Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Discuss the latest news and rumors in the magic world.
User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4770
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby erdnasephile » August 1st, 2014, 8:58 am

Just caught the US premiere of "Fool Us" a couple of days ago.

I thought it was interesting and fun. The magician contestant I thought was the best was Mathieu Bich with his "Spreadwave". (Very clever gag with the box--although there sure was a lot of fiddling with the deck prior to the revelation).

The rest seemed to come with mostly variations of standard plots/effects. P & T closed with their card stab, which isn't amongst my favorites of their routines--sometimes the presentation just seemed to come across as a little condescending towards the audience. However, in fairness, the audience seemed to like it.

Question for those that saw the UK version: was this episode edited a lot for the US format or was it pretty much the same?

(PS: USAtoday reviewed the show as "mildly amusing" ;) )

Tom Moore
Posts: 635
Joined: February 7th, 2012, 6:45 pm
Location: Europe
Contact:

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby Tom Moore » August 1st, 2014, 11:37 am

What you're getting in the states is a "remix" of the uk version - you'll notice they don't mention in the show any of the other acts other than at the end when they sum up who "fooled them" - partly because although the original filming was done "as live" the shows were broadcast using a mixture of acts from different filming dates to ensure each episode was balanced; during filming some episodes had multiple acts doing the same genre, no winners, etc.

So yes, the acts are the same, the results are the same but the order in which you see them is different to the order they were broadcast in the uk or other international versions.
"Ingenious" - Ben Brantley: New York Times

thomasmoorecreative

MJLauck
Posts: 31
Joined: July 7th, 2014, 1:17 am
Favorite Magician: Harry Anderson
Location: St. Louis, MO
Contact:

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby MJLauck » August 2nd, 2014, 6:01 am

I believe that the first episode in the original UK release also ran over an hour, too. CW is leaning on it rather heavily as they ran the same episode twice in three days!
Michael L.

If you could really perform magic, would you be more like Merlin or Superman?

PapaG
Posts: 241
Joined: March 13th, 2008, 2:57 pm

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby PapaG » August 2nd, 2014, 10:00 am

I can't stand it. Reduces magic to a puzzle.

User avatar
mrgoat
Posts: 4242
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Brighton, UK
Contact:

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby mrgoat » August 2nd, 2014, 10:05 am

PapaG wrote:I can't stand it. Reduces magic to a puzzle.


The folk that were on it in the UK are certainly getting mileage out of it though...

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 2nd, 2014, 12:19 pm

In the UK they might, but here in the US it won't mean anything. Appearing on the Tonight Show doesn't get you any bookings, so I'm guessing that no one will care if you fool Penn & Teller. Different cultures.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

User avatar
mrgoat
Posts: 4242
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Brighton, UK
Contact:

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby mrgoat » August 2nd, 2014, 2:10 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:Different cultures.


Thankfully.

;)

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4770
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby erdnasephile » August 7th, 2014, 10:15 pm

This week's Fool Us featured Ali Cook, Michael Vincent, John Archer, and Ben Earl.

Mr. Cook did a head transposition between a chicken and a duck. I was a little surprised when Penn exclaimed this was a trick they always wanted to see, but never had before. I'm not sure what the origin for this particular routine/method is, but the way Cook performed it, it looked a whole lot like Copperfield's "Poultry in Motion".

Michael Vincent did a very smooth set consisting of Nelson's Sleeve Aces and an involved "Cavorting Aces" routine with a killer ending. Watching him in high def, I'm just amazed at his gentle technique with cards. I couldn't even detect any trembling in his hands on the close-ups. I would love to see this guy in person someday.

John Archer performed his brilliant "Blank Night" -- hilarious! (and yes, very fooling). I can't believe he actually sells this.

Ben Earl is another amazingly skilled magician. His style isn't my particular cup of tea, but he was very effective and his character held my interest. Some might quibble with his definition of false shuffle, but ultimately, it doesn't matter, as he impressed the audience and P & T greatly.

All in all--I thought the show was very entertaining.

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 8th, 2014, 12:43 am

The switching of the heads of different colored (or types) of birds is ancient. "Poultry in Motion" was a modern version of it.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4770
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby erdnasephile » August 8th, 2014, 6:48 am

Penn credited the plot to this figure: http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Dedi

I was just curious who came up with the specific methodology used in the show. I thought I read somewhere that Doug Henning had a version that predated Copperfield (I could be wrong). Therefore, I was wondering if this particular routine was a Steinmeyer creation.

P.T.Widdle
Posts: 694
Joined: April 30th, 2008, 1:51 pm
Location: New York City

Re: Penn & Teller's Fool Us -- US broadcast

Postby P.T.Widdle » August 8th, 2014, 10:07 pm

I really like this little program. Just magic, not a lot of reality/game show filler. And I think the "Fool Us" concept, while not suitable for most TV magicians, is perfect for P&T. That said, the moments when the magicians (and sometimes the host) had to explain away P&T's guesses didn't seem quite right to me. For example, when John Archer had to deflect P&T's guess by emphatically stating that nothing was ever slipped into any of the envelopes - that moment seemed a bit off, in a way I can't quite put my finger on.
But I don't know how you get around that with this show, and I think the positives much outweigh those few weird moments.


Return to “Buzz”