Now You See Me: Now You Don't

(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING FAINTLY)

(CHANTING) Horsemen! Horsemen!

Horsemen! Horsemen!

Horsemen! Horsemen! Horsemen! Horsemen!

Did you think we abandoned you?

Or that we'd run out of magic?

Well, think again, ladies and gentlemen,

because you are about to be amazed.

If you're here right now, then you have

followed the clues and cracked the code.

Congratulations, and welcome.

It's been 10 years since the horseman last appeared,

but we are back!

Okay, so, come in close. Mm, closer.

Because the more you think you see,

the easier it will be to dress up old tricks

and fool you that they are new.

So, my name is J. Daniel Atlas,

and allow me to speak as I often do

for my less charismatic colleagues when I say...

Whoo! It is very good to be back!

Yes. Yes. We vanished for a while,

but in the world of magic,

everything that disappears, reappears.

Well, at least if the trick is done right.

I'm Merritt McKinney.

Unlike my, uh, very good buddy here, Danny,

most of you checked your egos at the door tonight.

You found this little underground soiree

because you wanted to get fooled.

Hey, everyone. I'm Jack Wilder.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

Wars, pandemics, climate change, AI.

Let's face it, we all need magic more than ever.

So I want you to pay very close attention.

You are not gonna want to miss this next trick.

Henley Reeves, now Henley Reeves Stanley.

Three kids, two dogs and a master's degree.

It's been a while.

Did you miss us?

Those guys were great back in the day.

I used to want to be a magician.

- And then I turned 12. - (BOTH LAUGH)

Careful, they might be listening.

Ooh, I'm shaking in my AllSaints.

What are they gonna do?

Is that real gold?

- What? - Is that real gold?

- Yeah, I'm rich. - (SNORTS)

This is a magic show, dude.

Every fool here is a pickpocket,

or a pickpocket's fool.

- Was that a haiku? - What was that?

Each of you just received a playing card.

If you wouldn't mind, uh, pulling it out?

Right. Now, we're gonna shuffle the deck,

so everybody find a random person near them

and switch cards with them.

And then when you've done that,

find somebody else and switch with them.

Okay, great. Uh, now...

Uh, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh... You there, down there.

- Me? - Yeah. What is your card?

- Ace of diamonds. - Ace of diamonds. Okay.

Let's make things a little more complicated here.

Does anybody else here have the ace of diamonds?

Wait, it's me. Ace of diamonds!

Ooh!

Looks like we have a Fifth Horseman not named Lula.

Come up on stage, you're gonna be our helper.

Do it! Yeah, go!

Now, uh, look into my eyes

and... sleep.

- (AUDIENCE GASPS) - (CHUCKLES) Still got it.

Now, this might look like an ordinary kid to you,

but tonight, he is going to do extraordinary magic

like a man possessed.

- Literally. - (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING)

- Henley. - Yes, Merritt.

Would you mind stepping inside his body?

- (SNAPS FINGERS) - (AUDIENCE GASPS)

Yep. And, Jack, uh,

why don't you throw yourself on in there, too?

- What I do best. - (SNAPS FINGERS)

- (AUDIENCE GASPS) - And... Oh, God help you.

Atlas, why don't you slither on inside, as well?

- (SNAPS FINGERS) - (AUDIENCE GASPS)

And I might as well wedge myself in there, too.

It takes a village to make magic.

- (SNAPS FINGERS) - (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING)

Oh! Whoa!

J. Daniel Atlas in the house.

So, who wants to see a magic trick?

Take it away, Merritt.

Hello, you beautiful people.

Now, everyone knows that Merritt McKinney reads minds.

Well, now, I'm him. Or he's me. Who knows?

Uh, I'm sensing someone came here tonight

not to enjoy magic, but to tear it down.

Is there a Brett Finnegan in the house?

What up? - (AUDIENCE CHEERING)

(BRETT'S FRIEND SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

Now, you and your friends here

set up the Camp Hobart Crypto Exchange.

- Fact. Yep. Yeah. - It's what we're about.

Took the good people of New York's

employee pension and welfare fund half its cash.

- (AUDIENCE BOOING) - Uh, you're rounding up,

and also, the risks were laid out very clearly.

Everybody knew what they were getting into, dude.

Did you hide the profits offshore?

Account ending

in 53297?

You couldn't know that without my, uh...

Oh, is this real gold?

Brett, you ought to be more careful

with your things, man.

Merritt's a psychic, but me, Jack,

I'm into sleight of hand.

- (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) - Ask your friends.

They've just done their part to close the wealth gap.

- (AUDIENCE CHEERING) - What? What the...

Now, here's a little redistribution.

Hey! Hey, hey!

Thank you. Thank you.

Lawyer up, dude! I'll kick your ass!

Uh-oh!

Someone forgot Henley can fly.

We can take it from here, but a round of applause

for the best Horseman on stage.

Whoo! Wow.

Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey.

Fantastic. So, everybody, I want you to take your drink,

and I want you to pour it onto the face of your card.

Can you do that?

Those 12 unique words on each of your cards

form the password to your new crypto wallet.

Oh! Log on

and you'll find Brett's stolen millions more...

fairly redistributed.

Oh, my God. Fifty... 50,000 bucks!

50,000!

You're freaking done, dude!

Whoa, whoa! Cool your head, gingerbread,

'cause I am having a vision.

Eh, maybe cops are gonna come bursting through that door!

So perform a magic trick of your own

and disappear in three, two, one.

(ON RECORDING) Now come in close. Mm, closer.

Because the more you think you see, the easier it will be

- to dress up old tricks... - What?

...and fool you that they are new.

Oh, my God, no.

No!

No!

Look, in my opinion, I think you did a great job.

Uh, I think my Atlas was good.

My Merritt could probably use some work.

Mm. - It's like a San Diego stoner

and a shrimp boat captain had a baby.

- Sure. - (CHUCKLING)

No, seriously, Bosco, I don't know how you do it.

A good impersonation isn't just about the mimicry.

It's about attention to detail,

personality and nuance.

Okay. Okay. Let me try, let me try.

Um... (HIGH-PITCHED) I'm J. Daniel Atlas.

The closer you look, the less you see.

(LAUGHS) It was something.

Yep. Uh, you'll work on it.

- I wasn't bad. - It was a good start.

- But it could use some work. - Okay, sure.

- What do you keep looking at? - Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Dude, cheer up. Guys, come on! Look at us!

Look at how far we've come. We totally scored tonight.

All right, next time, you wear the pink wig, okay?

No.

- Dude, it's locked again. - Okay, I'll pick it.

Wait, wait, wait, hold on. Do the thing.

- No. - Please do the thing.

- It's so unnecessary. - It's so cool.

- I'll hold your bag. - It's so unnecessary.

- Come on, it's fun. - Okay.

You got this.

- She's like a little Mario. - She is like Mario.

Careful, careful. Please don't die.