[jazzy music]
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- From the Penn & Teller Theater,
at the Rio Hotel, in Las Vegas,
here's our host, Alyson Hannigan!
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
- Welcome to "Fool Us."
Get ready to marvel at tonight's performers,
because we've got a fantastic four acts
ready to try and fool our two show-stopping superheroes.
The Hulk and Ant Man of magic--Penn and Teller!
[cheers and applause]
- You know the deal.
If a magician fools Penn and Teller,
they win a "Fool Us" trophy.
They also get to perform in Penn & Teller's
world-famous Magic Spectacular.
Speaking of spectacular, here is tonight's first act.
- When I do magic, it's more than just doing
a trick for someone.
I want to absolutely fry their brains,
and it doesn't matter how hard it is to do.
I was booked to do a virtual show
for a client out in Colorado, over video chat.
So I thought, "What could I do to really blow their minds?"
I live in North Carolina, which is 1,500 miles away.
But I saw flights to Colorado were pretty cheap that month,
so I flew to Colorado, and I hid an ace of spades
just outside of their building.
And I flew home that day,
and a month later, I did the virtual show,
and I kind of closed it by saying,
"Wouldn't it be cool if I could make an ace of spades
appear hidden somewhere there?"
It's a story they're still talking about, to this day.
And I grabbed one of these magazines from the back.
In my show, I tend to not use typical magic props.
I try and borrow items from the crowd, like their phone.
Their wallet or just use something
that you might be able to buy at a store nearby.
Penn and Teller, I'm gonna try and fool you
with something you may have lying around your own home.
[cheers and applause]
- Enjoy the North Carolina
comedy magic of Hayden Childress!
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you.
Penn, Teller, I want to show you a piece of magic
that I think is gonna blow your minds.
[blowing]
Prepare to be fooled.
Hmm. [laughter]
Okay. Pretty cool, but you guys don't seem impressed.
Probably because you think I'm doing this,
so I want to take it to the next level.
Alyson, would you mind joining me here onstage?
Give a round of applause for Alyson, everyone.
Alyson, I've brought a roll of tape here.
Would you mind checking out the tape?
Make sure the tape seems legit. Like normal tape.
- Yes.
- And you can also check out my fingers here.
Make sure my fingers are normal,
just in case Penn and Teller think
that maybe I used fake hands for that first one.
Everything seem good? - Yeah.
- All right. Everything good with the tape, as well?
- Yeah. - All right. Cool.
Only thing you need to know about this kind of tape
is it's industrial, meaning it's super sticky.
You can even feel that. It's like maple syrup
which, Penn, I know you know a lot about.
- I do. - Check it out. My fingers.
One roll of tape. Taped together super tight.
Alyson, can you give that a couple wraparounds?
Tape my fingers together as tight as you can.
- As tight as I can? Okay. - Yeah. As tight as you can.
You could even squeeze my fingers more, if you want.
- Okay. This seems bad for your circulation.
- Yeah. I said a couple wraparounds,
but this is, like, seven. - Oh. Sorry.
- No. It's all good. It makes it more interesting.
My fingers are even changing colors, which...
- Yeah. I'm... - You can see there.
It's like a second trick.
- Concerned.
- And so everything's secure there?
- Yes.
- Alyson, I've brought a metal ring. Check it out.
One. Two.
Alyson, I don't do this on three,
'cause I want you to be surprised when it happens.
- That's so cool. - Thank you.
And you see that ring went right through my hands.
- Yeah. - We're gonna get it out.
A lot of people think the ring's gonna come out
this way through the tape.
It's actually gonna come out this way.
[all exclaim]
- And Alyson, make sure, one more time,
my fingers are still together.
It's still my fingers there. The tape isn't broken?
- No.
- Thank you.
Let's do it again.
One. Two.
[audience exclaims] It goes right through.
Now, this could be some trick magic ring.
After all, I brought it out of my own pocket.
- Right. - Can I use your necklace?
- Sure. - I'm going to borrow it.
And you are very magic, so as far as we know,
this isn't a trick magic necklace, right?
- No. - Yeah. I know.
I'm just yanking your chain.
Okay. Back to the trick. Thanks.
- Okay.
- If I put your necklace on my hands like this,
it kind of looks like it went through.
It's just for the cameras though.
See? It didn't really.
But you'll see the moment that it happens.
[audience exclaims]
- That's impressive.
- You can see that's your necklace.
That ring. Trapped in between my hands.
Now, I can keep putting stuff in my hands, over and over,
but I want you to experience this firsthand.
Could you hold out your left hand like this for me?
- Yes. - Yeah, and kind of do a
A-okay. Perfect. - Yeah.
- You're gonna feel firsthand, Alyson,
how impossible it is to pull your fingers apart.
I'll avoid your fabulous manicure, by the way.
- Thanks. - All right.
This way, you can experience firsthand that
your fingers can't come apart. Let Penn and Teller know.
Is there any way for your fingers to come apart?
- No.
- Penn, Teller, watch close.
Alyson, it's about to get weird.
Fingers forward.
[imitates explosion]
That's just for hype and excitement.
One. Two.
[audience exclaims]
Alyson, you're gonna see that's my fingers
and your fingers with the ring with your necklace
trapped in between us.
- Oh, dear. - Yeah. It's weird, right?
- Yeah it is.
- We're like one person starting here connecting here.
Who loves magic? Alyson does.
Yeah. I don't know about you, but I'm having a blast.
But obviously,
I want to get this stuff out of here, so Alyson...
- Yeah? - Try this.
With your other hand grab your necklace,
and I want you to just pull it out magically.
[audience exclaims] - Just like that.
- What?
- And you can feel the ring on your finger.
- Yes. - We're gonna shake our hands.
Just like this.
We're just gonna shake our hands...
- Shake, shake, shake.
- Like this. Shake. Shake. Shake and bake.
- Okay. Enough shaking.
[audience exclaims] - What?
- Alyson, did you feel that?
- No. - I get that a lot.
- Ew.
- And you can see we're still connected here.
I take it that you're right-handed, not left-handed?
- Yes.
- So we could stay like this forever.
- I have a lot of explaining to do, but...
- Yeah. - Okay.
- And you've got more TV work to do, so I tell you what.
We're gonna undo ourselves.
- Okay. - I won't cover it up.
Watch our hands.
[audience exclaims] - Wow!
Hayden Childress. [cheers and applause]
All right. Is it hard to stand out, in magic?
- Yeah. I'd say so.
I mean it's really hard to do something different.
I don't know if you've ever had your fingers taped.
I hope I was the first one.
- I mean not for a magic trick. No.
I've taped 'em during crafting, but it's usually hot glue.
- Okay. Gotcha.
- Yeah. - Gotcha.
- What's your favorite audience?
- I love the people who buy tickets to see me,
obviously, 'cause they come in liking me.
- Aww. - Although I do kind of
like the crowds who are like,
"Oh, my God. There's a magician?"
'Cause I love to exceed their expectations,
if that makes sense. - Yeah, yeah.
All right, Hayden. Let's see if Penn and Teller
know the secrets to your tape trick.
- All right.
- Hayden, the very definition of packs small-plays big.
What a great routine. - Thank you.
- Every moment of it is just beautiful.
You've been doing that for a while?
It seems really well-tested.
- Yeah. I've been doing it for--oh, gosh.
Since I was in high school I think.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- It's really a modern version of an ancient Japanese trick.
You know, the thumb tie. And it's just done beautifully.
We have seen so many people do thumb ties,
and you bring so much more to it.
Probably the most brilliant thing
is using the spectator, Alyson, to--
In the same position you're in, so she can feel
how impossible it is
to get that tape off and actually feel that,
which gets a much stronger reaction.
And I don't think I've ever seen that before.
Neither one of us can remember seeing it.
You know, people do that with other people holding stuff
and things like that, but never with them
in the exact same situation you're in.
And it's really, really good,
and I also love that you start with that stupid thing
that everybody does to you when you're a magician.
"Hey, can you do this?" And then we were kind of,
"Okay great. You did it. Have fun."
And then having that tie in with the whole plot
of the whole thing is really nice.
I just love how simple and clean--and I just--I know.
We have a tip for you. Just don't ever,
ever take that out of your routine.
That is just a wonderful thing
that you could be known for, forever.
- Hayden, does Penn's double talk have meaning to you?
- It does. I caught it.
So thank you so much for the compliments
- Well, thank you. It's wonderful. It's just--
- So you didn't fool them?
- No. You know, but that's okay.
I got to hold hands with Alyson Hannigan.
That was worth the trip to Vegas.
- Aww. - Thank you so much.
- All right. - Wonderful.
- Hayden Childress. - Thank you.
Coming up, more of the world's greatest magicians
try to fool Penn and Teller. Stick around.
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back to "Fool Us"
where the impossible is always possible,
especially with our next act.
- So this is how I used magic to make my family appear.
I was at this party, and I met this girl I wanted to impress.
And I told her I'll help her find the love of her life.
I asked her to take out her phone,
open up the calculator,
and punch in the number of times she'd fallen in love.
Multiply that by the number of times
you had your heart broken
and the number of boyfriends you had.
Then multiply that by any random number
that only you know.
I told her these are the odds of you ever finding true love,
but what if you call that number?
She did, and my phone rang.
We've been together ever since.
And now, we have a little baby,
and he's my favorite thing in the whole world.
So now, I'm revisiting all my favorite baby games.
Ooh, ahh!
We play peek-a-boo, of course.
Peek-a-boo!
But also games of chance, like rock paper scissors.
And amazingly, he wins more than me,
which got me thinking.
I can combine these things into some powerful magic.
I can't fool my baby with tonight's trick,
but maybe, just maybe I can fool Penn and Teller.
[cheers and applause]
- Here to take on Penn and Teller is Hans.
- Thank you. This evening, I'm going to influence you.
I'm going to influence what you think, what you say,
and what you do.
And that happens just every day.
We all get influenced by other people.
The trick is doing it without you noticing
that you're being influenced.
Penn, now, for this experiment,
I have sent you some stuff across the Atlantic.
Can you open up that box, Penn?
- Oh, yeah.
Oh, my goodness. - Whoa.
- Okay. Penn, what do you see in there?
- I see a rock. Styrofoam. - Okay. Can you pick it up?
- Pick it up? - Pick it up.
Yeah. Pick it up. Try it.
- I'll pick it up.
- You're a big guy. You can pick it up. Good.
Teller, is there anything else in there?
Pick it up. - It's rock paper scissors.
- Aw. - Scissors. Okay.
Just keep the scissors. Alyson, take a look inside,
and remove--well, you figure it out.
It's paper, and sit down.
And can you remove the box? Move it away.
As you can see, we have rock, paper, scissors,
as it's called.
Now, rock paper scissors-- It is one of the oldest games
known to mankind.
It dates back to the stone age when it was called
rock rock and rock
usually ending up in a tie.
Now, eventually the game has evolved to rock paper scissors,
and when we play this game in Norway
we always play best out of three.
Now, today, I'm gonna take a huge risk,
and I'm gonna get this right three out of three.
And if I make one mistake, if I get one wrong,
I'm gonna thank you humbly for your time and say goodbye.
- Okay.
- Now, for the first round,
two of you are going to switch items.
Now, I know exactly which two of you
are going to do that switch,
so I will write down the result in advance,
and Alyson, you're gonna get the first choice here.
Which two of you is going to exchange items,
in the first round?
- I'm gonna trade with Penn.
- You're gonna trade with Penn. Okay. Trade with Penn.
Ooh. That's heavier than I thought it would be.
- And my prediction says Teller beats Penn.
Teller's scissors cuts Penn's paper.
Now, for the second round,
we're gonna do it a bit more difficult,
because now, you can make two switches.
I know exactly which two switches you're going to make,
so I'm going to write down the results in advance.
And I'm going to ask you, Penn,
which two of you should make the first switch?
- Alyson and I. - Alyson and you.
Okay, switch with Alyson.
- I just thought she was getting tired holding the rock.
- Yeah. Good idea.
Teller, can you just point two of you?
Could you do the second switch?
- Thank you. - You switched with Alyson,
and my prediction says Alyson beats Teller.
Alyson's scissors cuts Teller's paper, and Penn beats Alyson.
Penn's rock crushes Alyson's scissors.
- Wow.
- Thank you. That's what I was hoping for.
And for the final round, this is the most difficult one,
because now you can make three switches.
And now, you can try to outsmart me.
For example, Penn and Teller, if you do the first switch,
for the second switch, you can switch back again.
And for the third switch,
well, you can do the same switch three times,
or you can do two different switches,
or you can do all three different switches.
Whatever you think would be the hardest for me to anticipate.
And Alyson, not to put any pressure on you,
but women who are considered very smart
and very beautiful--they tend to choose scissors over rock,
in about 65% of the times. - Wow.
- Not trying to influence you in any way, of course. Or am I?
But Alyson, which two of you should make the first switch?
- Penn and Teller should switch.
- Penn and Teller do the first switch.
And Penn, which two of you should make the second switch?
- I like having the rock. Me and Teller.
- And Teller, can you point to two of you
who should do the last switch?
You'll switch with Penn. Okay. Switch.
Now, exactly as I thought, and that is why
there is nothing written on this notepad,
because I told you I was gonna take a huge risk,
and I did that a couple of weeks ago
when I sent you those items. And today, I took another risk.
The risk that none of you would have that idea
to look down at that piece of paper
that you have been passing amongst you,
because if you did,
you could have done one switch differently,
and all my predictions would be wrong.
Penn, you figured out what to do already.
Open up and read just the first line.
What does the first line said?
- Teller beats Alyson. That's true. Penn--
- Teller's rock. Yes.
- Penn beats Teller. Which is true.
- Penn's--yes.
- And Alyson beats Penn which is true.
- Thank you very much.
- Wow.
That's amazing.
Hans!
- Thank you, Alyson. - That is so impressive.
Were you, like, the most annoying person
to play paper rock scissors with on the schoolyard?
- I was probably the richest one,
because we would play for money.
- Ooh, nice.
Are there many magicians in Norway?
- Well, not many, but now, we have a magic club,
and last week, I was elected president.
It was kind of awkward though, since I got both of the votes.
The other guy knew I voted for myself.
- [laughs]
Okay, Hans.
Let's see if you won our game of rock paper trophy.
- Well, you certainly blew our minds.
We were just flabbergasted right away.
It's a beautiful trick. I have been--what has it been?
Like five years now. I've been bringing up to Teller
I want to do a rock paper scissors trick.
I loved it so much. I love how simple it is.
What a great game it is.
I love the props being sent.
I love the giant rock. The giant scissors.
The giant paper.
I loved everything about this,
and you're just a great performer.
The style was very clean, turning it around.
I loved it, but I do not think you fooled us,
because the way this went seems inevitable.
It seems like it's the only way it could go.
This is the only punchline you could have,
but as we know, in magic,
you can always make it look
like what happened is what you wanted,
even when it's not what you wanted.
So we think you didn't fool us,
'cause you were using multiple outs.
You had a different way to make everything okay,
no matter what we did.
- Is that right, Hans?
- Does that mean, for example,
you think that, if something else happened,
well maybe something was written on the next page...
- Yeah. Yeah. - Of the notepad?
- Something like that. - So that--
- A different page, or maybe there is some answer
in the box, or something like that,
and it seems inevitable, but it really wasn't.
- The outcome is what you saw.
They are exactly the same each time.
There absolutely no multiple outcomes,
so I would say just-- [laughter]
- Uh, yeah.
Hans beats Penn.
Hans beats Teller. Hans wins the game.
[cheers and applause] - Yay! Hans, you fooled them.
- We're gonna come up and shake your hand.
- Ohh.
Oh, Hans. - That's amazing.
- Okay. We have a Fooler.
- So beautiful.
- Hans, that's awesome. - Thank you guys.
Thank you guys, except for getting a little baby,
this is the biggest thing that happen to me.
- So great, Hans. So great.
- Congratulations, Hans!
And we have a winner.
Penn and Teller just added an act
to their Vegas magic show.
Is there room for one more on the bill?
Find out when "Fool Us" returns.
♪ ♪
- Welcome back. We've seen Penn and Teller get fooled once,
but could this be a two-Fooler night?
Let's meet our next contender and find out.
- I'm Benjamin Barnes, and my greatest power
is turning "nos" into "yeses."
I found success in my small hometown,
but when I first left home to perform in Chicago,
they booed me off the stage. [booing]
I was devastated.
I threw my props in the trash,
but I realized I had the power
to turn that "no" into a "yes."
Next, I set my mind to performing
at one of the most prestigious magic venues--
The Magic Castle.
I practiced so much
that I strained all the tendons in my hand,
and I had to have surgery to fix it.
But I fought my way back.
I know that when most magicians ask
if they fooled Penn and Teller they get told "no."
But maybe I can turn that "no" into a "yes" too.
[cheers and applause]
- Please welcome Chicago's own Benjamin Barnes.
- Hello, Penn and Teller.
My name is Benjamin Barnes.
International magic man of mystery.
And the piece of magic I'll be doing tonight
is truly a mystery.
It works each and every time that I do it,
but I still can't figure out how.
Hopefully, the two of you
won't be able to figure it out either,
but the way I see it, no matter what,
when I walk off this stage, I'll be the winner.
Because if you are able to figure out
how my magic is done,
then I will have finally learned its secret.
And if you can't, I get a "Fool Us" trophy,
which would be unbelievable.
Of course, I don't want to do this alone.
Alyson, will you please join me?
- Yes.
- Great. Hi. - Hi.
- Nice to meet you.
- A pleasure.
Now, Alyson, in the left hand are the blue cards.
There are 52, in total.
I'll be using four.
The four queens.
The remaining cards are gonna sit this game out.
Now, Alyson, I need two decks of cards.
That blue deck and this red deck of cards,
also known as the mystery deck.
And you might ask why.
- Why? - Here's why, Alyson.
- One of the red cards
is facing in the opposite direction.
It is the mystery card.
Both: Ooh.
- All right. We're gonna try that part again.
- Okay. - One of the red cards
is facing in the opposite direction.
It is the mystery card.
- Ooh. - Good. Good.
Now, Alyson, I still need you to pick one of these cards.
I'm gonna pull cards from the face of the pack, one by one,
and I want you to focus on the number cards.
- Okay.
- When you see one that you like say, "Stop."
- Okay.
- Stop.
- Right here? - Yes.
- All right. Pick up the pen, Alyson,
and write your initials in large letters
across the face of the card.
Perfect. Now, one of the reasons
why I wanted Alyson to focus on the number cards
is because of the white space,
which makes it easier for us to see her initials there,
on the four of diamonds.
Now, Alyson, what I'd like for you to do
is to hold the cards.
Put your other hand right on top. Perfect.
And at this time, I'd like to remind everyone
that I have the four queens.
Alyson, I'm gonna place your four of diamonds
into the center of the four queens,
and Penn and Teller, it's plain to see that's no mystery.
Now, Alyson, to make the magic work,
you need to say the mystery word.
- Okay.
- What is the mystery word, you might ask?
- Yes. What is the mystery word?
- I have no idea. - Oh, dear.
- Because it's a-- - Mystery!
- Exactly.
Alyson, I want you to think of your very own mystery word.
Don't say it. We want to keep it a--
- Mystery.
- In a moment, I'm gonna extend these five cards
in Alyson's direction.
Alyson, when that happens I want you
to say your mystery word as mysteriously as you can.
- Okay.
- And as unbelievable as it might sound, at that moment,
one of the five cards will vanish without a trace.
- Hmm. - You ready?
- I'm ready.
Cookie.
- It's done.
Where there were once five cards there are now one,
two, three, four queens.
And Alyson, your card has completely vanished.
Where did it go? That's a--
- Mystery.
- Let's see if we can solve this mystery.
Alyson, raise your hand.
Inside of the pack that you've been holding onto
this entire time is a mystery card
which has been there since the very start.
Penn and Teller, you won't believe this,
but the mystery card is none other
than Alyson's four of diamonds.
And that is a true...
both: Mystery.
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you. Thank you. - Benjamin Barnes!
- Fantastic. - Oh, that was really good.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- I heard from Penn and Teller Chicago
is just known for brilliant magicians.
- Yes, yes. It's a long history
that goes back--at least as far back as 1898.
- Wow. - Chicago gave birth
to bar magic and what we now think of
as close-up magic, so I was very lucky...
- Yeah. - To have grown up there.
- Is that intimidating though,
because you have such big shoes to fill?
- No. They're there for me to put on, you know?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Those people--they established this history.
They pass on to me. I pass it on to the next.
- Yeah.
- This is far more intimidating.
- Oh, really? What is your most memorable performance?
- One of my first shows.
My first show before an audience
was in a rehabilitation center for children.
- Aw.
- And none of the kids could move or talk,
and I went in.
I was terrified, because I was not prepared for that,
and we did the show. And by the end of it,
while they couldn't talk they could laugh.
- Aw.
- They could smile, and never forget it.
- Oh, that's amazing. - Yeah.
- Okay, Benjamin. Let's see
if Penn and Teller have solved the mystery of your trick.
- Let's see. - Oh, Benjamin.
Boy, good magicians out of Chicago, huh?
- Yeah. - Really good.
- Oh, yeah.
- And you're one of 'em. - Thank you very much.
- You're one of the good magicians out of Chicago.
- I appreciate it. - And I'll tell you that stuff
there--neither one of us can do any of it.
You just did that beautifully.
- Thank you... - Now...
- So much. - Know--I'm sure you know
very well that our mentor, our dear friend--
And he was with the show for many years.
Johnny Thompson. - Oh, yeah.
- He showed us a lot of magic. - Yeah.
- He showed us a lot of card magic
that we could not do,
and he explained it to us over and over again,
and we tried, and we just couldn't do it.
And the stuff you're doing is so, so clean there,
and I'll tell you, I love watching it.
I could watch you forever, and I know
you started this whole thing by saying you won either way.
- Yeah. - Because it was a mystery.
- Yes.
- And you didn't know how it was done,
and that if we could tell you how it was done,
you'd have that mystery solved.
Well, I'm just not gonna spew out how it's done.
That would ruin the fun... - Yes.
- So we have made a quick phone call.
- Okay.
- And we have put the information
on how this trick is done in escrow with our law firm
Hammond, Elmsley, and Elmsley, and we count Elmsley twice.
So if you want to find out how this was done,
Benjamin, you go to Hammond, Elmsley, and Elmsley,
and tell 'em Penn and Teller left a secret
from Johnny Thompson in escrow.
- I'll do that.
- But I don't think you fooled us.
- I don't think so, either,
but it was so awesome to be here.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Ben.
- Thank you so much. - Great job.
- Aw, thank you. Benjamin Barnes.
- Thank you, Alyson. Thank you, guys. Thank you.
Thank you. [cheers and applause]
- Penn and Teller might give away another "Fool Us" trophy,
but they're definitely performing later tonight.
More magic in a minute.
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back. Did you miss us?
Well, you don't want to miss this next act.
- I'm Jamie Docherty. - And I'm Lewis Joss.
- And we are Jay and Joss.
- Jay and I started out as rival magicians.
- Yeah. I was doing okay in Northamptonshire.
- Hey, I wasn't doing too bad in Bedfordshire.
- Point being, we were fighting for the same work,
and I would always hear, "Oh, sorry.
We've just booked Joss," or--
- "We've just booked Jay," as the case may be.
I mean, it was a little bit frustrating.
We sensed that we would do better as a duo.
- So we decided we'd try working together,
and we had a lot in common.
- We'd perform together, and then afterwards,
we would just talk for hours.
It was my dad that pointed out to me,
because he saw how happy Jay and I were together.
London!
And so he said, "Are you two a couple?"
- We talked about it, and then we realized,
"Yeah. I guess we are."
- So now, it's a partnership onstage and in life,
and that's part of what we're sharing here,
on "Fool Us" tonight.
- The magic is, of course, the main thing,
so here comes Jay and Joss.
[cheers and applause]
- Make way for the British invasion of Jay and Joss!
[cheers and applause]
- Hey, guys. We couldn't get to Vegas,
so we thought we'd bring a little bit of Vegas to us.
- We're on vacation, and we've pushed the boat out.
- We can afford to sit back and relax,
as we done all the hard work a few days ago
when we recorded it on Jay's phone
while we were in the hot tub.
- It's a hard life.
- Penn, we think you've been carrying the Penn and Teller
show way too long, and you deserve a break.
- So we can't wait to see the Alyson and Teller show
when we get to Vegas.
- What do you think? - Good thinking.
- Penn, don't worry.
You've still got a crucial role in this brand-new venture.
You are gonna be playing the wardrobe department
for this new Vegas spectacular. - Oh, boy.
- Good. - Penn?
- Yeah. - Teller? Alyson?
Please join us onstage.
Teller, please take your jacket off.
- And remember, guys, we recorded this audio
just over a week ago. It's locked in the phone,
and we're gonna just let you guys get on with the work,
while we get to work relaxing.
We're gonna press play on the audio.
Hey, Vegas. We're just chilling in the hot tub
and thought we'd record this audio
in advance, so that, on the day,
we can concentrate on topping up our tan.
We've mailed over some clothing and props,
but as our designer, Penn,
it's your job to make some choices.
- Penn, look at the clothing rail now.
- Yep.
- Please reach forward and grab one item.
Hold it up with your left or right hand.
- Pick a hand? Okay. Right hand.
- Now, if you're holding the item in your left hand,
pass it to Teller to wear,
and if it's in your right hand,
then give it to Alyson to wear.
Okay, Penn. Round two.
Can you grab another item from the rail,
and hold it up in either your left or right hand?
This time, if you're holding the item in your left hand,
pass it to Alyson to wear.
- And if it's in your right hand,
then Teller will wear it.
[audience exclaims]
- Okay. We're assuming you've done that now.
- Yes. - Go on, Penn.
Pick the third item.
Just hold it in your left or right hand.
- We have faith.
I'm sure you guys are doing an amazing job.
[audience exclaims] - You know what to do.
If the item's in your left hand, pass it to Alyson.
Right hand, give it to Teller.
- The Penn and Teller costumes
over the years, haven't exactly been bold,
so it's great to see Penn letting loose.
Penn, please pick up another item from the rail.
Now, it doesn't matter which hand you hold it in,
because we're going to decide.
We think you should give this to Teller.
- Yes.
- Three items left.
Choose another one, Penn.
- Penn, give this one to Teller again.
- Oh, my gosh, Teller.
- Pick the penultimate item, Penn.
Hopefully you've got this one by now.
- Yes I do.
- And this one will go to Alyson this time.
- Almost done. - Hey.
- Weird to think that Alyson and Teller
will be Vegas headliners wearing crazy,
childish outfits made up of clothes
you couldn't even give away in a thrift store.
- Finally, Penn, pick up the last item,
and give it to Alyson.
- Here you go. - Thank you.
- Costume department, you've done an amazing job.
You can now leave the stage. - Thank you.
- Vegas stars, Alyson and Teller!
[cheers and applause]
- This looks brilliant.
- You guys look amazing.
- Penn, we think you've got a new career ahead of you.
- Thank you - And while we've been sat here
working on our tans, sipping overpriced cocktails,
for the last few minutes,
we haven't even moved.
- Now, Penn, remember you dressed Alyson and Teller,
and we have no idea which clothes you would have picked.
- But we already have the merchandise...
- For the brand new Alyson and Teller show.
[audience exclaims] - All right. Whoo-hoo!
[cheers and applause]
- We've got a confession to make.
- We didn't get to go very far on vacation.
- But that doesn't stop us from having fun.
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
- Jay and Joss!
Hi, guys.
Both: Hey.
- I like my outfit.
- Oh, you look amazing.
- I've gotta say you look incredible.
- I definitely feel like I'm ready to headline
a Vegas show.
So how did you two meet?
- So I sold Lewis an illusion six or seven years ago,
and we met up again at a magic convention.
How romantic, and we formed Jay and Joss.
- Aw, so what was your first performance together?
- We actually put some of the sort of information out
before we had the act ready to go.
- We put the feelers out, didn't we? Which was...
- We--
- The wrong way to do it, because--
- Well, we got booked and then had to come up
with some magic so.
- To take that risk, you must
have a lot of confidence in each other.
- 'Cause we know each other, and live together,
and work together, and everything is together.
We know each other inside-out, so I think
that definitely helps when we're performing onstage.
- All right, Jay and Joss.
Let's see if you fooled Penn and Teller.
- Hey, Jay. Hey, Joss. I've gotta tell you.
You've solved so many of our problems.
For one, Teller finally, finally looks like
a real Vegas magician. Perfectly done.
And you've also solved another problem,
which is people complain all the time
that we--the three of us--wear the same clothes every season,
for the whole season. You've now solved that.
They can't say that anymore. They can only say it about me,
and I say that with a certain amount of pride.
We love double acts. We love two-person acts.
I know we got to be a three-person act here,
too, and so did you.
You know what that's like, to work with a group like that.
We also loved your set with the tree, and the branches,
and all that going up was really, really a funny routine.
And I think Alyson-- Can we just keep that
for the rest of the season?
You look very, very good.
Not as professional Vegas magician as Teller does,
but all the same, very, very good.
So you've solved a lot of our problems.
I think I put a few things in there
that should give you an idea that we have
a pretty good idea how you did it,
but we're very glad you did do it.
- Did they say enough to know that you didn't fool them?
- I think they got us. - I think they got us.
- All right. Well, thank you, Jay and Joss!
- Nicely done, Jay. Nicely done, Joss.
- We'll be right back with more fabulous magic
when "Fool Us" returns.
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
- Welcome back. Penn and Teller couldn't say goodbye
without performing a trick of their own,
so take it away, Penn and Teller!
[cheers and applause]
- We have a disagreement with the New Testament.
It says in there it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
We do not agree, and we can prove we are right.
This is Kurt, and this is Zeke,
and they are putting together a cardboard box
that will represent heaven. Now, guys,
make sure it is completely impossible to get into.
Cover every crack, every cranny, every nook.
Cover it all with tape and with bubble wrap.
Now, some say heaven is easy to get into.
Some say heaven is hard to get into.
Some say heaven is a place on Earth, and they're right.
It's right here. That's heaven,
and picture anything you want for heaven in there.
Maybe it's angels on fluffy clouds with wings
and halos playing harps.
Or maybe it's my kind of heaven,
which would be Sun Ra playing Bob Dylan tunes
while I eat vegan penuche fudge and watch the Three Stooges
chase a honey badger. Now, when they said a needle
they didn't mean a modern, little needle.
The Sumerian needle was a Bedouin tentmaker's needle
with a huge eye like this for ropes to go through.
And Teller will be playing the part of the camel.
[laughter]
♪ ♪
He'll also be playing the part of the rich man,
which he was, until 2020.
Cover that. Come on. Get that tape on there.
Spin it around. Get the tape all over there.
It is impossible to get into heaven there,
so we're gonna show that they are not unequal.
That it is not more difficult
for a rich man to go into heaven
than for a camel through the eye of the needle.
They're gonna put it up on this stand here,
and then, if you would please, Zeke,
affix this needle to the front of the box there.
And cut a hole into heaven right there.
Here's the original New Testament Sumerian text here.
We have the rich man into the kingdom of heaven
not equal to the camel through the eye of the needle.
Our beef is with this symbol right here.
We think they are exactly equal,
and we can prove it. We have heaven over there.
We have the needle there, and we have our camel,
and we have our rich man.
We have our camel and our rich man.
We have our camel.
Now, the camel has to get all four hooves
and both humps--it's a dromedary--into the needle,
at the same time
that the rich man goes into the kingdom of heaven.
I think we made our point.
Exactly equal. - Wow.
Well, you know the old saying,
the show's not over until the camel makes it rain.
Well, the camel made it rain.
We'll see you next time. Goodnight!
[cheers and applause]