Penn & Teller: Fool Us is a magic competition television series in which magicians perform tricks in front of American magician-comedian duo Penn & Teller. Its first two seasons were hosted by Jonathan Ross, the third through ninth seasons were hosted by Alyson Hannigan and the tenth season by Brooke Burke. Fool Us was filmed at Fountain Studios in London, England (season one) and the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino (season two onward), located in Las Vegas. After each performance, if Penn & Teller cannot figure out how a trick was done, the magician(s) who performed it win a Fool Us trophy (since season 2) and a five-star trip to Las Vegas to perform as the opening act in Penn & Teller's show, also at the Rio Hotel & Casino.[1]
Each episode starts off with the introduction stating the purpose of the series. Penn & Teller come out and take their seats towards center stage, and hopeful magicians perform (6 in the pilot, 4 in season 1–present) their acts in front of them with a live studio audience (except for the second half of season 7 through season 9, when Covid forced them to perform in front of a virtual audience).
After each performance, Penn & Teller privately confer while the host interviews the magicians. Penn then reveals if they know how the trick was performed, typically using cryptic language, or they write down the method and present it privately to the magicians to confirm, so as to avoid publicly exposing the secrets behind the trick. Teller notes that the doublespeak helps teach people new techniques without spoiling the trick.[2]
If Penn & Teller are wrong, or cannot come up with how the trick was done, the magician wins a Fool Us trophy and the opportunity to later perform at one of Penn & Teller's Las Vegas shows. A backstage judge or judges, versed in the techniques of the magic industry and privately informed how the trick is done prior to the show, makes any necessary calls whether Penn & Teller were properly fooled. At the end of each episode, Penn & Teller perform a magic act of their own.
Production
The pilot of Fool Us was first commissioned by John Kaye Cooper, the controller of entertainment for ITV.[3] In February 2011, it was announced that due to good viewing figures, a series of eight episodes had been commissioned, and would be produced by September Films and 1/17 Productions.[4] The eight episodes were shot in a ten-day filming block, and began airing in June 2011.[5]
It was announced on 28 June 2012 that ITV had cancelled the show, despite averaging 4 million viewers, higher than the norm for the timeslot.[6] After finding moderate ratings success in running the ITV-produced episodes during the summer of 2014, The CW ordered a second season of original episodes to air in 2015.[7] The second season was a ratings hit for The CW, giving the network its highest ratings in that time slot compared to the previous five years.[8]
On 11 August 2015 the series was renewed for a third season by The CW[9] which premiered on 13 July 2016,[10][11] now hosted by Alyson Hannigan.[12] The fourth season premiered on 13 July 2017.[1][13] A special one-off April Fool's episode was broadcast on 2 April 2018 as a precursor to the fifth season, which premiered on 25 June 2018.[14][15] After another April Fool's episode on 1 April 2019, the sixth season premiered on 17 June 2019.[16]
In the summer of 2020 the show was renewed for a seventh season, which was set to begin filming in October 2020. Due to COVID-19 safety and travel restrictions, the second half of season 7 was filmed with a virtual audience, and international acts performed via video from their home countries. The magicians and crew were tested for COVID over 660 times, with every result negative.[17] On 20 January 2022, the series was renewed for a ninth season.[18] On 18 May 2023, the series was renewed for a tenth season, with new host Brooke Burke which was taped during the first weeks of July in the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The season premiered on 27 October 2023.[19][20][21]
↑ Although Piff, after being shown Teller's deduction, stated that he did not fool Penn & Teller, Penn later admitted in a blog post that he and Teller had gotten Piff's technique wrong but Piff played along with them, although this has not been mentioned on-screen.[23] Piff's subsequent guest appearances on the show in the episodes "Something Fishy This Way Comes" and "Penn the Magic Dragon" have been as a joint magic performance act alongside Penn & Teller at the end of each episode.
↑ Although Penn & Teller saw Farquhar perform a deck switch, which they had previously decided would automatically mean a contestant did not fool them, they considered themselves fooled because they could not explain the essence of how Farquhar had performed his card trick.
↑ Martinez presented himself as Cuban, but was outed as British by Penn & Teller following the conclusion of his act.
Unaired segments include:
Chris Cox, mind reader (unaired as he was the only performer who failed in his performance)
↑ Roth's award was given as an honorary award since Roth pioneered coin magic, and Penn & Teller stated that they only knew the tricks because they had read his books.
↑ Although Paul Vigil did not fool them, Penn admitted that the only reason they know how his trick is done is because they have read it in Paul's books.
Penn and Teller cut and restore a live snake while discussing the controversy that arose when they performed the trick on Saturday Night Live in the 80s.
↑ Appeared in a previous episode where they fooled Penn & Teller.
↑ Penn admitted that they do not know how he got the golf ball inside the jar, but the contestant agreed that he did not fool them, since they got all the other parts of the trick.
↑ Although Coronel indicated during the initial broadcast that he had not fooled Penn & Teller, they confirmed in their "April Fool Us Day" special on 2 April 2018, that they had indeed been fooled.[47]
↑ Performed as the magic duo "Hal & Kellar" parodying Penn & Teller.
1 2 3 4 5 Appeared in a previous episode where they fooled Penn & Teller.
↑ Penn & Teller later revealed on their "April Fool Us Day" special on 1 April 2019 that in scenes deleted from the episode, Duvivier initially indicated that she had not fooled them, due to her misunderstanding Penn's cryptic language. However, after Teller went backstage and spoke with her privately about her techniques used on stage, he informed Penn that they had gotten their deductions wrong. They then called Duviver back to the stage and told her that they were indeed fooled by her, which was shown during the original broadcast.
Readers of UKGameshows.com named it the second best new game show of 2011 in their "Hall of fame" poll.[172]
In a November 26, 2019 essay, The New York Times Magazine gave Fool Us its "Letter of Recommendation," calling the show "an island of civility and generosity in our cruel, contentious and otherwise debased times."[173]
Appearance on the show has become highly prestigious for magicians and more influential in marketing themselves than winning industry awards.[174]
U.S. ratings
Season 1
Viewership and ratings per episode of Penn & Teller: Fool Us
In Australia, the show commenced airing on ABC1 each Saturday at 9:25pm from 1 October 2011.[190][191] In New Zealand, the show commenced airing on ChoiceTV each Saturday at 7:30pm from 28 April 2012.[192]The CW acquired the series for broadcast in the United States, where it premiered on 30 July 2014. The pilot episode was trimmed to one hour (including commercial breaks) for its CW airing.[193][194] In Canada, the series aired on Bite TV before it was rebranded to Makeful on 24 August 2015. Channel 5 bought the UK rights to the second season and premiered it on 6 March 2016.[195]
Other versions
In 2011 it was reported that the format had been sold to Ukraine broadcaster STB, who would produce a local version.[190]
In 2012 the show was licensed to Israel's Channel 2. The show was renamed Mi Yapil Et Ha Master ("Who Can Fool The Master?"). Penn & Teller were asked to be the judging magicians but they had to decline due to other commitments. Max Maven took their place, and the winner of the show was mentalist Eran Biderman.[196]
Masters of Illusion is an American television series featuring performances by magicians. The first season, featuring illusionists on the grand stage at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, was broadcast on Pax TV from 2000 to 2001. MyNetworkTV aired a second season in 2009. In 2012, four syndicated episodes were broadcast. The series was revived by The CW in 2014, with Dean Cain as host. Since then, The CW has continued to renew the show, ordering a twelfth season on January 20, 2022, and a thirteenth season on May 18, 2023.
World's Funniest Animals is an American video clip television series produced by Associated Television International that premiered on The CW on September 18, 2020.
↑ "ITV orders Ross 'Penn & Teller' series". Digital Spy. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011. ITV spokesperson confirmed to DS this afternoon that the series had been ordered
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