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.

I generally quite like this show as it's just fun to watch. But there are a few things that are starting to really bother me. Yes, it's reality TV and so there is going to be some things left out, but at some point if you know it's all fake it isn't as much fun.

Specifically: they are editing some performances to make them seem impossible; performances that SURELY did not fool them get some made up story about how it really DID fool them so they can get the performer in their Vegas act; they are re-using audience reactions to tricks for multiple episodes/performances; Penn & Teller are hamming up their fake reactions to tricks that don't deserve such a reaction.

Vegas and Hollywood together...I shouldn't be surprised?

I saw this show for the first time a few nights ago, and was highly entertained in seeing the experts dissect various magic tricks by performers on stage, and then admitting when they had been fooled.

The format is simple; Penn and Teller sit at the front of a stage and watch various prestidigitators perform their tricks on stage to see if the legendary duo of Penn and Teller can reverse engineer or deduce how they did their trick.

The only down-shot is that they will, for the sake of keeping the essence of the trick, a secret, sometimes use magicians jargon or stage lingo to get their point across to the performer on stage, and in this way communicate to both us and the audience that they either know how the trick was done, or are sufficiently impressed that they have been fooled.

But even then, they do reveal and otherwise convey to us the basics of some of the tools the performers use to create their illusions.

I had fun watching this show as I watched and tried to figure out how each trick might have been done. And I found myself being right a significant part of the time. It was very interesting and entertaining.

For anyone who's been to a magic show, wants to see magic, but is curious how any of the tricks were done, then you must see this very basic yet very remarkable show.

Enjoy!

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.