'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' Season 7 Episode 4 Highlights: Time travel, trust and a trick taught by talking Teller
Fate and faith may sound the same but they are two entirely different concepts, and both were used in tonight's selection of magic tricks. Out of four magicians, only one was able to truly fool the judges, proving that when it comes to predicting the future, sometimes the simplest tricks are the most deceptive. Plus, Teller also taught the audience some magic and revealed something else he's been hiding for a very long time.
The night began with an escape act by Miranda Allen, who was locked in a wine barrel by her best friend. While the judges weren't fooled by the trick, they did admire its execution — bringing a heightened sense of drama to the magic by playing up the friendship angle. There appeared to be no tricks in Miranda's escape attempt, just pure skill. And though it may not have won her an award, it still earned the judges' respect.
Two more magicians took the stage, each with astoundingly clever tricks that brought Penn, Teller and Alyson right up to the stage for some close-up magic. Inaki Zabaleta attempted to have Penn and Teller fool themselves, while Guiherme Silvera's trick involved several random items with control entirely in the judge and hosts' hands. Inaki used the trio's own choices to produce an entire suit of cards from ones apparently chosen at random, but not random enough to fool them. Meanwhile, Guiherme avoided the traditional sealed envelope and instead sent Penn an e-mail with his predictions, and Penn's guess as to how the trick was done seemed to imply that Guiherme did not perform a trick at all, but actually traveled back and forth in time.
The one magician who was able to fool the pair was a mentalist by the name of Keith Kong, who had Alyson choose a random name of a song off of a list and played a clip show of Penn singing 'Old McDonald' over the course of previous 'Fool Us' episodes. Penn's clip show performance even won him a pre-packaged, platinum award with 'Old McDonald' engraved on it and though the judges knew that Keith had somehow removed the element of chance from Alyson's choice, they couldn't figure out how it was done — meaning Penn wasn't the only magician to go home with an award.
The show ended with Teller teaching the audience how to perform a French Drop — a common sleight of hand trick that is the basis for a great many other illusions. His monologue was written by him and performed by Penn, but one too many mistakes in the monologue's French pronunciations led to Teller bringing out the night's biggest surprise. Whipping out a megaphone, Teller actually spoke to correct Penn, shocking audiences who knew Teller for his permanently mute performances. It was a real treat for tonight's audience, something they're unlikely to see again anytime soon.
The next episode of 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' airs on July 20 on The CW.