[jazz music]
♪ ♪
- From the Penn and Teller Theater
at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas,
here's our host Brooke Burke.
♪ ♪
- Welcome to Fool Us. You're here. I'm here.
A bunch of great magicians are here.
The only things that are missing
are the stars of our show, Penn And Teller!
[cheers and applause]
Penn and Teller always give away a Fool Us trophy
and a spot in their world-famous magic show
to any act that fools them.
Let's get this party started with our first magician.
- As a little girl in England, ballet was my passion.
Tchaikovsky fulfilled me.
Then rock and roll found me and video games.
I became like Sandy in Grease.
You know, the good girl drawn to badassery.
On stage, I work with crossbows, motorcycles,
the savage, the strange, controlled chaos.
Magic happened to me by accident.
I actually auditioned as a dancer
and only found out it was a magic show as I got hired.
It felt instantly familiar.
The movement, the skill on display.
Magicians are like superheroes.
They break rules and make things happen.
I don't think of myself as a standard bearer,
but as a woman in magic, you kind of have to be.
If I have anything to teach a young girl watching right now,
I want to show her by going on stage
and being intensely, passionately me.
[applause]
- Here comes one magic badass, Hollie England.
[applause]
- I always wanted to be on a TV show
with legendary hosts, a live audience,
and guest entertainers at the top of their field.
To be honest, I was kind of hoping
for a cool late-night talk show,
but I guess this'll do.
- ANNOUNCER: Live from Las Vegas,
it's the chat show without the chat.
Welcome to Tell Teller.
And now here's your host Teller and his co-host Penn Gillette,
who does all the talking for him.
- Welcome to Tell Teller.
I'm your host Teller.
We've got a fantastic show for you tonight.
My first guest is a rising star in magic,
the incredible Hollie England.
[cheers and applause]
Tell us how it feels to be the most talented magician
we've ever had on this sofa.
- Well, it's a heavy burden to bear,
but someone has to carry the wand.
No, no, no. But seriously,
it really is like being a superhero.
I get to do the impossible
and I get to wear a lot of spandex.
But I see you have some of your most famous guests
in pictures on your desk there.
But I did notice that you have one empty frame.
Maybe I can help with that,
because I am somewhat of an artist myself.
I didn't always want to be a magician.
In fact, when I was 10 years old,
I said, "When I grow up, I want to be a painter."
And that very night my parents cried themselves to sleep
and thought that I'd never leave home.
But maybe I can use a little bit of magic
to fill the empty frame in your celebrity portrait gallery.
Yes. Let's start with a random selection
of an incredible guest that you may or may not have had
on your late-night talk show.
You know, someone you might find in a coffee table book.
A real legend.
Penn, if you could name a number
between one and 100 for me, please.
- Uh, 76.
- Okay, so completely random.
'Cause before, I actually used to go out into the audience
and ask someone to name a random celebrity.
But as time went on and as I got a little older,
I realized I knew less and less of the people that they named.
I don't know what a Bebe Rexha is,
but I wish it well.
Teller, if you could open the drawer in your desk, please,
you should find a book of 100 inspiring people.
Wonderful. Any of whom would be an incredible guest
on a late-night talk show.
And if you could flick through the book from the back
until you get to person number...
- 76. - 76.
And then if you could tell us who that person is.
- Leonardo da Vinci.
A great choice.
And just to make sure all of the, you know--
all of the pages are different,
if you could see who was on the page before, who's that?
- Albert Einstein.
- And someone on the page after maybe, too.
- That would be Eleanor Roosevelt.
- Wonderful. But you chose Leonardo da Vinci.
- That's correct. - So we go to that page.
You know, I'm actually not that familiar
with what Leonardo da Vinci actually looked like.
Maybe there's another kind of more familiar face on the page.
Oh, yeah. So we have the Mona Lisa,
a bit more familiar.
You know, Leonardo da Vinci did actually create probably
the most iconic and maybe copied artwork in the entire world,
the Mona Lisa.
So maybe I can create an artistic representation
of Teller and his randomly selected guest
within this frame.
This is going to require a delicate touch.
[clears throat]
[audience laughs]
This is a flamethrower.
Is it legal? Questionable.
Is it safe? Probably not.
Is it more exciting than watching me paint?
We can only hope.
Oh, you may want to move out of the danger zone. Yes.
- You don't have to tell us twice.
- Yeah, yeah. Okay.
Teller and the Mona Lisa--
burned into your minds literally.
[audience exclaims]
[applause]
- Hollie England, everyone.
Whoo!
So, you work here in Vegas. Do you know the guys?
- I do work here in Vegas. I have seen their show.
But I think I haven't officially met them before.
- Are all of your acts so dangerous?
- Um, I do do quite a few danger acts
with crossbows and fire
and needles and sharp objects, um,
you know, just to keep life interesting.
- Were you a daredevil as a child?
- I was very much the kind of geeky kid,
Goody Two-shoes, always did what she's told.
Yes. Yeah. So I kind of--I guess I rebelled later in life.
- Well, this was fantastic. You did great tonight.
- Thank you so much. - Such a great job.
Hollie, let's find out
if you fooled your fellow Las Vegas magicians.
Penn and Teller?
- Hey, Hollie. - Hello.
- Now, we like to start out with compliments.
And we loved this act. It's just fabulous.
And the next stuff I'm going to say
you may think is complimentary and you may not.
This is exactly a trick we would do.
Exactly a trick we would do.
This is so much in a style that we love
that we could do this trick.
The first thing Teller said when he sat down
is we should do this trick.
It is so good. It is so perfect in every way.
I mean, we loved everything about it.
We loved the flamethrower for...[bleep]
You had a flamethrower.
- Yeah.
- I had a real choice of numbers.
You did all that and you gave everything in here
is stuff that we love.
So either you're absolutely targeting us
or you just have exactly the same taste as us.
And we love, love, love two-person acts.
You know, we're a two-person act.
And you've set up a thing here
where you have Mona Lisa and Teller.
So the two-person act thing is all the way through this.
And what we like the most,
the reason Teller said we should do something like this
is it's so different from what other magicians do.
Just fabulous all the way through, Hollie.
But I think I might have snuck in a thing or two
that gives you an idea that we might be on to you
'cause you're exactly reading our mail.
It's exactly our taste.
- Once again, I have no idea what you're talking about, Penn.
Hollie, do they know how you did your trick?
- Yeah. They're pretty smart. I think they have an idea.
[audience laughs]
- Well, it was pretty cool, and we really loved that act.
- Thank you.
- The first flamethrower on Fool Us. Great job.
- Thank you so much.
- Hollie England.
Come back and see us, Hollie.
[cheers and applause]
Penn and Teller will tango with more magicians
before they take the dance floor themselves
when Fool Us returns.
- Welcome back to Fool Us.
I've got 52 reasons for you to watch our next magic ace.
- Hi. I'm Giancarlo Scalia.
I have a background in theater and circus.
Both of these experience have influenced my magic,
helping me to understand movement,
to improve my techniques,
and to feel free to express myself through magic.
There's a lot going on during a magic trick.
There is everything the audience sees
and then everything that the magician is doing
that the audience doesn't see-- well, hopefully.
For me, it's very important
to leave the audience with a sense of ease.
I don't want the people to be impressed
because they think what I'm doing is difficult.
I just want them to be relaxed, have fun,
and enjoy the experience.
The trick I'll be performing tonight is one of my favorites.
I've been working on it for almost seven years.
- It's a classic of magic,
but I don't think Penn and Teller have seen
a version quite like this.
[applause]
- Give it up for Madrid magician Giancarlo Scalia.
- Thank you very much. Hi. How are you?
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you as well.
- Thank you for helping.
- Pleasure. - Thank you very much.
I will show something very quick, very simple,
just with a few cards.
But it won't be important, the identity of the cards,
because the important thing here will be your signature. Okay?
- Okay. - So very simple.
Take any card that's easy to sign.
- Okay. - Okay. This one. Why not?
And please put a very big signature
across the face of the card.
- Okay. - Yes. Of the face.
The face of the card. Okay, no problem.
No problem. It's marked so it will be easy to find.
But is it a 6? Okay, perfect.
We use the 6 because I need more signature.
- Okay. - Yeah. Put exactly the same.
- All of them? - Yes.
- Okay. - You can give me one by one.
This is fundamental for the trick.
You can give me so I can show it's fundamental,
because in this way, the next time you'll see these cards,
you will be sure that are exactly your cards.
- Okay. - Okay?
And--[blows] With this simple gesture,
these cards just became unique in the universe.
Yes? It sounds very great.
What I will do will be very, very quick. Okay?
So it's fundamental.
I tell you exactly what I will do before I do it
so you won't miss anything.
Okay? So it's very simple.
It's just four cards, signed cards lost in the deck.
And what I will do will be very easy
because I will just slap the deck.
The car will fly out from the deck, invisibly.
I will catch them and throw them into my pocket.
Okay? I will even tell you
in which pocket they will travel. All right?
So, the first card will appear in this pocket here. Okay.
When I will do the effect, of course,
I will show my hand empty.
And, of course, I will take out your first signed card
with your signature, okay? You can take.
The second one will appear in the other pocket, okay?
Of course, in the pants pocket, I will show my hand empty
and take out the second sign card.
Yes. The third one, it's a little more difficult
because it appear in the side jacket pocket,
of course, with your signature.
Yes. And the last card for the grand finale, the last one.
Yes. The last one appears always
in the inside jacket pocket, of course, with your signature.
Yes. This is the idea. This is the idea of the effect, okay?
The problem with magic is that if you miss some details,
it's very easy that you start to search for many solutions.
For example, some people may think
that I had the cards in my pocket before I started.
I mean, imagine I had just the card prepared in my pocket.
Any card, of course, is any pocket.
I know that this can sound crazy, and, of course it is
because you understand that you select
and send the card in front of everybody, no?
So this solution, of course, is completely crazy.
It cannot be. Okay, this solution can be.
These are your signature, yeah?
- They are. - Yes, yes, yes.
It's completely crazy. Cannot be. Cannot be.
And I know that somebody could think
that we arranged something before,
and maybe they think that you sign more cards.
But could you promise that you sign only four cards?
- Yes, I only signed four cards.
So if this is true, of course,
I couldn't have a fifth card with your signature.
- No. - It's impossible. No.
Because you signed only four. You didn't sign five.
- I did not. - And it will be impossible
to have a six card with your signature.
Yeah, these are your signature.
But it's impossible because I couldn't even have,
like, a seven card with your signature.
It's impossible. But let me ask you something.
Let me ask you something. Is this your signature?
- It is. - Yeah, really.
But at this moment, the people think maybe
that you sign even like 10 cards
or maybe even like 20 cards,
or maybe you signed, I don't know, 30
or even, I don't know, 40 cards with your signature.
Of course it is not possible,
because some people maybe think that you're a secret assistant,
you are passing me the card.
Or maybe I have cards behind my leg or under the other leg,
or maybe I just pick them up with your signature.
But, of course, no, because you sign only four cards.
Only four. Only--Only four.
So now that you know everything,
I will do the effect of the four cards to the four pockets.
- Okay. - Good.
Okay, so, look, very simple,
just cut the deck in half.
The deck. The deck. Just lift half of the deck.
Look. Very cleanly. Complete the deck.
- Okay. - Okay.
And shuffle the deck.
- Okay. - Shuffle the deck.
This will be very-- Okay. And cut it complete.
- Again? - Yes.
- Okay. - So, now, look.
From this situation with the deck shuffled and cut,
I just have to memorize quickly the order of the cards.
- What?
- 37. Okay.
It will be difficult because you shuffled four times,
but I will try, okay?
- Okay. - From this situation.
- Look. - No way.
- Way. Yes. [audience laughs]
- No way. - Look. Look. Look. Look. Look.
Maybe or not. I don't know. I hope.
As I told you-- As I told you,
I will slap the deck with my hands.
Each time I slap the hand,
one car will shoot out invisibly.
I will catch it in my fingertips
and throw it into each corresponding pocket.
[blows] Let's try.
- Okay. - Look. The first one.
[blowing]
Very quick.
Yes. Look. The second one. Look.
[blowing]
Sometimes I feel like a ninja. Almost.
- Totally. - The last two at the same time.
Last two at the same time. Look.
[blowing]
Yes. Thank you very much. You can take.
- Okay. - Thank you.
- Uh...[laughs] - [applause]
- I know--I know--I know that you want to see the card.
No problem.
Look. As I promise,
here is the first card with your signature.
Here, the second card, of course, with your signature.
The third one, you remember, a little more difficult.
It's in the outside jacket pocket with your signature.
And for the last card, the grand finale,
please, could you take it by yourself
from this pocket and show everybody
the fourth and last card with your signature.
- What? What? Wow. - [applause]
- Thank you very much. - Giancarlo Scalia.
- Thank you. - Wow, Giancarlo.
That's amazing. That was fantastic.
- Oh, thank you. - So, you moved from Italy
to Madrid, I'm told, to study circus.
- Yes, yes. I studied circus in Italy,
and then I moved to Madrid to study physical theater
and, of course, magic, because in Madrid,
it's the best city for magic.
Now I'm working more with magic,
but sometimes I still have some theater projects.
- So you have theater projects now that involve magic?
- Yeah, yeah. I work with a friend, okay?
We perform with puppets, and they're like quite big puppets
because we use like a Japanese traditional technique.
When you manipulate directly the puppets, okay,
to give life to something
that doesn't have it in everyday life,
it's already magical.
But then if you add also some impossible effects,
it's also better.
- Maybe one day you'll bring that back to the fullest.
- Maybe. Yes. Why not?
- All right, Giancarlo, let's see
if you're going to pocket a Full Us trophy, shall we?
Penn and Teller?
- Oh, Giancarlo, it's so--it's so great
to see a wonderful Spanish card magician.
Are there any other good card magicians in Spain?
[audience laughs]
- I think. I think. - There are a few.
You have such a casual, disarming style
that you can make people forget you're working your ass off.
This is a really, really hard trick,
and it's tough for us because we're familiar with travelers.
We know the trick. We know the plot.
We know a lot of moves to it.
And so we're watching you,
knowing, in many cases, what you're doing.
We're following the plot. We know where you're going.
Then we have to do this uncomfortable thing.
We have to go through and say
it's the best version of this routine we've ever seen.
But is there enough new
to really make it seem like it fools us
and doesn't just delight us and thrill us
but actually fool us at the level of the show?
So we have to beat ourselves up on this
and finally decide yeah, there's enough.
You fooled us.
- Wow.
[cheers and applause]
- We did it. You did it. - Thank you.
- Congratulations. We have another fooler!
- Thank you. - Congratulations.
- Wow. Thank you very much. Thank you.
- Giancarlo Scalia!
Thank you, Giancarlo. That was amazing.
- Thank you. - Wow!
Incredible. Incredible. Giancarlo Scalia.
A magician just got the icing on the cake, a shiny new trophy.
Stay tuned to see what sweet surprises are still in store
when Fool Us returns.
[applause]
- Welcome back.
Penn and Teller have already been fooled once tonight.
Let's see if this next magician can do it again.
- Hi. My name is Francis Menotti,
and I create solutions for seemingly impossible problems.
Magic is never a finished product.
There's always room for tinkering and improvement.
And whether creating a trick for myself
or consulting for others, I try to keep that in mind.
I've been on Fool Us twice already. I fooled them once.
- We don't think you fooled us.
- They got me the second time. That sounds about right to me.
For my trick tonight, I'm performing
something that I have reworked and re-tweaked countless times
over the last 20 years.
Teller actually saw one of my first performances
of this trick, and it was a spectacular disaster.
The trick didn't work at all.
But magic is never a finished product.
I put in the work, and now I'm excited to see
if I can get another Fool Us trophy
against two of the best in the business.
[applause]
- Give it up for the magical mind of Francis Menotti.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Penn.
- Yeah. - Brooke.
Do you ever sit around
contemplating the wonders of coincidence?
- Yeah. - Sure.
- You do? - Yeah.
- Me, too. This is amazing.
- What a coincidence. - It is kind of a coincidence.
Look. A Rubik's Cube with numbers on it.
Let's create a coincidence.
- Okay. - Numbers 1 through 9
on all six sides.
And the colors, you got orange and red and green, yellow, blue.
Brooke, which would you say of those is your favorite color?
- Orange. - Orange. Mine, too.
- Coincidence. - Coincidence.
Penn, I'd like you to mix the Rubik's Cube, please.
Now, gently, gingerly, one twist at a time,
until you're really satisfied
that it's pretty well mixed. Okay?
And then once you're done, just put it back down on the table.
And, Brooke, meanwhile, a pack of blank playing cards,
kind of for obsessive magicians to take notes on.
Brooke, I'd like you to write your name across the card.
Big, bold letters. And make it as big as you can.
Take up as much space as you can on the card.
- Okay. - And once you're satisfied...
You're doing a good job.
- PENN: I'm trying to. - I appreciate it.
- BROOKE: Don't mess it up, Penn.
- You're doing great, Penn. Thank you.
And I would say with 43 quintillion combinations,
there's a good chance that that combination
of colors and numbers has never before existed.
- Yeah. - Fair?
- Yeah. Very. - For now.
Brooke, we're going to leave your card back
about halfway somewhere in the deck.
It's not going to stay there.
One of my favorite concepts with coincidence
is that the less control you exercise over a situation,
the greater the seemingly impossible coincidence
you can create.
So I'm going to have both of you mix the cards
and not exercising much control over it at all.
Take some cards for me, Penn. In fact, a few more.
And, Brooke, same for you. Would you take them?
And go ahead and mix them. Mix them as much as you want.
Really shuffle them.
And again, you can turn them upside down as you go through.
Really make a big mess of the cards.
And you know what? Let's make this even more interesting.
Why don't you both switch piles? You switch.
- Shall we? - Yeah. Continue shuffling.
If you stop, if you happen to see Brook's card,
just keep shuffling past it, okay?
I don't want you to know where it is.
Then, Penn, put your stack down whenever you're done.
- Okay. Where would you like it? - Anywhere is fine.
Fantastic. And, Brooke.
- Here? - Why not right on top.
We're going to assemble them all. Fantastic.
We'll come back to these in just a moment.
Penn.
- Yes. - Look. A 3x3 grid.
- Okay.
- Almost matching one of the sides of a cube.
It's not littered with numbers yet.
But I tell you what,
Penn, I'm going to have you write down some numbers.
But, Penn, how's your handwriting?
- Terrible.
- Is it good for numbers? - I'll try.
- Okay, great. Here's what's going to happen.
Hold on to the board for me.
In a moment. Brooke, what's going to happen--
I'll have you read these numbers out loud.
- Okay. The numbers.
- In just a moment. Don't worry. I'll get to it.
On a Rubik's Cube, the center squares never change.
So they're always, you know--
The red is always opposite the orange.
White's always opposite the yellow.
Green is always opposite the blue.
At least on this cube, right?
So if you look at the red side,
right now you have a 4, 9 and a 2.
A 1, 5 and a 1. A 4, 9, and a 2 again.
But your favorite color was orange?
- Orange. - Orange.
Let's look at the orange side.
Would you read these out loud for me, please?
I will go from the top row.
Penn, would you put them in the corresponding numbers
as Brooke reads out...
- The corresponding here or there?
- From left to right. So if we read out 83...
- 834.
- Mm-hmm. That's not so bad, Penn.
- Oh, it's terrible.
- Second row. - 159.
Very good. And the bottom row.
- 672. - 672.
Now, if you had mixed this just a turn or two more,
it would be a different combination of numbers,
a different combination of colors, right?
- I would think so, yeah.
- This is where it gets weird,
because up to this point, it's been perfectly normal.
Can I see this for a second, please, Penn? And the marker.
Thank you. This is where it gets strange.
Now, the mathematically inclined
may be kind of ahead of me already,
but if you look at this top row, 8 and 3 is 11.
11 and 4 is 15. Right?
But if you look at the next row down,
you've got 1 and 5 is 6.
6 plus 9?
- 15. - Coincidentally.
And the second at the bottom row is 6 and 7 is 13, plus 2 is 15.
Look at the columns. You got 8 and 1 is 9, plus 6 is 15.
3 and 5 is 8, plus 7 is 15. 4, 9, and 2 is 15.
Even the diagonals work.
That's 8 and 5 and 2. 4, 5, and 6.
A coincidence that you made just by mixing up the group.
That's pretty cool.
[applause]
Brooke, would you mind picking those cards up, please?
This is where it gets really strange.
- Okay. - So, you can hold it
from that side or the other side.
It doesn't matter.
In a moment, you're going to deal these down,
and we're going to count until we get to the 15th card.
- Okay. - Okay? Whichever side.
But before you do, let's recap here.
You mixed up the Rubik's Cube.
- I sure did. - Pretty thoroughly.
- Yeah. - You had one combination
that we chose, which was your favorite color, orange.
- Yes. - That number.
All those numbers added up to 15.
You both mixed the cards up.
We all mixed the cards up together.
That's where you want to count from?
You made all the decisions.
- Yes. - Turn over that top card.
That's card number one.
- Turn it over. - Please. Onto the table.
In the center, right there.
And the card number two on top of that, please.
And then count till we get to 15.
There's 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
Down is Brooke's card.
That is an amazing coincidence that you have both made.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
Penn, you can go back to your seat.
I appreciate you.
- Frances Menotti, everyone.
Wow, wow, wow. Brilliant.
- Thanks, Brooke.
- What do you think makes a better trick?
Simplicity or complexity.
- That's a great question.
I am guilty of being complex,
but I think a simple trick is better.
But what I like to do is take a couple of simple tricks
and put them together so as to kind of obfuscate
what people are perceiving as happening.
- Do you see yourself as an intellectual magician?
- I don't know if I'd say I'm an intellectual magician.
I like intellectual ideas.
I love creating intellectual concepts
or using intellectual concepts for theatrical purposes.
Right now, the biggest project
that I'm working on is called the Wake.
And the whole goal is to get people
to walk out feeling changed.
- And it's a magic show. - It's a magic show.
It's a theater show. It's a music show.
It's all those combined.
- All right, Frances, let's see
if you mixed up Penn and Teller enough
to get you a Fool Us trophy. You ready?
- Yeah. - Boys, are we ready?
- Hey, Francis, great routine.
You know, doing a new presentation
of the magic square is almost impossible.
And you're always such a good thinker,
and the stuff always looks so original.
Putting numbers on a Rubik's Cube
and using that for a magic square is just brilliant.
It made me think. We did the Hollywood Squares a lot.
We did it many, many times, maybe a dozen times.
And we were doing it when Whoopi Goldberg
was in the center square, and my dear, dear friend
who I miss so much, Martin Mull, was in the center square,
and we were always somewhere around there.
We were never really cut out to be the center square
the way we wanted to, you know?
But having Martin and Whoopi there,
I guess they did a better job.
And if the--If the game was Fool Me, you did it.
'Cause I didn't know-- I was there,
totally wrapped up in the math
and the magic square and everything.
But then I sat down, fooled,
and Teller told me how it was done.
Now, I know that Teller's kind of a friend of yours.
You were betrayed by Teller.
So I want you to know that very, very clearly.
So we think--We think
that Teller's idea for how you did it might be right.
As I said, you fooled me,
but I put some code words in there
based on Teller, and-- I don't know.
- So, do you think the boys figured it out?
- I'm pretty sure they did, yeah.
- Not the boys.
- Teller. - Teller.
- Teller. Pleasure.
- My pleasure. Thank you so much.
- Thank you so much. Francis Menotti, everyone.
[applause]
I can't believe that Penn and Teller
figured that last one out.
See if they can keep their streak going
when Fool Us returns.
- Welcome back.
Let's roll out the red carpet for this next potential fooler.
[applause]
- From France, it's the mental magic of Gabriel Werlen.
[applause]
- As a mentalist, I love playing with brains.
Because our brains are masters of illusion.
Our brain's best trick is the illusion of free will.
What if our subconscious
is pulling the strings behind the curtain?
Let's put it to the test by performing a little theater play
I call the Illusion of Free Will.
Brooke, will you please come star
in our little production?
- I would love to.
Hi.
- Brooke, your role is to play someone
with completely free will.
- Okay. - Can you do that?
- Yes. - And I'll be playing
the stressed mentalist...
- Okay.
- ...hoping to fool Penn and Teller.
Okay.
And here is the script for the climax of our play. Okay?
It's the only part of the script I have written down.
- Okay. - It's our secret goal.
- Okay. - Okay. Please keep this safe.
We don't want to spoil the ending of our play.
Sit on the stool.
No matter what happens,
we will read what's written there.
- Okay. - Okay?
It's all about choices you're about to make
regarding these three objects.
A bill.
- Okay. - A poker chip.
- Okay. - And my wallet.
- Okay. - Ready to play?
- Yes.
- Penn, to start our play, please call out "action."
- Action!
- Brooke, you will freely choose one object for you,
one for me, and one to remain on the table.
After that, to ensure absolute free will,
I will even give you two opportunities to make a switch.
You could take the cash.
It's only $1, but it's real money.
Or you might prefer the poker chip.
It could be worth nothing or millions.
- Could be worth a lot. - Or you might take the wallet.
But what it might contain is a mystery.
Trust your free will to reach our secret goal.
Okay. Take one. Give me one. The last one stays on the table.
- I'm taking the mystery. I'll give you the cash.
I'll leave the chip on the table.
- Okay. Happy with your starting point?
- I am. - Now for the two switches.
What first switch do you want?
Any switch. We have two switches.
- Let us switch. - Okay.
And another switch. A different one.
So you can switch the chip or I can switch it.
- Okay. I'm going to take the chip
and switch with the dollar, okay?
- Okay. That felt like free will.
- Yeah. - So we can end now?
Unless you don't really want me to keep the wallet.
Maybe you want me to switch the bill. It's possible.
- I'm happy.
- So we end the play now?
- Okay. - I keep the wallet. Okay.
- Okay.
- So it's the end of the play.
Brooke, every decision really appears spontaneous,
born from free will.
But the main question remains,
were these choices truly free or part of a bigger plan
with a scripted ending that I wrote in advance?
Please point out the script.
Did I manage to script
this perfect ending matching your choices?
- Let's see. Let's see. - Well, let's find out.
"I did it!" It's scripted. [continues reading]
[audience exclaims]
Penn, will you please yell "cut"?
- Cut!
- And let's give a big round of applause
to our star, Brooke Burke.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- And that ends our play, the Illusion of Free Will.
- Gabriel Werlen, everyone.
I love that.
Is mentalism and magic-- are those very different things?
- They are to me.
I think every mentalist have their own definition.
- Tell me. - But for me,
magic is more about creating something really impossible.
So they will try to figure out.
And so it's more like you are aiming to create
like a bomb, like a shock.
Yeah, I know it's not possible. I have no idea how it's done.
Okay? For mentalism,
um, I think we need to try to create doubt, questioning,
in the mind of the audience.
So it's more like a roller coaster.
So it's difference of emotion, but both are illusions.
- Penn and Teller have a free choice
to give you a trophy or not.
Let's find out what they've decided, shall we?
- Yes. Thank you. Thank you. - Good luck. Boys?
- Gabriel, a wonderful, wonderful play you did for us,
and that was wonderful watching it all unfold up here
and all go together.
It was just terrific. You get to do something
that not everybody gets to do in show business
or in playwriting or in movies,
and that is you got to write the script and also act.
And that doesn't always end up that way.
Some of us have to write and then watch someone else do
what we've written.
And it's just wonderful to see mentalism
that's so simple and so clear.
Usually there's a lot of procedure,
and this has none of that, making it a beautiful trick.
And also is a subject which is very dear to my heart,
Which is there's no such thing as free will.
And I believe that very, very strongly.
You did a wonderful job demonstrating that.
We love that.
We don't think that your play
has the happiest ending for you of a trophy,
but we sure did love it very much, Gabriel.
- Gabriel, do Penn and Teller know how you did your trick?
- Yeah, I think they do. - Well, you were wonderful.
We enjoyed that so much. Thank you for letting me help.
- Thank you. - Gabriel Werlen, everyone.
[applause]
We've arrived at my favorite part of the show,
watching Penn and Teller do their thing.
See our iconic duo in action when Fool Us returns.
- Welcome back.
Here to close out our show with six selected volunteers,
who have already been put to work,
are our Las Vegas legends themselves, Penn and Teller.
[applause]
- During the break,
we had six guys take naked concrete blocks
and decorate them as though they were giant dice.
They each took a die.
These took a color of dot,
and they put the numbers on each side.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
And then they signed one of the dice pips,
just to make it unique,
and put them into here in a wonderful order--
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6--
that match the little tiny dice that are in this box--
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-- the same way.
Now, who had the pink color here?
You had the pink. Is that your signature?
Every one of them signed the one on the die right there.
And would you two-- You stay here.
Would you to come over here? Grab this lid here.
Now, you see, if you shake these up,
they don't move.
The six stay in the same order.
They can rattle, but they can't actually turn.
Same thing with the big ones.
Now, I want you to watch this.
Teller's putting the cover back on. He's taking a die there.
And if you come over here-- Teller's got a die cup.
On that side of Teller. Yeah. He's gonna put the top on there.
Then he's gonna shake it around. Can you guys lift it up
and put it on here without having too much trouble?
Put it on here.
Let's see what number we got. What number we get there?
What number is that?
It's 4. We have a 4 right there.
It's a 4. Now shake that around.
Shake around the big one a little bit.
Shake it around a little bit. Shake it around a little bit.
Good job. Stand up over here.
And you got a 4 there.
And then if you'll see, all the dice have become 4s.
[applause]
And if you shake this up a little bit--
Shake it up. Shake it up. Shake it up. Shake it up.
Now, can you lift the top off there,
and you'll see that all these dice
have also become 4s.
Where's the green?
Come over here. I want to show you something.
Because that green one--
You see, you signed that green one right there.
Is that your signature-- signature right there?
You can take that with you as a souvenir.
Go right back to your seat. Oh, come over here.
Grab your colors here. Right back over there.
Just grab them. Walk right over there.
A little piece of advice.
If you sell that on eBay,
make sure that the buyer pays for the shipping.
- Wow. [laughs]
Okay. We are running out of time
and running out of concrete blocks to give away.
So we'll say goodnight.
But join us next time for an all new Fool Us when we return.
[cheers and applause]