# Penn & Teller Fool Us - New Season **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 18, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666 "2019-06-18T01:14:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Oneilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3e96dc/32.png) [@Oneilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oneilla)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/101 "2019-07-22T14:53:33Z")
> [@TheHYPO](#): > > S6E5: > > Wedding ring: It’s extremely clear that where he “Drops” her ring into the hanky is nowhere near where the “ring” he gives her to hold is. Pretty sloppy slight on that one, imo, especially in his day in age when anyone worth half their salt knows that move is coming. At that point, it’s just about getting it from his palming to his shoe. Not much for me to say, as there doesn’t seem to be anything to see. It just appears on his shoe in the first shot of his show after he has her “drop” the hanky. Which I am guessing is the misdirection to ensure no one is looking at his shoe. Pretty sure it’s not there in the last wide shot before that. The mention of Ring Flight is a trick very much like this one. Dave Bonsall created one version that seems very well regarded, and to his credit. he actually essentially explains the trick on a promo video for the gimick he sells: [Ring Flight Revolution (BMW) by David Bonsall](http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/4183) - you can see that it’s basically a clip on a reel - so I assume you extend the reel, up the back of your jacket, down your sleeve and perhaps it clips inside the cuff of your jacket until you are ready - than you clip the ring in your hand to it, release it, and it retracts to your back pocket on your keychain. > > Penn obviously thinks he built a reel into his shoe and ran the line through his jacket and maybe also his pants in a re-engineered ring flight. They get busted on thinking it goes through his clothes. It COULD be as simply as him not running the line to his clothes. An invisible line straight from the shoe to his hand or the hanky could do it - but he did say they were “far away” from his method… he doesn’t bend down, and the ring clearly appears on his show mid-trick - so he MUST have something that either “reels”/pulls the ring to his shoe, or otherwise transports it. > > I just noticed something. Right before it first appears on his show, he prompts applauds - perhaps an audio cover? When he does this, he gathers the hanky with an odd hand-position of his right hand. Then he lays the hanky out suspiciously, then lets it dangle right over his shoe-top. This is almost certainly the moment of truth (that they air from a very wide angle that shows the move but also hides the appearance of the ring - I think they have a rule that they cut out an important move from the airing so the audience doesn’t see the moment the trick occurs). He has some mechanism to transport the ring from his hand, behind the hanky, to his shoe. P&T certainly miss it because in a first viewing, they have no idea the ring will end up on his shoe, so they aren’t looking for a move there. Misdirecting where the ring will end up means P&T are looking in the wrong place, expecting the wrong move - a clever strategy for this particular show. I don’t think the ladder had ANYTHING to do with the mechanism other than allowing him to display his shoe in a more visual manner, and provide more misdirection. > . Good writeup. Two other little things I noticed: He takes the ring from the spectator while they’re on the floor rather than on stage, he turns his back to the audience/P&T and seems to be doing something with the ring/hanky as they walk back onto the stage. He doesn’t hand them the belt when giving them the tearaway suit to examine, just leaves it with Alysson. Penn’s explicit guess was that the ring went _through_ his clothes. There was a fooler who did a somewhat similar trick years ago who made a correct prediction written on a piece of paper appear in his shoe and P&T guessed that he sent the paper through the clothes but the magician got the paper into is shoe from below via a hole in the shoe. [Richard Bellars Fooler trick](https://youtu.be/CMnk4tE6N9A) [Richard Bellars fooler trick method](https://youtu.be/Lff5amhI14M) ---
**Author:** ![Oneilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3e96dc/32.png) [@Oneilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oneilla)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/102 "2019-07-22T15:21:52Z")
Wedding ring guy commented on a YT video that his trick was inspired by Richard Sanders who sells a commercial trick where a ring is vanished and appears on a shoelace - [https://wizardmagic.com/street-performer/2362-interlace-by-richard-sanders-trick.html](https://wizardmagic.com/street-performer/2362-interlace-by-richard-sanders-trick.html) > [@](#): > > Interlace by Richard Sanders - Trick > > $99.95 > > Effect > > Borrow any ring, from any spectator, wave a lighter under it and it’s gone! The spectator looks down at your shoe and now, hanging from the loop of your shoelace is their borrowed ring! > > The ring is untied and slowly pulled off of the lace and given back to the spectator…no switches! > No duplicate rings > No switches > No pulls or reels > No Reset - Immediately Repeatable > Angle Proof > Brand new principle in magic > 10 amazing handling included > Use sneakers or Dress shoes > Devastating reactions every time! > **You never bend down** or go anywhere near your shoe at any point during the effect. The same borrowed ring in your hand is the same borrowed ring that ends up hanging from the loop of your shoelace seconds later! > > What To Expect: > > You will learn how to cause any borrowed ring to vanish and appear tied to your own shoelace! You receive all the props, plus a full length DVD featuring all the moves, tips, handlings and subtleties. Get ready to blow away your audience with Interlace The miracle ring on shoelace. Caratala kind of bends his right knee after the fancy hanky move. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/103 "2019-07-22T19:12:43Z")
> [@TheHYPO](#): > > S6E5: > Kevin Blake - I don’t see anything fishy after he moves P&T’s hands, so there must be a force. My first inclination is that when he assures there’s no markings, then does “one more shuffle”, I wondered if he was somehow doing a deck swap. Penn’s card he gets Penn to pick with his finger moving from the left, and Teller picks with him moving from the right - I wonder if it was a deck of identical cards - left half Penn’s card, right half Teller’s. Then with his cardistry during the rap, maybe he swaps it back so they can examine it at the end. Well, my guess is that the cards really were a fair choice; but he manages to read them somehow and get the info to his sound guy. Then, his sound guy just has to look at the hundred and four MP3s that Blake pre-recorded, and play Penn3Hearts.mp3, and TellerJackClubs.mp3 (or whatever the actual cards were; I don’t remember). I’m less sure about how he read the cards; I wonder if there’s something in the table than can sense cards, as the chosen cards are held in a particular spot flush against the table for a longish time with no other cards around. The table could then transmit info directly to sound guy. Which makes sense; if Blake himself knew which cards P& T actually had, why not give the rap himself instead of playing the pre-recorded one? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/104 "2019-07-22T19:47:46Z")
> [@TheHYPO](#): > > S6E5: > > I just noticed something. Right before it first appears on his show, he prompts applauds - perhaps an audio cover? When he does this, he gathers the hanky with an odd hand-position of his right hand. Then he lays the hanky out suspiciously, then lets it dangle right over his shoe-top. This is almost certainly the moment of truth (that they air from a very wide angle that shows the move but also hides the appearance of the ring - I think they have a rule that they cut out an important move from the airing so the audience doesn’t see the moment the trick occurs). He has some mechanism to transport the ring from his hand, behind the hanky, to his shoe. P&T certainly miss it because in a first viewing, they have no idea the ring will end up on his shoe, so they aren’t looking for a move there. Misdirecting where the ring will end up means P&T are looking in the wrong place, expecting the wrong move - a clever strategy for this particular show. I don’t think the ladder had ANYTHING to do with the mechanism other than allowing him to display his shoe in a more visual manner, and provide more misdirection. Think at that point the ring in in the cloth, at the bottom corner that falls to his shoe top, the ring is tied to a piece of shoe lace, attached to a piece of steel. As it comes in proximity to his shoe it is attracted to a magnet. Because of glints of light on his shoe it’s hard to tell exactly when the ring is put there, but it is clearly after that point and before he approaches the ladder. So the ladder is entirely misdirection. ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/105 "2019-07-23T04:30:10Z")
**Season 6, Episode 6 (July 22, 2019)** Jimmy Ichihana: Exact card cutting. Lots of moves here, too many to pin down, but impressive to watch one after the other. I thought Penn’s reasoning was a bit of a cop-out, but apparently it all came down to “techniques” and “organization.” Sebastien Dethise: Herbert and Alyson the Duck (vaudeville-style routine). I’ve got to say, that’s one talented and well-trained duck! According to Penn, there was a “pair of ducks” (one real, one not so much), but I watched the ending reveal a couple of times and I still have no idea where the fuck the duck came from. Eric Samuels: Liar Magician (mentalist). Penn’s explanation was simple enough that even I could understand it. There were 5 hidden (camouflaged) cards at the top of the board which adhered to the cards he stuck on top of them, and then he carefully turned both over to unveil TRUTH. Rabby Yang: Rubik’s squares (_fooler_). No clue how this was done, but then again I could never solve one of those cubes either. I thought an earpiece/backstage assistant would have been too obvious; I would have loved to know what Penn’s own personal guess was. (Maybe he’ll reveal it on his Sunday School podcast?) Teller: Trace the face. Nice clean illusion, any idea how it was done? Double-paned glass? ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/106 "2019-07-25T02:28:14Z")
[Lift Off to Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PoDhuIp3I0) (mentioned by Penn in the duck trick commentary) with a 68-year old Teller is pretty damn impressive, even with the concession that he doesn’t wiggle his actual legs out the prop while upside down like he used to. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/107 "2019-07-25T02:50:40Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > Rabby Yang: Rubik’s squares (_fooler_). No clue how this was done, but then again I could never solve one of those cubes either. I thought an earpiece/backstage assistant would have been too obvious; I would have loved to know what Penn’s own personal guess was. (Maybe he’ll reveal it on his Sunday School podcast?) > > Teller: Trace the face. Nice clean illusion, any idea how it was done? Double-paned glass? 1. If Penn shares his guess, someone please tell us what it is. 2. Trace the face. I \*have \*to know how this one was done. Yeesh, what a great routine. ---
**Author:** ![kventr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@kventr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kventr)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/108 "2019-07-25T11:19:10Z")
I thought that the fooler act of the last episode (Rabby Yang) was the least impressive of the day. Thing is Alyson is never really changing the structure of the cube, he just told her to turn it around as she wishes, so there are literally just six possibilities which he of course knows by heart because he himself has prearranged the cube. So the only thing he needs is some kind of a gyroscope, or whatever the name is for the device which keeps track of an orientation using sheer gravity, and some electronic means to get this information. He only needs to know which of the six sides is facing up at the moment. I think it would be enough for Penn to mention “the gravity of the situation” or something like that to let the guy know he didn’t fool them. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/109 "2019-07-25T15:40:20Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. Trace the face. I \*have \*to know how this one was done. Yeesh, what a great routine. Possibly there’s some trick to it but I fear that… It’s just a machine that copies the movements of the pens. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/110 "2019-07-25T19:02:27Z")
I didn’t tape it so I can’t check, but my impression was that the face on the unbroken piece at the end looked different thant the one the woman drew (that was subsequently broken). Specifically, the right ear seemed more pronounced on the second glass leading me to think that it was pre-prepared to “sort of” match a general outline of a face that Teller would pick a close audience member match for. He could expect that the woman’s drawing would follow a general outline but I have no idea how he got her signature on it. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/111 "2019-07-25T19:05:49Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Possibly there’s some trick to it but I fear that… > > It’s just a machine that copies the movements of the pens. Called a pantograph, but I don’t see how the source pen would transmit the data to the target one. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/112 "2019-07-26T00:09:54Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > Called a pantograph, but I don’t see how the source pen would transmit the data to the target one. Bluetooth, probably. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/113 "2019-07-26T15:38:32Z")
I was actually considering the physical mechanism that plots the X-Y position of the pen point. My first thought was about a cumbersome mechanical device\*, although, with the state of electronics today I suppose something much smaller is not only possible but likely. \*= An image search shows many such. ---
**Author:** ![johnnycab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@johnnycab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnnycab)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/114 "2019-07-26T21:23:44Z")
> [@kventr](#): > > I thought that the fooler act of the last episode (Rabby Yang) was the least impressive of the day. > > Thing is Alyson is never really changing the structure of the cube, he just told her to turn it around as she wishes, so there are literally just six possibilities which he of course knows by heart because he himself has prearranged the cube. So the only thing he needs is some kind of a gyroscope, or whatever the name is for the device which keeps track of an orientation using sheer gravity, and some electronic means to get this information. He only needs to know which of the six sides is facing up at the moment. > > I think it would be enough for Penn to mention “the gravity of the situation” or something like that to let the guy know he didn’t fool them. He even reiterates that he’s only telling her to rotate it just before he does the big board solving, he actually shows us what he told her to do. As further proof, you can clearly see one of the patterns on the cube before he gives it to her is the same as the second pattern she shows. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/115 "2019-07-27T01:57:11Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > I was actually considering the physical mechanism that plots the X-Y position of the pen point. My first thought was about a cumbersome mechanical device\*, although, with the state of electronics today I suppose something much smaller is not only possible but likely. > \*= An image search shows many such. I would just adapt a 3D printer to work sideways. The tricky bit is just changing the head. That would probably explain why Teller doesn’t allow access to more than one color of pen at a time - and isn’t in a hurry to switch over. ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/116 "2019-07-30T06:34:26Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Well, my guess is that the cards really were a fair choice; but he manages to read them somehow and get the info to his sound guy. Then, his sound guy just has to look at the hundred and four MP3s that Blake pre-recorded, and play Penn3Hearts.mp3, and TellerJackClubs.mp3 (or whatever the actual cards were; I don’t remember). > > I’m less sure about how he read the cards; I wonder if there’s something in the table than can sense cards, as the chosen cards are held in a particular spot flush against the table for a longish time with no other cards around. The table could then transmit info directly to sound guy. Which makes sense; if Blake himself knew which cards P& T actually had, why not give the rap himself instead of playing the pre-recorded one? As I’m pretty sure I noted on this forum, it’s FAR to coincidental if it’s a free choice that those are the exact cards bookending the span he collects elsewhere in the trick. I can’t believe it’s a free choice. ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/117 "2019-07-30T06:38:19Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > **Season 6, Episode 6 (July 22, 2019)** > > Sebastien Dethise: Herbert and Alyson the Duck (vaudeville-style routine). I’ve got to say, that’s one talented and well-trained duck! According to Penn, there was a “pair of ducks” (one real, one not so much), but I watched the ending reveal a couple of times and I still have no idea where the fuck the duck came from. I think you’re confusing two statements. There are two ducks, imo - one doing the boxwork and one always waiting in the briefcase for the final reveal. As for the comment about two things on stage seeming the same but being different, I don’t think Penn meant the ducks. He said the trick relys on the audience assuming a second thing is identical to the first one he shows the audience. I assume Penn means the two boxes - He shows box 1 to have a hollow bottom when he holds it up; I suspect box 2 where he puts the duck and it vanishes is gimicked in some way to allow him to fold it up and contain the duck in a secret compartment of some sort, and thus not the same as box 1 as the audience assumes. ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/118 "2019-07-30T06:54:29Z")
> [@kventr](#): > > I thought that the fooler act of the last episode (Rabby Yang) was the least impressive of the day. > > Thing is Alyson is never really changing the structure of the cube, he just told her to turn it around as she wishes, so there are literally just six possibilities which he of course knows by heart because he himself has prearranged the cube. So the only thing he needs is some kind of a gyroscope, or whatever the name is for the device which keeps track of an orientation using sheer gravity, and some electronic means to get this information. He only needs to know which of the six sides is facing up at the moment. > > I think it would be enough for Penn to mention “the gravity of the situation” or something like that to let the guy know he didn’t fool them. This is a great catch. I totally misunderstood (and maybe that confuses most spectators) - I understood she was asked to manipulate the faces, not just rotate the cube. That really limits the impressiveness. Still, skill or not, I didn’t find this trick to actually be very entertaining in terms of performance regardless of the magic. ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/119 "2019-07-30T07:01:17Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > I didn’t tape it so I can’t check, but my impression was that the face on the unbroken piece at the end looked different thant the one the woman drew (that was subsequently broken). Specifically, the right ear seemed more pronounced on the second glass leading me to think that it was pre-prepared to “sort of” match a general outline of a face that Teller would pick a close audience member match for. > He could expect that the woman’s drawing would follow a general outline but I have no idea how he got her signature on it. There’s absolutely no way it’s this. There is zero way to tell what she will use green or pink for - or that she would have drawn clothes over his body, or what shape she’d do his head or that she’d add pupils to the drawing. This simply is NOT a way they would have done this trick. Impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666/120 "2019-07-30T15:28:45Z")
> [@TheHYPO](#): > > This is a great catch. I totally misunderstood (and maybe that confuses most spectators) - I understood she was asked to manipulate the faces, not just rotate the cube. That really limits the impressiveness. > > Still, skill or not, I didn’t find this trick to actually be very entertaining in terms of performance regardless of the magic. It is an interesting point. He does an example for her of what he means by “turn it” behind his back - which we can’t see - so it is quite possible for him to have made it explicit to her that he meant full turns of the cube whole the audience was given to understand it to be something else based on their expectations and the ambiguity of his words allowing them to go down the wrong path. Otherwise, yeah, I would probably have to go with… Frickin’ gyroscopes! I’d be curious, for anyone who listens to Penn’s podcast, whether he guessed correctly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-new-season/835666.md?page=7)