Penn and Teller: Fool Us

[Isaac Sauvage]

any theories on how the first trick works? (i.e., "high jinx")

EDIT: SEASON THREE BEGAN THIS WEDNESDAY

alyson hannigan is the new host!

 

[LeeVanCleef]

I saw a clip from this show about a year ago posted on reddit. Can't quite remember what the trick was, but it managed to stump P&T. They seem to be rather unlikely British television stars! Excuse me... I mean "hosts".
Jesus, Nic, you're trying to figure out how they did it? That is way above my pay grade!

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

hehe, no worries, bill. mainly just wanted to share an enjoyable program, particularly since those are solid-quality full-length youtube eps... something of a rarity.

indeed P&T work surprisingly well with the british audience. and you know, some of the shows had them being stumped on the majority of the tricks.

re: figuring out the tricks,
sometimes i notice a small detail or two that seems to play a role. usually it's not the whole explanation, but it gets me curious enough to do some research. i've found that a lot of very impressive tricks are in fact revealed somewhere on the net... sometimes simply in the youtube comments(!) other times it's just more fun not to know, of course.

if i made just one person happy in this thread, it's all been worth it. (nod to tony clifton) :)

 

[Shockman]

Never heard of the show, so thank you for sharing. I will certainly watch it. Love this stuff.

As far as guessing. it would never happen that i would know if P&T did not. I would probably not know even if they were not fooled for a second.

Usually box tricks have a very simple explanation though and that is it is only assumed that there is no room left for a human body, when of course there is. My guess, she is in the bottom section.

 

[Shockman]

double post.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

cool- didn't know you liked this stuff too. :)

i will try to research that 'sectioned box' trick to see what the experts say.

here's one (first trick, james more) i was completely fooled by on the first viewing, got suspicious of on the second viewing, and actually figured out on the third viewing:
Penn & Teller: Fool Us Pilot/Special Part 7 of 8 - YouTube


anybody else get it?

 

[Shockman]

Good one.

Just a guess. Between the thickness of the table and the thickness of the base of the box on it is room to lie straight, the feet are fake.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

bingo. what gave it away for me is when he first sat down in the box, you'll notice he strangely seemed to lose height between the base of his spine and his head. another clue is that even once he was settled in, his feet still didn't appear, which was odd. only when he pulled that black cloth / rubber piece on top did the feet suddenly pop out, which explained a lot about where his real feet were. later, when he was all squeezed up and the table was being rotated by assistants, you can actually see the outline of his splayed-out legs on the grey cloth underpiece.

cool thing about that box is how they 'steal' a little bit of extra space with each level. none of them are enough by themselves, but add them all together and you have just enough room underneath to slide your body and legs into. provided you don't have a gut. :)


high jinx- figured it out based on a youtube comment. you were right there, as well. the big clue is those two black sections sitting on the base on either side of the sectioned box. small girl contorting herself flat plus just enough extra room to stick the head and feet into with those black boxes.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

just finished watching the "the prestige" (2006) about two magicians (hugh jackman and christian bale) who get into a fatal competition over the prestigious 'teleporting man' trick. this movie received slightly better reviews than the other big magic-themed move released in 2006- "the illusionist", but right now i still prefer the latter.

i thought the prestige was somewhat disturbing, somewhat depressing, and the storytelling and acting was not quite as smooth as the illusionist. also, it was a bit awkwardly sci-fi, bringing in nikola tesla (david bowie) of all people to provide the necessary science behind the magic trick mechanism. OTOH, it was the more complex film and touched on a number of harsh realities of stage magic, edwardian times, revenge and murder. it also explores the psychology of illusion, which is always interesting. i probably should give it another chance...

 

[LeeVanCleef]

I, myself, would have to give points to The Prestige over The Illusionist, mostly for its lack of Jessica Biel, who almost single-handedly ruins The Illusionist. I must say that I kinda liked those more gonzo moments of The Prestige, like Bowie-as-Tesla. You have to say this for Christopher Nolan; he never makes a boring movie. As an added attraction, it's the closest we'll ever get to a Batman vs. Wolverine battle to the death.

 

[Shockman]

I think it was the first part of the second part. The people, the tables, and the diner. If the girl chosen was random, and unfortunately there was nothing to determine she was, (un-involved), then I'm stumped. My only guess would be magic.

There are a scant few things in life that are real magic, like the 3rd eye, or minds eye. Perhaps not actually magic, but no tricks. I knew a man named, or called Cappy that could read messages that were folded up by placing them on his forehead. I tried him myself with a message that said simply "Happy birthday Cappy" and he hesitated more than my previous and skeptical observations, (probably penmanship) but he read it.

I never believe a person the magician chooses themselves is random, if the trick needs input from them for proof. P&T did say they believed the choice was random, which surprised me. Turn your back to and throw a ball into the audience. Have them do the same thing and bring up the person that catches it.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

@bill,
batman vs. wolverine... lol, it was staring me in the face and i never noticed. anyway, yea, i really liked "memento" and need to catch up with more of nolan's movies.


@shockman,
could you add to your post which episode and/or trick you're commenting on?

 

[Shockman]

I thought it was the first act of episode 2, but I will check.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

checking through ep2, the second performer mathieu bich was the german guy who had the beach ball tossed around to determine the mystery card. i know the basics of that trick and can tell you with assurance- that part was completely genuine and random. i do sort of remember the dinner-arrangement one, but that wasn't from ep2.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

wahoo! the series had been cancelled in england, but got picked up by
the CW network in the states and just started season 2, beginning of july!

tricks and episodes are online at youtube and everywhere else, natch. :D

 

[bha19]

I have seen every episode. Also Piff the Magic Dragon is on Americas Got Talent. The first trick was the one he did on P & T last year.

 

[sleepy]

But the pilot in your OP has been yanked due to copyright violation.
Probably because it's...

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I have seen every episode. Also Piff the Magic Dragon is on Americas Got Talent. The first trick was the one he did on P & T last year.

you're thinking of the first season from a few years ago.

there's a whole new season that's coming out right now.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

This About That

About Professor Farnsworth...No, Not the inventor OF the television guy. The guy on the television. Well not so much anymore. But there was a time and it was one thousand years in the future... http://theinfosphere.org/Professor_Hubert_J._Farnsworth Age: 174 Years... Species: Human

P>S> This from Wiki P about Philo Farnsworth >>> "In fiction, Farnsworth appeared in the Futurama episode "All The Presidents' Heads" as an ancestor of Professor Farnsworth and Philip J. Fry, and was referred to as having invented the television."

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

About Professor Farnsworth...No, Not the inventor OF the television guy. The guy on the television. Well not so much anymore. But there was a time and it was one thousand years in the future... http://theinfosphere.org/Professor_Hubert_J._Farnsworth Age: 174 Years... Species: Human

P>S> This from Wiki P about Philo Farnsworth >>> "In fiction, Farnsworth appeared in the Futurama episode "All The Presidents' Heads" as an ancestor of Professor Farnsworth and Philip J. Fry, and was referred to as having invented the television."

as the professor would say- whuh...?

 

[Itchigo]

That's a pretty complete page! Damn, that must have been a lot of work! But they forgot one I use to my wife all the time.

"Doomsday device? Ahh yes, now the ball is in Farnsworth's court. I suppose I could part with one and still be feared."

Pic1: I replaced the preheat hose with 7 feet of copper tubing running off the heater hoses.
Pic2: I was dooing welding repairs to the trunk and still needed my car mobile. So I got a junkyard gas tank, and plumbed it up. Gauge even worked.
Pic3: Scratchbuilt golf cart. Plays my Ipod, charges my phone, self propelled, and many other options.

Need I go on?

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Will The Original Professor Farnsworth Please Stand Up

as the professor would say- whuh...?

Quotes from Philo:

"This has made it all worthwhile." (The live televised first step by Neil Armstrong on the moon.)
–The Boy Who Invented Television –

"There's nothing on it worthwhile, and we're not going to watch it in this household, and I don't want it in your intellectual diet." (to his son, on television)
-The Boy Who Invented Television and Kent Farnsworth

"The damned thing works!" (telegram, on the first successful television broadcast)

Quotes about Philo:

"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners."
-Johnny Carson

I wish there was a knob on the TV so you could turn up the intelligence. They got one marked "brightness" but it don't work, does it?
-Leo Anthony Gallagher

 

[Coil_Smoke]

M O R E . . .

That's a pretty complete page! Damn, that must have been a lot of work! But they forgot one I use to my wife all the time.

"Doomsday device? Ahh yes, now the ball is in Farnsworth's court. I suppose I could part with one and still be feared."

Pic1: I replaced the preheat hose with 7 feet of copper tubing running off the heater hoses.
Pic2: I was dooing welding repairs to the trunk and still needed my car mobile. So I got a junkyard gas tank, and plumbed it up. Gauge even worked.
Pic3: Scratchbuilt golf cart. Plays my Ipod, charges my phone, self propelled, and many other options.

Need I go on?

Do, Do Go On...

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

anyone feel like lending me their brains for a bit?
this is the very first act of the new season, called "tiny plunger":



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEa8VGobVR8


my first hypothesis was about a neodymium magnet in the plunger and embedded iron dust in the cards, but i know that's wrong.

i do know the general principle of the trick at this point, but i'm not sure i have it quite exact.

take a look if you feel like and see if you have any ideas. a couple SPOILERS [SPOILER ALERT!] that i've been able to figure out-- 1) the trick needs to be done on a porous surface, 2) a 'stopping card' has to be manipulated in to place before each plunge.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

I saw this several days back. I wondered about holes in the cards to pass the vacuum through and ,Like you said, "Stopper Cards". A nice fresh trick...

OH And Regarding: "as the professor would say- whuh...?" DAMN FUNNY ​