The Penn & Teller Conundrum

Penn and Teller - magic’s legendary duo - have continued to defy labels over the past 45 years with their record-breaking Vegas show, creating hit magic TV show 'Penn & Teller Fool Us' and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But by defining the genre of magic, and exposing some of their own tricks, they’ve been kicked out of the magic circle and have faced significant backlash from their fellow magicians. This is their story.
This is the genius of Penn and Teller.

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[JackRhodes]

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[jwolfe]

The irony is that they were criticized for "ruining" magic, but with their show Fool Us, now in its 10th season, they have given hundreds of magicians national television exposure and have probably done more to promote magic and magicians than all of their critics combined.
They transformed magic, demonstrating that fooling you is neither necessary nor sufficient for being a good magician. The best magicians entertain you whether they fool you or not. Everybody now knows how Cups and Balls is done because of Penn & Teller. But people are still doing versions of Cups and Balls and the good ones are entertaining, either because of their patter or because of their skill at sleight of hand, or both. Nothing amazes me more than knowing how a trick is done, seeing through the misdirection, looking directly at them doing the magic bit, and still not seeing it. And some of the most entertaining magicians on Fool Us have done ordinary tricks, but in an extraordinary way.

[eieiolsen]

As Penn once said while critiquing someone’s trick, it’s the singer, not the song. So you know how the cups and balls trick is done. That doesn’t mean anyone can do it. And I’d argue it helps the audience appreciate a masterful performance even more.

[zunaidparker]

Felt like this entire video was an intro and I was waiting for the deep dive to start and then it just...ended.

[SnowTiger]

I have always loved and appreciated P&T's style of magic. Fool Us has been an excellent series as well as it showcases many new magicians from around the world who dazzle us even when they can't fool P&T. I also believe they both love it when they are actually Fooled. They are like big kids, still wanting to be mystified by the trade they know inside and out.

[kathrinsides]

I absolutely adore the fact that I have no clue who that dude is who was bitching and moaning about P&T’s showmanship. And I have absolutely zero interest in finding out who he was because Penn & Teller are the absolute pinnacle of magic, comedy, showmanship, and rationality, and there’s no one else who can top them.

They aren’t about tricking the audience, but more about entertaining them using the audience’s critical thinking skills. And I think that may be why some magicians have so much anger towards them because they don’t have respect for their own audiences. Granted, there aren’t as many people who are willing to engage their critical thinking wile being entertained, but it’s clearly enough to keep P&T going for decades now, and that makes me really happy. And I do have to admit that I have a bit of a crush on Penn because I’m attracted to his mind—John Cusack and him. I know I’m weird. 😹😹😹

[wmrustycox]

Such a fitting tribute to a phenomenal duo of entertainers... and yes... they are genius at what they do !

[NinjaNovice]

They fixed magic. Magic is wonderful in this day because of them. Every popular magic act is only popular today because of Penn and Teller.

[illusion-xiii]

Regardless of whether you approve or disapprove of the tricks they revealed, there's no denying the massively positive effect they have had on the magic community, highlighted by their show, "Fool Us". With that show, not only do they give talented magicians exposure to a massive audience, but by framing the show as a challenge, it encourages magicians to innovate and come up with new approaches and methods for their illusions (since tried and true techniques would be recognized on the spot). I think they've done a lot of good for the magic profession and community, so I'd like to hope that overall the Circle/Castle would see them more for that at this point.

[edwardmoulaison]

I've always felt that a magician that reveals the trick, enhances the trick. It's a beautiful art.

[dontrockwobble]

I saw them in 1992 at Michigan State. I remember Penn did a trick with a lit cigarette, and his warning to us college students: "Don't try this at home... unless you want to look *really* cool." LOL

[VocalClassics]

Having read Penn in the past, I feel he is one of the most irritating humans on the planet, but I simply cannot deny his brilliance in his field of entertainment, and you captured the genius of their pairing beautifully. Thank you!

[MEGAMIGA]

What a heartfelt and sincere homage!

Penn & Teller are indeed a class act!

[fraac]

the theme of their show (in 2019 when i saw them at the rio in las vegas) was "juggling versus lying" - juggling meaning practising a skill for thousands of hours, lying meaning stage magic. penn explains that the line between those, where you aren't sure whether you witnessed extreme skill or deception, is where the delightful mystery lies for the audience. he says you don't want to be "too perfect" because then it could only be deception, and it's less enjoyable. they're real masters

[YvonneWilson]

Superb tribute. Been a fan of theirs for decades now.

[GNCD]

The balls and cups trick with clear plastic cups is still amazing to watch.

[misterkite]

Teller not talking is such a bit of genius. We saw them in the 90s and after the show they were hanging out in the hallway just chatting with the audience, and that was the first time I heard Teller speak and it was so memorable and special.

[OmniphonProductions]

For me, knowing _how_ a trick is done only makes it _more_ impressive when it's done _well._ Their _clear_ version of Cups & Balls is the _best_ version I've ever seen because even as they _explain_ what they're doing _as_ they do it, it's so smooth that when the reach the end, I'm _still_ saying, "What the hell did I just see?!?!?!"

[AskDrannik]

I still miss Bullshit, the show they did for Showtime years ago. Really got me to appreciate them as comedians and interested in their magic act.

[feelincrispy]

Once a week I find a video that is perfect. It doesn’t try to be more than it is, the production is good, the editing is good, the flow is good and this was one of them.
This really should have 1M views