# 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:** 55
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1081 "2016-09-15T03:29:08Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Brent Braun - Ouch! Even I saw the deck fall out of his pants! Still not a bad trick, though. Yeah, I wasn’t even paying very close attention and that seemed like a really obvious force (of the deck) right away. Still a good trick, and would have been just fine without the deck-toss, but pretty obvious if you know some card techniques. ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1082 "2016-09-15T09:37:06Z")
S03E12 **Joseph Reohm:** Colorful wine glasses. Fun to watch, but Penn nailed him on all counts. I couldn’t tell you how any of it was done. How did he keep the glass levitated? (It showed it from side-view and I didn’t see anything holding it.) **Brent Braun:** I watched the deck toss several times and still couldn’t catch him dropping the deck. Even so, I don’t see how he arrived at the right card at the end. Couldn’t the guy have named any number? **Chris Rose:** Simon says. I found this really entertaining because of Teller and Alyson’s reactions. I went back after Penn declared he had “fooled” them and saw Chris sneak another cookie in his mouth via the napkin. Really obvious once you know what to look for. I don’t know how Teller could have thought it was the same cookie because he had doused the first one in milk and the second one was almost completely dry (except for saliva). **Charles Bach:** Popping balloons. I thought he might have had a bike pump under his sleeve or something, but that doesn’t explain how the balloon floated in the end. I’m curious what Teller said to him after Charles said “There is no helium tank.” ---
**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 15, 2016, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1083 "2016-09-15T11:00:58Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > **Chris Rose:** Simon says. I found this really entertaining because of Teller and Alyson’s reactions. I went back after Penn declared he had “fooled” them and saw Chris sneak another cookie in his mouth via the napkin. Really obvious once you know what to look for. The hilarious part is, Penn apparently figured, _I see that Teller can almost pocket the cookie in his mouth, and you’ve got a bigger mouth than he does, so, yeah; I guess you’re just doing something that other people can do, because you’ve practiced it and have a big mouth._ And the reply was, _nope, fooled you!_ Can you imagine that happening every week? Someone performs a mundane feat that a juggler or contortionist or whatever can duplicate with ordinary skill – and Penn of course mentions it, only to be told, _nope, I used a trick!_ “I liked the bit where you flipped the bottle around, like Tom Cruise in COCKTAIL.” “He was good at that! I’m not! [jazz hands] MAGIC! [/jazz hands]” ---
**Author:** ![numeroussyrup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@numeroussyrup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/numeroussyrup)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1084 "2016-09-15T14:31:02Z")
Wine glasses guy was good even if you know the moves. The glasses had tops of them and were divided into halves for the colour changes. Still I liked it. Very theatric. Deck guy has the really obvious dropped deck. There must be a better way to do that? So it’s a rigged deck in some way but I have no clue how he gets to the right number. The cookie guy was really neat. I liked the routine although I dunno how P&T missed the napkin. Probably just over thinking it. I loved the popping balloon guy. Not a clue on how he did it. Looking at how he rips the box, it looks like it has no back but how he gets the balloon inflated I haven’t the foggiest. P&T do the classic newspaper rip. Mostly just an excuse for Penn to probably comment on the news of the day. ---
**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 15, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1085 "2016-09-15T14:46:43Z")
I liked seeing the wine glasses, once upon a time commonly done, not seem much anymore. The balloons have me stumped at the moment, but even P&T had to guess to get it. The card guy did his thing well but it was rather obvious that it was a force. Still, as P&T said he really did get to the audience with it. ---
**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 15, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1086 "2016-09-15T15:19:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The balloons have me stumped at the moment, but even P&T had to guess to get it. I’m just guessing, but – there’s no obvious reason _not_ to give the balloon to Teller, right? Sure, he cuts it loose so it can float up to the ceiling and show that it is in fact a float-up-to-the-ceiling balloon, but handing it over would’ve done that too. So he presumably didn’t want them inspecting that balloon, or what trails from it. Here’s where I maybe go wrong: if the box had various balloons, which got remotely deflated one-by-one during the trick, then it’s the work of a moment to, like, fasten the sticky end of the ‘leash’ to the one balloon left – and show it from a distance before snipping to send the balloon and part of the ‘leash’ away. We know he can remotely deflate balloons; we see him _do_ it, during the trick. If the deflated ones are stuck to the inside of one of the box’s flat pieces at the end, would we see them? If he palmed the empties when reaching in for the inflated one, would we see _that?_ (If he had a hidden helium tank like P&T first assumed, wouldn’t he still have to palm the right empty one in, or palm the wrong empty one out – or have the empty ones hidden by an uninspected flat piece, at the end?) Like I said, I’m not sure about the rest – but why else snip the ‘leash’? If you didn’t _need_ to snip the leash, then why the heck would you do it? ---
**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 15, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1087 "2016-09-15T15:47:08Z")
Yes, I’m sure cutting the string was important, or not. I began to think there were multiple concentric balloons and he pops the outer ones until he gets to the right color somehow, have to logic it out when I’m not busy. Reminds of P&T trick with Teller in a big bag they fill with helium and he steps out of the bag without bursting it. Of course there are two bags, the inner one gets filled with helium, Teller only has to step out from the outer one and it still looks inflated. Anyway, clever trick, and there aren’t many P&T have never seen before. Also baffled by cookie guy, how could they miss the napkin? I guess they stopped looking after he spit out the milk, they thought the act was over. ---
**Author:** ![HammerJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@HammerJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HammerJoe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1088 "2016-09-16T01:29:39Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > S03E12 > **Chris Rose:** Simon says. I found this really entertaining because of Teller and Alyson’s reactions. I went back after Penn declared he had “fooled” them and saw Chris sneak another cookie in his mouth via the napkin. Really obvious once you know what to look for. I don’t know how Teller could have thought it was the same cookie because he had doused the first one in milk and the second one was almost completely dry (except for saliva). I watched the napkin part again and I think you are right about the napkin, but Teller was looking right at him, there is no way he would’ve not see him put the cookie in his mouth. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1089 "2016-09-16T01:32:12Z")
> [@HammerJoe](#): > > I watched the napkin part again and I think you are right about the napkin, but Teller was looking right at him, there is no way he would’ve not see him put the cookie in his mouth. Rewatched. He just popped it in with the napkin. They just missed it. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1090 "2016-09-16T01:56:21Z")
I guess the guy had the nail up in there the whole time? ---
**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:** [September 16, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1091 "2016-09-16T02:19:29Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > I guess the guy had the nail up in there the whole time? Yeah, I guess. Just a sinus thing. ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1092 "2016-09-16T06:05:13Z")
> [@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? > > B) Otherwise, you know “the blank deck” effect? It’s possible his book is just a version of that trick. We talked about Farquhar’s trick at length earlier. #1, he sells the trick which is how she and others have the same Holmes book. #2, my recollection is that the multi-page thread on a magic site about the trick indicates that you require nothing more than the book to perform the trick. ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1093 "2016-09-16T06:13:27Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > 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). Yep, just another seemingly amazing trick that just comes down to math/a certain permutations of moves. > [@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? Penn said some word (“under-dressed”) that suggested to me that the assistant was wearing the blue and red dress under her original outfit. I assume the drawing has to do with where the assistant went during the trick (was she once again under the floor, or is there something else to this particular trick?) > [@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). The egg was a nice touch. He worked too hard to prep Penn’s phone. Particularly the selfie that didn’t come into play. Not sure why he had to go landscape (the scientific calculator shouldn’t be any more useful than the regular one for this trick). Since the final number is “eggshells” (577345663) every time, the fix is clearly in. P&Ts fixation on non-random numbers (when he asked for random to obviously make his manipulation less obvious) makes it easier to spot since the number he ends up with isn’t divisible by 666 or 6666. As you point out, via one method or another, he pre-programmed the calculator so that their inputs wouldn’t matter. > [@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. I hear you on prediction people, but he was good. He was pretty good at hiding it, but he held his clipboard very close to his waist and himself at all times which was suspicious. The final paper clearly had the responses penciled in in a messier handwriting afterwards (obviously because he was writing them down while standing on his clipboard. I didn’t see the move to slip the prediction into the envelope, but that’s a minor triviality. ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1094 "2016-09-16T06:29:40Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > S03E12 > > **Joseph Reohm:** Colorful wine glasses. Fun to watch, but Penn nailed him on all counts. I couldn’t tell you how any of it was done. How did he keep the glass levitated? (It showed it from side-view and I didn’t see anything holding it.) I was very impressed. I love this kind of stuff because I know there are moves and I can often see some of them (see him holding the rim of a glass under his napkin, but still impresses what ends up coming out from underneath. I can’t tell you much on technique but I don’t care. Impressive physical skill. Penn referenced a turntable as at least one relevant method. I’m sure the various techniques involved here are well decorated. > [@cluck](#): > > **Brent Braun:** I watched the deck toss several times and still couldn’t catch him dropping the deck. Even so, I don’t see how he arrived at the right card at the end. Couldn’t the guy have named any number? The deck toss was an obvious ploy to suggest free choice, but to really succeed, he’d have had to ask Penn to select a deck from the stage. One does not go through all that effort to distribute dozens of decks that the audience randomizes unless you’re overcompensating to try to prove that a non-random deck is a random deck. Penn references “in decks” i.e. an index, so the suggestion is that after she mentioned the name of the card, he planted the correct card out of an index? I’m not sure why he needed a planted deck for this trick or an index. She had him re-cut the cards, so it doesn’t seem like a force (unless he had multiple outs), so I’m a touch confused. > [@cluck](#): > > **Chris Rose:** Simon says. I found this really entertaining because of Teller and Alyson’s reactions. I went back after Penn declared he had “fooled” them and saw Chris sneak another cookie in his mouth via the napkin. Really obvious once you know what to look for. I don’t know how Teller could have thought it was the same cookie because he had doused the first one in milk and the second one was almost completely dry (except for saliva). This one was most disappointing. A truly obvious method that P&T just missed because they weren’t expecting there to be another move. Had they known there’d be a trick there, they’ve have caught it without a doubt. > [@cluck](#): > > **Charles Bach:** Popping balloons. I thought he might have had a bike pump under his sleeve or something, but that doesn’t explain how the balloon floated in the end. I’m curious what Teller said to him after Charles said “There is no helium tank.” Love this trick. Did he have an assistant popping the self-popping balloons backstage? Penn suggests free choice, so is it coincidence that the first balloon popped was uneventful and that all the subsequent ones have gimmicks? (the ungimmicked one would logically be the first). Teller had the option to pick from two and he could have popped the orange one no matter what Penn said. Charles told him to pick one for Teller. If Penn picked yellow, he could have said "you picked the yellow one for teller, so let’s get rid of the orange one. His comment about a heliuim tank suggests that perhaps there are 9 balloons in the box and somehow the relevant coloured one was inflated at the last minute and attached to string (again, teller felt an inflated balood before the trick though). Trap door in the table and an assistant underneath loads the relevant balloon into the box from below?) ---
**Author:** ![TheHYPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@TheHYPO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHYPO)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1095 "2016-09-16T06:33:28Z")
> [@numeroussyrup](#): > > guy was really neat. I liked the routine although I dunno how P&T missed the napkin. Probably just over thinking it. They didn’t expect a trick to occur and so weren’t looking for a move at that moment. The genius of the trick (I didn’t love this guy’s performance style at all btw) was that the load was in a napkin and the wiping his mouth with the napkin after spitting milk was a very honest and believable move that wouldn’t strike anyone as done for a magic purpose, but just to wipe his mouth. Most magic moves are spotted because there’s no good reason for the move (hand in pocket or behind back - no reason for your hand to be there). The napkin was totally natural to use at that moment because of the milk spit. ---
**Author:** ![numeroussyrup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@numeroussyrup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/numeroussyrup)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1096 "2016-09-16T08:17:20Z")
> [@TheHYPO](#): > > They didn’t expect a trick to occur and so weren’t looking for a move at that moment. The genius of the trick (I didn’t love this guy’s performance style at all btw) was that the load was in a napkin and the wiping his mouth with the napkin after spitting milk was a very honest and believable move that wouldn’t strike anyone as done for a magic purpose, but just to wipe his mouth. Most magic moves are spotted because there’s no good reason for the move (hand in pocket or behind back - no reason for your hand to be there). The napkin was totally natural to use at that moment because of the milk spit. I would agree with you, but Teller is looking right at the guy as he does it. Given how observant P&T are, you would think that this should send huge signals. His style was a bit dry but the routine is great. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “follow me” type routine before and I think it’s a great idea. Really can have fun with people with a bit of magic. ---
**Author:** ![cluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluck)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1097 "2016-09-16T09:00:19Z")
> [@numeroussyrup](#): > > I would agree with you, but Teller is looking right at the guy as he does it. Given how observant P&T are, you would think that this should send huge signals. This is the [moment](https://s9.postimg.io/4k7l0kesv/tell.png) where it happens. Teller was so busy hamming up his performance at the milk gag, he didn’t even notice the load (or see it coming). He looks away right as Chris brings the napkin down (and we can clearly see he’s holding something in his mouth). _Missed it by that much_. ---
**Author:** ![numeroussyrup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@numeroussyrup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/numeroussyrup)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1098 "2016-09-16T14:46:39Z")
> [@cluck](#): > > This is the [moment](https://s9.postimg.io/4k7l0kesv/tell.png) where it happens. Teller was so busy hamming up his performance at the milk gag, he didn’t even notice the load (or see it coming). He looks away right as Chris brings the napkin down (and we can clearly see he’s holding something in his mouth). _Missed it by that much_. I wonder what Penn was looking at. But given the name of the show, the milk gag most likely fooled both of them, so that counts right? ---
**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 16, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1099 "2016-09-16T15:12:30Z")
> [@numeroussyrup](#): > > I wonder what Penn was looking at. But given the name of the show, the milk gag most likely fooled both of them, so that counts right? Not that type of fooling. It’s not a matter of them knowing what happens next. They knew how he did the milk thing after it was done. ---
**Author:** ![allenhuffman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/allenhuffman/32/10361_2.png) [@allenhuffman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allenhuffman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015/1100 "2016-09-16T16:48:11Z")
Unlurking for a moment … We did calculator gags like this when I was in high school (oh, so long ago). Calculators have a memory store/memory recall button. You can enter a number, and retrieve it with a button press. To recreate the trick, all you would have to do when you borrow the phone is enter the final result and store it. Then, you do the two random number things, and then when the last number is entered, you’d do the memory recall to display the pre-stored number. Had P&T chosen “random” numbers like “10000” and “10” it would have been very obvious, since there is no way a 2 digit number would not end in 00000 😉 Since we don’t know what number she selected, no one is the wiser. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015.md?page=54) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penn-teller-fool-us-us-run-on-cw/695015.md?page=56)