For some months last year, I worked on a top secret project ending up taking one hell of a magical adventure to Fabulous Las Vegas.
I was accepted as one of the magicians to perform on the American Television show, Penn & Teller Fool Us! Now in its tenth season, this show is no stranger to magicians worldwide.
However for those who don’t know – What is Fool Us? And Who are Penn & Teller?
Penn & Teller are a magician duo famous for cleverly combining comedy and magic. Penn Jillette is the acts orator and Teller communicates through mime and non-verbal gestures. Working together since the 70’s they are the longest-running headliners to play the same hotel in Las Vegas – The Rio.
Since 2010 Penn & Teller have hosted the Show Penn & Teller: Fool Us originally on ITV and now on CW Network in 2015.
The television series is a show in which magicians in each episode perform tricks in front of Penn & Teller, after which they decide if the performer has Fooled them. If they do indeed fool them, the performer will win a coveted Fool Us trophy and get a 5* trip to Las Vegas to perform as the opening act to The Penn & Teller show Live in The Rio, Las Vegas.
With literally hundred’s of magicians presenting magic and next year the duo will be airing the 11th season of, the show appears to well and truly not just a success in the magic world but it is also loved greatly by people all over the world!
Why is “Fool Us” so popular?
The Hook, The Format & The Guys
For me the format is a simple concept for audiences to grasp. There are just two outcomes on the show. Penn & Teller are fooled or they know how your trick is done.
Either way, they are not there to make fools out of any performer showcasing their work on the show. Quite the opposite. Fool Us is designed to showcase and celebrate magicians from all over the world.
And working on the show was just that. From the Producers to the backstage crew, we were looked after and treated like royalty when filming the show in Vegas. What fun it was.
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So this is literally just a heads up that on Episode 20 of Season 10 on April 26th 2024 yours truly will be presenting a trick to this legendary duo. I’m super excited to see it and also realised that I’ve just ticked off one of the biggest things in my magical bucket list!
I hope you all tune in to see if I managed to Fool them!