Penn and Teller are the new Mythbusters?

Actually, that was pretty cool. Might consider a title change, gives the result away when the video itself is slightly more cagey about it.

I also chose the four of clubs. What the fuck? Need to get Penn and Teller in on this shit.

That there are two american talk show hosts called Jimmy causes a real problem for me, given that like everybody else I bet, I can't be bothered to remember which is which. Is Jimmy Kimmel the good one? Oh yeah, then Jimmy Fallon must be the worthless sack of shit.

Yeah, they used some very easy method to pull this off, no matter which way they did it. I can think of a few ways to do it. It's made incredibly easy to do, as well, due to the fact that Teller is allowed to get in it first and also that the bag never leaves it's origin (at the setup anyway--it doesn't matter after Teller is out).

I would use the "bag within a bag" type setup. Essentially when Teller gets in, there is already an opening at the bottom (with the stage sitting right there). Teller is standing on the stage, basically. With the second hole pulled up past him and cinched shut once Penn closes the other end (stopping helium from getting out).

Then they flash out the lights, and Teller merely pushes the bag off him, and making sure to cinch any slack off the bottom so it doesn't "droop" or look bigger than it should--if that was even needed (as they may have put a mild adhesive on the ground to keep the bag in place; Teller can also do it, but it's easier the other way).

It does make for a nice illusion.

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I remember a VHS tape my father owned, made by Penn & Teller to allow you to perform magic tricks with your friends. It was made way back in the early 90's and when they were doing things on Showtime, I believe. It required you to do the same thing you've just mentioned to successfully pull off the trick.

Anyway, as I just mentioned, the tricks on that VHS tape were done the same as what you described. You "must" take the word of whomever you're listening to as "the truth". Because if they do lie, about certain elements, a trick can be performed by them and you may never be able to figure out how the trick is done. Unless you realize that someone you off-handedly let tell you a "fact" and you automatically allowed this "fact" to be the truth without any scrutiny, is finally re-looked at to see if it's validity still holds up.

Penn & Teller have you perform this same "trick" or psychological manipulation in their VHS tape magic trick to use on others and as you mentioned we are assuming that Penn & Teller are indeed on the up & up when another person on their show performs a magic trick... If they lie to us, as you mentioned, a trick can automatically be accomplished since we've given Penn & Teller a "free pass" to tell us whatever they want.

As you mentioned Penn & Teller do in fact use this methodology to perform some of their tricks and as I mentioned they even sold "magic tricks" that used this very same idea to create a magic trick or an illusion. So I wouldn't put it past them that they may indeed use this same thing on their own TV show...

We just have to hope they won't.

This might interest you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y3jUoNBreE&feature=youtu.be

The harsh reality is that this is TV, and you only have the word of Penn and Teller that it's all honest and as it seems. Penn and Teller are famous for making people believe things that aren't true...

I think you're totally right. There have been a few tricks that were good, but still leave some ideas as to how they could be done, but the trick that still has me in disbelief and leaves me with zero clue as to how it was possible is this one: http://videosift.com/video/Shawn-Farquhar-s-Fantastic-Card-Trick-Fool-Us-Penn-Teller

Shawn Farquhar gets just Penn's signed card flipped reverse with all cards in new-deck order INSIDE a box and wrapped in plastic! WTF!

Penn & Teller: Fool Us // Kostya Kimlat Makes Penn Mad has been added as a related post - related requested by lucky760 on that post.

Shawn Farquhar's Fantastic Card Trick-Fool Us Penn & Teller has been added as a related post - related requested by lucky760.

So obvious when Teller reaches back and pulls it into the hat.

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I think I see how this is done. Watch at .25 speed around 3:58. As he's going through the deck, you can see he's filtering face-up cards versus face down cards. Then just before the reveal, he does a "cut" which aligns the cards. He has Penn and Tellers cars set opposite...if they went in face-up then he put them in the face-down cut, if they put it in face-down, he put it in the face-up selection. I'm surprised that they didn't realize how this was done. Pretty basic, actually. This is the phantom shuffle method.

@eric3579 Apparently, Penn/Teller confirmed on twitter that she wasn't a plant. (This from an unrelated blog post, I don't know how to find the tweet itself). Also, every participant has to tell a "judge" backstage how the trick is done, to avoid any funny business (for instance, denying that Penn & Teller's explanation is correct, even if it is).

Rubik's Cube Magician Steven Brundage fools Penn & Teller... has been added as a related post - related requested by lucky760 on that post.

All I saw was someone that had a tremendous amount of experience with Rubik's Cubes and very, very, fast sleight of hand. Some of his switch moves are incredibly fast. The best one at showing this skill is the trick @ 1:51. Penn & Teller are easily noticing the amount of sleight of hand needed to pull it off, as they clap at every one of the tricks involving not only solving the cube but also using very fast sleight of hand as well.