How I Fooled Penn & Teller!! (FULL EXPLANATION)

[@elbruces]

I love that the trickiest part, the one they couldn't figure out, was that you flat out just plain lied about what page number was on the sword.

[@Tomwithnonumbers]

It's so brilliant, I love that I would never have guessed that. It says something about people that we all believed the magician was telling the truth about what he was seeing - even other magicians believed it.

[@kimchi_b]

Very surprised P&T didn't get that as they knew he peeked and the sword was loaded...I'd have thought the one thing they'd spot was that he didn't show anyone the page!

[@davidc9441]

Yes, they probably kicked themselves afterwards. Shows thepower of a well crafted trick. Too many things to distract the mind from the simple.

[@swyxTV]

no they knew that the page was on the sword

[@Heightren]

They were passing by the solution but they overshot.

[@w1q2e3r4t5]

Not a magician, but knowing how a trick is done doesn't ruin things for me whatsoever. It changes it a little from a "how did he do that?" to a "Oh wow, that's clever". Thanks for the explanation, that was awesome. And the trick is still a blast to rewatch.

[@danielnewby2255]

I find it just as or more enjoyable knowing how a trick is done, and being able to watch the presentation of it. You get to watch the magician perform, and not the magic trick.

[@2911oscar]

of course it doesnt, only idiots think it does it's like saying seeing how a movie is made with green screen and all ruins the movie

[@TheGhostServant]

You'd probably enjoy pro wrestling as well. Its kinda like watching muscle magicians.

[@porkeyminch8044]

People watching sports know "how they did it" but can still enjoy watching it, so it makes perfect sense that one can also enjoy watching a magic trick while knowing how it's done.

[@brankin421]

Personally, I like both! I love seeing a trick and being fooled but then I love seeing how it's done and appreciating the creativity, skill, and method.

[@obenohnebohne]

I respect magicians even more when they explain their tricks. This shows 1.) how much effort they put in a trick and 2.) they are challenging themselves to come up with new tricks.

[@themakerstoolbox9688]

And also the difficulty that comes in the actual execution of the teick. They are hard to do in front of people without giving away the trick.

[@marek9741]

Yes because unlike almost all other hobbies, the less you see (as the spectator), the better the magician. "You make it look easy" is what they are going for

[@JPBelanger]

@@themakerstoolbox9688 Very much so. A chef in a restaurant will happily give you his recipe. Because making it requires skill, practice and patience.

[@themakerstoolbox9688]

@@JPBelanger Exactly. The only reason magicians don't do that is because to most it ruins the trick. It doesn't for me because the execution is part of my enjoyment. I can understand it though. The mystery is what makes it amazing and the puzzle of figuring it out. Also magicians buy a lot of their tricks so they can't reveal it because no one would want to buy it anymore.

[@smoceany9478]

@@themakerstoolbox9688 i am very much not an enjoyer of magic, except when they reveal it, that makes it so cool, i love it

[@harriet2814]

Having that trick explained, I realised what an unlikely possibility it was that pages 520 and 521 would be back back, as most books start with page 1 on the right side, back to back with page 2, meaning it would be 519/520 and 521/522. Absolutely genius trick, so in your face instead of having a red herring

[@antidoteforlife9460]

He marked the left side so the lower of the two he said, so all he had to say was the marked and one page higher

[@1337Koios]

@@antidoteforlife9460 Sure, that's how he 'guesses' the correct page, but stopping to think about the page he has on the sword would reveal the deception. He has to guess both numbers because he isn't sure which number the host wrote down. The host should then realize the deception because he knows the two numbers have to come from separate pages- but then again, on this show, the host wasn't the one trying to reveal the trick

[@monhi64]

The thing I noticed is when the host guy picks a page, it would be one of two pages back to back like in an open book but the pages wes got on the sword are the same exact page front and back. So there would’ve been a 50 percent chance he got the right section but chose the wrong side. So hypothetically Wes should’ve had two pages on the sword to match the book but yeah no one will realize unless we’re going in depth into how it worked

[@GlutenEruption]

@@1337Koiostrue, but also there’s misdirection there since the magician said to pick one page and write it down so the host is only focused on the one page number. It’s very unlikely he would memorize both pages in the moment and then put that together in the end. Plus the host is in on the deception to some extent here and is acting more like an assistant than anything so he wouldn’t say anything even if he did notice.

[@ThatPianoNoob]

I love that part of the trick so much.. it's so clever.

[@anishpatel8358]

The real magic is how his brother turned into businessman with a theater degree

[@johngaltline9933]

Sounds like an easy move to me. Speak bullshit to people and make them believe you.

[@dominicbrundenwere8247]

@@johngaltline9933 bruh that's politics, not business.

[@AscendedBeyond]

Well he said he did theater doesnt mean he was a theater major. Also you dont need a business degree to start or work in a business.

[@Sapo0815]

@@AscendedBeyond at 1:23 he tells us that his brother was a theater major.

[@eragon78]

because most businessmen are idiots with an ego. Idk about you, but ive taken business classes in college and theyre complete jokes. most of the people in there are pretty dumb. Getting a "business" degree is a joke in most places. [a business degree is not the same as an economics degree btw] Business is more about presentation than actual know how. If you look and act the part, you're 90% of the way there.

[@larryd9577]

Of course phonebooks disappeared. This dude was ripping two of them every show.

[@Mrgokart1]

😂

[@aaronppellerin4253]

you big goofball yooou!

[@daywalker3735]

Wes Barker, Destroyer of Phonebooks

[@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou]

The Rio alone probably still has enough phone books on hand for him to keep doing the trick every night for years to come.

[@danielpruitt8550]

lmao.

[@generichuman4881]

Knowing how a magic trick works never ruins the trick for me, and I'm not against people who feel is ruined by knowing how it works. To me it's akin to knowing exactly each step a person took to restore a classic car. That knowledge doesn't take away from the final product. In my opinion it's quite the opposite; it makes the final product that more valuable because you see the skill and effort that went into it and can appreciate it that much more.

[@Vijwal]

Damn

[@QaIeb]

agreed

[@Greatsword585]

Yes, for sure

[@brixfrancis1234]

True.

[@RamkrishanYT]

Same, I'm a programmer I'm never less happy to how something really smart works, that like adds to the charge

[@notquitehim]

That's wild! What fooled them was how much you sold the fake reading the page number, they thought you actually had the matching page because of how convincing you were "reading" out the number

[@wobblysauce]

That was the real art of the trick… the theatrics of it, not just the early peak and call out.

[@chriskrause6280]

Honestly, breaking down the trick often ends up being more impressive to me than the trick itself. The ingenuity or sheer amount of skill that goes into tricks is the awe inspiring aspect to me.

[@EugeC116]

the most complicated part of this trick for me, would honestly be remembering the page number that whole time

[@reallylockedin]

same

[@ehsimn9289]

yeah like when I play poker and have to check my 2 cards 1 million times

[@reallylockedin]

@@ehsimn9289 we really are, living the same lives

[@UAizer]

I wouldn't even be able to read the numbers right under that kind of pressure😂😂

[@erikaz1590]

While also giving an entire performance, some of it improv, so that would definitely be hard for me too.

[@TrueNacho]

As P&T say, a good magic trick is the one that when you explain it you don't ruin it and this is one of those, you are a master of misdirection.

[@praevasc4299]

Indeed, and if I tried it I would fail because so much time and talking is spent between peeking at the page and saying the number, that I would forget the number...

[@TransistorBased]

It makes it more interesting

[@JoelChenFa]

@@praevasc4299 I would have no confidence in my first peak that i would take a second peak, giving myself away.

[@mustang8206]

Funnily enough a lot of Blaine's card tricks, especially in the beginning of his career, are stupidly easy. But he's such a good presenter and the final reveal is so powerful that your brain believes it has to be something extremely elaborate

[@ShashwatSharan]

Now I ask myself how many magicians did actually fool Penn & Teller but just accepted their defeat under pressure like this guy almost did.

[@antonliakhovitch8306]

The producers know how the trick is done. I heard somewhere that P&T run their guesses by the producers before the reveal, specifically to avoid this sort of situation

[@goldenhawx8652]

Yeah, it has happened before

[@chrisbaier6252]

There was one guy that “failed” but a year later P&T realized that they guessed wrong and sent him the trophy. I’m surprised the producers didn’t catch it.

[@allangoodchild8989]

@@chrisbaier6252 it’s complex mechanics sometimes.

[@SteveBennett1]

@@chrisbaier6252 yep, Simon Coronel.

[@philipp9062]

Dude found the page with a fricking bookmark. Impressive how no-one though of something so stupidly simple.

[@4321Enjoy]

guess its to simple to consider it, the human brain is made to make us think we are smarter than what we are so we overcomplicate things just for the sake of it

[@LionheartTM]

The thing with magic though is the solution is always stupidly simple per say.

[@aznfattass]

indeed. Occam's razor at it again.

[@jesusoliva9222]

Your pic matches your comment

[@cerealforserious]

if its stupid and it works, it isn't stupid

[@ianchang2661]

him: "knife through hot butter" me: wait, something isn't right.

[@Sip_Dhit]

The phrase is wrong but that still works

[@Sip_Dhit]

Also it feels like ripping paper

[@StAtiKzHD]

@@Sip_Dhit hot butter would be melted which would lead to maybe not having the knife through lol not being serious just having fun with it.

[@benjaminlum5894]

Just like the actual trick, this one just flew over my head. Guess I'm just too gullible XD

[@derekbroekhoven5498]

I mean, a knife would go through hot butter quite easily

[@danhaller4383]

What I love about your trick is that the other magicians I have seen that revealed their tricks or that were foolers letting people guess, they all said they added red herrings to throw Penn and Teller off. Your trick was pure magic, not a game made for the show. That is what is amazing. Good work

[@ANIK5261]

Ikr it was just pure simple - trick xD

[@nenelevy9925]

oh who else has revealed their trick? i’m dying to watch some reveals lol

[@ToonMaassen]

Well doing a trick that could easily be done with a force, but doing it differently, is kind of a red herring.

[@Zalied]

I disagree a little. While doing it different can be seen as a red herring it's not the same trick. He could have played up the free choice more which make it a more impressive trick to the audience. The base trick guessing a page can be done both ways but you could make it show that a force is nearly impossible while still doing this method. Which can change the trick

[@MegaBearsFan]

@@ToonMaassen Also, the whole sword thing is kind of a red herring. He could just as easily have not included the sword at all and just picked up a loose page off the floor and then lied about the page number. But then Penn & Teller would probably have more easily guessed that he marked the page somehow after being given the book back, which would probably have been close enough to guessing the trick and wouldn't qualify as a fool.

[@Zenthex]

i actually like learning how a trick was done. i don't care about ruining the magic, i know the whole thing was bs to starts with. but the creativity that goes into magic tricks is ridiculously cool.

[@Okabim]

And the trick is only half the act, the goofing off on stage is equally entertaining!

[@taylorbrown9849]

@@Okabim100% agree. Even if I know the trick, watching a good, funny actor perform the trick is still enthralling, if not for the mysticism then for the skill! This guy is great.

[@candyh4284]

@@taylorbrown9849 any yeoman with a coin and an hour to spare can learn how to palm it, but the artistry is what makes it magic, I'm with you.

[@thearabianmage]

I like: - that you’re genuine. - that you have a legitimate reason to reveal the secret of the trick. - that it’s a good trick with a good trick behind it. Well done.

[@dragerien2]

His honest point of Pen and Teller taking the hardest parts of the tricks to decipher really does help. Some tricks do look "too obvious" despite winning fooler trophies. It's because they need to go for the hardest parts of the tricks because it's also an Ego game. If they can decipher the hard parts, that tells the other magician that they know the entire trick, and not just the easy parts either. Just love the magic behind the tricks, because even with a full explanation, it's always cool to see. I am very slowly working on sleight of hand, so it's neat to see how several of the things are just set up. That being said, most of my time is going towards warhammer miniatures to make the magic practice a bit more time consumptive. XD

[@Arrica101]

Yea i think the simplicity of this trick is what allows him to really sell it

[@85superHamster]

Just from watching the different seasons of Fool Us, it seems that they have a rule about only calling out a technique that has a name. If you invent an entirely new technique that doesnt have a name its close to guaranteed to fool them. Thats consistent with the show being designed to showcase new magic acts rather than having magicians regurgitate magic that can be bought in stores (or looked up on the internet).

[@MCXL1140]

They also point out, "we know, you know, that we saw this move and this move, but ya know, we need to figure out all of the important stuff."

[@abonynge]

@@85superHamster They have on a few occasions described what someone did when it was an entirely new illusion. The reason they go for the "hard parts" is because it is about knowing how the trick is done. If you do any magic trick I can just say "Well you faked some of it" and always be right, but that isn't knowing how the trick is done. If you do a card trick and I just say "You knew his card before he told you" obviously that's the point. For example with this trick, he had to know the page before reading it out loud. That much is obvious. The problem is P&T were stuck on the idea that he had the actual page on the sword and didn't just lie about what was on that page. Had they figured that out, they would have had him.They had 2 guesses, you forced the page he picked and thus had one to put on the sword, or you saw what page he picked and you put that page on the sword. Had they simply guessed it was a force or a peek, that doesn't mean they know how the trick was done. Especially because they clearly didn't know when the peek was done as they guessed a force first, and the entire trick is how you get that peek.

[@marscaleb]

I think most of the time they say they got fooled it is really just because they like the trick enough that they want to feature it on their show. The obvious example is with Greg Wilson's act where he brought out Mark Wilson onto the stage. More that obvious how it was done, age old trick. But who could turn down that opportunity?

[@T1J]

This actually explains a lot. a couple of times I watch Fool Us and I'm like "there is no way they didn't know how this worked" but i guess its because they're trying to challenge themselves and figure out the trickiest bits. awesome video! i watched this trick on youtube and when you revealed that you held a break, i remember pouring over the video for like 30 min trying to figure out when because you close the book fully right after he chooses the page lol. cool idea with the gimmick.

[@anwyl42]

whoa... it's T1J! Love your channel!

[@jackdyson1646]

Hi T1J

[@cloudshad0ws]

Seems like the ones I've seen where they've been fooled, that was the case. Sometimes it seems like they know how the person did like 90% of the trick (being scholars of the art), and it's just the one part that they can't figure out.

[@markonikolic1386]

A random person would say that they are not fooled if they figured out a little bit of the trick, but magicians are fooled even if only one detail of the trick fooled them, that's the beauty of magicians doing magic to magicians. That's the way it should be imo.

[@ekkyarya]

yea, I don't think they were fooled that much they just love the tricks after challengers presented a good show..

[@littletoast9465]

I love this! Alot of the the tricks that fool P&T usually are extremely elaborate and rely heavily on the use of specialized props that they simply are unaware exist. This trick is simply sleight if hand, misdirection, and alot of charisma. Magic like this is by my far favorite to perform as well. Doing such bold moves in disguised moments is the best feeling ever!.

[@HonestAuntyElle]

Their last comment "you have cheated" are them realising that you never had the right page, but admitted that magicians are supposed to, and it was their third go at guessing

[@NDKY67]

I’m not a huge fan of magic, but this was just so entertaining. You’re charisma makes the trick.

[@apollion4198]

Your*

[@MrNight-dg1ug]

Grammar: The difference between knowing your shit, and knowing you're shit.

[@FastDuDeJiunn]

i enjoy watching fool us shows. i am not a fan of penn and teller. dont know why. i just dont like them. but their show is great. and as this guy said they do have fun on the show. earlier shows they sometimes took it to serious they dialed it back a lot but still always try and guess the tricks. so many great shows get on. even simple ball tricks where u know they are just palming it. are so well done so fast and with such charisma even though u know how its done ur so well entertained doest matter.

[@aotphixion]

@@FastDuDeJiunn every time you think of posting a youtube comment, just think of your user name

[@pandoratheclay]

Spell casting ability:Charisma

[@rafaelcosta2723]

Ok, this is not a flashy trick, but the way it's done is just so beautiful

[@TheInternetofRandom]

I love it when people reveal big tricks like this because you can truly appreciate the work that goes into it. This was quite a risky thing especially with the paper throw but on the show it looked phenomenal. 👍

[@silksongreactions]

Genius to say 520 and 521 to ensure it was at least one of them. I was trying to figure out how you’d know if he picked the other page. Never thought you’d lie. Very nice

[@Johan323232]

This leads to a subtle inconsistency that definitely won’t be caught, but in books a page has an even page number side and an odd page number side. For every page in the book, either they all have odds less than evens, or they all have evens less than odds (It is almost always the first option, but I don’t know if it is universal practice). So when he says 520 and 521, you can know he is lying because the even number is less than the odd number.

[@SayAhh]

@@Johan323232 I'm confused. If the phonebook is open, shouldn't it always be x and x+1 where x is an even number? And if so, isn't the odd number always bigger than the even number? Edit: never mind. You're totally right: I didn't finish watching the video. If the numbers were on the same sheet, then yes, the odd number would be smaller.

[@TheSecondVersion]

@@Johan323232 Yep. Learned this in an old riddle from a children's book, which said you can't hide a dollar bill between pages 55 and 56 of a book, because they're printed on a single sheet.

[@CouchPotator]

@@TheSecondVersion but what if page 55/56 was secretly 2 thinner pieces of paper stuck together to form a pouch? Then you totally could hide a dollar bill there!

[@nextgameis1229]

@@Johan323232 The pages were ripped in half for that bit to work though, no? Since the page could come from either side of the book and is ripped in such a way that you couldn't tell if it was a right or left page. Right?

[@Fant]

I absolutely LOVE when I learn about how a magician did his trick. It's not because I feel smarter or better but because it makes me appreciate even more how the magician did everything right to make the trick work. For instance, your trick doesn't only rely on a setup but you need to act in such a way that people can't tell they're being tricked even though they're looking for the tricking moment.

[@SuperMisterKory]

Not gonna lie, 80% of the reason I'm here is to see whether JR throwing the pages too early was a genuine mishap or intentional on your part, hahah. Nonetheless, I watched the video right to the end and I love it!!

[@MCXL1140]

Always assume everything that happens on stage is intentional.

[@rich1051414]

It was intentional, but not necessary for the trick to work. It is just a very theatrical way to plant a page on the sword, but totally unnecessary :)

[@stephanweinberger]

@@rich1051414 I guess it also distracts the audience even more from the page already on the sword because everyone is focusing on how the book is thrown this time.

[@SuperMisterKory]

@@MCXL1140 I'm usually pretty good at holding that mindset, but the fact that it didn't seem to play a significant part in the trick at the time really sold it to me as an accident :')

[@Keneo1]

Richard Smith it also helps to have double the pages on the ground in the end so when he tosses the extra page its even harder to find it back and he ends cleaner

[@ianknudson267]

I’m so glad you made this, I know people say that part of magic is the mystery behind the method, but I love the creativity behind the trick. It makes it so much cooler to me

[@thecompanioncube4211]

People who excitingly comment on "The page was on the sword!" thinking they broke the trick never saw The Prestige. It's not the last act of reveal which is the trick, but the first act of concealment

[@thomasreyna7296]

Accidentally stabs another page when he turns around, so he has 2 on the sword...

[@tux1968]

lol, that'd be great. he'd have to think quickly and say... the one i stabbed first is further down the sword!

[@heroslippy6666]

if only that was physically possible

[@angrygunther2569]

@KABIR KASHIF Its still a relatively thin piece of metal though. And phone book pages are extremely tender, I guess theoretically you could pierce them even with your finger if you hit them at the right moment. But in the video it looks like he aligns the tip of his blade extra bad to make sure that the odds of piercing another page are as low as possible.

[@AlexHesoyam69]

Imagine the second stabbed page is the right page. xD

[@383mazda]

Just pretend to add those pages up to the total of the actual page, lol

[@pakman5542]

When I was a kid my family and I visited Vegas and we saw a magician named Tommy wind. I was prob around 9 at the time. I was in the audience and he called me. He used cards instead of a phone book tho. I remember throwing the cards and getting embarrassed cuz I “messed it up,” and his assistant had to get new cards. I now know that messing it up was part of the trick

[@FoddyFogHorn]

Lol, I bet you felt guilty your whole life until seeing this video, kinda sad.

[@vlogginggabes3864]

damn I would hate that

[@Roozyj]

Kinda sad that he had to make a kid feel bad about that xD

[@topherd1011]

Penn and Teller seem like real nice and genuine people. I know that’s hard for someone who has never met them to say but from every video and appearance I’ve seen of them.. they seem that way.

[@Graymorg]

Its called Penns Sunday School

[@TrunkyGurden]

when I saw them in vegas, they came by and stood outside the theatre for over an hour just greeting all 10,000 audience members and taking selfies. I imagine they do that every day of the week. Very genuine!

[@AgentOffice]

They are I met them in Vegas

[@brianmarisa2841]

The biggest deception was reading out the wrong page on the wrong page that was clever

[@SayAhh]

I've heard that magicians had to show it to P&T prior to the live audience taping, so they actually get to see it twice. Is that true?

[@GambitsEnd]

@@SayAhh Magicians need to explain the trick to certain producers on the show, but not Penn and Teller. When P&T are talking to themselves about the trick the producers can hear what they say and will tell P&T via their earpiece if they didn't guess correctly.

[@aaronando1218]

im pretty sure when they asked if he had an index they meant a stand in page. so im pretty sure they guessed that

[@RayAtchley]

@@aaronando1218 no an index is a specific term used in magic to mean that you have a secret selection of a particular item (for example playing cards) that the spectator or audience doesn't know about. So an example would be, if I had all 4 queens in my pocket, but knew which order the queens were in (say CHaSeD order so clubs, hearts, Spades and then diamonds) But told you I only had one, I could easily pull out any suit that you named because I have an index of all the queens and can pull out any one you named. But it creates the illusion that I knew which one you would name beforehand. So P&T were wrong, because they thought that he had pulled the correct page after the peek, but he didn't have an index of pages, he really only had the one.

[@nomophobe]

The best part of this for me is that Penn and Teller absolutely knew that either: a) it's a force, or b) he managed to keep track of the correct page. Which, to be fair, is really obvious when you think about it. What fooled them, though, is that they were certain that the page pre-loaded onto the page HAD to be the correct page numbers. Despite the fact that only one person ever saw those numbers. In other words, Wes Barker fooled Penn and Teller by being a convincing enough liar when reading page numbers off a phone book. That's pretty crazy when you think about it.

[@mr.kan3846]

word

[@FoddyFogHorn]

It came down to good acting in the end, which is quite impressive.

[@Runeman4678]

Well Penn did call him a cheater after all, haha

[@FirstLast-gw5mg]

Despite the fact that only one person saw those numbers ... and page 520-521 couldn't exist because those are the numbers of two facing pages, not opposite sides of one page. ;)

[@gomjabbar6246]

@@FirstLast-gw5mg Maybe some phonebooks start on page 0?

[@LuukSwinkels]

Wes has choosen for views instead of selling the trick and I respect it. The commentsection has made a good point: if you were to sell it. You need to sell phonebooks with it lol

[@WesBarker]

👍🏻🙌🏻💯

[@tomascolsoul8298]

Damn Luuk I found you on a not Cavan video

[@pseudotaco]

@Lee Elmir Compensating much?

[@opentls]

because he would actually have to sell phone books alongside that trick 😄

[@voltaquake]

how much does youtube pay for views/subscribers?

[@SwedetasticGames]

My favorite thing about this trick is the sheer simplicity of it. Feels like a good practice trick for misdirection and relatively simple handiwork for somebody starting out. Pure excellence.

[@ryanlangmaid9158]

*subtly destroys Chris’s playing card to assert dominance

[@WesBarker]

👍🏻👍🏻😉

[@hokagekira]

@@WesBarker and its not just any card, its the V1 right?

[@killrmuskrat18]

I really wanted one of the 1st 1st editions too :(

[@crawdini7641]

@Lee Elmir For tearing up a card from a lousy deck ? At least he didn't use a Rider back.

[@ayporos]

lol! Poor Chris. I didn't even notice that was his deck.

[@MichaelKrasMagic]

Dude, I have literally wondered for YEARS if the accidental early throw was written in or a total accident. You got me. And I love love love that it’s a key part of the method. So good.

[@8illy]

you have such a brilliant and bright energy !

[@nathanlee7965]

omg billy

[@ilyas817]

I love your content!

[@zorbinx937]

Didnt think i would see you here

[@yuhanperera1032]

Yooo😂 Billy

[@swuvs]

thanks billy

[@jeffgray7922]

I've thought about going on Penn & Teller's "Fool Us" show many times before. My family and friends keep telling me, "Dude, you could easily fool Penn & Teller!". Unfortunately, they don't know what I know that Penn & Teller know. Loved your explanation. That was a pretty bold bluff with the miscall on the number. I could actually see Teller going up there and finding that sheet. Glad it worked out for you!

[@selimelino]

Dude thats so smart and bold i would have never guessed that you just lied when you read the page haha

[@yugioh8810]

lmao exactly it's kinda like the trick isn't even there that was such a ballsy move.

[@ganon8835]

@Winston Mcgee fool us producers know the trick before the magician does it so that they cant lie about the method.

[@admiralbiscuit9608]

That got me, too. That was so brilliant--I never would have thought that the page wasn't the page he said it was.

[@tuures.5167]

It's brilliant in the best way, meaning that it's obvious on hindsight but you don't realize it in the moment: for real pages the odd number is always smaller, so there's no page "520 and 521", that's a spread. But if you are not quick on the uptake (I sure wasn't) you're not going to notice it, especially when you get wowed by the numbers matching. Really a great piece of misdirection.

[@nate_storm]

Winston Mcgee you have to explain to the producers how the trick works

[@YvonneWilson312]

They wanted to continue working with Jonathan but after production switched to Las Vegas he didn't want to spend so much time away from his family so it just wasn't going to be possible any more.

[@Alireza-yw8yq]

thanks for you're explanation

[@kendarr]

This is such a fair reason lol,

[@Brunosky_Inc]

Ah, that makes sense. I was worried something more serious had happened that caused him to leave the show

[@brandonmartin-moore5302]

Makes sense,I would have thought it was because his appearance fee is too high.

[@jonweinraub]

Where was it produced with Jonathan? I was curious why they changed hosts because I thought it was in the Rio from the beginning.

[@TheDilligan]

I saw this episode just recently. I didn't think Jonathan screwed up by throwing the pages but I thought the gag you pulled on him was incredible. A+

[@DWish808]

You fooled me! That was so well rehearsed and so smoothly done! WOW! That was incredible! The skill, timing, everything.... PURE MAGIC!

[@OlaMagnusLie]

Honestly: this video makes you look like a really nice fellow. I've often seen you on Ramsey's videos where you're all goofy and funny, but seeing you earnest and humble really, *really* suits you. Subscribed.

[@MrMiss-cp9bw]

Ramsay.

[@MrBthrower]

Him: sticks the card in Me, not knowing what the trick even is: ahhh, so that's how he did it

[@totleariss]

Having watched this performance so many times, I knew you had to have peeked at the page when you opened it up as a demonstration of how not to rip the phonebook, but never thought of how you would have peeked it after clearly not holding a break. A gimmicked page! So simple! As a non-magician knowing the method makes me love the trick that much more. Nicely done!

[@nate_storm]

Winston Mcgee the point is not necessarily that he peeked, but when, and how he did it so easily

[@flyingpiggie979]

Learning how a trick is done honestly makes it even more impressive for me. The ingenuity behind it, and how clever it is.

[@scooby45247]

the 90%, 10% rule: P&T GET IT.. if you fool the audience 90% but fail 10% theyll say it didnt fool them.. If you fool a magician on 10% yet they know 90% then theyll say you did..

[@gaeb-hd4lf]

lol nice rule

[@jamesblunt006]

Yeah, that's the rule. Eric Mead worked with that :) Check out "Eric Mead Fools Penn & Teller--INCREDIBLE sleight of hand!" kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3Pdkn-uls51nqM

[@mickenchicken5922]

Huh?

[@scooby45247]

@@mickenchicken5922 if i do a trick, and fool the audience through 90% of it but they figure out 10% then theyll say it didnt fool them even though they can explain most of it.. if i do a trick, and fool magicians 10% of it but they figure out 90% then theyll say it fooled them because they cant explain how the entire thing worked.. does that help?

[@loneranger718]

@@scooby45247 wow ,you sure have a lot of time at hand to explain that in detail

[@shadowflar3]

"Throw the pages!" was pretty obvious to me that you did that on purpose and I just love how much these tricks throw people off.

[@notme222]

Jonathan Ross was a great host but his schedule didn't line up with the needs of P&T, The CW, and The Rio. That's why they switched to Alyson: because she was more available. (I'm sure CW didn't mind the demographics of adding a female host as well.) Excellent trick. I caught a lot of it back then and knew you weren't really holding the page because you said 520/521, not 519/520. But I couldn't figure out how you managed to hold the break long enough to peek. Clever idea to mark it that way. And of course it would have been great even if you hadn't fooled them.

[@FweshPwinceJiff]

I much preferred Jonathan. Especially at first Alyson was a bit awkward, but at later seasons until now I think she fits right in and I like her a lot

[@kendarr]

@@FweshPwinceJiff she's a bit different but I do like her

[@xenaguy01]

But, 520/521 is how pages are numbered in phone books. Page 1 is on the left, and Page 2 is on the right, back-to-back with Page 3. So 521 is on the left, turn back one page and 520 is the back of 521. 519 is on the left of the previous page.

[@MrNateSPF]

@@xenaguy01 The cover is not a page, the first page starts on the right so it follows odds on the right evens on the left. It was also explained in the video how this trick works.

[@AlecBrady]

@@xenaguy01 No, look at 5:42 where he says "he could write this number or this number", i.e. 520 or 521. They're on different sheets. At the end of the trick he then claims to have page 520/521 - and no-one notices that that's not a real page. Very clever.

[@indoorjetpacks]

as someone who's been interested in magic for a while, and absolutely loved the breaking the magician's code show as a kid, i think it's great to see this :D like you said, phonebooks are all but obsolete, and it encourages people to come up with new creative tricks. so much fun to see how much creativity and talent goes into making tricks like these

[@amusedapple4933]

Loved that show. Sadly it’s no where now

[@Fleato]

I love learning how tricks work. I love seeing the problem solving of how people come up with these things. Like I think the creativity and engineering to accomplish them are awesome.

[@Fleato]

its almost a life lesson as usually magic tricks are incredibly simple.... but our brains want to make some insanely complicated solution to figure it out " oh maybe he jsut has every page memorized and has a robot that spits out the exact page and an invisible person putting the page on the sword. nope its a book mark and i put the page on myself lol."

[@tigoreonjames9702]

I love how really simple this trick was. The trick itself didn't take anything complicated to pull off. But through the performance and skill you pull it off so well.

[@ZweiProMill]

Did you at any point after the show explain the trick to Penn & Teller? I'd love to know what their reaction was in another video. Thanks!

[@chrispcall]

Came here to say this!

[@maximem.ste-marie3578]

wanna know this

[@scr347]

Me too!

[@bfunkhouser]

According to Penn, it is very common for that to happen so I would not be surprised if he did tell them.

[@88porpoise]

I would assume they have to explain it, if not to Penn and Teller, than to some other professional magician on staff to confirm they didn’t just lie on stage.

[@DarkSaruman]

I haven't met Wes personally but after watching some of your content and reading his AbracaDumbass book I'm convinced Wes is the nicest and chillest dude on the planet! He could have literally sold the secret for huhdreds of dollars as many Fool Us foolers did but he chose to reveal it for free to educate the magicians about his thought process and to help layman appreciate magic more by showing how much thought and craft goes into performing magic. Kudos to you sir!

[@MattFowlerBTR]

I really enjoy being let in on some secrets for some tricks, when the magician is doing it willingly to further the enjoyment. Prime example of this would be P+T's "Blast Off" / "Trap Door" where they do the same thing twice but with transparent props the second time. Thank you Wes, that was very cool.

[@SewerTapes]

I watched this then the actual Fool Us clip. The look on your face when Penn goes from "peek" to "index" is priceless.

[@АртёмМаглинец]

"How I Fooled Penn & Teller" "By lying" LOL Great job and great method, really bold to do such stuff in front of P&T

[@amitir22]

hmm i think all magicians lie... it's their job

[@Doofer911]

It's not lying... it's "misdirection" haha

[@Phyrre56]

The way to fool P&T is to do a trick one way while adding details for how you'd do it another way. Wes holds the phone book while Jonathan makes his selection -- that's how you'd do a force. Then he has a hidden pile of stuff behind the ampersand which suggests "I need to search for the right thing to finish the trick." He could have let Jonathan pick the page and then marked it when he took it back from him. He could have had the sword page in his pocket. But he included these extra steps, which actually make the trick seem LESS elegant, to throw off P&T's guesses.

[@Arrica101]

@@amitir22 No shit sherlock, thats not the point he is making

[@kjul.]

Back when I first watched the performance I stumbled over the whole "I don't want you to rip it like this, nor this, let me show you" and found it a little weird. But like everyone else I was quickly distracted by your shenanigans and never even remotely guessed your awesome trick with the gimmick. Had me fooled for years, great job! ☺️

[@adodge207]

This was the first instance of a magician fooling Penn & Teller I'd seen on the show, so it's really cool to see it get revealed all this time later! I wondered for so long how you managed to stop on the right page right before the peek, so learning that technique made me appreciate the performance so much more than I already did. Awesome stuff, dude!

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Now that we know the secret, this is a hell of a lot more impressive to pull off something so simple.

[@friendlyneighborhoodcrackh6059]

The Alliance of Magicians isn’t going to let you off for this. We demand to be taken seriously!

[@alltime5244]

The username makes this 10x better

[@kpp28]

Username checks out

[@danarose2677]

My KZbin algorithm must be 3 days behind him. I been seen this username about 4 times in the last week. Makes me literally lol and you won't forget it.

[@christianjoseph6502]

I love me a good arrested development reference

[@bchobbs]

Rallo is gonna take your legs

[@BryanFuryous]

"Reading" the numbers on the pierced page is exactly why I love magicians. Excellent trick and method :)

[@harktischris]

I really loved this explainer. I loved especially hearing how the parts of the trick that just seemed like fun/banter (like the first phone book toss) still had an important role in the whole presentation and really selling the trick. And also just hearing about the interesting way that P&T try to "guess" a trick. Thanks for doing this!

[@steelrarebit7387]

I did the page on the sword trick, it was magical. The police called it murder. They are no fun.

[@SayAhh]

The fun police.

[@krisostomoyabarrera2255]

The Page family has never been the same after that incident.

[@larjkok1184]

You murdered a page from a book?

[@anuthutantrum]

this guy is super humble. what a champ! happy for him

[@wa8eem]

Some tricks gets boring and unexciting when you know how it's done. But this has got even more beautiful after its explanation! A great trick indeed! And an exuberant, fully of Energy WES!

[@panthastaa34]

"Phonebooks are so hard to come by" *Me staring disgustingly at my annual phonebooks*

[@Zio_xm]

Try contacting him, and sending him those? I'm sure that he will pay the fees for it, if he wants it

[@suedeB05]

I mean, come on, you know he's talking about the big thick ones. Even the Manhattan phone book now is the size of a Chinese takeout menu

[@panthastaa34]

@@suedeB05 maybe its just the rural area i live in but it seems like a good amount of people still have landlines. I get what you mean theyre not nearly the size they used to be but the ones dropped on my door are still a good 2 1/2 inches thick

[@simonw3858]

@@panthastaa34 Phone books didn't disappear because people got mobile phones. They disappeared because the internet is an easier more efficient method of finding phone numbers without all the logistical and resource demands that having a physical book has. With most people having at least some sort of access to the internet the book just became useless for most people. Although I sometimes miss the phone book as it was great for tinder in the winter months.

[@toniokettner4821]

wait another 10 years and sell them for 100.000$

[@ryantarratt4720]

I’m not a magician but I have no regrets watching that. It blows me away and even though I now know how you did it, it’s still incredible and I’m smiling watching it Well done, you earned that!

[@Verlisify]

Its very interesting to see how much deception can go into a trick. Seeing other acts not fool P&T or watching other trick explanations didn't prepare me for the amount of shenanigans to make this one work. Such a bold gimmick and bolder lie

[@primekyogre8201]

Ok furry

[@krikkie9]

@@primekyogre8201 poor attempt of an insult when the guy has about x 115k more subs than you I dont think thats new to him at least try to be funny and original next time :p

[@primekyogre8201]

Ok but like I don’t make content, and this guy might be the most hated poketuber sooooo

[@zeallust8542]

@@krikkie9 bro big number mean better person !!!

[@chaostactics]

I've watched so many Fool Us videos but haven't seen a method reveal. This is my favorite ever!

[@Nian...]

Knowing the secrets of this trick adds more beauty to it. I'll enjoy watching it again even more than before 🤩👍 So many clever things in this tutorial! Thank you Wes!👏👏👏

[@WesBarker]

Thanks!!

[@pajinson3]

@@WesBarker I was wondering if you could explain how you know what page he picks because since you open the book he can choose from one side or the other, and if he picked from the left side and you said 520 with 520 being on the left then he would know that 521 wouldnt be able to be on the back side of the page 520 and instead it would be the continued page not on the back side

[@coolaun]

@@pajinson3 That's one sneaky thing Wes didn't touch on in his explanation. When he peeks at the place in the phone book where Jonathan had chosen his page, he sees that it's open at page spread 520-521. He knows that Jonathan has chosen one of these page numbers. At the end of the trick he pretends to read these same two numbers from the ripped off half-page. If Jonathan had been really cool-headed and had remembered that he had chosen the number of the left hand page, he could theoretically have worked out that if Wes really had speared the half page with his number on it, it would be numbered 519 and 520. But I'm sure it didn't even cross his mind, nor anybody else's at this point: everyone was too excited by the reveal to be thinking about odd/even page numbers and page spreads.

[@PTP54112]

I remember watching this one, and thinking this was rather a simple trick, and not being sure what it was that actually fooled them. It really goes to show, as others have said, how much performance makes a big difference. As you even said, your peek was fairly obvious and most people would know that you had the page on the sword before the stab. They certainly could have just made those obvious points and "won". I have seen other performances where they clearly knew "what" happened, just not really "when" or "how", and that counts as not fooling. The brilliance with your trick is that it is so simple that it's 95% performance, and even though you don't seem to have intended all of your actions to be deceptive, they are. Very little of it is actually "part of the trick" and yet much of it "could be", and so it all gets scrutinized. On top of that, you were having fun, but the nervousness you mentioned is also very clear. Tie that to how well you played "reading" the page number, and I think it made it harder to see or believe that you openly lied, that it was just a random page. Without knowing how simple it was, the way you presented it gives so many windows of opportunity to guess at and moments where the viewer can't believe what you've done isn't more significant than it was. You made them think it had to be more than it was, and they felt challenged enough to makes some leaping guesses at the "how". Probably the simplist trick ive seen revealed, but also probably the one I'm most impressed with.

[@TurntBucket]

the first throw also makes it so the audience is comfortable with the sword. if you just did one throw the audience would just say the page was on the sword the whole time

[@FukoHasStarfish]

What's more impressive about this trick is how simple it was, but whether you know how it's done or not it's really entertaining and awesome to watch

[@seldom_bucket]

Really wasn't expecting to get invested in this video but your passion is admirable and it was just a nice thing to hear it from your point of view, not really into magic tricks but I can respect the pride in sharing what you do. Thanks for the 20 minutes of pointless positivity.

[@roger_hauer]

Amen

[@michaelchallis4129]

Maybe show better respect by not calling it pointless.

[@seldom_bucket]

@@michaelchallis4129 youre an idiot.

[@Mazisien]

When Eric said he would explain his trick on Fool Us I started wondering if you would ever explain yours, I guess I got the answer XD

[@flajsg]

yeah, and he also did it before Eric :)

[@otakudibyan24]

These bois r too crazy

[@captainscentsible1811]

Did eric ever reveal his trick ? I think i know how its done.magnets.magnets and lots of hope and prayers haaa

[@AyrtonTwigg]

Which Eric? I'm not sure which trick.

[@werkis2]

@@AyrtonTwigg Eric Leclrec packing peanut trick

[@RaymondHulha]

You are not only a great magician you are also a great story Teller!

[@stub6378]

Holy moly. I don’t know anything about magic but the level of thought is mind boggling. Kudos man.

[@LegDayLas]

Barker- "I'm not reading, I'm just lying" Me- "Wait, that's illegal!"

[@badouplus1304]

Protected by 1st amendment dude 🤣

[@LegDayLas]

@@badouplus1304 You sure solved this one sherlock.

[@badouplus1304]

@@LegDayLas It was a joke dude, you have a long way to go before to be a Sherlock yourself

[@TheRealLeesyKate]

Watching this video didn't diminish the magic of the trick for me, but it did give me a better understanding of the importance of the blend of logic and theatrics behind making a trick look spectacular. Thanks for that. :)

[@zacharyaminoff9322]

YESSSSSS! I was trying to figure it out for sooooooo long!! Thank you Wes!!

[@Seedyrom247]

The penn and teller video was fantastic. The on stage chemistry with Jonathan Ross was perfect

[@Geckomayhem]

Clever. Simple is always best (unless you're David Copperfield; then, glamorous is best!). What an amazing experience. Thanks for sharing. :)

[@dimitreze]

8:40 yeah, Beakman taught me that on the 90's

[@IsopodsEatChannel]

Beakman's World!

[@jakelan1426]

I'm more happy learning how to rip a phonebook than the magic trick

[@shirleyscott821]

This is SO coooool! Fun fact, when I went to see P&T in Vegas it was so fun to realize Penn was playing string bass with the jazz piano guy during the pre show!

[@tjhall1000]

sure be funny if when the host picks a page, he says "stop." *you stick card on page* and host goes "i changed my mind, i want a new page" lol RIP

[@OJsLeftGlove]

From my experience delivering phonebooks in the 90's, I'm pretty sure there's a whole pallet of them in someone's garage still that would be happy to sell them to you...cheap.

[@genius1a]

That's possible, but part of the beauty of the trick was to use this well known everyday item. A thing almost everyone in the audience had a close relation to, but that is over. And for the supply from old storage: it depends on how many shows he does: If he does like 100 shows per year, he would need 200 Phone books per year, that makes 1000 in 5 years ... the supply surely would run dry very soon anyways ...

[@ghgg2]

You’re telling me this guys isn’t the pirate in dodgeball the underdog story

[@stonefish98]

Alan Tudyk, of Firefly (and other) fame. I saw it too.

[@1976jdk]

I was thinking Dave Coulie "Cut It Out" from Full House

[@michaelchallis4129]

They all look alike.

[@GetMoGaming]

It's completely incorporated into the act. It's SIMPLE, yet GENIUS. Just the way I lllike it!!😛💯

[@daxota_6750]

So no one is going to talk about ruining a deck of Chris Ramsay's 1st playing cards?

[@brandonlaurin1561]

I had to instantly pause the video and look for this comment! My jaw literally dropped...

[@LivinItUp98]

I saw that. I was like BRUH

[@feliperagonha]

Aren't those guys close friends?

[@RayAtchley]

@@feliperagonha yeah, they're even going to be on a TV show Big trick energy together

[@claiminglight]

HA! Good catch

[@SlyBlu7]

You left kind of a key bit out, but I see what you did. When they stop the page and you place the mark, you noted that they could have written down either the left or right page. So that's page 499/500 and 501/502. You do your bit, stab the page, blah blah. Then you read two numbers, pretending they're opposite sides of the page. So you should have said, "I've got 499/500" or "I've got 501/502". Instead, you read off the split, "I've got 500/501" which guarantees that you 'hit' either number they could have written.

[@jamesahibbard]

That's the only way I knew he was lying about the page numbers. 520 & 521 wouldn't be on the same piece of paper. I missed the peak though.

[@otakudibyan24]

8:28 The cleverest thing I ever saw in my life.

[@net_lag]

Omg. That was the real trick reveal if you ask me.

[@rikhavok]

Wes, Well done. I love seeing how magic is done. Pen says that he is a juggler. Performance magic is closer to juggling then it is to ACTUAL magic. It’s a performance art. Knowing how a trick is done for me is revealing the art form. It doesn’t spoil it… for me, at least, for 2 reasons. Just knowing how a trick is done doesn’t mean that you can perform it. The trick is one very small part of it, selling it is the whole performance. The trick was maybe 5 seconds of the whole performance. You are helping potential magicians, performers, or even speakers add more tools to their repertoire.

[@Nulono]

One possible downside I can see in this trick is if the person choosing a page also notices the other page the book was open to. Then, it'll be pretty obvious something fishy is going on when two pages that were side-by-side are now front-to-back when stabbed.

[@TheRealYatagarasu]

Not really, as someone pointed out on the other video...the opposite faces of the same page end with 9/0, 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8... so when he reads 520/521 (0/1) it would have covered both open pages of the book but its obviously impossible because its a (0/1) ending which doesn't happen.

[@abonynge]

@@TheRealYatagarasu You misunderstood what he said.

[@elipersky1591]

@@TheRealYatagarasu The volunteer gets to see both side-by-side pages at the begining so he would know

[@ijpg-fd7qn]

thats true, he wouldnt be able to know. since he is looking away when the person peeks, he has to guess both pages that were visible when he peeks.

[@Miketz]

What are the chances the volunteer looks at and remembers both page numbers?

[@nvcn86]

ha. i like how the pages that the choosing person sees are seperate, but he supposedly gets the numbers from a single one :D (e.g. 220 and 221 instead of 221 and 222).

[@ARUCARDFTEPES]

Yep, also it looks like the page he "stabs" is an ad page and I think the actual choice was numbers. Only in hindsight are those little details highlighted.

[@GordieGii]

Obviously Jonathan only noted one number or he would have known that the other number couldn't be on the back of the page Wes was looking at.

[@Bleach420]

Imagine being so extroverted you are having fun on TV

[@robindowse4473]

What never ceases to amaze me is the number of different ways there are to loose something and then find it again.