Penn & Teller: Fool Us - Dana Pleasant

A Polaroid magic trick performed on Fool Us.
Dana Pleasant is a Los Angeles based Magician.
www.danapleasantmagic.com
danapleasantmagic

[@JDarkooJDarkoo]

I get why this one is a bit polarising. Dana tells an immersive story and puts out an entertaining routine, that is a lot of fun for people who like friendly upbeat magic. At the same time, this routine will not 'fool' magicians, let alone P&T. However, there's no reason to give Dana negative comments. She did nothing wrong. If you watched this show and you feel really mad about a 'simple' trick making it onto the show, direct your comments to the shows production team. Or take a deep breath instead, that's probably better.

[@seanfaherty]

It has been obvious for some time that this show is a popularity contest.

[@zantas-handle]

Hi Dana. Great that you could make it to this huuuge stage! As a fellow performer who's retired now (I'm very old!), can I mention one small point of feedback? I think it would be polite to just glance at your 'assistant' during your intro. You faced straight on to announce the trick, but just a glance or two towards Brooke would have avoided leaving her there ignored. OR alternatively, don't have her approach the table until your intro is finished. Either way, it's easy to avoid having someone there who you're accidentally 'ignoring', and will warm people up to the 'relationship' for the rest of the trick.

[@seanfaherty]

It sounds like the voice of experience

[@McLovin1759]

I really liked the photo aspect of this. Reminded me of my grandfather and his darkroom where together we would watch the images come to life. That’s what magic should be, getting lost in the moment. Congratulations on your marriage too :) All the best,

[@danapleasant6040]

Thanks so much! ❤

[@STS125]

The true magic trick is finding the Poloraid film....it's insanely rare and expensive now.

[@chatta6013]

U can readily easily buy Polaroid film now. They even have a re released modern version of the old-school Polaroids camera film etc made daily...

[@michaelreynolds3592]

Love the negative comments. But at least Dana got to do something, most of us never had courage to do. Man... when will humans just enjoy the simplicity of living. Awesome job, Dana.

[@danapleasant6040]

Thank you! :)

[@deepgeny1]

Fool us is not a stage to perform child level magic and yes, before you ask me to perform in fool us myself, i am not a magician and i have every right to criticize as a spectator..... It's like saying if i don't like a Toyota car or if I don't like a movie, then first i have to make a car or direct a movie myself....

[@prrevil]

Keep on doing magic!

[@maksphoto78]

Always nice to see another photographer ^_^

[@thelastninja4825]

what's the magic trick? i dont get it

[@pbp6741]

Three effects 1. Brooke’s selected card was the only one “starting to develop” (In a traditional card trick Brooke’s selected card would be the only one with a blue back in a red deck) 2. Brooke’s second selected card appeared outside the deck where the first card supposedly was 3. Brooke’s second selection “magically develops” into a full color photo If you want to see the card trick this is based upon done really well search KZbin for “Pop Haydn Chicago Surprise”

[@sailaab]

Dana ji🙇🏻‍♂️ pranaam 🙏🏼Namaste, Loved your enthusiastic presentation and the act as a whole was 🤍💙ekdum jhakkkkkaas👌🏼 As someone who always fiddle around with cameras and tried to be a good (amateur) photographer.. I really get inspired by and have lots of respect for those who are so *multi-talented* and (those who) never give up🙂. This was a good set and I hope to someday get to witness your craft 'live'.

[@danapleasant6040]

Thank you!

[@sailaab]

🙇🏻‍♂️🙏🏼🤍

[@RobertBallMagician]

Dana, l watched this performance again and l love what you did. I am also now a subscriber to you for life.🙏👏👍👏☺️✨️❤️👏👍💪🎉👍👍

[@erichelvenston919]

Beautiful 😻

[@danapleasant6040]

thanks!

[@erichelvenston919]

I wish you the Best with your Magic 🥹🙌

[@MahdiTheMagician]

Very nice idea. It's great to see traditional ideas used on non-traditional props! Congratulations! :)

[@danapleasant6040]

Thank you!

[@dartfield4655]

"it's not about the song it's about the singer." Penn said that some years ago. beautiful presentation :)

[@danapleasant6040]

Thanks so much!

[@crestfallenraven]

Awww, you are fabulous - what a great performance 😙

[@prince_8159]

It wasn't really bad tbh I mean I'm not a good magician myself but you can't fool me easily but what you did is actually not that bad I mean using photos instead of cards is actually a very creative idea (haven't seen anything replacing pictures as cards as far as I can remember probably I had but just forgotten about it) and I really love to see it to improve the next time you got a chance to come back to fool us and fool P&T maybe create a unique tool or technique that can only be used with the routine

[@Kozzy450]

I would have liked the first pic to have shown up as a closer actually, Loved how Penn tossed in the Hindu temple LOL, all in all, good job!

[@seanfaherty]

And the Chicago Opener

[@danapleasant6040]

thanks!

[@ZagnutBar]

Penn actually ends one sentence with "shuffle" and begins the next one with "Hindu". I also studied at the Magic Castle with Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell back in 2014 and absolutely loved it. And the Hindu shuffle was one of the first force techniques they taught us there. Dana, I'm really curious about your story and how you found your way to Fool Us stage. You were up front about being a beginner magician, you didn't hide it. So I wonder what the producer's strategy was in bringing you on to the stage? They would have known you wouldn't fool P&T with this trick. Did they talk to you about this? Was this more about exposure? (Sorry for the pun, but it's a serious question!)

[@Kozzy450]

@@ZagnutBar I have seen that move many times myself, But Damn that was good! You were so damn good at it, even though I knew it, it was fantastic! great Job!

[@joelants5207]

Going though my postcards, "its nice to not see another card trick" me, "come again?"

[@user-yk5oy3pp7g]

Brook shall have her own show just as she did before

[@adrianmcgachie]

So I goggle..."Chicago musical song order". "Overture" or "All that Jazz", is the opener, lol!

[@Ymom07]

you didn't need to...the name of the trick she used is called CHICAGO OPENER...its a type of card trick...google that instead

[@dappersapper8080]

I get their pre-taping episodes, but Brooke hasn’t changed her outfit in months.

[@paulmarano4078]

They don't just pre-tape, but also mix acts around when cutting into episodes. The host needs to wear the same outfit all season as an act can end up in any episode regardless of the order things were filmed in.

[@salifyanjikunda5426]

Even the guys don't change their outfits. It's been like this since S1.

[@agentstepheng289]

They shoot all the acts over a week.

[@jeremygordon3490]

WOW! People in these comments can really be horrible! The haters in here are just jealous. Good on you for getting on the show and doing your thing! Keep going!

[@danapleasant6040]

Thank you!

[@MikerBikerB]

Penn's words were hard to understand, which is not the case for the magic trick. Still, entertaining anc charming.

[@AndyLevy1]

Well done. I thought your presentation was great. The idea was original, and i did not know exactly what direction it was going until the close of the trick.

[@danapleasant6040]

Thank you very much!

[@ThamiorSilberdrache]

Well, ok, I do understand you are pretty new to magic, so managing to go on the Fool Us stage is really respectable. However, I remeber some guy in one of the latest episode who ahs been trying to get on stage for years and wasn't invited although he was an experienced perforemer of magic. So I just don't get their policy for chosing the tricks they show. No matter. You had the luck to be invited and you really did well. The main problem is that they showed your hands in close-up when you were "going through" the photos. Now from some distance I think it'd be convincing what you did there but in that close-up it was sadly hard not to see what you did there. Both times, as you used the same method twice and both times the camera was fixed on your hands and zoomed in almost to the max. As this is meant to be constructive criticism and not a negative comment, I'd suggest to use a different method when you do this, well, forcefully making them chose a photo for the second time. "Never do the same trick twice. And if you still do it, use a different method" is what Penn often says on the show. (Although I know what you used is the standard method for the trick.) However, if you do not having a zoomed in camera roasting your hands, this is a very great trick to perform. Although I'd be really interested now in what you'd have done if Brooks had been to the rainbow mountains in China before. :D

[@JDarkooJDarkoo]

I agree with most of what you said, except the part about the camera burning her hands. It's not the camera's job to hide the trick. In fact, on P&T they oftend made the promise that no important parts are hidden from the camera. So if I can add on to your constructive feedback, the current way of selecting the card just attracts a lot of attention. The camera is faithfully following where the audiences eyes would go anyways. The photo selection could either be more natural or could have active misdirection.

[@CoinMagicUnderground]

@@JDarkooJDarkoo Actually it is the camera's job. Have you ever done a magic trick on video before? Man so many armchair quarterbacks in here It's hilarious..

[@RevCode]

@@JDarkooJDarkoo But for other acts they often decide to not show the hands directly in crucial moments..

[@emergentform1188]

Awesome!

[@thecosmicromantics]

Fantastic!!!!

[@danapleasant6040]

thank you!!! :)

[@billrose5146]

Opening number of play Chicago is "All that Jazz." right? How did that code translate into P&T figuring it out?

[@prince_8159]

Chicago opener is actually a card trick

[@Ymom07]

the name of the trick she used for the presentation is called CHICAGO OPENER...its a type of card trick...google it

[@dougidoug]

I liked the performance it was an original take on the trick and was fun to watch. All the people that are leaving negative comments need to be positive about life.

[@danapleasant6040]

Thanks!

[@ronaldchonillo]

😊 Al menos ella apareció en la tv. Felicitaciones....

[@B-rad_Games]

This was so cool!

[@danapleasant6040]

thank you!

[@carmelaesposito4761]

Does Hindu shuffle come to mind?

[@drdylanman]

I don't think there is anything negative about the performance. Clearly she impressed the producers and or whoever chooses the magicians to be on the show! The opening number for CHICAGO is "all that jazz" but it didn't connect with me that Penn was actually talking about the Ch.O. But the Hindu Temple picture comment was kind of funny. I liked it, and I hope she'll come back with something new in the future. 🙂

[@danapleasant6040]

Thank you!

[@wookster789]

Awesome!! You are famous!!

[@danapleasant6040]

thanks!

[@AnthonyCheeChue]

That's a risky trick to do for Brooke. She used to be the hostess of Wild On! so she could have possibly gone to the Rainbow Mountains. How would you have changed the narrative if she said she had been there before?

[@seanfaherty]

Don’t let the arseholes bother you. Better than any of my tricks by far

[@thelastninja4825]

huh?

[@seanfaherty]

Why not do the same trick with out the Hindu shuffle ? I have not done the Hindu shuffle since 1982 when it was pointed out that it was very obvious I was doing something with that hinky, unnatural shuffle. I don't do self working tricks. That doesn't mean this lady who made it on P&T isn't better than you, me and all the other cocksuckers whining that she did a trick she knew would not fool them. She's not the first one. The producers aren't beating on your door asking you to Las Vegas. Cut her some slack. @@spicytrashpanda

[@WavyFBaby]

If you guys don’t like her magic then you can simply skip her video. Her magic may not be top tier yet but she did very well all things considered.

[@maksphoto78]

You'rea true-born entertainer! *hugs and hearts*

[@Damoinion]

Fun trick. I know I couldn't do it. Neat. Edit: A picture can definitely tell lies.

[@danapleasant6040]

Thanks!

[@BHRetina]

Amazing! You are a natural!

[@danapleasant6040]

thank you! :)

[@tenaciaoosthuizen]

Is Brooke just wearing the same clothes forever 😂. It's boring

[@presto709]

They do that so that they can cut different acts together. They don't want to have too many foolers on one show. They did the same with past hosts.

[@zaubersalz]

What can you say. Compared to what has been shown at Fool Us recently, it's really acceptable. The story is good and she presented it well. I generally like tricks where the magicians have come up with the technique themselves. But lately you only see standard slide of hand and a strange story. So I would definitely give this performance an 8 out of 10.

[@UniPer85]

It's a really nice approach and a great idea. The photos are an obvious force since she drops cards from the top and uses the one at the bottom which never changes. Also, the 'Golden Gate Bridge' card at the end, is not the same as she showed at first. So she uses an already-developed photo at the end. Besides that... a really original way of doing this trick.

[@danapleasant6040]

Thanks!

[@mikethemagician8728]

She did it well and thats the whole idea. Just a force and a double lift? So? She performs well. Ive fooled many with a force and double lift. Nice going Dana

[@danapleasant6040]

thanks!

[@christopherryan6968]

I think she actually fooled PandT by Tellers first expression

[@pbp6741]

Penn literally told her the name of the trick. They weren’t fooled. The expressions are spliced in during editing.

[@asechka]

Toooooo long!

[@user-sk6tq5kh1d]

Of course in a world of magic a woman can have a "wife".

[@CoinMagicUnderground]

Not sure where you are but in the United States, us proud Americans are lucky to have freedom of speech and the right to marry whoever we want.

[@user-sk6tq5kh1d]

@@CoinMagicUnderground LOL how did "freedom of speech" even get mixed in that nonsensical rant? You don't have the right to marry "whoever you want", by the way - there are several other restrictions (age, mental agency, current marital status etc.) depending on the state. That is, even if you live in California where same-sex matrimonies are tagged as real marriages.

[@CoinMagicUnderground]

@@user-sk6tq5kh1d Cool username. Same-sex marriage is recognized as a right in all 50 states of this great country (USA) Also, it's hilarious and sad you're being triggered by a magic trick video.

[@kma3647]

Not a fan. First, you ensure that I know you're a double check-box diversity contestant in the intro. Why is it that gay people _insist_ on telling everyone about it when it's not relevant? Then you deliberately switched off of the Chinese mountains and tried again. It looked like a pretty obvious force. You're on Penn and Teller so sleight of hand and simple forces like this isn't going to fool anyone. It's not up to the standard of this show. Feel free to ignore the commentary as random internet people talking... you've got fans who'll tell you everything's perfect and you don't have to do anything to improve (and can be seen in the comments).

[@im1fadedRob]

Magicians mention their families in their intros all the time, you're just a bigot.

[@danapleasant6040]

I love that you think that the performers write their own intros or decide what is in it. lol. They are written by the producers of the show.

[@CoinMagicUnderground]

Mentioning how she met her wife is like 2 seconds and it's just as casual and natural as a male magician talking about where he met his wife. It's not a trick about gay pride or her sexuality or anything at all. It's just a normal chill thing. Relax no one is shoving anything down your throat...

[@ProuvaireJean]

Hmm, a sexist homophobe who thereby ticks two troll diversity boxes in the one post. Unfortunately that's nowhere near original enough to be noteworthy on the internet in 2024, or even 1994. The criticism of the act itself may have had some validity, but it's significantly undercut by your political posturing. Not a fan.

[@NatrixHasYou]

Shawn Farquhar mentioned his wife way back in the first season; was he a "diversity contestant"? You people are insufferable.