Salzmank

OK, if no one minds my starting this one off... I did enjoy this episode, but somewhat less than the others this season. The monkey was fun, even if I spent the whole time wondering just how much training that poor monkey had to go through. Is the trick original? I think so, and I give Sean-Paul and Juliana credit for that, but I didn't think it was going to fool Penn and Teller, and it didn't. I wasn't quite sure what Andrews was going for. Is "walking on the broken bottles" even a trick? Penn said they're real bottles, but are there certain areas in the "walk" where he can put his feet? One criterion I have for magic is that it feels magical, even if I know how it was done. That's wildly subjective, of course, but I usually ask myself, "Is this something incredible?" Even for P&T's "debunkings" of well-known tricks, the skill still makes it feel "magical." All that is to say that I didn't find Andrews' trick all that magical or wonderful. Ehh was pretty much my reaction. I appreciate that the glass-walking takes undeniable talent, though. Call me crazy ("you're crazy, Salzmank!"), but I didn't like Mead all that much. The patter made him seem full-of-himself and cocky; the trophy may well be a "respect fooler," but then I didn't think he should have led in with the "90-10" comment. As Penn said, that doesn't have anything to do with Fool Us; the 90% was all that was necessary for showing that he didn't fool them, but by leading off with that cocky comment he ended up getting the trophy anyway as a form of insurance. ("Heh, heh--are you disingenuous enough to claim I didn't fool you? Because, if you're not, then you'd give me that trophy.") It was a grand piece of magic, but I couldn't stand the act. I happily admit that many others may have the complete opposite reaction, but I stand by what I felt. Oddly enough, Reza was my favorite magician this episode, which I wasn't expecting. I thought the trick was tons of fun, and--though I knew some of what happened--I'm more than happy to admit that it fooled me. (Take that, Eric Mead! Even a layman who knows something will admit that he's fooled in general! ;) ) The "national magic trick" is an old P&T routine, and it's fine, but it felt a weak way to end the episode. Even if my guess if wrong, it didn't feel satisfying, and I think that's a very important part of magic, whether or not one was "fooled." (Perhaps that's what I really meant in all my comments about wonder and "magic" in Andrews' performance.)

Do you mean the one where they're (supposedly) in giant inflatables of themselves? I thought they've been doing that for a while. I think it's highly entertaining too.

@rmontro, I was thinking the same thing. It seemed like they knew exactly how it was done, and I was surprised by the "fooler" they gave him. I'd say it was a respect fooler again. I too thought that McBride had been on the show before, but apparently not, according to Wikipedia and to every other source I can find. Was there someone a great deal like him? Remarkable that we both thought the same thing here--a magic trick! ;) I liked Watkins' trick a lot--sort of wonderment that appeals to me--even if I've seen that sort of thing before. I wasn't all that impressed with Li except for his confidence for his age, and what happened with the Sergio Starman/Steve Marshall swap?

Just finished it. Great episode. I hated Sperry's act so much--obvious, gross-out trick that only succeeded in annoying me--that I went into Parent's trick in a bad mood, just to be absolutely dumbfounded. I tend to dislike "big, illusion-y" tricks, especially in regards to this show, so this one--taking out most of the ways he could have done it--was a pure delight. To put it simply, Parent was excellent... ...as were the other two performers. Phan was a hoot--Glasgow, Vietnam!--and his trick involved, as he said, the magic of childhood wonder. Beautiful. I thought Forget superb. I guessed parts of it, but who cares?--there was also a sense of childlike wonder, and pure joy. Great to see Piff again on this show--the final routine was hilarious. I wish Sperry weren't in it, but this episode was otherwise brilliant.

OK, swell. In that case, it'll be on around here tonight.

It also says it's Ep. 7, and that the magicians are Berdini, Markson, etc. Were those the magicians? I apologize; it's just that between the baseball-bumping and the lack of a thread for "Something Fishy...," I'm confused about what was/will be aired when.

@Charlesman Yes, I can understand that, but was it the sixth or seventh episode that aired last night? We haven't seen the sixth ("Something Fishy This Way Comes"), which was supposed to air last night and has been moved to tonight, or the seventh ("A Big Round of Applause for Alyson").

@marketdoctor This episode has aired? I thought the sixth episode was supposed to come on last night, but it was bumped to tonight for a baseball game. I'm a bit confused--did I miss something?

What you said! Seriously, I was delighted that P&T's trick was so good, in light of what you and I have discussed, and I completely agree about the Magic Circle tie-in's superfluousness (Penn seems unable to resist getting digs in at "stuck up" magicians). Ditto for Alyson, whose hosting has improved greatly this season. I agree with everyone that this was a good episode, but I thought all the good stuff was in the second half of the episode. I wasn't fond of Staats and Sinclair's tricks at all--which also made me wonder, has anyone with a persona won? Shin Lim, yes, but I can't remember anyone else, and Lim's is restrained (possibly the only part of his act that warrants that adjective!). Piff the Magic Dragon was hilarious, but he was not a "fooler"; the foolers that come immediately to my mind--Shawn Farquhar and Kostya Kimlat--didn't use elaborate personas. Neither did Richard Bellars, Nick Einhorn, Mathieu Bich... Wikipedia informs me that "Handsome Jack" won (I'd forgotten him), and he definitely had a persona. There are a few others, I now see, but--on the whole--I think the best "foolers" just go out there, present the trick, and let it do all the work of entertaining. Anyhoo, does anyone know what's happening with the episode order? I don't see Ep. 6 on here--it was moved to tonight because of a baseball game.

Anyone interested in posting favorite episodes? Death in Paradise is one of my favorite current programs. Top 10 "Wicked Wedding Night" "Ye of Little Faith" "Stab in the Dark" "Predicting a Murder" "Death of a Detective" "Death in Paradise" "A Deadly Party" "Missing a Body?" "A Deadly Curse" "Political Suicide"

Poole was my favorite of the DIs as well. I liked Kris Marshall well enough (and haven't seen enough of Ardal O'Hanlon really to form a judgment), but I think the fundamental raison d'être of the series--uptight British copper in laid-back island paradise--was lost when Miller left. I thought the episode was very cleverly plotted, but I can't stand the way in which they did that either. It was a strange choice to make artistically, to say the least.

Thanks for the clip; it was more impressive there, as you say, but I'm still not very fond of it. I like their "exposés that aren't really exposés" routines (of which the cups and balls is probably the best), but here there's no real reason for the majority of the audience to doubt that it's an expose, and I think that's necessary. What you suggested in the "how were the tricks done?" thread would help the trick immeasurably. I wish they'd gone with something like that--or maybe he can't do the fan and ends up dropping it? Teller freaks out in the studio, and Penn tries to cover it up--but somehow the computer program "gets it" anyway? I think rmonto's solution would be correct earlier in the program, but now the show does demand it, as they've done one every week so far, and it would seem to be admitting a lack of material if they just stopped now (or even between seasons). I'm reading the possible solutions in the "how was it done" folder right now.

Thanks for letting me know the background, Amarsir. Much appreciated. Let me clarify that I don't mind at all if Penn and Teller do "non-tricks," or tricks that are only for the volunteer. Their knife-throwing routine is a definite favorite, and I always like "Blast Off" and the cups and balls. Simply put, though, this last "non-trick" seemed a bit of a mess. Was it for the couple? Fooling us by pretending it's a computer program that does the work (what I'm thinking, but then there's no "reveal")? I'm looking around for the SNL clip and will let you know when I find it. Thanks again.

Ah, did he? For some reason I thought he said he hadn't done a force at all. I'll have to take another look at it, then. I was equally confused by P&T's "trick." I'll expand on this in my response to Amarsir, but I don't mind its not being a trick, I just didn't like this particular effect. And I'm still wondering if they're running out of material. Thanks!

Apologies if I use my first post here to jump right in, but I saw this episode last night and greatly enjoyed it. On the whole, I am finding this season superior to the last; I particularly like how the majority of magicians (Shin Lim notwithstanding) this season are doing a single trick, rather than a panoply of effects. I thought Johnson very good. I guessed the gimmick a few seconds before Penn explained it (I'm not surprised Johnson didn't know Seven Keys to Baldpate--my God, there's an oblique reference!), but that was irrelevant at least to me: he did a first-class, suspenseful, fun water-tank routine. I underestimated Tieber until he said that he hadn't used a force. As is, I'm still not wild about his act (for whatever reason), but the trick is impressive, and it certainly fooled me. Fields was fine, and the trick fun. I'm no magician (merely an amateur who likes this stuff), so I didn't guess the secret to his trick at first, but with Penn's reference I think I have the gist of it. I liked Jessica Jane Peterson as well--I knew how she did both parts of her trick very quickly, but the routine was well-done and great fun. The biggest problem, I thought, has to do with P&T themselves. I know I'm not the first to say this, but are they running out of tricks? They've used all their "classic" routines, along with several from TV specials. This episode's "trick" was a joke: what can they have left? Has Penn ever mentioned this on his podcast?