Penn & Teller reveal the secrets of TV magic

At risk of being banished from the Magic Circle, Penn & Teller tell Rich Pelley about the tricks of their trade
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Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller and Jonathan Ross.

Gory US magicians Penn (the tall one) and Teller (the silent one) are back with a new series of Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Jonathan Ross (the floppy-haired one) hosts as amateur illusionists try to baffle the duo in order to win a support slot on their Vegas show. But after years of catching bullets, palming cards and chopping off hands they know most of the tricks around. So what's the secret to staying ahead in magic?

Bigger isn't better

Penn: If you lack imagination, the easiest thing to hype is bigger. On the first special, I'll vanish a deck of cards. On the second, I'll vanish a small dog. On the third, a woman. The fourth, a chorus line. The fifth, a bus. The sixth, a train. Seventh, Parliament. On the eighth, I'll vanish Scotland. On the ninth, I'll vanish Europe. You're up to 10 shows and you're already vanishing continents. Pretty soon you're saying shit like, "I'm going to vanish the moon." By then, who fucking cares?

Don't underestimate your audience

Teller: Everyone in the audience has read a magic book. You're not performing for benighted savages. Treat them accordingly.

It's only a trick

Penn: Don't be ashamed of the word "trick". Illusion is not a higher word than trick. A card trick is not an illusion. An illusion is something done one way that looks the other, like if you put a mirror in front of a pencil so the pencil looks like it's somewhere else. A trick is something deep, powerful and philosophical. If that's what you do, brag about it.

Disguise is better than distraction

Teller: You can never make an entire audience look in a single place. Say I want to palm a card. I can't just point at a corner of the stage and distract everybody with some dancing acrobats. I'm better off palming the card while I pick up the deck. You must make your secret move look like something else – a policy followed by most politicians.

Keep your overheads low

Teller: Magic is a very economical way to amaze people. All you do is deftly lie with your body or with your words. It doesn't require large pieces of scenery or choruses of naked people in feathers. If you keep your overheads low, you can survive even in hard times.

Magic's not worth dying for

Teller: While it may be necessary for a soldier going to war or a fireman saving a bunch of school children to risk his life, it's never worth risking your life for a trick.

Penn: If you try to tell people that stuff is real, then you have to starve yourself, or crucify yourself, or freeze yourself, or lie in a box of your own shit. You're not supposed to be torturing yourself. You're not a magician. You're a **** in a box!

Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Sat, 8pm, ITV1

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