Season 1: Magical London Town

[tominboston]

I just discovered this show a couple weeks ago and I am happy that I did. I love that the magicians are all really good (at least to a viewer like me who is happy to be fooled) and that there is no reliance on the sob stories or manufactured drama that have become the basis of American talent shows.

 

Piff The Magic Dragon was wonderfully goofy. I'd pay to see his full show.

 

So where was Teller hiding the coins that he produced? (Answers in the spoiler thread, please.)

[Popples]

I loved Piff the Magic Dragon, with both the "Perhaps you know my more famous brother.  Steve."  And the sneeze.  And also a well-done trick.

He was hilarious! I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at someone eating a banana. I did think the dog would factor into his actual trick, though.

 

I was disappointed that nobody fooled Penn & Teller.

[ae2]

Just discovered this show last week. Have to agree with @tominboston that I'm relieved it doesn't rely on typical American "reality show" drama. I almost wrote it off without giving it a chance, but there was little else on TV at the time.

 

Piff had some really funny stuff, but I was annoyed when he did his "sound effects" into the mic. It was somewhat amusing for about 3 seconds, then got irritating. Also, while his presentation probably works when he has more time, in this short format, I felt he was more comedian than magician. I was glad that he never broke character, though.

 

While I thoroughly enjoyed Soma, I felt that he never intended to fool Penn & Teller. His being there was more of a promo for him or a demonstration than an actual attempt at any sort of competition. (And, to be fair, P&T said that they felt his tricks were basic, run-of-the-mill stuff done incredibly well.)

 

Maybe I have missed it both weeks I've watched, but what's the end game for this show? Just the trip to Vegas and performing with P&T? Is there no second round or anything?

[Latverian Diplomat]

I'm bad with names since I only half watched, I only paid attention during the tricks.  So what was his trick (w/o explanation of how)?  Was it slight of hands?  card trick?  disappearing act? etc

Alan Hudson was the guy with the CD players. 

[marketdoctor]

 

what's the end game for this show? Just the trip to Vegas and performing with P&T?

 

Yes.  In keeping more with the British style of short-season television, there's no second round.  They might do an epilouge of the performances in Vegas (I'd like to see that, maybe with each performer doing a different trick.)

 

Although I don't want to see this show end, I'm glad that there IS a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

 

 

[FormerMod-a1]

Alan Hudson was the guy with the CD players. 

 

I don't remember a trick with CD players, so it may have been cut.  However, it may end up in another episode.  I've been told there was some similar splicing going on in earlier US episodes.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I don't remember a trick with CD players, so it may have been cut.  However, it may end up in another episode.  I've been told there was some similar splicing going on in earlier US episodes.

Right. I should have checked more carefully. David Masters' segment (flaming spike escape) wasn't aired in the UK episodes (it was a web extra there). I just watched it on youtube, and it was an improvement over the act it replaced.

 

FWIW, I tried to watch it on the CW website, but their terrible player didn't let me skip to a specific point in the episode. I tried to do that a few times, and each time it just dropped me into an endless cycle of ads--AKA the worst failure mode imaginable. :-)

[Xantar]

I just discovered this show and loved it. I love that Penn & Teller take the time to praise each act even if they weren't fooled.

 

I think this show is less of a competition and more just a showcase with a gimmick. It's incredibly hard to fool Penn & Teller, and if you think about it, the reward for doing so is not that tremendous. They get to go to Vegas and perform on stage with Penn & Teller a few times with all expenses paid. That's nice, but it's not like it's the kind of thing that makes a career. I think all the acts have already gotten their reward which is they get to showcase their talent on national TV and have two of the best magicians in the business tell the audience how good they are.

[Xantar]

There was an episode of America's Got Talent where Penn & Teller did the fake reveal of sawing a woman in half. Georgi walked on stage afterward to show that she was ok. What was really amazing was that I didn't see the part where she got out of the box. Penn & Teller were standing in front of the "corpse" talking to the host when Georgi walked in from stage left. If you look on YouTube, you can probably find that video.

[opus]

Yes. Yes you can.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJK1MfZdrNk

 

[FormerMod-a1]

Description:  magicians Lee Hathaway, Jack Taperell and Laura London try to fool the veteran duo with their own tricks.

 

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Original Airdate Info:  This looks to be at least part of S01/E08 originally aired on 2011-08-28

[Xantar]

That cut during the middle of the water tank trick was really lame. Especially since after they came back from the break, the editors felt the need to recap everything that had happened and practically replayed the whole thing up until that point anyway. Still a good trick anyway.

 

It's always great to see a female magician, but as soon as I realized Laura London was doing the money inside a nut inside a lemon trick, I knew she wasn't going to fool Penn & Teller. I don't know how it's done, but I do know it's an old classic which they would surely be familiar with.

[ae2]

I really enjoy the format of the show, mostly because it is low drama and not full of contrived rules. The magic acts are entertaining. But, and I've mentioned it before, many of the acts don't seem to actually be there to fool P&T. Reading the person's card from their body language, and the money in the fruit are both fairly common tricks with only a little added flare. Not to say they aren't fun, and they weren't done well, they just weren't done in a way to fool P&T. Maybe the game/reality/competition show format is just a cover to bring in mostly unknown magicians, and I'm fine with that.

 

We only got 3 performers in this episode, I think? Mostly because P&T went on forever, more so with that annoying Chef Ramsay style recap of everything we literally just watched. Great performance and a ton of fun, but the game show itself only lasted from thirty five minutes of the hour.

 

The kid and Laura London were both great to watch. Lee Hathaway was good, but plucked hard on one of the things about magic acts that really irritates me - a long and convoluted setup. It felt like it took him five minutes to actually get to the trick, and all the "rules" he explained were tedious. (P&T took forever, too, but they are more entertaining while taking their time.)

[marketdoctor]

I liked Laura London a lot--partly for the self-awareness that this was a classic trick and she was unlikely to fool P & T, but partly because she really committed with the free choice of lemons.  And it's a really *good* trick, and she did it well.

 

Part of the Water Tank Trick was how long it takes.  Penn and Teller have done a shorter version on Saturday Night Live (where in one of their books, they said something wasn't quite right, and Teller could have actually died), but I think they realize the longer they stretch it out, the funnier it gets.  That said, the CW should have let it run; the commerical break hurt the flow.  Usually, though, I agree that:

 

...one of the things about magic acts that really irritates me - a long and convoluted setup.

 

is the death of a potentially good trick.  One of the things that made Laura London's trick work so well was there were mini-tricks within the main trick--an egg inside the lemon, a walnut inside the egg.  There was enough magic to fil what could have been a long lull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Latverian Diplomat]

We only got 3 performers in this episode, I think? Mostly because P&T went on forever, more so with that annoying Chef Ramsay style recap of everything we literally just watched. Great performance and a ton of fun, but the game show itself only lasted from thirty five minutes of the hour.

 

  In the UK version of this show, they had a fourth act, which was a nostalgia turn for a well known TV magician there who is completely unfamiliar here (Paul Daniels, performing with his son Martin). I'm not surprised that they cut that. I'm a little surprised that they didn't have another act to cut in. Sounds like they just used an extended edit of the water tank act. I didn't see the CW edit (their website hates me) but that kind of padding is always tedious.

[opus]

Well, equal opportunity. They left Georgi dead on a different episode, so it was only fair to leave Teller dead. Nicely done Sara.

[jhlipton]

Best part of the episode:  Zara counting off the time in a rising panicky voice.

 

Laura London was indeed entertaining.  Both she and the 14-year-old were fun to watch.  I hope to see more of both of them in the future.

[FormerMod-a1]

Magicians Daniel Kramer, Gazzo, Alan Rorrison and Romany try to fool the veteran duo with their tricks.  

 

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Looks like most of this was originally aired as S01/E04 on 2011-07-09.

[Latverian Diplomat]

Gazzo is from UK episode 6.

 

There is a back story to this change, which I will put in spoiler tags

 

 I was surprised by this change, because the act removed (Richard Bellars) was a winner, and the act brought in (Gazzo) was not, and as noted by a few of us before, episodes without a winner seem a little flat. However, Bellars is now a convicted sex offender.  Click for Details. So, I doubt we will see him in the American edits.

[opus]

Read the Bellars story. Safe assumption he's "magically " off the show.

[Xantar]

Great acts in this episode! Nobody employed too much filler. They all got right on with the magic and started doing tricks as soon as reasonable. I don't know that any of them necessarily expected to fool Penn & Teller. It seemed like they were more interested in just putting on a good performance. And I for one am 100% ok with that.

 

I was fairly sure Daniel Kramer wouldn't fool Penn & Teller, but he was so darned entertaining that I didn't care. He had the showmanship and entertaining banter down pat. Although his pronunciation of the word "trick" was a little distracting.

 

Gazzo did his cups and balls trick very well although having seen Penn & Teller's clear cups version, I knew what to look for and I saw some of the times when he slipped things under the cups. I especially caught the moves when he was putting oranges under the cups. It was still great to see how delighted Penn & Teller were with his performance, though.

 

I was really rooting for Alan Rorrison because that act was amazing. It sounds like he actually fooled Penn but Teller figured it out. 

 

Romany's act was verging on a little too long for my taste, but it was the one that bewildered me the most. With all the others I could make some guess about how the trick was done, but I'm totally stumped on hers.

 

Overall, this was a very good episode for me.

[Taeolas]

Agreed, Romany's act puzzles me (and I saw it on Wizard Wars as well recently). Something about the way they're tied up is the key to the trick, but I have no clue how that would work, even with a cooperative assistant.

 

I agree few if any of them expected to honestly Fool P&T, but the chance to perform and basically be evaluated by two of the most famous and respected modern day magicians is something few would pass up.

 

Gazzo, I had a hard time telling what was intentional and what was part of the trick. There were a lot of moves that were obviously moving things around, but he did them so often I think it had to be intentional. 

 

P&T's final trick IMO isn't one of their better ones. While it is certainly entertaining to watch, the gimmick is pretty obvious.

It seems obvious Teller's hands are not really in the gloves; he gets the glasses one of the times Penn goes over to tap on the box. I tried to watch closely the first time Penn was over there but didn't notice any movements to show the pass, but I believe it was there.

Still, they are just so entertaining, I don't care if I can figure it out or not. :) 

[Kromm]

I was fairly sure Daniel Kramer wouldn't fool Penn & Teller, but he was so darned entertaining that I didn't care. He had the showmanship and entertaining banter down pat. Although his pronunciation of the word "trick" was a little distracting.

If we hadn't seen his family, I might have thought he was Wossy's kid, since he has the identical speech impediment ("twick" isn't the only word with an "R" in it he couldn't say).

 

But it kind of works with his act.  It reinforces that he's a kid, and so makes it both funnier and more amazing.

[SVNBob]

Gazzo did his cups and balls trick very well although having seen Penn & Teller's clear cups version, I knew what to look for and I saw some of the times when he slipped things under the cups. I especially caught the moves when he was putting oranges under the cups. It was still great to see how delighted Penn & Teller were with his performance, though.

While it was nice to see their reaction, I thought it was too much, and for the same reasons stated here.  Yeah, he did the trick pretty well, but some of his moves were way obvious.  Even in P&Ts version with clear cups and Penn narrating the trick the entire time, some of the moves they do are still subtle.  Gazzo was not as subtle, and very obvious in places, so I would not praise him as much as P&T did.

[theatremouse]

Yeah, Gazzo confused me because there were a few times he was doing things obviously, and then pointed out that of course that's what he did, but then there were some others that were equally obvious, and he didn't verbally draw attention to it. So I found myself wondering whether those moments were mistakes. It confused me, rather than keeping me in the magic moment. I wasn't always sure what was purposefully not stealthy. Especially some of the stuff with the wand.

[Latverian Diplomat]

 

Romany's act was verging on a little too long for my taste, but it was the one that bewildered me the most. With all the others I could make some guess about how the trick was done, but I'm totally stumped on hers.

 

Overall, this was a very good episode for me.

 

 

Agreed, Romany's act puzzles me (and I saw it on Wizard Wars as well recently). Something about the way they're tied up is the key to the trick, but I have no clue how that would work, even with a cooperative assistant.

 I don't know the details, but I think they mentioned that her trick uses the Harry Kellar knot. If you google that, I think you will eventually find an explanation. As Penn said, it used to be a staple of spiritualists. I think that the person who loses the jacket is cooperative, at least in the sense of not resisting, but that may just depend on human nature. I'm not sure though.

[FormerMod-a1]

Magicians Cubic Act, Nick Einhorn, Michael Vincent, and Morgan & West try to fool the veteran duo with their tricks and illusions.

 

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Looks like this was originally aired as S01/E05 on 2011-07-16.

[Xantar]

I really wanted Cubic Act to win because not only was the act apparently good enough to fool Penn but was also staged very well and very entertaining to watch. Even though Teller was able to guess the solution, he still seemed to be genuinely amazed and enjoying the show as he watched. I was also glad that the woman in the box came out to take a bow along with the two guys since she was probably the one doing most of the work.

 

Nick Einhorn...just WTF? I have no idea how he did that. Unless the audience members were plants, but Penn & Teller didn't think so. The only other thing I can think is that he had some way of slipping the correct message into the envelopes once the guys were seated. But anyway, he deserved that win.

 

I loved Michael Vincent's first performance, and I loved his return. I don't care that he didn't fool Penn & Teller. He has the smoothest hands I've ever seen, and I would absolutely look him up next time I'm in the UK.

 

Morgan & West left me a bit cold. Was this the act that lawyered their way into Vegas? The conversation seemed a bit tense. I also noticed a point where one of them (I think it was West) reached into the bag and I thought they were doing something sneaky. In any case, something about the way the routine was laid out felt too low key. The other acts in this show felt like they were doing something amazing, even if they didn't fool Penn & Teller. This one just didn't seem like a big deal.

[Latverian Diplomat]

Morgan & West left me a bit cold. Was this the act that lawyered their way into Vegas? The conversation seemed a bit tense. I also noticed a point where one of them (I think it was West) reached into the bag and I thought they were doing something sneaky. In any case, something about the way the routine was laid out felt too low key. The other acts in this show felt like they were doing something amazing, even if they didn't fool Penn & Teller. This one just didn't seem like a big deal.

IMHO, yes, they lawyered their way to victory. I'll explain why I think so in the spoiler "how'd they do it" thread.

[theatremouse]

I agree about Morgan & West, plus, it wasn't magical? Even though P&T failed to guess exactly what they did, if I were at a show and saw that trick, I would not have been impressed by it even if I hadn't seen him do a sneaky looking reach. It just seemed like there were too many obvious easy ways someone skilled at sleight of hand could accomplish that trick. So I don't need to see it or know exactly what they did. I know people have skills where they could deck switch (or cards were marked in a not obvious way or whatever). He did a lot of handling of the cards himself, rather than say, place intentional distance to establish he couldn't be messing with it, kind of thing. So watching that sort of trick, with no element of show to prove they're not doing the obvious...it was super anticlimactic.

 

Sort of the opposite of that French guy in an earlier episode who did fool them.

Edited September 11, 2014 by theatremouse

[jhlipton]

The thing is he didn't need to handle the cards at all.  West saw every card, and could signal his partner -- he said something after each draw which could have been the code, or the way he held his fingers, or...  Very bad.

 

I felt like Cubic went on way too long.  It was a couple of tricks performed over and over and over and ovzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[SVNBob]

The thing is he didn't need to handle the cards at all. West saw every card, and could signal his partner -- he said something after each draw which could have been the code, or the way he held his fingers, or...

Or the fact that Morgan had Wossy seated deliberately facing him and still for the "silhouette" and there was a camera behind Wossy to show us the cards....

 

But I personally agree with the speculation in the spoiler thread.  It makes the most sense.

[marketdoctor]

This is one where I almost wish they'd said to Micheal Vincent something like "did you use a false hand?" or something equally gibberishy and intentionally wrong, just so he could go to Vegas.  It's ironic that they're all too professional to do that, but if I get a chance to see Micheal Vincent live, I'm going.

[SomethingClever]

If you want more Michael Vincent, there are several videos of him up on youtube. Here's a favorite of mine:

 

[marketdoctor]

Thanks!  A talent like that deserves to be celebrated and preserved.  I will check out the others as well, and I know Ricky Jay also has some great videos of card tricks.

[FormerMod-a1]

Magicians Brynolf and Ljung, Colin McLeod, Keelan Leyser and Charlotte Marie, and Etienne Pradier try to fool the veteran duo with their tricks.

 

Looks like this was originally aired as S1/E6 on 2011-07-23.

[ae2]

Overall a good episode. I'm with Johnathan Ross when he proclaimed, "I have no idea what any of what you guys are saying means." Referring to the back and forth between P&T and the magicians, using some savvy magician lingo. 

 

Brynolf and Ljung were fun, but the act was kind of weird. I just didn't get why the one not taped up kept hitting the other guy. 

After the fact, I am sure that it was necessary so he could give the card to the taped guy, but it just seemed strange. I, too, thought he had switched the card when he put the scissors in his pocket. I'm sure they wouldn't lie/cheat and that the show has a way to prevent that, but it seemed like such an obvious switch right there. My assumption is he did that intentionally to trick P&T into thinking it was a switch.

 

I'm glad that they acknowledged the dancing, quick change duo were not really there to fool P&T, but just to entertain and gain some notoriety. One of the other performers also said he didn't care if he fooled them, but only that he entertained them. It's refreshing to see a reality show not take itself too seriously.

 

Mentalist (mind reading) acts have always amazed me, and both of the other acts tonight were impressive. I'm not quite sure what having a "stack" means, but I presume it has something to do with stacking the deck? Still, I have no idea how he figured out that card if he wasn't pencil reading. I need to go back and watch the brick trick again to see what miming he did to make the guy think of brick.

 

It seems to me that this magician had a couple outs. If the participant had said "house" he would have shown the house part of the paper and left it at that. Would he have then left the brick under the hat and not mentioned it? Was he genuinely surprised when the participant said that "house" never crossed his mind?

[opus]

There's a big debate somewhere online from 3 years ago about the brick/house trick (heck, for all these Penn & Teller shows, I guess), but I'm not sure how to search for it.

Edited September 18, 2014 by GaryE

[Xantar]

I also thought there was a card switch in Brynolf and Ljung's. The way Brynholf picked up the card out of Ljung's mouth was so particular and deliberate that it looked like he must be doing some kind of sleight of hand at that instant.

 

I'm really curious to know how Colin McLeod got Kenny to think of a brick. From where I was sitting at home, I certainly didn't think of that word. So there must have been something about placing Kenny among the bookcases, thinking of a house, and the way he moved his hands that forced that thought. It must be damn compelling too because a smart alec could otherwise come up with all kinds of other words.

 

I don't think any quick change act really has any chance of fooling Penn & Teller. There are only so many ways it can be done, and I don't think there's anybody who doesn't know that they are pulling off tearaway costumes. Penn put it very well when he said their act was designed to amaze and not mystify. Even though I have some idea of how it's done, it was still amazing to see how smoothly and quickly they did it. Plus they had legitimate dance skill which many other quick change acts don't. 

 

I liked Etienne Pradier. As an aside, I wondered if his accent really is that strong after living in England for 20 years, but I guess it's just part of his schtick. I can't even begin to guess how he got Penn's card if he wasn't doing pencil reading. He deserved that win.

[Totale]

I don't think any quick change act really has any chance of fooling Penn & Teller. There are only so many ways it can be done, and I don't think there's anybody who doesn't know that they are pulling off tearaway costumes. Penn put it very well when he said their act was designed to amaze and not mystify. Even though I have some idea of how it's done, it was still amazing to see how smoothly and quickly they did it. Plus they had legitimate dance skill which many other quick change acts don't. 

 

 

When an act is really technology like that it's not going to fool professionals who are well versed in the available technology of their field.  But they were cute as hell and made me feel happy and that's enough for me.  I hope they ran off and got married somewhere, even if they didn't make it to Vegas.

[ae2]

There's a big debate somewhere online from 3 years ago about the brick/house trick (heck, for all these Penn & Teller shows, I guess), but I'm not sure how to search for it.

 

Lots of spoilers here if you don't want to know how tricks are done: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=426019&forum=218&start=0 Might be what you're referring to. It also links to a YT video of the pair doing the trick on another stage where it's more clear they don't do a switch. 

[opus]

I used my browser history, and it was this board I was reading. I was particularly interested in their discussion of Kenny. 

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=26767.150

[Taeolas]

In the spoiler thread, there was talk about an act using an obvious flash to try and fool P&T, and I think the Brynolf and Ljung trick may have done that. The pass behind the hand was so deliberate that Penn jumped on it right away as a switch. If it really wasn't a switch, than I have no idea how it was done.

 

As for the Mentalist, Teller seemed to get across how it was done.

Teller was 'scribbling' on his hand and the Mentalist nodded; so to me that implies 'brick' was written on his hand; but wouldn't that be an Insta-Stooge?

 

The quick change act was just for pure entertainment and everyone knew it. Glad to watch them since they are fascinating to see.

 

Etienne's act was puzzling. If it's not pencil reading, I don't know how it was done. Maybe there's something to do with the can and camera they stacked on top of the envelope? Teller seemed a bit puzzled or curious about how he got the card into the bottle too; that was a very slick motion however he did it. 

 

As for the Polyester Sheet trick, it's very neat and fun to watch.

I suspect as Teller is bundling up/folding up the sheet, he's folding in a cut sheet at the same time that they can use to clip. Though the extra trick is getting the leftover parts of the bunny ears off the sheet before they snap the sheet open again.

 

[SomethingClever]

I love the Brynolf and Ljung trick. It's beautifully choreographed (the music they put behind it for the American airing was terrible though). They definitely threw the fake switch in there just to fool Penn and Teller. You can see them do a much more edited version of the trick on Britain's Got Talent, where there is clearly no switch.

 

 

 There are a lot of cuts during Pradier's act, so it's tough to tell when he does things like loading the card in bottle or locating Penn's selected card. The method he uses to get Penn's card is pretty genius though.

[opus]

Whenever I can't figure out a trick, I always just assume the person has magical, mystical powers, and that they just choose to use those powers by finding the six of clubs in a deck of cards.

And before this series wraps up in the US, anyone see that Houdini movie on the History Channel?

Edited September 20, 2014 by GaryE

[theatremouse]

Yes, it was terrible, especially juxtaposed with the Houdini special the History Channel aired right before it, which featured a lot of interviews with Teller, who spoke aloud, but was in shadow, like when news programs show someone in the dark to hide their identity. Except it was conspicuously Teller, in a hilarious we-know-you-know-we're-not-hiding-anything kind of way. (There were interviews with other magicians and magic historians too.)

 

Having seen that, changed the way I watch this show a bit. (Not having paid too much attention to magic/magicians until fairly recently).

[opus]

Missed the special. What's that called?

[Taeolas]

I do find that watching these shows, and watching a lot of magic in general lately, I'm watching the motions a lot more closely to try and figure out how it is done. Sometimes it's fairly obvious (like the switch Pradier did with Teller's card on his watch; that was just pure slight of hand not meant to fool anyone), other times I'm completely baffled. I can make guesses about them; but that's about all they are.

 

But one thing I've realized that when it comes to Magic, don't count something out if it is merely extremely unlikely. The way these guys manipulate cards, cups and balls, etc... is just amazing, and the best ones, you know they know where each card is in the deck and where each card is going no matter how much they manipulate the deck. 

 

In any case, I'm continuously amazed at how well these guys and gals pull these tricks off regardless, especially the great ones. 

[FormerMod-a1]

Season 1 concludes with the magicians Shawn Farquhar, Manuel Martinez, Martin Daniels and Chris Dugdale trying to fool the veteran duo with their tricks.

[opus]

"Season 1 concludes". Are there more episodes out there?