Penn & Teller: Fool Us

We're massive Penn-Teller fans - my wife "did" the joke-book trick with them in Vegas - and I'd love to give the show a 9 or 10, but the show definitely lost something after moving from the UK after 2 seasons.

Changing hosts didn't help. Jonathon Ross was cheeky and fast on his feet while Alyson Hannigan comes across like a kid selling raffle tickets. However, her blandness is consistent with how the show is now safer and tailored to a middle American audience.

After all, the duo became conjuring superstars by pairing Penn's staggering stage presence with Teller's skills - they were hip and "dangerous" and perfectly fit shows like SNL and early Letterman.

That time has faded. The pair compliment all the acts, as they should, but the whole vibe has softened and been tooled to never tease or offend. That's a shame as the magic is still great but the experience is pure vanilla.

This is wonderful television in the true sense of "wonder". Fool Us! makes for a refreshing change from the usual homogenised mass of formula drama & reality shows. There really is nothing quite like it around.

With the best European illusionists & card masters it is full of interesting people who have incredible skills. There is nothing mean or nasty about this show. Penn doesn't even swear so it is a perfect show for bright kids as well as adults (grown-ups?)

Jonathon Ross (Jonafon Woss??) does a pretty good job as compere. If you haven't seen Fool Us! yet, I recommend you go find it! And that's no BS!

You might have noticed that the other reviewers are British. And they lament that this show is not available in the U.S. Well it is now.

If you like magic--sleight of hand, comedic routines, or the big production numbers--you should like this show. Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners and staunch advocates for the field of magic. Here they invite other magicians to perform tricks/illusions that they, P&T, cannot solve. There is a certain level of trust required in this. First, you must believe them when they say there are no camera tricks, no editing tricks, and that the viewer (you) is seeing what they themselves see live. Secondly, you must trust that when they say they have solved a trick, they actually have.

There is no reason not to trust them. They have a reputation of being totally honest. If you watch some of Penn's videos on the internet, you will find that he always speaks his mind and, evidently, cares not one whit for conformity. Also, there is an honor among those who practice the magic arts. It stretches back centuries. When P&T say they have unraveled the mystery of an illusion, without saying too much about the solution (because they do not want to spoil it), you can bet they have. They appreciate artistry and craftsmanship. They can be lavish in their praise for those who have mastered an illusion, even if P&T are not fooled by it.

Occasionally they are fooled. In those cases, the magician gets an expense-paid trip to Las Vegas and the opportunity to perform on their stage.

You have probably seen some of these tricks. Others are very original. But the level of the performances is always high. No fooling.

Update 9/16/2016: If there is doubt about whether or not P&T have effectively deciphered a trick, there are judges to make the final decision. They are the final arbiters. I have seen them decide that P&T were fooled when P&T thought they had the solution.

I love P&T, and this show is incredible. The show features up-and-coming illusionists who perform in front of the studio audience as well as P&T, and P&T attempt to figure out how the illusion was done. Some of the acts are absolutely incredible, and the production quality of the show is outstanding. Good camera work, not a lot of filler, etc.

My only regret is that it's not available in the US. You can't even WATCH it on ITV's website if you're in the US - bummer! You can, however, watch some clips on Youtube, just enough to give you a real desire to be able to see the show in its entirety. It appears that it is still being produced(?) in July 2011. Maybe Mr. Davey will be approached to produce an American version of the show - I sure hope so!

Great to see Penn and Teller still in action after 30 plus years in magic. Hosted by Jonathan Ross i thoroughly enjoyed this 1 hour special, after all who doesn't like a bit of magic? To get that universal feeling of "hey, how did you do that?" brings back a lot of good memories. Also the duo performed 2 tricks of their own on the TV special which was definitely too good to be true, got my money's worth. I think its great that ITV got the chance to broadcast this because here in London at least, you don't get to see much magic acts aired on television.

My only regret is that the show wasn't longer, that's just how glued I was. Misdirection is an amazing talent that most of us will never master but man it's amazing to see it in action with those magicians.