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I think the only reason they get fooled is that they're time limited to come up with a solution and only get one shot at it. 99% sure it's not 'just for TV' as

I think the only reason they get fooled is that they're time limited to come up with a solution and only get one shot at it. 99% sure it's not 'just for TV' as they did the original series in the UK and as it's a competition (which is highly regulated) they said there were lots of rules in place to ensure it was real and not set up or anything like that.

fenomas 9y ago
Being a huge P&T fan who's watched them all, of the tricks where they get fooled there are a small handful where someone just flat-out, stone-cold bewilders them. But there are a lot more where they clearly know pretty much what's going on, but either they take a 50/50 guess and miss, or there's some hangup about wording or somesuch. But definitely I agree that they don't miss on purpose for TV reasons.
- k-mcgrady 9y ago
  Agreed. I happened to watch a video earlier today of one (from the US series) and it seems like one that really does fool them [0]. Worth watching if others haven't seen it. [0] https://youtu.be/3gpq4ML2DDo https://youtu.be/3gpq4ML2DDo
  - soperj 9y ago
    Think he dipped each card in something seperately and memorized the taste for 52 cards?
    - k-mcgrady 9y ago
      I did a little Googling after I watched and supposedly he has denied several potential methods, with that being one of them.
- T-hawk 9y ago
  Deliberately taking advantage of that 50/50 guess is one way to improve your prospect of winning on Fool Us. Have a trick that could be done in several different ways. P&T propose one method, and if that wasn't the way you did it, then you win.
  - vlasev 9y ago
    DO N tricks of that sort in a row for a chance of 1 - 1/2^N of fooling them!
derefr 9y ago
Yeah, the "ideal" format would be something more like Mythbusters, where they get to go off and try various things for days/weeks (shown as a montage), and then come back to the magician with their best shot.
- k-mcgrady 9y ago
  I'd bet if they did that they would figure out how 99.9% of the tricks are done and it wouldn't be much of a competition. It would be cool to see though, particularly if they explained the method.
- ajanuary 9y ago
  Penn has talked a few times on his podcast Penn's Sunday School about the format. The idea is to showcase magic on TV, but in a way that reassures the viewers that there isn't any camera trickery etc. "If Penn and Teller are trying to figure out how it is done, why would they let them do camera tricks?" To that end, they don't need time to go away and figure it out; a couple of minutes is just fine.

fenomas 9y ago

Being a huge P&T fan who's watched them all, of the tricks where they get fooled there are a small handful where someone just flat-out, stone-cold bewilders them. But there are a lot more where they clearly know pretty much what's going on, but either they take a 50/50 guess and miss, or there's some hangup about wording or somesuch. But definitely I agree that they don't miss on purpose for TV reasons.

k-mcgrady 9y ago
Agreed. I happened to watch a video earlier today of one (from the US series) and it seems like one that really does fool them [0]. Worth watching if others haven't seen it. [0] https://youtu.be/3gpq4ML2DDo https://youtu.be/3gpq4ML2DDo
- soperj 9y ago
  Think he dipped each card in something seperately and memorized the taste for 52 cards?
  - k-mcgrady 9y ago
    I did a little Googling after I watched and supposedly he has denied several potential methods, with that being one of them.
T-hawk 9y ago
Deliberately taking advantage of that 50/50 guess is one way to improve your prospect of winning on Fool Us. Have a trick that could be done in several different ways. P&T propose one method, and if that wasn't the way you did it, then you win.
- vlasev 9y ago
  DO N tricks of that sort in a row for a chance of 1 - 1/2^N of fooling them!

derefr 9y ago

Yeah, the "ideal" format would be something more like Mythbusters, where they get to go off and try various things for days/weeks (shown as a montage), and then come back to the magician with their best shot.

k-mcgrady 9y ago
I'd bet if they did that they would figure out how 99.9% of the tricks are done and it wouldn't be much of a competition. It would be cool to see though, particularly if they explained the method.
ajanuary 9y ago
Penn has talked a few times on his podcast Penn's Sunday School about the format. The idea is to showcase magic on TV, but in a way that reassures the viewers that there isn't any camera trickery etc. "If Penn and Teller are trying to figure out how it is done, why would they let them do camera tricks?" To that end, they don't need time to go away and figure it out; a couple of minutes is just fine.