You've already said
it's an unusual thing.
- Sure.
- And it's just
really beautiful.
I really like this.
It's so unusual and
so different and such
kind of a brain
buster, you know.
And one of the things that
has made our show, luckily,
so successful, and a lot of
people give us credit for that
and a lot of people give
the acts credit for that,
and we'll take it.
And the acts deserve it.
But also the network
deserves a little credit.
It's not only the show itself.
It's exactly when
the show is put on,
when people are
watching, what leads into it,
what comes out of it.
A lot of this success is
programming, a lot of it comes
through the programming.
The network puts that all
together, makes that all work.
So I just want to
take this opportunity,
separate from this act...
- Of course.
- To just thank the network
for what they've done.
And I just want to say that
this whole trick with the five
switches, or four,
sorry, the four switches
is really, really a
wonderful, wonderful act.
And we like you. We
like having it back.
We like you putting
the props out there.
And after all is said
and done, damn it,
we don't think you fooled us.
- I love you guys.
- All right.
- It is a pleasure to
be bested by the best.
Thank you. This is so much fun.
You got me. Thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
- Well, thank you so much.
Peter Wood.
- Thank you, guys.
Take care.
- For those who can't
wait to see P&T perform,
the waiting is over.
Well, almost over,
they'll perform
right after this break.
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller have
a lifelong partnership,
but it's not always exclusive.
Tonight, Penn and I
are going to watch Teller
work with a new partner.
Here's Teller and George.
- It's time for me and
these three dummies
to say good night.
We'll see you next time
when "Fool Us" returns.
& Teller Theater,
at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas,
here's our host,
Alyson Hannigan!
- Welcome to "Fool Us."
If you've got a head
that needs scratching,
a jaw that needs
dropping, or maybe
even a belly that needs aching,
then you found the right show.
We have a fantastic
group of magicians
from all around the globe.
And they're here
tonight to try and trick
our two witty Wizards,
Penn and Teller!
Penn and Teller award a
spot in their Las Vegas show
and a sparkly "Fool Us" trophy
to any magician who fools them.
Tonight's first winner
might be our first act.
Take a look.
- Hi. I'm Apollo Riego.
And I'm coming
from New York City
by way of the Philippines.
When I was five, my parents
got me the cups and balls
trick for my birthday.
And they've been
regretting it ever since.
I was seven years old,
and we moved to Queens.
Being a first generation
American wasn't easy,
and it still isn't.
Money was always tight.
And my dad had to get two
jobs just to provide for us.
To get lunch money, I used
to perform in Central Park
and on the subway.
When I was 15, I got a job
at Rogue Magic and Funshop.
And it saved my life,
kept me out of trouble
and off the streets.
And it gave me a place
where I can hone my craft.
I like to use the skills I
learned from the magic shop
and from the streets to create
my own brand of urban magic.
I've gotta be able to stand out.
The trick I'm doing tonight
is stupidly dangerous.
Whatever you do,
do not try this at home.
- Put your hands together
for devilish deceiver
Apollo Riego.
- You know the
expression, hey, it's all good
till someone gets hurt.
Well, for magicians,
it's not always all good.
If you look up magic
gone wrong online,
you'll see a lot of people
hurting themselves
trying to do dangerous tricks.
There's screaming.
There's crying.
There's blood.
Why would anybody
ever try doing something
where they could get hurt?
So tonight, I'm gonna
do my magic with this.
Alyson?
- Mm.
I'm really scared of you.
- It's OK. I'll
scare it out of you.
- Hmm.
- Alyson, please
open this envelope
and pull out what's
inside very carefully.
Ew.
- This is a heavy
duty rotary blade,
sharp as a samurai sword.
Just to prove I'm not
lying, I'm gonna show you
how deadly this blade is.
Alyson, please hold the
envelope with the blade inside
like this on the top.
And I'm going to use these
two grapefruits to show you
what would happen if I
smash my hands directly
on the blade.
Hold it on the top.
Wait, can I have goggles?
Oh.
- If that was my bare
hand, it would have
cut right through my palm.
And I'd be gushing blood all
over your lovely stage floor.
- Ew - And we
wouldn't want that,
unless you're one of those
bloodthirsty YouTubers.
I see you.
Now, I have six more
identical envelopes here.
Five of them are
sealed and empty.
Alyson, please,
carefully take the blade
and place it in
the sixth envelope.
- Ew.
- Now seal it.
Now while I turn
away, please mix them.
This is going to create
some uncertainty, drama,
and a potential
insurance claim in case
this goes horribly wrong.
Now keep two.
- Keep two.
- And put the rest
on the table, please.
- OK. Hold on.
OK. I think I have two.
- All right.
- Yeah.
- Hold them up
separately, please.
- OK.
- All right. You got them up?
- I do.
- All right.
Now watch closely as I
risk severing an artery.
Actually, do you have a
pair of goggles on you?
- Yes.
- Where is it?
- In my pocket.
- This one?
- Yeah.
- Do you mind?
- For you or me?
- For you.
- Oh, no, I don't mind, then.
- Put them on. Just in case.
- Thanks. Thank you.
- Looks good.
- Great.
- Here we go.
- OK.
Ah!
- Paper cut, I hate
those. I'm sorry. Sorry.
It's all good. Don't
worry. Don't worry.
Now, you could pick up
one more or two new ones.
It's up to you.
We have no idea
where that blade is,
but I'm feeling lucky.
- OK. I'm gonna go two new ones.
- OK.
Oh, jeez Louise.
- Whew. Two more, please.
OK.
- Now, you know,
the odds of injury
are getting worse for me.
- Yeah, definitely.
- But if you guys want
to see me get maimed,
it's getting better for you.
That's just sick.
You can just put it up.
Good job.
Last two, please. Feel
free to mix them up.
OK.
- OK.
- Now, one of them
has the deadly blade
and one has nothing.
But I have no way of
knowing which is which.
So, Alyson.
- Hm?
- You pick.
Ever so slightly,
just lower one of your hands.
That one.
Are you sure?
- Yeah.
- Oh, boy.
- You make me
very, very nervous.
- OK.
- Let's try this out anyway.
Lower it all the way
please. No, that one.
Hold this one up.
Yeah.
Ah! Ah.
- Eww.
- Oh, my God.
Who put strawberry jam in here?
That's crazy.
- That's so rude.
- Was it you?
But no, I'm sorry.
Actually, Alyson, please,
open the last envelope.
- Can I just rip it?
- Sure.
Be careful.
- I can do it.
- And show everyone
that the deadly blade
was in there the whole time.
- Ewe.
- Thank you very much.
- OK.
Whew. Apollo Riego.
- Thank you.
- I don't know...
- Are you OK?
- I was. And, you
know, then you made me
put safety gloves on,
and I didn't know
if I should be more
worried for me or for you.
- Well, thank you.
- Is magic your career?
- Yes, it is, full time.
- That's fantastic.
And have you always known
that that's what you wanted to do?
- In college, yeah, when I
was writing a term paper.
- Oh. You're like, I
can't do another paper.
I'm a magician.
- I was, like, I'm out of here.
- Are you primarily
a street performer?
- No.
I haven't done street
magic busking in a long time,
but I used to do it as a
kid and on the subways
in New York City.
Actually, recently,
somebody was trying
to swap me away because I
made fire appear out of my wallet.
And I think he wanted to
call the fire department on me.
I was, like, are
you serious, dude?
Come on, man.
I'm just trying to shoot
some footage, you know.
- OK, Apollo.
Let's see if Penn
and Teller figured out
the method to your magic.
- All right.
- Hey, Apollo.
Man, really, really
like your style.
It's really, really good.
And it was just know that that
tongue in cheek people liking
to see danger
and still letting us
feel comfortable that
you were doing that.
And also, the peril being
so small and delicate
for a big stage show,
it's really, really nice.
And if you had a
choice of magicians,
you would have
chosen me because you
absolutely, 100% fooled me.
But, unfortunately, you don't
because there's me and Teller.
And Teller, I think,
followed you pretty well.
But I gotta tell you, you have
such an image in your mind.
You paint it so well with
the strawberry jam and all
of that, that if you
were to smash that,
you would get
blood all over you.
You'd be marked.
Alyson would have been marked.
The envelopes
would've been marked.
Everything would
have been covered
in blood if you'd done that.
So I will tell you,
you did fool me.
I did not follow it.
But then I talked to
my friend Teller here.
And I don't think
you fooled Teller.
And he gave me a few
little key words to say there,
that I think I snuck in.
So I'll ask you, did you
fool Teller do you think?
- No, I didn't fool him.
- Oh.
Well, thank you so much.
Apollo Riego!
- Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you.
- We've got plenty
more magic coming up,
including a trick from Penn
and Teller, so stick around.
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller are ready,
and we hope you are, too.
Let's meet our next magic act.
- People always
ask magicians, like,
how did you get into magic?
But when you're a woman,
the question is, why?
Is this thing on?
Hi. I'm Rachel Wax.
I grew up in Chicago, Illinois.
My dad is the one who
taught me how to do magic.
We even had a magic
show together in high school.
And we have matching tattoos.
I moved to New York
City to study fashion,
which was awesome.
But I really welcomed
magic back into my life
when I met this wonderful group
of people called The Magnets.
I've grown a lot as a
magician over the last few years
because of the
incredible friends
that I've made along the way.
Although, I've been
really lucky to have
a ton of role models in my life,
there's still a lot
of ground to cover.
There are so few women in magic.
I want to show the next
generation of female magicians
just what's possible,
even without a nose job.
- Put your hands together for
New York City's own Rachel Wax!
- So, I do live in New York,
and I work all kinds of events.
I do weddings, bat
mitzvahs, funerals.
And sometimes on
my way out of a gig,
I like to steal something,
you know, like a tip,
nothing big, nothing
crazy, just little things,
like a snack or a yarmulke.
I don't know.
But the last thing
I took was this.
It's a money gun.
I took it from the last
bachelor party I did,
which is my favorite event to
get asked to do because I get
to see the disappointment
in their eyes
when they realize
I'm just a magician
and all I'm going to
show them as a card trick.
But I thought it
was a cool item.
And I wanted to figure
out something to do with it.
And that's what I'm
going to show you today.
Alyson, would you
mind helping me out?
- Sure.
- Wonderful.
Now, Alyson, I have a stack
of cash here, but this is mine.
And I'm a magician, I can't
just be giving away money.
Do you have a bill
that you can contribute?
- I have $1.
- Oh.
Wonderful.
Fantastic.
Nice and crisp,
just how I like it.
Now, I do want to
make sure that we
don't lose track of your bill.
So I am gonna have
you sign it nice and big,
so everyone can see.
OK.
Wonderful.
Yeah.
Nice clear signature.
And I will sign...
the back.
Also nice and big. Wonderful.
Now, Alyson, a
quick question for you.
Have you ever shot
a money gun before?
- Not today.
- Oh, OK.
I mean, I figure at some
point. We're in Vegas.
You know what I mean?
Go ahead hold on to that.
And I want to be clear,
Alyson, that your bill is going
into the center of the stack.
It's not on the top.
It's not on the bottom.
So it won't fly
out first or last.
Would you open up that
money gun by pulling the tab?
It could be a little sticky.
Wonderful.
And do me a favor, just
confirm that that is empty.
- Oh. Yeah.
- Wonderful.
There's no other money in there.
And I will load this in.
Fabulous.
I'm going to have you
stand just a little further back.
- OK.
- So in a moment, Alyson,
you are going to shoot
that money gun in the air.
The money will go flying.
I'm gonna reach out
and grab your signed bill
out of the air.
Very exciting.
OK. But before we do that,
I wanna make this a
little bit more difficult
with something else that
I got at the bachelor party.
Not the yarmulke. Hold on.
Aha! A blindfold.
- Ah.
- For you.
- Oh.
- I'm just kidding.
It doesn't matter
if you can see.
- Right. That's funny.
- It's for me.
OK.
All right.
So like I said, you're going
to shoot the gun in the air.
I will reach out
and grab your bill.
Alyson, are you ready?
- I'm ready.
- OK, 'cause I'm not.
Just give me a sec.
All right.
OK. OK.
Ready?
- Yeah.
- So I will do this
completely blinded, Alyson.
It will be extremely
difficult. Ugh.
All right.
On the count of
three, you're gonna
shoot that gun
in the air. Ready?
- Yes.
- Three.
Two. One.
- Ah. Aha.
I got one. I got one.
I got one. I got one.
I didn't catch it, but I thought,
you know what I mean?
I thought...
- Yeah.
Yeah.
- All right.
All right. Let's see.
Alyson, not only
did I catch your bill,
but I have removed
the signatures,
making it a much better
magic trick if you think about it.
- That really is fantastic.
- No.
No. That didn't work.
But I can fix this.
It's not a big deal.
I'm going to give you
a consolation prize.
- OK.
- Yeah.
Whatever you want out of my bag.
I have all kinds
of goodies in here.
I have a box of red hair dye.
I don't know if
that's your shade.
- I mean.
- Surprise.
Mine's not real.
Let's see here.
I don't know if you'll need
the yarmulke as often as me.
- Probably not.
- OK.
- Are you a women's seven?
- Yes.
- You are? Oh, my God.
- I am.
- But these are
old and disgusting,
so you probably don't want that.
But what are the
chances? My word.
Let's see.
I have a snack.
- Oh.
I love snacks.
- You can have a snack.
The only other thing I
have is an EpiPen if you're
allergic to the snack.
No? OK.
Here, I'll take that.
And if you don't mind, go
ahead and rip that open.
- All right.
- And do you mind sharing?
- No.
- You, me, Penn, Teller
we'll make a feast of it.
Wait a second.
- Wait a second.
I'll take that gooey
mess from you.
- Whew.
- Go ahead and open that up.
And, Alyson, can
you confirm that that
is the bill with your
signature on one side
and my signature on the other?
- Yes.
That is miracle!
- Thank you so much.
- Yay.
Why don't you take that.
- Oh my God. Yeah.
For after.
- Yay! Rachel Wax!
- Well that was delightful.
Thank you.
- And now, you're just
standing on a pile of money.
- Yeah. Which is
really where I like to be.
It feels like home.
- Right.
Where do you usually perform?
- Usually, I perform
at a lot of cool venues
around Manhattan.
- Are they rowdy
audiences in New York?
- They are often
rowdy audiences.
I do have to really
work out my audience
management skills frequently.
- Yeah.
Can you do this trick or
you lose all the money?
- You know, so when I
do it for rowdy audiences,
I usually use fake
money because I
don't want to risk it.
- Right.
So what things do you
love most about performing?
- I like connecting
with the audience.
And I love talking
to people afterwards.
I like knowing how
I affected them.
You know, you never want
people to feel uncomfortable,
but you don't want to dull
yourself down too much.
- All right, Rachel, let's
check the boys and see if they
figured out your magic.
- Rachel, this is a
really, really big room,
and you just fill it up.
It's just fabulous.
- Thank you.
- You just have so much energy.
And it's so funny
and so natural.
- Thank you.
- It's just really great.
Are you always this energetic?
You just flip a switch
when you come on.
- You know, I'm
nervous ahead of time.
But I can usually flip a
switch once I get into the room
and into the zone.
- And we just loved
the whole routine.
But, you know, the first thing
you said when you came out
is you always like
to steal something.
And I don't think the
audience noticed but right
here on "Fool Us" you
were stealing something.
Yes.
So... - Yes, I was.
Yeah. You got me.
- Funny.
- That is the greatest way
to absolutely win while losing.
- Right?
- You make us feel like
idiots for busting you.
What could be better than that?
You know... - It's
kinda my thing.
- You always have to
remember to win the game
you're actually playing.
So although I don't
think you fooled us,
you certainly won this round.
- Thank you.
- You won the bigger
game. There's no doubt
about it in my mind.
- Thank you.
- We just love you.
- Thank you.
- So I'm guessing
they figured it out.
- They definitely
figured it out.
- Well, thank you so much.
You're so entertaining.
- Thank you.
- Rachel Wax!
The show must go on,
at least this one must.
We have more amazing magic
for you when "Fool Us" returns.
- Welcome back.
No more horsing around.
Let's saddle up for
this next magician.
- I'm Kolos from Budapest.
You may not know me,
but you've probably
seen me do magic.
Katy Perry shot the video
for her huge hit "Firework"
in Hungary.
They needed a magician.
And I got the call.
Hungary is a hotbed of
close-up magic right now.
We are in the bars, the clubs.
We are part of the nightlife.
It's an exciting time for magic.
I do street magic,
and I have a steady gig
performing for tourists.
It's made me a better
magician working close like that.
I'm a magic champion in Hungary.
In fact, I won the
Hungarian Magic Convention
five times in a row.
No one has done this before.
I lost my grandma recently.
She was my best audience.
And I even taught
her the techniques,
so she could tell me
if I made a mistake.
This performance,
it has to be for her.
She would be so proud if
I fooled Penn and Teller.
- All the way from Hungary,
please welcome Kolos!
- Hello. Thank you.
Hi, Alyson.
Tonight, I'm going to show
you a treasured family heirloom,
passed down for generations
from my grandfather,
to my father, to me.
It's a deck of cards.
And as you would expect,
every generation thinks he can
do it better than the last.
First, I'm going to show you how
my grandfather performed it.
Then I'm going to show you
how my father pulled it off.
And finally, I'm going to
show you how I do it today.
Now, the big
question, of course,
are any of us going to
fool Penn and Teller?
Well, there's only
one way to find out.
So let's start with
my grandpa's version.
I will use the very
same deck of cards
that he used more
than 50 years ago.
As you can see, it's not just
the cards that are worn out
but also the box itself.
He would start by asking
the spectator to name a card.
So, Alyson, please would
you name a card for me?
- Seven of diamonds.
- Seven of diamonds. Perfect.
Here we have seven of diamonds.
Then he would give a
marker to sign the cards.
So please sign the cards.
- Then you can only
do the trick 52 times.
Oh.
- And make sure you sign
it nice and big in the middle.
That's perfect.
Thank you.
Seven of diamonds signed.
Now, he was quite
clumsy with the cards.
He would simply throw
it back into the deck.
And then he poured the
rest of the cards on top of it.
It was quite a mess.
But then he said
something quite interesting
that this trick is
not about the cards.
This trick is all about the box.
And when you look at it, you
would discover something very
interesting, that the
backs of the cards
would be very similar
to the back of the box.
- Alyson, come. Can you see it?
- Yes.
- Very similar, right?
- Yes.
- So much so that he'd
do something amazing,
remove the back,
it becomes a card,
not just any card, but
the signed and selected
seven of diamonds.
That's quite a good trick.
But would this fool
Penn and Teller?
I don't think so, maybe
my father's version.
My father, he was more
elegant, very smooth, very precise.
He made sure
everything looked perfect.
He even, asked the
spectator say stop...
So please say stop.
- Stop.
- He placed the signed
card in that exact location.
He poured the rest of
the cards on top of it.
And then he squared
up everything real nice.
But then, he said the
same thing as my grandpa,
that this trick is
not about the cards.
This trick is all about the box.
And then he started
to play around with it.
And somehow, the
box became a card,
not just any card but
the signed and selected
seven of diamonds.
Being of the new generation,
he also tried to take
this to the next level.
He made the box
reappear from the cards.
Even more, he did
something quite impossible.
He plays the signed
card into the deck, made
a magical gesture like this.
Do you know what happened?
One card traveled invisibly
from the cards into the box.
And inside his box, there is
one card, and one card only,
which happens to be your
signed seven of diamonds.
I'm not sure how he did that,
but I guess Penn and Teller
could figure this one out.
Now it's my turn.
Of course, of
course, I wouldn't dare
to perform with such an
old, delicate deck of cards,
not to mention the box itself.
Fortunately, I don't
have to because, look,
I can just give myself a
brand-new box any time I want,
any time I want.
More than that, I can
just transform these cards
into a brand-new deck of cards.
But, Alyson, wait,
if the cards are new
and the box is also new,
then the contents of the box
must be new as well, not
just on the back of the card
but also the face of the card.
And that is my
thing that this is
your signed seven of diamonds.
- Kolos!
Wow.
That was really impressive.
- Thank you very much.
- And I really like
when I look over there
and Teller's mouth
is dropped open.
- Oh. That's what
I'm hoping for.
- Wow.
How did you come up with this?
Well, we are working
on this for more than
a year with my Hungarian
magic colleagues.
- Well, and also you
got it from your father
and his father.
- Yeah, of course.
- Right, right, right. Yeah.
How do you feel now,
now that you've done it?
- Well, I'm very excited.
I'm more nervous than before.
- Now that it's over,
you're more nervous?
- Well, we tried
to raise the bar
and do something really
special and show to the world
that there is some very
cool magic in Hungary.
- Oh, yeah.
All right, Kolos.
Let's see if you can take the
first ever trophy to Hungary.
- Hey, Kolos. Wow. That
was really, really nice.
And, of course, we
try to claim Houdini
as an American
magician, but he wasn't.
He was from Hungary.
So you've got a good
magic tradition there.
You know, it's very hard when
handling cards because you
want to look, like, the
tools that you're using
you know how to handle.
And you don't
want to look too slick
or look like you're
doing something.
And what was really, really
nice about your whole handling
was that nothing
looked at all fishy.
We were not seeing things
we shouldn't have seen.
And that may be
one of the greatest
compliments I can give you.
- Wow.
- If we weren't using
our logic, we
were just watching,
everything there was
a miracle, just a miracle
and looked absolutely wonderful,
and wonderful surprises
all the way through.
But now we got to play the game.
And we saw nothing on
your grandfather's trick.
Nothing gave it away.
But we know how you did it.
And we saw nothing
on your father's trick.
Nothing gave it away,
nothing even slightly wonky,
no weird moves.
But we knew what you were doing.
And then your trick came
along, and we were following it.
We were doing OK.
Then that damn new deck came in.
And then her signature
was on a new card
which was a complete surprise.
And the real surprise that came
as we were going through,
because we followed
your grandfathers, we
followed your fathers,
but the real surprise
was that you fooled us.
Congratulations!
We have a fooler!
- It was a beautiful thing.
- Thank you.
- Oh.
- Just a beautiful thing.
- I appreciate it.
- Man, getting that
card new, as well.
- Thank you. Thank
you. I appreciate it.
- Congratulations, Kolos!
Another "Fool Us" trophy
has flown down from the sky.
And the magic gods
aren't done with us yet.
We'll have more
when "Fool Us" returns.
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller
were just fooled.
But they have to
rub some dirt on it
and keep going because
here's our next possible fooler.
- I definitely got the
collecting bug from my dad.
Garage sales are his religion.
And growing up,
our house was filled
with the most random
things, definitely
collections of collections.
Now, I collect impossible things
and often those things find me.
I've developed
something of a reputation
for being an expert in this.
I scour the globe for things
that are strange and unusual.
And I'm always looking
for that one last thing that
will finish my collection.
The last time I
appeared on "Fool Us,"
I brought my most
recent acquisition.
This time, I brought something
that's been in my collection
for over a decade.
I've run so many tests.
I've taken it apart and
put it back together
more times than I can count.
My colleagues and I have
examined every piece of it.
But we are no closer
to discovering its secret.
So I brought it
here to Las Vegas
to get the opinion of
my two favorite experts.
Penn, Teller, let's
see if you can shed
some light on this mystery.
- Making his second attempt
to fool Penn and Teller,
collector of the
impossible, Peter Wood.
Thank you.
This is one of my
favorite impossible objects
in my collection.
It's an antique
light bulb display.
And, actually, it looks
like something you
might see in a home
improvement store today.
And a century ago,
a device like this
would help someone
decide what type of light bulb
they needed.
The two in the middle are
known as an Edison and a globe,
named, of course,
after Thomas Edison
and the Harlem Globetrotters.
Don't look that last one up.
The tube-shaped light over here
on the end is known as a tube.
And the tube shaped
light over here on the end
is known as a radio,
presumably because tube
was already taken.
And you'll notice
that each light
has a corresponding
information card with it.
And this has things like
wattage, price, manufacturer.
But something strange happens
when I rearrange these cards.
It's as though the switches
are controlled by the cards.
So, for example, this first
switch because the tube
is right above it when
I flip this one, that
makes the tube light light up.
And the second switch no
longer controls the globe.
That second switch now controls
the Edison because the Edison
is above it.
Actually, if I want
to turn on the globe,
I have to come all the way
over here to the third switch.
This third switch
controls the globe.
And the last one
turns on the radio.
And when I first saw it,
I didn't applaud either.
I know because my
wheels were turning, right?
Much like yours are right now.
As somebody who
collects these things,
I have to make sure
that what I'm acquiring
isn't a scam, a snake
oil, a parlor trick.
And I noticed that the card
order was exactly mirrored.
So maybe this is some
sort of a pre-programmed
mechanical trick.
Well, there's only
one way to test that.
We have to involve
some randomization.
And I think our randomizer
should be Alyson Hannigan.
Would you join me
over here please?
- Sure.
- Hello.
It's so great to see you.
- You too.
- Could you take
those for me, please,
and arrange them in any
random order that you like.
- OK.
- We're going to
see if the cards still
mysteriously control
the switches below them.
And our goal is going to be
to light up the lights in order
from the radio to the tube,
from Alyson down to me.
Perfect. OK.
So our goal is to light
the lights up in order.
So, Alyson, will you
have these arranged?
The second switch right here
is going to be for the radio.
How about you flip that
second switch see if it works?
Look at that.
- Oh.
- Awesome.
And then the globe is next.
That's the one over
here closest to me.
I'll get that one
for you. Awesome.
Then we go to the Edison.
That's the one nearest to you.
Flip that one for me.
And we've got the tube.
You want to do the
honors for the last one there
number three right there.
Yes. All right.
We did it. Good.
OK.
But now the skeptics
are still thinking, eh,
maybe it's technology, right?
Peter's got a guy, a buddy
backstage, with an app, right?
Or maybe Bluetooth?
Maybe there's a microchip
in the cards or something.
But no.
I want you to take these
cards for me, please.
Mix them around face
down, so that even
you don't know the order.
And I'd like you to lock
them inside this box please.
All right.
One of the things I love
about collecting the impossible
is I can share something
amazing with you, even if I
don't know how it works, right.
Oh, and, Alyson,
incidentally, you know,
when there are no cards
up here, something really
strange happens.
The switches don't
know what to do.
Try one.
Flip the switch for me.
Nothing happens, right?
Because there are no cards.
Try them all if you want.
The switches have a
sort of identity crisis, right?
But here comes the part
that convinced me that I
needed this in my collection.
Can you take this
box for me please?
See that table over there?
- Yes.
- Can you stand
behind the table, please?
- With the box.
- Please.
- OK.
- Make sure you're
not followed, make
sure there's no camera
peeking over your shoulder.
- Well, there's always cameras.
- I think they're
on the front there.
OK. But I want you to
feel alone over there.
- Yeah.
- Unlock the box
for me, please, and just grab
that very top card out, and take
just a little peek at it.
Don't tell me what's on it.
But just tell me when
you're looking at the card.
- Yes.
- All right.
Alyson, are you
thinking of the globe?
- Yeah.
- Yes.
Awesome.
Actually, I knew it because
there is a connection not only
between the
switches and the cards
but, Alyson, a human can act
as a medium between the two.
It's a kind of
electro telepathy.
I don't know. More testing.
Take a look at the second card.
Remember, Alyson is the only
person in the world who knows
where that second card is.
Alyson, are you looking
at the second card?
- Yeah.
- Is it the tube?
Yes. Sorry.
Keep going. Keep going.
I'm so excited. Take
a look at the third one.
Tell me when
you're looking at it.
- OK. Yes.
- OK. Is it the radio?
Alyson, but the question
is, can we do all four?
- Cool.
- Well, I think we just did.
That's the Edison.
And that is Alyson Hannigan.
- And that's Peter Wood.
He made it sound
like I did a trick.
- You did.
- Whoo!
- I just stood
there. You did it.
- That is so cool.
- Thank you.
- You must have a
really well-lit house.
- Yeah.
My degree is in
technical theater
lighting and scenic design.
And so I do have a theatrical
lighting universe in my house.
So I can control the colors
in different rooms and stuff.
- Do you want to
be my best friend?
- Yes.
- Great.
Mainly in October.
- Yeah.
No.
Halloween is my jam.
That's definitely...
That's the excuse
to make your house look crazy.
- Yes.
So what would you
have done if you
were born before electricity?
- I've always been fascinated
by different chemicals
that will make fire burn
with different colors,
you know, tones, so I
wonder if there's a way
you could do something like this
with four different
colored cards
and four different
types of fire.
- OK. Peter, let's
see if Penn and Teller
are bright enough to shed
some light on your trick.
- OK.
- Boys.
- You know, a lot of what
we do is try to conceal the fact
that we have unusual props.
We go to a great deal of trouble
to spend zillions of dollars
to build something that
looks like a cardboard box.
And I really like how refreshing
it is that you come out and say,
these are impossible objects.
So we can just kind
of relax and not say,
is that something I can
have in my living room?
You've already said
it's an unusual thing.
- Sure.
- And it's just
really beautiful.
I really like this.
It's so unusual and
so different and such
kind of a brain
buster, you know.
And one of the things that
has made our show, luckily,
so successful, and a lot of
people give us credit for that
and a lot of people give
the acts credit for that,
and we'll take it.
And the acts deserve it.
But also the network
deserves a little credit.
It's not only the show itself.
It's exactly when
the show is put on,
when people are
watching, what leads into it,
what comes out of it.
A lot of this success is
programming, a lot of it comes
through the programming.
The network puts that all
together, makes that all work.
So I just want to
take this opportunity,
separate from this act...
- Of course.
- To just thank the network
for what they've done.
And I just want to say that
this whole trick with the five
switches, or four,
sorry, the four switches
is really, really a
wonderful, wonderful act.
And we like you. We
like having it back.
We like you putting
the props out there.
And after all is said
and done, damn it,
we don't think you fooled us.
- I love you guys.
- All right.
- It is a pleasure to
be bested by the best.
Thank you. This is so much fun.
You got me. Thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
- Well, thank you so much.
Peter Wood.
- Thank you, guys.
Take care.
- For those who can't
wait to see P&T perform,
the waiting is over.
Well, almost over,
they'll perform
right after this break.
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller have
a lifelong partnership,
but it's not always exclusive.
Tonight, Penn and I
are going to watch Teller
work with a new partner.
Here's Teller and George.
- It's time for me and
these three dummies
to say good night.
We'll see you next time
when "Fool Us" returns.