I dunno. For this to work (and for my example of the trick bag to work, for that matter), picker #1 would feel 3 stones when expecting to feel 4…on down to the girl who chose third - she would only have one stone in the bag when she was expecting 2.
Are we suggesting that they would all just play along? Seems very risky.
mmm
My thought: the pearl you see at the start never goes in the bag. When he picks them up he traps the pearl between a couple of fingers so when he seems to pour the contents of his hand into the bag, actually only the three black beads fall in. That first pearl gets ditched somewhere discreetly.
The bag has two compartments, and starts out with a black bead in one AND a pearl in the other. All of the black beads have metal cores so they can be attracted to a magnet – and the ring he is wearing has one. He holds the bag so he’s pinching the pearl in the fabric , away from being touched by the séance people, while he offers the bag with the ‘bead’ compartment open to the first three people.
Each can feel that they are picking one of whatever the right number should be: there are four beads for the first person, three for the second, and two for the third to choose from.
Before he offers the bag to Allyson he shifts his hold, letting go of the pearl and moving his ring so it attracts the final black bead to it, to hold it out of the way so Allyson wouldn’t feel an extra lump in the bag. Or does he actually switch which hands he holds the bag with? I’d think that would be even safer, but I haven’t rewatched.
Anyway, he hold the bag to change which opening she’ll be putting her hand in, and so she draws the only thing available, the pearl.
Didn’t he hand Allyson the bag?
Really impressive trick, don’t get me wrong, but I would have been much more impressed had he not handled Allyson’s deck before the reveal. I didn’t see the move, I don’t even know what the move was, but I know that was when he made the move.
I’m sure P&T suspected any number of ways he *could *have pulled off the trick, but since they didn’t see the move either (which speaks volumes for Parr’s technique), they decided to not even hazard a guess.
If that sounds negative, I don’t mean to be. This was a well-executed, beautifully presented trick.
Great call, this is absolutely how they did it. There is a point when Penn fans out the cards to show the volunteer that they are not all the same cards. If you slow it down or pause it you can see duplicate cards. Specifically, I was able to see the King of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, 4 of Hearts combo repeated.
This is a perfect example of what I love about magic. I had ZERO clue how they did that trick, but after learning the secret I am disappointed that I hadn’t figured it out on my own and I applaud the ingenuity involved. And knowing the secret does not diminish my enjoyment at all.
I do wonder though…do P&T (and other magicians) have a plan in place for failed tricks? As many times as they have rehearsed and performed this trick, there is still the slightest chance that something could go wrong and Teller hangs onto the wrong card.
What would they say/do then?
mmm
You’re not supposed to know about it, but Penn and Teller do have a contingency plan in place in the event of a failed trick: first, the trick is immediately stopped without explanation; next, any and all video footage of the botched illusion are destroyed: third, everyone in the studio audience is required to sign an NDA, then they are all lined up against a wall and shot.
I would just catch the bullet in my teeth.
mmm
So Penn has talked about tricks not working on stage on his podcast before. This tends to happen on newish tricks. I can’t remember exactly what he says, but I recall him saying it isn’t that big of a deal. They have 10+ hours of material for a 2 hour show so in principle they could just add sub in a different bit if needed.
Another example is this trick by David Blaine. It messes up and you can see his recovery very easily. He just finds the required card and does a very standard move to make it appear.
I’m glad to see that, and a very genuine moment from David Blaine, who can appear so stiff sometimes.
He pretty much handled that perfectly. Do another move, impress them with that. Nicely handled and very professional.
This episode was also educational for me. The “shrinking Alyson” routine with the rollup shades looked so basic that I assumed it would turn out to be some easily deduced variation of an old method, so I was surprised when Penn only had a vague guess how it could have been accomplished. And given Penn & Teller’s background, I assume they appreciated the routine where a simple coin toss determined whether Hannigan was hugged or killed(!).
I’m not quite sure how that shrinking cabinet was working. I assume the shoes sticking through at the bottom were fake. She’s a small woman, but even in squatting inside that box with her butt sticking out the back it’s hard to see her appearing to be that short. The control wheels were mounted behind the cabinet obscuring any part of her sticking out the back but I also notice that the sides of the cabinet are quite thick and perhaps her legs are inside them somehow.
It is surprising the guys didn’t come up with a more feasible guess. I suppose the ludicrous video screen suggestion was a way of admitting they didn’t know exactly what was going on. I do wonder if Alyson was in on the trick in the sense that she was coached on how to do it before hand.
Dan Sperry was very entertaining.
I assume the balloon guy actually inflated the balloon with helium. Initially the neck of the balloon is hidden in his hand as he begins to inflate it. He adds a little real air at the end. While he was doing it I thought a string was involved but I think there was some mechanism under the table cloth that allowed the balloon to move, and then the rest of it was him looking like he was pretending to make the balloon buoyant when it actually was.
The paper bird act was very impressive. They figured out every technique he used but as they mentioned it was an entire routine done very well. I’m always happy to see the quality performances whether or not they fool P&T.
Good to see Piff back. First saw him on the English version of the show and he’s entertaining every time he shows up. Certainly hope to see more of him.
The inhaler he used was filled with helium, right?
Or hydrogen, maybe. Hydrogen is lighter, so you could have it making up a smaller percentage of the total volume in the balloon and still have enough lift for the balloon to rise.
And I think Allyson deserve a ‘hazardous’ duty bonus this week.
I am rather curious. I noticed that there was a chunk of the device that went behind her head, so it’s possible that she was simply squatting and she was resting her chin on her knees, effectively. But I feel like there was more to it than that, since she didn’t seem to be having that much trouble keeping her face vertical and, while her neck was going back a bit, it wasn’t be all -that- much.
I want to watch again what’s going on with the shoe tips and if they match what she was wearing.
Quite, though I assume that for the first bit he used a two-faced coin, which seems like a semi-reckless tactic for a magician.
I’d also wonder how long he can keep the act interesting, without someone like Alyson to play so well against his style.
I liked the idea behind a lot of what he did, but every single damn thing he did looked fishy. I don’t know what the techniques are, but when the bird perfectly sticks in place against his chest, and everything he’s wearing is a size too large, it takes a lot of the magic out of it.
I don’t think so. When he first inflates it the neck of the balloon and his mouth are hidden behind his hand. I think there is a tube up his arm to inflate it with helium. Once it’s partially filled with helium (or hydrogen) plenty of air can be added and it will still float.
The first act (Dan Sperry) was really, really, really funny. I wasn’t sure about him at first (I was getting Criss Angel vibes), but as soon as I realized what the character he was doing was, it was hilarious to watch unfold. (I’m still not entirely convinced that wasn’t Paul Dano underneath all that make-up.) Alyson played the straight role perfectly, although she definitely wasn’t looking closely enough for any funny business. Also, I could tell it was fake blood coming from the knife at once. For the first time, I was able to follow Penn’s code very closely. Basically it went into his eye, out his mouth (at some point), then he somehow hid the quarter in some sort of fake fleshy piece (rubber cement, I think was the clue?) and then he used a knife (with fake blood) to cut it out and hand it to her. Basically, the presentation was more entertaining than the actual trick. What really made it for me were all the off-the-cuff reactions and remarks.
Second act (Jean-Pierre Parent), I could tell right away that Alyson’s head was sticking out at an angle. I thought that was a dead giveaway…until he compacted her completely and showed there was nothing underneath (also, when he passes behind her, you can tell he’s right behind her and not at a distance). The banter between the two of them seemed way too rehearsed, so Alyson was definitely in on the trick. While Penn was hazarding his guess, she broke character by smiling and you can tell she knew exactly what was going on. I noticed after P&T walked over and took a closer look at the device, they didn’t seem so pleased anymore. Mirrors were eliminated as a possibility, but obviously the camera monitor thing had something to do with it, otherwise it was a really great red herring (are they allowed to use props to throw them off?).
With the balloonist (I recognized Naathan Phan immediately from Wizard Wars), my fist thought was static electricity. Penn’s hint seems to suggest that it was always full of helium and he had to do it “backwards” by making it seem that it was filled with ordinary air. Beyond that, I have no fooking idea.
Yeah, what he said. 
The newspaper gag (Richard FORGET) seemed really original to me, at least as far as presentation. However, the part where it’s floating just in front of his chest looked really hokey. The move where he passes the ring around it wasn’t as smooth or convincing as it could have been. As Penn pointed out, he was using various different methods to give the illusion of flight and I think he was banking on one of those in order to fool them.
What I really like about the Finn and Teller act was that the volunteer guy, after picking his word out of the book, sneakily hid his book into the pile instead of placing it back on top. I don’t think he was asked to do that, but that’s what I would’ve done. Also, was anyone else disappointed when Penn stepped out at the end? I thought he really did turn into a fish. 
That was great. I didn’t see the move, even when I was specifically looking for it. Does anyone know how he pulls off the following trick? (For that matter, ANY trick he does?) What if the girl handed it back off to the other girl? Would the resulting card be different?
It really makes me wonder about the unedited versions of these specials. Do they just keep trying the trick over and over until they get it right? It could have possibly taken 52 tries!
Fist thought? God damn it.
So on this coming Wednesday’s Penn Sunday School, the whole story of Jean-Pierre Parent is discussed. Turns out it is Matt Donnelly’s fault. Basically when Alyson is called up to participant, she does not attend the rehearsal of that trick and hence has no idea of what is about to happen, something P&T know. However, in this case she did practice it ahead of time. Likewise, JPP’s banter didn’t go well with the show so the whole thing was rewritten and he was nervous and needed his lines, hence the TV screen. Because of this, P&T thought it was done completely differently and hence were “fooled”. If they had known any of this, they wouldn’t have been fooled at all. So the really random Penn guess is justified somewhat.
Nothing interesting about the other acts other than that for the P&T act with Piff, they picked the audience member ahead of time so he could be miked and not have to stop the taping.
The video is great, and it’s wonderful to know how he did it. I certainly thought it was a cheat to have that briefcase “containing the prediction” and he refuses to touch it, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t contain anything. I think when I first saw it (and without going back to my comments in the original thread to see, I don’t remember for sure), I knew that briefcase bit had to be there for a reason…
I think the main reason no one possibly could guess his method is simple: His method wouldn’t pass the “real act” test. I have always assumed these are tricks that people do in their acts and that Jonathan/Alyson take the role of a random volunteer and are not “in” on the trick. But it seems clear to me that Jonathan either would have or very easily could have noticed exactly how the trick was done given that he handles the shoe. That doesn’t seem like something a magician would use in a real act, and is probably why I would never have guessed it as the method… I mean, on the other hand, a better-built shoe could have been developed for a real act - Perhaps a rubber-soled show where the whole heal-cap comes off so there’s no cutout visible - but there was certainly a risk that Jonathan would notice a but cutout on the shoe or even turn that side to P&T.
Very clever and a great trick, don’t get me wrong.
But I also went back and watched the trick and I really hate that a key critical moment in figuring out how the trick is done (being assistants wheeling out the table) is edited out of the broadcast. We don’t know that table came out from offstage because we aren’t shown it coming onstage. For all we know he was just off to the side and he pulled it over.