# Penn & Teller: Fool Us, US run on CW **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015 "2014-08-07T07:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 54
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1061 "2016-09-10T05:49:50Z")
On tonight’s episode of Masters of Illusion, Jen Kramer did a version of the Shawn Farquhar [book trick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3hw3sbVwM) from the beginning of this season, except this time she uses The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. She wasn’t wearing glasses, so there goes that theory. I kept my eye on the book the entire time, and I couldn’t see her make a switch even though she kept it very close to her hip before the reveal that it was blank. ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1062 "2016-09-10T06:08:12Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > except this time she uses The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Wait a minute. I just watched the original trick over and I see that he too used Sherlock Holmes (I thought it was something different for some reason). Not only that, but I looked at the two videos side by side and it’s the _exact same book_. Same cover, same color and everything. I think the key must lie in that book. However, in both tricks the assistants pick different page numbers containing different lines of text. Both magicians hold the book very strangely to their hips before revealing that their book is blank. I wonder if they’re sliding out a dummy pair of pages into the book cover. There’s got to be some kind of switch happening. I’m upset that this trick still eludes me. ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1063 "2016-09-10T08:26:06Z")
S03E11 **Christopher Tracy and Jim Leach:** aka Hal & Kellar. An iPad in a prediction envelope is not exactly impressive, but I guess the real trick lies in the way the cards were shuffled. A quick search on Simon Aronson pulled up this [result](http://www.falseshuffle.com/card-tricks/shuffle-bored). **Neil Croswell:** Girl in the red and blue dress. Penn mentions Jim Steinmeyer in reference to how he made the girl disappear (even with 360 camera view), but if she wasn’t wearing the striped dress underneath her clothes, what exactly was the alternative that Teller drew? **Ben Young:** Predicting the eggshell. I think Ben fidgeting with the phone ahead of time (and miming the selfie) telegraphed what he was doing. I looked up Teller’s “toxic” hint and came across this [iteration](http://forums.webosnation.com/hp-touchpad/303907-cool-magic-trick-you-can-do-built-calculator.html) of the [trick](https://snapguide.com/guides/do-a-psychic-magic-trick-with-iphone-calculator/print) (+ 0 x). The egg was a nice touch. **Henok:** The exotic ethnic guy. I’m getting tired of tricks with a “prediction envelope” punchline because it seems like there’s only one or two methods and it’s always done the same way. That being said, I don’t know exactly how confabulation works, but I agree with Penn that its presentation was well done. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1064 "2016-09-10T10:18:38Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > Wait a minute. I just watched the original trick over and I see that he too used Sherlock Holmes (I thought it was something different for some reason). Not only that, but I looked at the two videos side by side and it’s the _exact same book_. Same cover, same color and everything. I think the key must lie in that book. However, in both tricks the assistants pick different page numbers containing different lines of text. Both magicians hold the book very strangely to their hips before revealing that their book is blank. I wonder if they’re sliding out a dummy pair of pages into the book cover. There’s got to be some kind of switch happening. > > I’m upset that this trick still eludes me. A) I think what may be telling is that Farquhar’s glasses can be seen in some shots to be \*not \*lens-free – is there the same glasses gag in Kramer’s version? B) Otherwise, you know “the blank deck” effect? It’s possible his book is just a version of that trick. ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1065 "2016-09-10T10:45:43Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](#): > > A) I think what may be telling is that Farquhar’s glasses can be seen in some shots to be \*not \*lens-free – is there the same glasses gag in Kramer’s version? She doesn’t use glasses at all. I think Shawn’s joke (“This was a lot easier when I was younger”) may be more truthful than we realize and he actually did need the glasses to read whatever small print he may have been reading off of. (He then pops out the lenses at the end in order to make another joke/gigantic misdirect.) The following was posted earlier in the thread and I think it’s the best lead we have. It’s entirely possible there may have been a small notecard hidden in there with code. I still think there’s also something very particular about that book (such as repeated pages or passages) since they always pick different areas of the page to read from. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > I think we’re way overcomplicating Farquhar’s trick. > > He doesn’t have a full copy of the book to work with. It’s not like he says to the audience member “pick a paragraph, and I’ll read the first sentence” - he has facts about each page that are meant to look random but are actually an exact pattern. “There are 7 paragraphs. The fourth paragraph starts with the words \_\_\_, right?” > > So all he needs is a small amount of information like > > 134: 7p. p3=“The clues of the case” > > for each page. Then whatever page she turns to, he can consult the little fact he has about that page. If he uses a coded shorthand system, and writes in small print, you could easily fit a bunch of facts about the entire book on something smaller than a notecard. The glasses may actually be relevant in that they’re magnifying glasses to read such a note. > > So the book is legitimately blank and can be examined. At some point he pulls some sort of card or something like that out of somewhere, places it in the book (so he can read it while he pretends to be reading the book), and then make it disappear at some later point. Boom, you have little factoids you can read out about every page, anyone can examine the books, and all you have to do is some very basic sleight of hand with a little notecard. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1066 "2016-09-10T11:03:11Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > The following was posted earlier in the thread and I think it’s the best lead we have. It’s entirely possible there may have been a small notecard hidden in there with code. I still think there’s also something very particular about that book (such as repeated pages or passages) since they always pick different areas of the page to read from. Sure, and he obliges Alyson to advance in the book and his last “read” was “the longest word in the first line of the second paragraph is WINDOW” (or some such lameness). It seems possible he has remembered a small number of facts for the last few pages, and the first several reads are simply read from a cue card (which is dumped along with the real glasses for the last read). None of that needs a particular book though. ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1067 "2016-09-10T11:25:16Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](#): > > It seems possible he has remembered a small number of facts for the last few pages, and the first several reads are simply read from a cue card (which is dumped along with the real glasses for the last read). > > None of that needs a particular book though. Yeah, that’s why I found it strange that both acts were using the exact same book. That’s the one that Farquhar [sells](http://www.palmermagic.com/shop/shawn-farquhar-sheer-luck-the-comedy-book-test/), apparently. (There are a couple of other videos of the same technique on that site.) Farquhar denies there was any memory technique used in it either (“I can’t remember my phone number”) which is the technicality on which he fooled them. So I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1068 "2016-09-10T11:44:31Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > **Ben Young:** Predicting the eggshell. I think Ben fidgeting with the phone ahead of time (and miming the selfie) telegraphed what he was doing. I looked up Teller’s “toxic” hint and came across this [iteration](http://forums.webosnation.com/hp-touchpad/303907-cool-magic-trick-you-can-do-built-calculator.html) of the [trick](https://snapguide.com/guides/do-a-psychic-magic-trick-with-iphone-calculator/print) (+ 0 x). Also, even without knowing _how_ he’s doing it, it’s obvious _that_ he’s doing it. After all, we see that Penn’s number ended in ‘6’; and we see that Teller’s number ended in ‘6’, so multiplying them together gets you a big number that ends in ‘6’; and we don’t get to see Alyson’s number, but there are only ten options: - it ends in ‘1’, so the final number should end in ‘6’; - it ends in ‘2’, so the final number should end in ‘2’; - it ends in ‘3’, so the final number should end in ‘8’; - it ends in ‘4’, so the final number should end in ‘4’; - it ends in ‘5’, so the final number should end in ‘0’; - it ends in ‘6’, so the final number should end in ‘6’; - it ends in ‘7’, so the final number should end in ‘2’; - it ends in ‘8’, so the final number should end in ‘8’; - it ends in ‘9’, so the final number should end in ‘4’; - it ends in ‘0’, so the final number should end in ‘0’. Unless my math is off, what he’s doing is clear once we get a number ending in ‘3’. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1069 "2016-09-10T11:53:32Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Also, even without knowing _how_ he’s doing it, it’s obvious _that_ he’s doing it. After all, we see that Penn’s number ended in ‘6’; and we see that Teller’s number ended in ‘6’, so multiplying them together gets you a big number that ends in ‘6’; and we don’t get to see Alyson’s number, but there are only ten options: > > - it ends in ‘1’, so the final number should end in ‘6’; > - it ends in ‘2’, so the final number should end in ‘2’; > - it ends in ‘3’, so the final number should end in ‘8’; > - it ends in ‘4’, so the final number should end in ‘4’; > - it ends in ‘5’, so the final number should end in ‘0’; > - it ends in ‘6’, so the final number should end in ‘6’; > - it ends in ‘7’, so the final number should end in ‘2’; > - it ends in ‘8’, so the final number should end in ‘8’; > - it ends in ‘9’, so the final number should end in ‘4’; > - it ends in ‘0’, so the final number should end in ‘0’. > > Unless my math is off, what he’s doing is clear once we get a number ending in ‘3’. Wow, that’s a long way of saying that the product of an even number and any other number is always even. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1070 "2016-09-10T12:36:52Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](#): > > Wow, that’s a long way of saying that the product of an even number and any other number is always even. Well, yeah, granted. But (a) I’m not _wrong,_ and (b) as it happens, I _did_ simply run through all ten possibilities before he moved to the next step in the trick. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1071 "2016-09-11T02:50:05Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > **Henok:** The exotic ethnic guy. I’m getting tired of tricks with a “prediction envelope” punchline because it seems like there’s only one or two methods and it’s always done the same way. That being said, I don’t know exactly how confabulation works, but I agree with Penn that its presentation was well done. You can see that all the predictions (ethnicity, restaurant, nickname) were confined to the bottom right quarter of the letter - he had it folded up on his board the whole time and wrote them down as they were given out, then through a bit of sleight of hand made it look like he removed it from the envelope, and let Alyson unfold and read it. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1072 "2016-09-11T02:52:22Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > **Neil Croswell:** Girl in the red and blue dress. Penn mentions Jim Steinmeyer in reference to how he made the girl disappear (even with 360 camera view), but if she wasn’t wearing the striped dress underneath her clothes, what exactly was the alternative that Teller drew? My guess is that the dress is prepositioned so that she slips into it as she slips into her hiding place? ---
**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:** [September 11, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1073 "2016-09-11T04:47:31Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > My guess is that the dress is prepositioned so that she slips into it as she slips into her hiding place? Maybe. She could have had it on under her shirt when they started. Another example of why I hate stage magic. It was boring, and what was the magic supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1074 "2016-09-11T04:57:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Maybe. She could have had it on under her shirt when they started. Penn’s explanation seemed to indicate she did not start out wearing the dress under her clothes - I _think_ the impressive part of the trick was supposed to be how she got changed with so little room to work with. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1075 "2016-09-11T05:05:52Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Penn’s explanation seemed to indicate she did not start out wearing the dress under her clothes - I _think_ the impressive part of the trick was supposed to be how she got changed with so little room to work with. There was room for a herd of miniature donkeys inside that table. And there was plenty of time while she was still in the box. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_Sweden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Duke\_Sweden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_Sweden)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1076 "2016-09-11T19:10:47Z")
Anybody seen this Penn and Teller parody? It’s not Second City quality but I thought it was pretty funny. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyTt4\_p5gs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyTt4_p5gs) ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1077 "2016-09-12T12:00:27Z")
> [@Duke\_Sweden](#): > > Anybody seen this Penn and Teller parody? It’s not Second City quality but I thought it was pretty funny. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyTt4\_p5gs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyTt4_p5gs) What the fuck did I just watch? Speaking of which, did anyone see Penn’s cameo on The Eric Andre Show this week? I couldn’t find a video, but here’s a [gif](https://giphy.com/gifs/l2SpK4nCz5auHS1Ik). ---
**Author:** ![numeroussyrup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@numeroussyrup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/numeroussyrup)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1078 "2016-09-14T10:48:03Z")
Calculator trick bothers me because I had a background in math. Any number times an even number is always even yet his number is odd. Too easy to work out it is preplanned. However the punchline doesnt work otherwise. But glad to see writing words with numbers is still a thing. I remember there was some rhyme you did to get 55378008 as a kid. Earlier I said I liked stage magic, but this act was just dull. I enjoy the spectacle, dramatic lighting, and theatrics. This just didn’t do it for me. Although I did like the 360 view. The Penn and Teller parody guys were great. P&T would be a completely different act if Teller were the speaker and Penn was silent. Nifty trick though. The hunter bit is a bit I’ve never quite understood. It’s on the P&T Don’t Try This At Home special but I never quite got it. Penn has talked a lot about art and stuff but this one I just don’t quite get. However the ending here is way better. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1079 "2016-09-15T00:28:06Z")
Brent Braun - Ouch! Even I saw the deck fall out of his pants! Still not a bad trick, though. ---
**Author:** ![Boot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Boot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1080 "2016-09-15T01:30:46Z")
Calculator trick… the note Teller showed him at the end said “toxic”, or something like that. Emphasis on the “tox” (+0x). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015.md?page=53) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015.md?page=55)