Penn & Teller: Fool Us

Here's TV's very own Mr. Magic, Jonathan Ross!

Thank you, well, hello and welcome to Penn and Teller: Fool Us,

the show where hopeful magicians try and win a chance to perform in Vegas

by hoodwinking two masters of the magical craft.

We have got some spectacular illusions lined up for you.

Over the next hour, you will be breathless with excitement.

We will have you gasping like Anne Widdecombe's dance partner.

And I can assure you the acts tonight are very special indeed.

I've seen them at work.

Backstage one of them made my watch completely disappear.

Don't worry, I've found it again. It's on eBay.

But frankly it's not me they have to fool, because I'm no professional magician,

I've never pulled a rabbit out of a hat.

I did pull a hair out of my nose once, but that's an age thing.

It was so long it made my eyes water and I felt a twinge in one of my buttocks.

No, the men they have to fool have spent the last decade lighting up Las Vegas

without ever needing to be plugged in.

They are, of course, the fabulous Penn and Teller.

Hey! Welcome to Vegas!

My name is Penn Jillette, this is my partner Teller,

we're Penn and Teller.

We've been performing here at the Rio Hotel for ten years.

Vegas loves magic!

Thank y'all so much for coming along and being here this evening.

Drop! Mazel tov!

Our job is fooling people, but now we want to be fooled.

No, Teller! Teller! Teller! Teller! Teller! Teller!

Even for professionals,

there's noting like the thrill of being bamboozled by a great trick.

So we're challenging magicians

to come up with their favorite tricks and perform them for us.

We'll be in the audience and we'll watch it live,

and only once, just like everyone else.

No camera tricks, no funny edits.

And if anyone can fool us,

we'll pay for them to come and perform here, on our stage in Las Vegas.

But be warned!

If we can figure out how the trick is done,

we're gonna say.

Well, I'm gonna say.

So to get here and play the big stage in Las Vegas,

all that tonight's performers are going to need is lots of guts.

But the risk will be worth it,

because the winners will get to experience this.

No, no, no, no, no! You've got to go around that way!

The winner will get to experience this!

So come on, guys, give it your best shot! Fool us!

That's the show right there.

And I know they might seem like a weird combination,

but it's an American thing, like peanut butter and jam,

or bacon and syrup, it shouldn't work, but it does brilliantly.

Will you please welcome the majestic Penn and Teller!

So here we are, we're ready to go,

we've got some incredible acts, incredible performers lined up for you.

Can I ask you though, are you at all nervous,

is there a kind of professional pride thing at stake here?

Scared to death!

You know, this seemed like such a good idea when we thought of it.

And then we walk out here and I'm terrified.

I'm so afraid that every single person is going to fool us.

We're going to ask you to sit down now.

The guys are going to be sitting right there,

they're going to be watching the whole thing,

and you're going to be communicating with each other throughout the kind of--

-Yes we will. -So we'll find out whether--

Because, you know, the whole trick is to fool Teller, not me.

-Yeah. -I have to, I have to listen to him.

-He's the brains of the outfit? -He certainly is.

Okay. Guys, would you like to go and take your seats?

Okay.

Mr. Penn and Teller, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Are you comfortable?

So Penn and Teller will talk about how they think the trick has been done,

but in such a way that they don't necessarily give away the secrets.

Obviously I'm not really qualified to judge if they're correct,

but luckily upstairs we have a magician who has spent the last sixty years

working with the biggest names in magic,

helping them work on illusions, designing some himself.

He's kind of the Simon Cowell of sorcery,

and his word will be final,

so let's meet our first contenders this evening.

I'm Michael, I'm 20.

I'm Tamsin, I'm 23.

We are High Jinx.

An illusionist double act from Huddersfield.

Tamsin joined the act about three months ago.

Since Tamsin has joined us,

I've been teaching her how to perform the illusions.

I'm just trying to teach her as much as I possibly can.

Being part of High Jinx has just been absolutely brilliant so far.

I'm loving it. I'm loving working with Michael.

In the short amount of time that Tamsin's been with me,

she's been doing absolutely brilliant.

And she's wanted to take part in all the other things, the circus skills,

the stilt walking, the juggling.

She's just wanted to really have a go at everything, really.

Working as a double act can be quite difficult at times,

you've got to rely on the other person and they've got to rely on you.

It is quite common that two magicians that work together are a couple,

but me and Tamsin aren't a couple.

Not yet!

Please welcome the delightful, the spectacular, High Jinx!

High Jinx, Ladies and Gentlemen. That was great, that was fabulous.

I've just noticed,

did you notice the uniform is all ripped from where the things went in?

That's great. I love the whole look of it, I love your outfits you're wearing.

So the guys are going to have a think now

about whether they know how it's done, of course.

So how confident do you feel?

Um, I mean, they're pretty hard to fool.

I reckon it's going to be pretty hard to fool them.

You know, you mentioned in the film beforehand

that you were kind of hoping, maybe, you would start going out.

Just discreetly,

and I promise to keep it quiet if the answer's no,

but are you, are you going out?

-Yeah, we are. -Yes! Come on!

We're bringing people together!

Teller's drawing something there,

so either he's got a pretty clear idea what's going on,

or he's just bored and doing the Sudoku.

No rude pictures please! Okay, do you want to come forward, fellas?

Does it mean that because you've become a couple in the short period of time,

we're going to become a couple?

Because that's a horrific idea! A horrific idea!

Teller's got a little something to show you.

No, no, no!

We ought to show that to the audience, Teller? Or...

That's a definitive no.

That was great, it was a great act, man. Thank you so much. Congratulations.

Thank you.

You know, I looked at the drawing you did, I still don't know how it's done,

so that's really, it's a great performance!

It was great, but they nailed you, you didn't fool them?

-No. -No, we didn't fool them.

We haven't been able to fool them, no.

It's a great performance, though,

and it's so nice that you're together as well,

so it's, you know, it's a nice, warm feeling for all of us.

Lovely to meet you, Michael and Tamsin. High Jinx, Ladies and Gentlemen!

It's time now to meet our next performer.

My name's Jon Allen, I'm a professional magician

and creator of magical effects!

The style of magic I do is close up magic, mainly.

I always try to do magic with everyday objects

and things that people can relate to.

The trick I'm gonna be doing tonight is very dangerous.

I don't think anyone's died yet from doing it,

but it has caused a lot of injuries

and hopefully I won't be added to that list.

I'd say this trick works 99 times out of a hundred.

To date I've probably done it 98 times.

Tonight it's probably going to be 50-50.

If I look nervous it's because I really, really am!

The sort of reactions I get when I perform this,

I've had people screaming, people just not wanting to look,

and some people wondering if I'm actually a sane human being.

That I never let on.

Now, the trick you are about to see is definitely risky.

If it goes well, if it works,

our next performer could be going to Vegas,

if it goes badly, he will be going to casualty,

and then almost straight on to YouTube.

Would you please welcome Mr. John Allen!

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Are we in control of our own fate?

Clearly for me tonight, the answer to that question is no.

But are any of us in control of our own fate?

Because every single day we rely on other people for our own safety,

whether it's other drivers on the road,

the chef who cooks our food in the restaurant,

or even the person who secured

the studio lights to the ceiling above your heads.

So let me explain what I have here.

Inside the first three bags, I have a block of wood.

Now the reason for the block of wood will become apparent in a few moments.

In the fourth bag there's another block of wood,

but as you can see, I've drilled a hole through it.

The reason for that is this.

A solid, six-inch, stainless steel spike.

Technically it's a nail, but I do like alliteration.

I need someone to verify that this is, in fact, sharp.

So the lady just on the end there, your name is?

-Sophia. -Sophia.

Can you come up and join me please? Give her a round of applause.

I'd like to thank you for coming to help, thank you.

Sophia. Could you just slam your...

Actually, don't slam your hand down, that would be quite silly.

Could you just tap the palm of your hand on there, very gently?

Is that sharp?

-Yeah. -Yeah? Good.

Now, the nail goes into the bag. Yeah?

-Happy? Good. -Yeah.

Now, I need to mix up the bags

so that nobody knows where the nail is.

But so that you don't know, I have this screen.

Now Sophia, could you just turn around so that you can't see either? That's fine.

Now I'm just going to mix up the bags

so that none of you know where the nail is.

But I know what you're thinking.