I really want him on the show a 3rd time, just to piss Penn off. EDIT: The madman did it, but Shawn, I think an actual hat trick is needed for the hat-trick.
Yea, atleast other people who blew our minds like shin lim who uses sleight of hands. U have no clue of how he does but atleast u know the genre of magic. This guy u cant even say what genre it is.. probably new branch of dark magic
The entire point of life: Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. Mathew 20: 28. We are no different. This entire life is a representation of the spiritual warfare going on. Good vs evil. God isn't a flying man in the sky, but the actual representation of Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Light, etc. Not metaphor, but literally, like an extra demintional wavelength of thought, emotions, and intent. The devil is the opposite wavelength, pain, fear, hate, anger, darkness, etc. Human life is serving one of these two. Not a man in the sky, actual sentient collective universal Love. However, humans are primatives, we make mistakes. It's in our nature, since the fall, to go down the wrong path. This means at some time each one of us has served darkness to some degree. God understands our limited understanding of our own actions, so he gave us forgiveness, though sacrificing himself in human form as Jesus Christ. It is our duty to accept that sacrifice, get the forgiveness, and be better, helping others be better, and spreading this wavelength of Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Light, etc, thoughout the universe. But God had to make a way for us to get to this place spiritually, this is why evidence is not allowed. Evidence will make you believe, using the fear of absolute punishment to change your behavior, but that won't make you better, just scared. Faith makes you better. It is what redeemes us, not our works. Faith is the hope that things get better, that justice always prevails, that we're at least loved by our creator. But it has to be Faith in Jesus, because of his sacrifice. And there can't be evidence to point us to him, because Love had to be fair. If there were a code in our DNA, what about everyone born before genetic sequencing? If there were a book with the solar system thosands of years ago, what would stop an evil person from hiding/destroying it? If it were something you had to go to, what about the geographically isolated, imprisoned, or enslaved. If it were a train of logic, what about the uneducated, or mentally slow? Not to mention all the people born before schools. Love cannot give to one without giving to the other. So the key to salvation had to be something everyone has access to. The only thing is Faith. This is why God puts it upon your heart to learn about these things, even if it's only to criticize, or hate. God is everywhere, because Love is everywhere, and so is the devil, because hate is everywhere. They're in your head all the time, regardless of weather or not you accept that. They whisper inside your heart, giving you ideas. But more than that, they're inside everyone's heart. This is how they get things done. They corrordanate us like pieces on a chess board. The only difference is, we get to chose who's side we're playing for. At the end of our life, we go to that team's home base, Heaven, or Hell. A place where all that exists is those wavelengths. Hate, pain, anger, fear, darkness; or Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Pleasure, Light. The choice is yours to make. But you cannot go to Heaven with hate in your heart. You must forgive, repent, and spread joy for those around you. These are sentient eternal controlling forces in our universe. Heaven and Hell are very real places, I've seen them. Those steps prime your soul for a meeting with God. Very literally. Once you've done all four, in that order, you get divine revelation, with all the evidence you'll ever need. They are, forgive your parents, brake down before Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and read the Bible. Step four takes three books to get the revelation. I recommend Genesis, Mathew, and then either Luke, Psalms, or proverbs. The order of the steps is important, step 1 has to come before step 3. I can state that for an absolute certainty that these steps always work. Please, take your salvation seriously. See for yourself. Do those steps. Jesus Christ is Lord. It's all True,
@@swi5man219 it's invisible ink and he can only see it with the glasses. Pay attention and you'll see he has lenses in the glasses. He switched them out for ones with no lenses at the very end.
@@thefancystache3793 then why did glasses have lenses in them until the very end when he pointed out they did not? And your method is too risky. If she doesn't stand just right or her hair is in a different spot, his view would be blocked. Further more, where is the camera you're suggesting displaying the imaging for him to see to read it?
Showing the audience the book while hiding it from Allison was an absolutely brilliant part of the act. I've been watching a ton of P&T:FU clips for the past few weeks and have decided that magicians in general are just an incredible group of people, and you really stand out as one of my favorites so far.
Every year or so I come back to this damn video. Shawn is just such a tremendous showman. One of the best I've seen. The way he replies "I should have used a mirror!" so quickly to Alyson is just terrific comedic timing. He has quick wit that is nearly on par with a guy like Norm Macdonald.
The only other thing in this trick is the book. My guess is that the magician, Shawn created and printed his own book. He designed the book so that each page has specific characteristics that he can memorize.
I have watched this video more than a few times already, and every time, my favourite part is at 5:20. The look on Alyson's face when she looks at the book and just falls silent is priceless
Same here :) Absolutely amazing moment :) As for the trick itself: also astonishing. And I love such trick, when during the whole performance you think you've already figured it out, or at least some most crucial moments, and start to think you're a smartest pereson in the room now. And what a bummer when you understand finally, that not only the magician fooled you, but you foold yourself also :)
Shawn Farquhar I noticed when Allison had a page on the left hand side you tilted your head to the left. She’s also shorter than you and the way I’m thinking you did it, it would not be possible to do with someone taller than you. I also think that the blank book is not just a big reveal, but being blank is necessary to pull it off. Am I close with any of that?
My favorite thing about this trick is that it seems designed to misdirect Penn and Teller specifically. Many magicians come out and do a throw-away trick first that is obvious and just designed to warm up the crowd. By pulling out his book, he gives the impression that this is that, and there will be another trick after. So Penn and Teller might let their guard down a little bit, waiting for the warm-up to end so they can analyze the next, real trick. But suddenly, we learn that the obvious thing with the book _was_ the trick. There was no warm-up. The act is over. Really smart move.
My favorite thing about this trick is the element designed to fool the TH-cam audience. That's why he put on real glasses, and then switched it. He knew TH-cam would catch that. This trick is now performed by many other magicians.
I loved the comedy aspect. Having the audience be “in” on fooling the volunteer is always a great touch … the mystifying reveal where it turns out the audience is also fooled is a great capper, and is what makes it “magic,” but the part where the audience is in on fooling Alyson is what makes it a magic ACT, and a really fun one! Good show!!
I love the timing on his reveal of the empty pages to Alyson around 5:19. This makes her stop mid-sentence, which gets him a few chuckles, while simultaneously preparing the audience to the payoff/reveal a few seconds later.
I appreciate that too because of how many magicians really on humor despite being painfully unfunny. The bar is so low for humor in magic, and that was a legit gag.
All my ideas for how this trick was done were thrown out the window when I read the thumbnail. Now I've been reading all the comments, including Shawn's, and I'm still baffled. Amazing trick. What's special about this one is that it leads the audience into thinking he hasn't started the trick. It lets everyone drop their guard down, and it lets us just enjoy the performance for what it is instead of trying to look for a move. Allison calling Shawn out on not doing a real trick made this even better. Furthermore, now we have Shawn commenting telling everyone all the different methods he DIDN'T use. What a great trick that so many of us can rewatch it in slow-motion and not be able to figure it out.
I guess that it has finally been solved by recent comments. Basically, it's a variation of the book swapping guess, that escapes qualifying as it, put together with another trick, which has to do with him making the questions.
@@theoutsiderspost4982 actually Shawn himself cofirmed that it was correctly guessed by commenters and he told them so privately, and the comment confirming that was well before it went on sale
I love the final bit where Pen is yelling at him but then compliments him and rejects his handshake to hug him instead. Damn it I wanna meet these guys one day
i really love the face of Penn when he says that it isn't a memory trick and is something new, that face of marvel, of something really good, that's when you know that you did it
Teller's reaction when you fooled them was priceless. It'`s very rare to see him that impressed. I think it only happened with Mathieu Biche before. You got the same reaction, it shows how much respect he has for you! By the way, you make me proud as a Canadian and I would very much like to see your show.
the multitude of misdirection layers is just crazy. book switches or no book switches, memory or no memory, invisible ink or no invisible ink, glass switches or no glass switches, lenses that were there or werent or were popped out while in the pocket, and its all just one big forest of misdirection moves. awesome. no idea how the trick works, and love that i dont.
Easily one of my favorite magicians to ever come on Fool Us. The great tricks, the fast and funny patter, everything is just great. I would love to see him to on again
Everyone knows magic is about misdirection, but many don't know what that means. Shawn obviously knows that this trick needs to be able to fool a couple of great magicians in the first viewing, and then continue to fool via TH-cam while people pause and rewatch. Slightly oversized jacket with big pockets, vest with pockets and lots of places to hide stuff, some sort of chain in his vest, a pair of glasses that have glass in them, and then for some reason don't have glass in them - it's all misdirection, done for the benefit of TH-cam commenters to decide they "know" how the trick is done. The best magicians on "Fool Us" add decoy methods - Shawn has just done an extra good job of it!
It reminds me of Mathieu Bich's trick in the original series. In his trick, he takes a deck out of a special box. The only point of the box was to draw Penn and Teller's attention so they would guess that it was a part of the trick. He even put the word 'NO' in there so he could show them when they called him out on it as he predicted.
Darnit lol, I just posted as to why he switches the glasses and then reading your comments it makes sense if this is true and he is trying to continue to fool people like me. LOL if this is the truth then it is such a great move on his part!
It's all well and good as long as the "decoys" can't actually result in the same illusion. I thought this was a great routine, but Fool Us has had some really lame routines where Penn and Teller are left to guess between several methods that would all work. Nobody is going to be impressed by something that they can go home and do just as well by their own method.
The trick is very simple, let me teach it you guys. 1. He gave Alison a book and positioned himself back to back with her. 2. He made Alison chose a page. 3. Then he stops the time. 4. Memorize some key words on that page. 5. Go back to his original position 6. Resumes time. Pretty simple right.
I feel when penn comes off mad about being fooled its just him being a kid again trying to figure out how its done. And afterall, they made this show so they could feel that again. Not too mention the careers theyve helped kickstart, and the best one was the kid they gave tips to. Also no matter how ya did it, the comedy aspect with your "audience helper" was good on its own.
The funny thing is it’s been years since this trick was done and was uploaded and still nobody knows how it is done. You are fantastic Shawn. And still reading the comments of the video too!
Thanks, truth be told a few people have guessed correctly and I have told them so in private. I didn't really post it to be a challenge though, just for people to enjoy. I try to stay engaged with my fans... without them...what am I?
If you notice him when he is acting like he's reading it. Look at the glasses. Clearly lens in them even though he said there wasn't. Go back and watch it you can see the shimmer of the glasses
I originally thought it was a glasses switch, but Shawn already ruled that out (so, I was fooled). However, since Shawn has been so helpful in eliminating wrong guesses, to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, once you have excluded the impossible (because Shawn has confirmed it to be false), whatever remains, must be the truth. If you eliminate special ink in the blank book, a glasses switch, or a book switch, you're starting to get thin on the number of things he could have rigged. To me, the most obviously possibilities are some sort of off-camera help (audience or person backstage) to signal him, or, my guess, that the book is rigged. Not the blank one, but the one he gave to Alyson. Let me explain. No one is reading the book from start to finish. The reader is asked to flip to a page in the middle of the book and look for specific attributes at the magician's direction. For example, the first page Alyson picked was 64. A book could be printed such that every page that ends in the number 4 has five paragraphs and starts off with " von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein." The pages could, in theory, all be different, such that page 64 is different from page 74, so when one flips through it, the pages don't repeat, only specific attributes. If you were to try to read the book cover to cover, it would be nonsensical, but the audience member who is given the book doesn't really have the opportunity to do that, as they are given one task after another. This method minimizes the amount of memorization to perhaps a couple dozen scripted possibilities. Notice the interaction between Shawn and Alyson. Shawn telling Alyson what attributes to look for on a page, rather than Alyson being able to ask him questions like, "What's on line 15 of this page?" The best evidence that the book is rigged is actually in the passages Shawn recites. Alyson picks 3 pages, 64, 140, and 136. "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" is a collection of short stories. Each story runs about 15-30 pages apiece, depending on font size, paper size, margins, etc. Shawn gives us excerpts of the selected pages: Page 64 - starts with " von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein," Page 140 - second paragraph starts with "good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes," and Page 136 - starts with "window." The last one, "window," isn't very helpful because that word appears dozens of times throughout a legitimate copy of the book. However, the other passages only appear in the book once each. Both phrases are found, exactly once, in the same short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia." In a legitimate copy of the book, those 2 passages should appear, at most, 10-15 pages apart. Thus, the only way those two passages are found in a book 76 pages apart is if those passages are repeated multiple times through the book. I don't have the exact specifications for how Alyson's copy of the book was rigged, but it was definitely rigged. Also, in an unaltered copy of the book, A Scandal in Bohemia is the first short-story, and should've concluded well before page 64.
Your method is awesome, but includes memorization and I would have not fooled them as they guessed that I used memorization. Excellent method though for someone who is capable of remembering their phone number.
So way back when, Penn & Teller released a book with a trick which did something very similar. I believe it was in Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends which was published in 1989. So I'm pretty sure they would have thought of that trick immediately since they wrote a book using it.
it looks like he swapped books with Alyson, but if you watch carefully you can see he didn't (watch it at 1/4 speed). Besides, having her in on the trick would be against the rules.
the glasses are the main switch. u see the first two times u can see the lens in his glasses but he switched it in his ingenious way at the third time.. the book is of special ink
@@ShawnFarquhar That's why I love your magic. For me its all about the amazing effect and wondering about the method but never actually knowing how it is done. Twice I watched a reveal video for other acts by different guys and both times I felt so let down by the magic of the illusion disappearing that I will never do that again.
I've got it! He didn't do a book switch, but a universe switch! He quickly riffled through alternate universes till he found one where he gives the right answer. Pretty simple really.
“Now that we’re both happy with the decision, I want you to be more like my wife. And even though we’ve both made the decision we’re happy, I want you to change your mind again.” 😂😂
Beautiful. To me the real magic is reading a sentence that spans pages 63-64 (3:12) without turning a page, in a book where page 136 is on the left-hand side (4:36).
God damn it man. Both this and you last trick on Fool Us are incredible. No matter how hard I try and no matter how many times I rewatch I cant figure them out. I pride myself on figuring out how these tricks are done but you stump me both times. I read other peoples theories but every time I go back and rewatch and see that there is always a flaw in their theory. I think I might just have to give up with you and just enjoy your magic the way a person is meant too. With wonder and mystery lol.
I wish they had called you on the glasses switch. It would have been hilarious to have, for a second time, put them in a position of thinking they saw a key move, yet still have no clue how the effect was done. This is one of my favorite acts. It's energetic, funny, and also completely baffling.
There's a listening device on the glasses hence why he faces one way incase pen and teller spot it. Theres a companion who has a copy of the book and they're tell him the answers through the listening device.
Ive seen you do this trick many times before without putting the book away at all. You 100% did that to screw with Penn and Teller, like you did with the glasses, that was awesome.
He has done it many times without putting the book away, but he has said he used a different method on this presentation, so it might have something to do with the putting the book away.
This performance is absolutely amazing. Love your energy, love Alyson's reaction when she realizes the book is blank, and love how it pisses Penn off to be fooled. Trick is awesome and it's killing me not knowing how it's done. So far after reading the thumbnail the only solution I came up with is a simple cheat sheet and concealing it later. Who knows, maybe you can actually get a great effect with a very ordinary method.
micro writing on a clear sheet which he can easily hide only need to be a few pages once he knows where they start from then he diredcts the reader only forward in the book so to be able to throw away or distract while discarding the cheat sheet
Not sure how it's done given everything that's been ruled out. I do wonder though, would this trick work without tucking the book back in his pocket between getting a new page number?
Im not saying he did it this way. Im saying this method would work with what i saw based upon my own observations, others comments including shawns. 1. There WERE very likely special glasses. However they are NOT actually integral to the trick. I think he actually needs glasses for reading. I think there was a glasses switch, however a normally sighted person would not need the glasses to do what he did, so they are not really important. The special glasses were the ones without lenses at the end. Again not essiential to the trick a bit of window dressing more or less to show P&T that the glasses had nothing material to dp with the trick. So thats point 1. 2. There WERE only 2 books. Allisons was very likely gimmicked. Shawns was actually and genuinely blank. Allisons as mentioned was gimmicked, and very likely either had the real text and real page numbers in the book but rearranged such that no matter which page she picked, he could do this trick, or there was perhaps some suggestion she just inherently accepted that guided her to the gimmicked part of the book. But the way he knew what her page had on it was that he had IN but seperate from the book in HIS pocket, a cheat sheet that had the text on it for him to read. Now there may be small details that i missed, such as it could have been more than one cheet sheet, but thats just execution not concept. Now the reason this works and works so well is his presentation. He knows that pt know many methods that can produce this effect. Memory. Coloring book method. Switches, special ink and glasses, braile, and off stage assistant. So he does a few things that lead them down a primrose path. But he doesn actually do those things. What he did was a simple indirect force, before he even came on stage, then he has a cheat sheet or sheets that he eventually burns. He gimmicks (maybe) some glasses so he can demonstrate that its not special ink and glasses, which would be hard to do if he showed them real glasses. If he did use real glasses, then this is a necessary lie for brevitys sake and pt would understand that and the producers would know the method anyway. But since the blank book is just a obfuscation of what hes really doing and it doesnt really do the trick, its clean at the end. He does the entire patter with allison just to set the misdirection up so that he can get the audience and pt to accept and ignore the pocketing of the glasses and book as just patter which it was until the last go through. Thats where the trick was finished. He pulled out the empty glasses and the book after dropping the cheat sheet in the pocket. Some people have said that the pages and text dont line up on the book on stage vs their copy. That may be important. It may not formats and editions can vary which can cause apparent discrepancy where there is none. But either way, her book was gimmicked or not, he had some way of getting her to choose a page he had a cheet sheet for and gimicking is thw easiest way. I dont think they looked at allisons book. Just his. Shawn said in this comment that he couldn't have done it without pocketing the book. Thats likely not true since he could have very simply palmed the cheater and burned it another way. But he answered it simply because he couldnt have done it like this. Again im not saying this is how he did it. He absolutely could have done it this way and it would look just like what we saw here.
At first I thought the book was tapered (shuffling pages would show blank pages when held at one point, but show the words when held at a different point) but then you gave Allison the book and she got to look through it, so that can’t be it. Beautiful trick and performance.
This is one of my favorite tricks on Fool Us. I don't actually want to know how it's done, but it's a ton of fun to speculate. Keep up the great work! Oh and I think it's great that you've told the fans that figured it out that they got it right. That's a great touch!
Pretty simple, Allison was in on it. She had the blank book and called random pages. He had the real book and turned to those pages. They swapped books at 5:05
I totally love this trick. Most of the time people on the show do some lesser tricks along with some comedy, and end up with a more impressive trick. I was totally expecting the same, thinking the joke was probably going a bit too long this time. Fool me, didn't realize I was actually watching the trick take place.
I love all the tricks you did on Fool Us but this is by far my favorite. I’m not a magician (just a magic lover) and, for that reason, I don’t have any clue on how you did it but you make it so “simple” and super funny that I can only applaud. Best regards from Portugal PS-I’ve seen your Fools Us performances more than a dozen times (each) and I became an instant fan.
actually this joke could be they way he did it , it could be blind people book but a special one where its not so obvious or written in a very special way only he can see it or read it
Totally. He could have memworized a small handful of Braille with paragraph indicators. For example each page only have a few Braille words on it but he can tell her where. Or he got really good at Braille. Love his guy!
If this is the secret then he wouldn't need the whole book. He would just need little imprints at the bottom that tell him the number of paragraphs, first few words and the last few words on the last page.
Having seen Penn and Teller live and having nothing but respect for these guys, It is always just as entertaining when another aspiring magician or magic act can elude their experience & knowledge of the magic world.
William Rahl i noticed this as well. At the end the glasses have no lenses but throughout the performance the glasses had a lens on them which was clearly visible due to the reflection of the light. Had lenses until the end where he claimed they didn’t. I see sean liked this comment about the glasses being misdirection and i’m curious. I don’t think sean would lie to use when he says he didn’t use special glasses but we’re the glasses just a distraction in the performance for penn and teller. or are they a distraction from us as well? Hoping we might notice this subtle detail and focus on it to much keeping us from seeing his method. Idk i wouldn’t be shocked it’s sean
maybe its not SPECIAL glasses, but normal cheap reading glasses. you know those type of cheap reading glasses that reflect things that are behind you cause they dont have an anti reflect coating.
Donato Felicella saying the glasses didn't have lenses was necessary, because it's part of the trick. I think (because we don't see it well enough) that he used slight of hand right when he was revealing the glasses. Instead of making a glasses switch he just has easily removable lenses, poked them out with index fingers and palmed them. At 4:49 is the last time I can see the light reflection, from that point on he doesn't bring his hands near his head at all. So the only possibility is that the glasses reveal is actually the place where he removes them.
I watched them. Every time he put them on, I looked for the glare. It looked like it was there the last time, making how he got those frames out a mystery. I wasn't sure if it was just the plastic of the frames, though, so them having no frames the last time is really the "Occam's Razor" answer.
Oh wow, I remember seeing this for the first time as I was getting interested in magic, crazy that it's been four years now. I've been practicing! I have some tricks I'm very proud of now. I saw a comment saying you're still checking comments, so figured I'd throw my hat in the ring. This was my guess from back then (I remember thinking about it for hours): you have a small paper/card/what-have-you index (could be double sided if you wanted bigger text) that has "fun facts" about every page (# of paragraphs, some words on a random line, etc) that you'd share. The only slight of hand involved in the trick is getting the index out of the book at the end (I think you could've even gotten away with not doing that because they didn't ask for the book but it seems almost easier to just get rid of the index and I see some moments that would've been lovely times to do it at the end), and making it look like you were flipping to the "correct page" which seems more than manageable.
I was thinking maybe the ":empty book" wasn't so empty. There could be something there not easily visible, say braille cheat sheets on every page. Or the possibility of cheat sheets recorded elsewhere less obviously. Or the possibility of him getting tips from an accomplice. The fundamental questions are where is the information stored and how did he access that information. I'm not a magician but there are a number of possible methods.
Probably watched this 100 times, not to try and see how it is done cause personally I don't care. I just love the energy you have when you perform and how skilled you are.
Definitely not. Shawn told no lies at all during the performance of this effect. There really isn't anything special with the glasses. They truly are missing lenses. Also there is no hidden code or UV type of writing on the book. This effect could be performed anywhere in any regular lighting. The method is so freaking devious that when Shawn came up with it I bet he had a maniacal laugh at how this was going to floor people (including myself when i first experienced this effect live).
definitely lenses but I can't figure out when he switches the lenses although it could have been when the camera was focused elsewhere or edited out completely because they thought it was useless time. Furthermore it looks like there's something on the right side of the glasses if your looking thru the lenses at 4:42 the judges and the audience can't see it and the camera barely can from this angle.
Shawn I just want to say it's an absolute honor to watch you fool Penn and Teller a second time. Whatever the technique I won't bother asking, it's just too damn good! If you ever need any blade props let me know and I will gladly supply them free of charge for you sir! Shoot me a message if you ever branch into sharp object illusions.
Shawn Farquhar I know how you did it! You paused time, peeked over your shoulder to see the page Allison was looking at, then repositioned yourself back and hit the play button to continue time :)
You know, Allison's mirror comment may have been very close to the mark, and this one might not be too far off either. I don't know if he did it this way, but someone with a laptop, Sherlock Holmes ebook and a projector could be backstage helping out on this one. All he'd need to remember is to look where the image is projected.
"... remember to look where the image is projected," and make sure the projection is never in Penn or Teller's direct or peripheral sight line, and project it from a position that doesn't put the beam of light in their sight line. My solution is similar but replaces the projector with a microphone and a very small earpiece in Sean's upstage ear (the side the guys can't see). The problem with both techniques is that the show's magic arbiter knows how the trick is done before it is performed, and I suspect that neither a projector nor a wireless earpiece is permitted by the rules of the show. So that leaves ... uh ...
Rod H Very brilliantly said. Shawn's involuntary facial reaction to Alisson's comment was a hint that many including me missed. Well caught. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on this theory. But if projectors are earpieces aren't allowed ...
This trick is absolutely amazing and I love it every time I watch. I think the reason I love it so much is that at the beginning the audience thinks they are in on some kind of joke/gag on the guest. It doesn't look like magic but just a funny trick pulled on the guest. But then there is that 1 moment where you show the book to the guest and the entire trick flips. Now the guest is first "in" on the trick and when you reveal to the audience the empty book, everyone watching has to stop and wonder what just happened. I think that single moment between you and the guest before the big reveal is done perfectly and makes this trick absolutely perfect. Now since everyone is throwing in a guess, I will give mine. The only thing i think is that you have note cards hidden in the book for each page number. And when a guest chooses a page your note card can tell you specific things about that page. Then as the trick goes and you move from page to page you are so crafty that you can remove those notecards from the book. At the very end after you've gone through enough pages you eventually remove all the notecards before showing off the book. So if you did this trick for another audience but landed on the same page you would have to give them the same info you gave the guest at another show because thats all the info on these small note cards.
@@PauxloE yes but at the end he also insists on alyson to go a couple of pages forwards which could mean that he already took out the notes of all the previous pages and so he doesn't want her to jump to a previous page... idk just my thought
For once, I can't even venture a guess, due to your brilliant misdirection, I have no idea what was actually true and what was misdirection. Good on you that was a brilliant trick.
I love what you do onstage and I am trying to figure out this trick for an upcoming performance, however you do it so well that there is no way I could guess what exactly happens, I have a channel and I would love if you checked out my first ever official performance on there
@@ShawnFarquhar so there are 2 different glasses.. the lenses are the key to the blank book... I've got to say this is my favorite episode... can't watch it too many times, just love it! Your a great stage presence, hope some day I can watch you preform in person..
@@Alis_Grave_Nil, yes there are two pairs of glasses, but they have nothing to do with the trick, they were a form of misdirection and as a shout out to my mentor Jerry Andrus who always wore glasses without lenses. I bought the glasses at a dollar store and they were not special in any way... thanks for the kind words about my performance.
No copy of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes has A Scandal in Bohemia, the first story in the collection, on page 64. I suspect that if Alyson were to sit down and actually try to read that book cover to cover, it would be pretty damn confusing.
My theory is that it's the story "A Scandal in Bohemia" repeated several times in her book. The Duke's name and the "good night mister Sherlock Holmes" are both key elements of the story. Also, his book is too thin for being the entire collection of stories included in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", unless it's divided in two parts... And I don't know why someone would sell it like that.
@@CC101CC I think it's pretty clear tat, regardless of the technique used, both copies are printed for the purpose of being props and props only. Even if it is a legit collection of stories, it's still not an edition that was created to be sold.
I am sure there's some perfectly reasonable, friendly, and sweet explanation for that Teller went straight in for the hug. Regardless of whether what I'm about to say is that reason ... this was immediate head canon: It just came across as this immensely respectful, almost compulsory act of love and appreciation. Like, "I have such profound respect for your talent, and for the honor and humility you bring to our craft, that the only expression that comes remotely close is to embrace you as I would family." I choked up instantly the first time I saw it, as it was just so damn genuine and lovely.
AHAHAH 5:54 "we did that so they would freak out" because he KNEW that p&t (and i thought this too) that it was a svengali book, by the way he riffled the pages originally to show the audience. but then when he handed it to allison my jaw dropped and said just what i was thinking! (and completely went over alyson + the audience's head) WELL PLAYED SIR!
I just watched this trick again after several years, and I'm amazed not just by the trick (I think the fact that Penn believed it was actual memory trick showed clearly that they have no idea how Shawn did it), but what was even greater was the delivery of the whole thing. It was just amazing! Very funny, full of energy, no empty time to wonder or get bored ... it was brilliant! I've watched many of the shows on Penn & Teller, and while many perform incredible magic, I can't think of another that also makes this kind of a show :)
Thank you for the entertainment, we need it the most right now. Magic takes you to a child-like state that makes you both smile and enjoy yourself without thinking about all the bad things we're dealing with on a daily basis. It is both innocent and enlightening. Being able to transport yourself like that even for a few minutes is priceless. Thanks again!
I can't believe nobody realized what he's doing and I feel kind of bad to spoil the secret but here goes. 1. Shawn is a wizard 2. He uses his wizard powers to fool us
@@aluminum8365 He's contractually obligated to give truthful answers during the evaluation. He can't lie and keep the title based on lying to them after the trick is over.
I’m guessing that he has an index (or several) which has some info for each page. He hides it in the blank book while reading it. The index is in his pocket and he palms it every time he needs to hide it or read it. Either way if I guessed correctly or not it’s a fabulous trick from an amazing magician!
that makes sense Steve...the whole trick is taking out the lenses that can read invisible ink, making it seem that the glasses don't have lenses...what a creative trick tho!! he's the best in the world imo
+all ears99, thanks for the kind words, but the lenses/glasses had nothing to do with the effect other than to add a layer to try to fool P&T. The glasses didn't fool them, but has been good at fooling so many others...
AMAZING... I'm still trying to figure out the card inside the sealed deck routine.... noone it seems even has a guess ha!! as for the book I'm now clueless again thanks!! u ever perform in Boston?? or are u a reg at a Vegas casino?? love to see u live!!
AMAZING... I'm still trying to figure out the card inside the sealed deck routine.... noone it seems even has a guess ha!! as for the book I'm now clueless again thanks!! u ever perform in Boston?? or are u a reg at a Vegas casino?? love to see u live!!
I work around the world and a lot for Disney. I don't have a "steady gig" although I'm working on it. I will probably be in Boston in 2017, just not sure when at this time.
cool..I'll be looking for ya!! I'll bet your working on a new effect and u MUST go back to P+T to fool them a 3rd time!! maybe work the 3 of spades in trick to rub it in a lil ha!!! keep up the mind blowing tricks!!
When I first saw this, I thought to myself, "Ah, a book that is in public domain". Then when I saw the cover, I said "Ah, that's not any of the covers from actual printings!" And then I thought, hmm, "Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein" is only mentioned once, but is actually on Page 7.
I keep coming to this video over and over again. It's fascinating. Even when I know how you did it. I just have to find out how you changed the glasses.
Mayby he only dump out galeses from frame. Propobly when he was speaking with Allison and try to hide book from her. Anather misdirection, because everybody was foces on book. How's my english? xD
@@Dewal4 It's possible. But I can't see when or how. From the last moment he was reading to the point when he put his fingers through the frame, the glasses were there in plain sight. Your English is not bad, keep working on it!
@@gabekawa It's true that magic disappear as soon as you know how it's done. Not all the time you can see Shawn. There is about two times when camera is switching to Penn & Teller and then probably Shawn is doing his mambo jambo
I really want him on the show a 3rd time, just to piss Penn off.
EDIT: The madman did it, but Shawn, I think an actual hat trick is needed for the hat-trick.
I hope so to could he fool them again
Me too....
Shawn Farquhar yes
Shawn Farquhar HAHAHA you're amazing
I mean, this has a trilogy written all over it Shawn :)
Aah! The classic "I made a deal with the devil" method.
Boring of seeing this easy trick
Ikr? People be using real magic these days. Smh.
The two books are same, how come P n T did not realize. Doesn't deserve the trophy.
Yea, atleast other people who blew our minds like shin lim who uses sleight of hands. U have no clue of how he does but atleast u know the genre of magic.
This guy u cant even say what genre it is.. probably new branch of dark magic
@@ONL197 Grow up.
You used a fake Allison.
Best answer ever...
And lied
@@alitaher9558 who lied?
The entire point of life:
Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. Mathew 20: 28. We are no different. This entire life is a representation of the spiritual warfare going on. Good vs evil. God isn't a flying man in the sky, but the actual representation of Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Light, etc. Not metaphor, but literally, like an extra demintional wavelength of thought, emotions, and intent. The devil is the opposite wavelength, pain, fear, hate, anger, darkness, etc. Human life is serving one of these two. Not a man in the sky, actual sentient collective universal Love. However, humans are primatives, we make mistakes. It's in our nature, since the fall, to go down the wrong path. This means at some time each one of us has served darkness to some degree. God understands our limited understanding of our own actions, so he gave us forgiveness, though sacrificing himself in human form as Jesus Christ. It is our duty to accept that sacrifice, get the forgiveness, and be better, helping others be better, and spreading this wavelength of Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Light, etc, thoughout the universe. But God had to make a way for us to get to this place spiritually, this is why evidence is not allowed. Evidence will make you believe, using the fear of absolute punishment to change your behavior, but that won't make you better, just scared. Faith makes you better. It is what redeemes us, not our works. Faith is the hope that things get better, that justice always prevails, that we're at least loved by our creator. But it has to be Faith in Jesus, because of his sacrifice. And there can't be evidence to point us to him, because Love had to be fair. If there were a code in our DNA, what about everyone born before genetic sequencing? If there were a book with the solar system thosands of years ago, what would stop an evil person from hiding/destroying it? If it were something you had to go to, what about the geographically isolated, imprisoned, or enslaved. If it were a train of logic, what about the uneducated, or mentally slow? Not to mention all the people born before schools. Love cannot give to one without giving to the other. So the key to salvation had to be something everyone has access to. The only thing is Faith. This is why God puts it upon your heart to learn about these things, even if it's only to criticize, or hate. God is everywhere, because Love is everywhere, and so is the devil, because hate is everywhere. They're in your head all the time, regardless of weather or not you accept that. They whisper inside your heart, giving you ideas. But more than that, they're inside everyone's heart. This is how they get things done. They corrordanate us like pieces on a chess board. The only difference is, we get to chose who's side we're playing for. At the end of our life, we go to that team's home base, Heaven, or Hell. A place where all that exists is those wavelengths. Hate, pain, anger, fear, darkness; or Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Pleasure, Light. The choice is yours to make. But you cannot go to Heaven with hate in your heart. You must forgive, repent, and spread joy for those around you. These are sentient eternal controlling forces in our universe. Heaven and Hell are very real places, I've seen them. Those steps prime your soul for a meeting with God. Very literally. Once you've done all four, in that order, you get divine revelation, with all the evidence you'll ever need. They are, forgive your parents, brake down before Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and read the Bible. Step four takes three books to get the revelation. I recommend Genesis, Mathew, and then either Luke, Psalms, or proverbs. The order of the steps is important, step 1 has to come before step 3. I can state that for an absolute certainty that these steps always work. Please, take your salvation seriously. See for yourself. Do those steps. Jesus Christ is Lord. It's all True,
@@WaterCursed he changed the book with allison , so this show is trash..fake
Each time i hear his name im thinking of Lord farquaad from Shrek haha
Bruh!!!! I thought that too lol
Ahh.. the infamous sneaky name that’s a play on Lord F*ckwad
Im sure it doesn't haunt him at all
ROFL Ha ha ha you fucking idiot...Made me spill my morning coffee :D :D
I figured it out!!!!! He's actually a mother, so he has eyes on the back of his head!!!!
Awesome answer!
This comment wins 😂
He would be staring into her hair.
@@swi5man219 it's invisible ink and he can only see it with the glasses. Pay attention and you'll see he has lenses in the glasses. He switched them out for ones with no lenses at the very end.
@@thefancystache3793 then why did glasses have lenses in them until the very end when he pointed out they did not? And your method is too risky. If she doesn't stand just right or her hair is in a different spot, his view would be blocked. Further more, where is the camera you're suggesting displaying the imaging for him to see to read it?
Showing the audience the book while hiding it from Allison was an absolutely brilliant part of the act. I've been watching a ton of P&T:FU clips for the past few weeks and have decided that magicians in general are just an incredible group of people, and you really stand out as one of my favorites so far.
I agree magicians are in incredible group of people... ;-)
@@ShawnFarquhar ...and modest!
It's a simple glasses capable of seeing invisible ink switch😉
@@colors6692 Here, he does this trick without glasses: th-cam.com/video/voPjwg_Q0yM/w-d-xo.html
@@colors6692 im not so sure. ive seen this exact trick many times with no glasses involved or a second book
Every year or so I come back to this damn video. Shawn is just such a tremendous showman. One of the best I've seen. The way he replies "I should have used a mirror!" so quickly to Alyson is just terrific comedic timing. He has quick wit that is nearly on par with a guy like Norm Macdonald.
Thanks Beanie, that's a huge compliment.
@@ShawnFarquhar Also loved the instant "sleep deprivation" delivery at 6:05. Great humor and amazing trick. Keep it up!
Alright Adam Eget, you don't have to kiss ass anymore.
The only other thing in this trick is the book. My guess is that the magician, Shawn created and printed his own book. He designed the book so that each page has specific characteristics that he can memorize.
@@c_b5060that is what Penn guessed and it clearly is not the way the trick has been done. It is checked by the production team, so it’s a real fooler.
I have watched this video more than a few times already, and every time, my favourite part is at 5:20. The look on Alyson's face when she looks at the book and just falls silent is priceless
I have to agree Fraise. I love the look of wonder.
And the 2nd best is Penn's face when told that there's no memory technique and book switching 😯
She went from thinking "this is just the comedy bit he hasn't done the trick yet" to "... wow."
Same here :) Absolutely amazing moment :) As for the trick itself: also astonishing. And I love such trick, when during the whole performance you think you've already figured it out, or at least some most crucial moments, and start to think you're a smartest pereson in the room now. And what a bummer when you understand finally, that not only the magician fooled you, but you foold yourself also :)
Mirrors
"how do you come up with your tricks?"
"sleep deprivation :D!"
and a truer sentence was not uttered. holy frick this applies to many things.
I approve this comment! ;-)
@@ShawnFarquhar :D
Shawn Farquhar I noticed when Allison had a page on the left hand side you tilted your head to the left. She’s also shorter than you and the way I’m thinking you did it, it would not be possible to do with someone taller than you. I also think that the blank book is not just a big reveal, but being blank is necessary to pull it off. Am I close with any of that?
My favorite thing about this trick is that it seems designed to misdirect Penn and Teller specifically. Many magicians come out and do a throw-away trick first that is obvious and just designed to warm up the crowd. By pulling out his book, he gives the impression that this is that, and there will be another trick after. So Penn and Teller might let their guard down a little bit, waiting for the warm-up to end so they can analyze the next, real trick. But suddenly, we learn that the obvious thing with the book _was_ the trick. There was no warm-up. The act is over. Really smart move.
Penn must have realised it, hence the mock outrage.
My favorite thing about this trick is the element designed to fool the TH-cam audience. That's why he put on real glasses, and then switched it. He knew TH-cam would catch that. This trick is now performed by many other magicians.
My fav part is that it's at 5 frames per second which makes slight of hand much easier
I loved the comedy aspect. Having the audience be “in” on fooling the volunteer is always a great touch … the mystifying reveal where it turns out the audience is also fooled is a great capper, and is what makes it “magic,” but the part where the audience is in on fooling Alyson is what makes it a magic ACT, and a really fun one! Good show!!
I love the timing on his reveal of the empty pages to Alyson around 5:19. This makes her stop mid-sentence, which gets him a few chuckles, while simultaneously preparing the audience to the payoff/reveal a few seconds later.
I appreciate that too because of how many magicians really on humor despite being painfully unfunny. The bar is so low for humor in magic, and that was a legit gag.
“If you do that it just makes the book happy” such an underrated joke
I don’t get the joke.. 😅
Nah it's actually just kinda pathetic and creepy
@@felixg.3077 she put the book close to her neckline...
@@alexdavis9324 woop woop joke police
woop woop joke police police
8:34 Alyson turns into a kettle.
😂😂😂
Oh, hahaha
The way Alyson just stunned when he shows the book is blank. I thought it only happens in the comics.
hehe...yes very animated
All my ideas for how this trick was done were thrown out the window when I read the thumbnail. Now I've been reading all the comments, including Shawn's, and I'm still baffled. Amazing trick.
What's special about this one is that it leads the audience into thinking he hasn't started the trick. It lets everyone drop their guard down, and it lets us just enjoy the performance for what it is instead of trying to look for a move. Allison calling Shawn out on not doing a real trick made this even better. Furthermore, now we have Shawn commenting telling everyone all the different methods he DIDN'T use. What a great trick that so many of us can rewatch it in slow-motion and not be able to figure it out.
trinity8675309 I guess it's because it's IMPOSSIBLE for us to see. Am I right, Shawn?
@@jqbtube Really speaks to the genius of the red herrings, hmm?
I guess that it has finally been solved by recent comments. Basically, it's a variation of the book swapping guess, that escapes qualifying as it, put together with another trick, which has to do with him making the questions.
No commenter figured it out on their own. The secret to the trick is literally for sale.
@@theoutsiderspost4982 actually Shawn himself cofirmed that it was correctly guessed by commenters and he told them so privately, and the comment confirming that was well before it went on sale
5:45 Penn taking a drink so he can properly cuss him out lol
yeah hes just like *angrily sips water*
RIGHT??? I am so happy someone else noticed this fact!!!
He says, "Oh, you work out."
Alyson shakes her head.
I love Alyson.
says De Ja-Vu a 4th time years later......you mad evil genious
"Déjà-vu"
Eto Hige Gamer Culture I noticed that too...it was great for shadowing
3rd Time
*Genius
De-ja-vu
I love the final bit where Pen is yelling at him but then compliments him and rejects his handshake to hug him instead. Damn it I wanna meet these guys one day
i really love the face of Penn when he says that it isn't a memory trick and is something new, that face of marvel, of something really good, that's when you know that you did it
Teller's reaction when you fooled them was priceless. It'`s very rare to see him that impressed. I think it only happened with Mathieu Biche before. You got the same reaction, it shows how much respect he has for you! By the way, you make me proud as a Canadian and I would very much like to see your show.
the multitude of misdirection layers is just crazy. book switches or no book switches, memory or no memory, invisible ink or no invisible ink, glass switches or no glass switches, lenses that were there or werent or were popped out while in the pocket, and its all just one big forest of misdirection moves.
awesome. no idea how the trick works, and love that i dont.
zorglub667 invisible ink, he only writes what he is going to say in each page of course randomly facts
Rudy Tabooty he alr states in the thumbnail he did not use special ink
He has some small card between pages with a few information for all pages. He throws that card in his pocket at the end before turning towards Allison
"You don't want to figure it out; you want to be fooled"
lol, It was a BEAUTIFUL book switch.
Easily one of my favorite magicians to ever come on Fool Us. The great tricks, the fast and funny patter, everything is just great. I would love to see him to on again
9:02 I love how emotional Penn gets, and then, instead of giving him a handshake, he offers a hug
He was patting Shawn down for a second book 🤣
This is when he said de ja vu the fourth time. Cause In his last performance he said de ja vu 3 times and said that it sometimes takes 4 times.
+
Best magician ever. Truly deserved that world championship for card magic alone, but I think he could win so much more
Ooo... True!
DEJAVU! lol I'll never forget that part too. lol
Boris Landaverry or he might have fooled them again so that he can say the fourth deja vu
ive watched this video several times, along with the first appearance, and hes just so wholesome youre always left cheering him on
Everyone knows magic is about misdirection, but many don't know what that means. Shawn obviously knows that this trick needs to be able to fool a couple of great magicians in the first viewing, and then continue to fool via TH-cam while people pause and rewatch. Slightly oversized jacket with big pockets, vest with pockets and lots of places to hide stuff, some sort of chain in his vest, a pair of glasses that have glass in them, and then for some reason don't have glass in them - it's all misdirection, done for the benefit of TH-cam commenters to decide they "know" how the trick is done. The best magicians on "Fool Us" add decoy methods - Shawn has just done an extra good job of it!
It reminds me of Mathieu Bich's trick in the original series. In his trick, he takes a deck out of a special box. The only point of the box was to draw Penn and Teller's attention so they would guess that it was a part of the trick. He even put the word 'NO' in there so he could show them when they called him out on it as he predicted.
I'm confident it's also why he brings up reading the book backwards.
Darnit lol, I just posted as to why he switches the glasses and then reading your comments it makes sense if this is true and he is trying to continue to fool people like me. LOL if this is the truth then it is such a great move on his part!
It's all well and good as long as the "decoys" can't actually result in the same illusion. I thought this was a great routine, but Fool Us has had some really lame routines where Penn and Teller are left to guess between several methods that would all work. Nobody is going to be impressed by something that they can go home and do just as well by their own method.
@@zeromustafa401. Congratulations. I wish I had your self esteem. Not sure I see the relevance of the vomit. In fact, he was so good, I missed it.
Shawn, you are just so perfect here! This continues to be my all-time favorite Fool Us act, no matter how many of them I watch. :-)
Thank you
The trick is very simple, let me teach it you guys.
1. He gave Alison a book and positioned himself back to back with her.
2. He made Alison chose a page.
3. Then he stops the time.
4. Memorize some key words on that page.
5. Go back to his original position
6. Resumes time.
Pretty simple right.
Are you saying Shawn is the Stand user of Za Warudo?
i see someone here is a man of culture, and i am refering to both the jojo reference and the yugioh name
Dio would 100% do that just to piss off Penn
Invisible ink. He writes a few words in each page randomly, switch glasses 👓. That’s it.
Cant be... he said no memorization
6 years later and I Still love watching this... So love the reaction you get out of Penn and Teller...
I’ve watched this several time. Still cracks me up when he reveals the blank pages. So good!!!
But there not blank
I feel when penn comes off mad about being fooled its just him being a kid again trying to figure out how its done.
And afterall, they made this show so they could feel that again. Not too mention the careers theyve helped kickstart, and the best one was the kid they gave tips to.
Also no matter how ya did it, the comedy aspect with your "audience helper" was good on its own.
The funny thing is it’s been years since this trick was done and was uploaded and still nobody knows how it is done.
You are fantastic Shawn. And still reading the comments of the video too!
Thanks, truth be told a few people have guessed correctly and I have told them so in private. I didn't really post it to be a challenge though, just for people to enjoy. I try to stay engaged with my fans... without them...what am I?
@@ShawnFarquhar that's amazing that you actually let people know that they figured it out.
@@ghoulishgam3r508 I guess it was only right to do so....
Well what if they share? I'm guessing it is such a simple trick that no one would believe them.
If you notice him when he is acting like he's reading it. Look at the glasses. Clearly lens in them even though he said there wasn't. Go back and watch it you can see the shimmer of the glasses
Such a showman, 3 years later and I'm still re-watching this. You have a great gimmick and a hell of a spine fooling them again Shawn.
Memaru thanks for the kind comment.
I love the moment the shoe drops and the look on Alison's face.
I love how you made it easy for Alyson to become engaged in the act, she really makes it so effortless to follow the rhythm of the trick!
I love Alyson and treat all volunteers like they are in my home.
This man is a legend! He is still taking the time to respond to comments in Dec 2022. What a man!
I miss Jonathan Ross, I hope she also does a great job as him.
Anybody knows why he is not in the show anymore?
i miss him too
Failed drug test
+Tupac512 damn
Warner probably didn't want to pay what he was asking. Alyson is not nearly as good. They should have picked a talk show host
He died bro.
I originally thought it was a glasses switch, but Shawn already ruled that out (so, I was fooled). However, since Shawn has been so helpful in eliminating wrong guesses, to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, once you have excluded the impossible (because Shawn has confirmed it to be false), whatever remains, must be the truth. If you eliminate special ink in the blank book, a glasses switch, or a book switch, you're starting to get thin on the number of things he could have rigged. To me, the most obviously possibilities are some sort of off-camera help (audience or person backstage) to signal him, or, my guess, that the book is rigged. Not the blank one, but the one he gave to Alyson. Let me explain.
No one is reading the book from start to finish. The reader is asked to flip to a page in the middle of the book and look for specific attributes at the magician's direction. For example, the first page Alyson picked was 64. A book could be printed such that every page that ends in the number 4 has five paragraphs and starts off with " von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein." The pages could, in theory, all be different, such that page 64 is different from page 74, so when one flips through it, the pages don't repeat, only specific attributes. If you were to try to read the book cover to cover, it would be nonsensical, but the audience member who is given the book doesn't really have the opportunity to do that, as they are given one task after another. This method minimizes the amount of memorization to perhaps a couple dozen scripted possibilities. Notice the interaction between Shawn and Alyson. Shawn telling Alyson what attributes to look for on a page, rather than Alyson being able to ask him questions like, "What's on line 15 of this page?"
The best evidence that the book is rigged is actually in the passages Shawn recites. Alyson picks 3 pages, 64, 140, and 136. "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" is a collection of short stories. Each story runs about 15-30 pages apiece, depending on font size, paper size, margins, etc. Shawn gives us excerpts of the selected pages: Page 64 - starts with " von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein," Page 140 - second paragraph starts with "good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes," and Page 136 - starts with "window." The last one, "window," isn't very helpful because that word appears dozens of times throughout a legitimate copy of the book. However, the other passages only appear in the book once each. Both phrases are found, exactly once, in the same short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia." In a legitimate copy of the book, those 2 passages should appear, at most, 10-15 pages apart. Thus, the only way those two passages are found in a book 76 pages apart is if those passages are repeated multiple times through the book.
I don't have the exact specifications for how Alyson's copy of the book was rigged, but it was definitely rigged.
Also, in an unaltered copy of the book, A Scandal in Bohemia is the first short-story, and should've concluded well before page 64.
Your method is awesome, but includes memorization and I would have not fooled them as they guessed that I used memorization. Excellent method though for someone who is capable of remembering their phone number.
So way back when, Penn & Teller released a book with a trick which did something very similar.
I believe it was in Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends which was published in 1989.
So I'm pretty sure they would have thought of that trick immediately since they wrote a book using it.
Shawn Farquhar Nice help/slight of hand with Allison? I must say that you both work VERY well together! 5:10
it looks like he swapped books with Alyson, but if you watch carefully you can see he didn't (watch it at 1/4 speed). Besides, having her in on the trick would be against the rules.
the glasses are the main switch. u see the first two times u can see the lens in his glasses but he switched it in his ingenious way at the third time.. the book is of special ink
The shocked face of Penn, such a delight to watch his reaction.
It was fun to see his face... I was a little busy during the filming and didn't see it until the TV show.
@@ShawnFarquhar That's why I love your magic. For me its all about the amazing effect and wondering about the method but never actually knowing how it is done. Twice I watched a reveal video for other acts by different guys and both times I felt so let down by the magic of the illusion disappearing that I will never do that again.
Nothing I love more in magic than a tight, clever, lighthearted routine with no padding and a mind-melting reveal. This was very satisfying indeed. 👏
I've got it! He didn't do a book switch, but a universe switch! He quickly riffled through alternate universes till he found one where he gives the right answer. Pretty simple really.
8:29 Alyson does a strange mating call.
MORTY
@@AssWhoopinGaming omg yes now i cant unhear that
Lmfaoooooo I’m laying in bed with a fractured hip and this made me laugh and forget the pain for just a second. Thanks.
CSlack Nobody asked
@@petergriffin8767 nobody told u to comment as well... 🤣🤣🥺
“Now that we’re both happy with the decision, I want you to be more like my wife. And even though we’ve both made the decision we’re happy, I want you to change your mind again.” 😂😂
Beautiful. To me the real magic is reading a sentence that spans pages 63-64 (3:12) without turning a page, in a book where page 136 is on the left-hand side (4:36).
Possibly a break in the middle of the book.
Extremely good catch!
God damn it man. Both this and you last trick on Fool Us are incredible. No matter how hard I try and no matter how many times I rewatch I cant figure them out. I pride myself on figuring out how these tricks are done but you stump me both times.
I read other peoples theories but every time I go back and rewatch and see that there is always a flaw in their theory.
I think I might just have to give up with you and just enjoy your magic the way a person is meant too. With wonder and mystery lol.
What about special contract lens that can read the "blank pages"?
I wish they had called you on the glasses switch. It would have been hilarious to have, for a second time, put them in a position of thinking they saw a key move, yet still have no clue how the effect was done. This is one of my favorite acts. It's energetic, funny, and also completely baffling.
I was thinking this was a glasses switch with some sort of secret ink only to be seen by the glasses, because there are definitely lenses at the start
There's a listening device on the glasses hence why he faces one way incase pen and teller spot it. Theres a companion who has a copy of the book and they're tell him the answers through the listening device.
He does switch the glasses incase pen and teller ask to see the glasses in the end.
By far one of my favorite magicians of all time! Such a great trick and by far the best performer I've seen. Teach me your ways!!!
Campky Gaming thanks for the kind comment.
revisiting this and still looks amazing. at 9:02 shawn went for the shake, ended up getting the sweetest bear hug.
Yeah, he's so big but I'm a hugger, so I was thrilled.
more like a pat-down 😂
Ive seen you do this trick many times before without putting the book away at all. You 100% did that to screw with Penn and Teller, like you did with the glasses, that was awesome.
he said in a comment recently on here that the trick wouldnt have worked if he didnt put the book in and out of his pocket.
He has done it many times without putting the book away, but he has said he used a different method on this presentation, so it might have something to do with the putting the book away.
Mother-Farquhar. This is always amazing to rewatch.
Also : am I the only one who loves the way he speaks ?
This performance is absolutely amazing. Love your energy, love Alyson's reaction when she realizes the book is blank, and love how it pisses Penn off to be fooled.
Trick is awesome and it's killing me not knowing how it's done. So far after reading the thumbnail the only solution I came up with is a simple cheat sheet and concealing it later. Who knows, maybe you can actually get a great effect with a very ordinary method.
micro writing on a clear sheet which he can easily hide
only need to be a few pages once he knows where they start from
then he diredcts the reader only forward in the book so to be able to throw away or distract while discarding the cheat sheet
Allison's face when she saw the blank pages was priceless!
The fact he remembered the fourth Déjà vu from the last appearance is just Excellent
Only us good magicians know about the 4th time he said that.
Not sure how it's done given everything that's been ruled out. I do wonder though, would this trick work without tucking the book back in his pocket between getting a new page number?
Arnaldur Björnsson, you are a smart person. No, it wouldn't have worked.
Shawn Farquhar Well it's a superb trick any which way it may be done.
That should be enough to figure it out.
@@metamorphicorder what's the method?
Im not saying he did it this way. Im saying this method would work with what i saw based upon my own observations, others comments including shawns.
1. There WERE very likely special glasses. However they are NOT actually integral to the trick. I think he actually needs glasses for reading. I think there was a glasses switch, however a normally sighted person would not need the glasses to do what he did, so they are not really important. The special glasses were the ones without lenses at the end. Again not essiential to the trick a bit of window dressing more or less to show P&T that the glasses had nothing material to dp with the trick. So thats point 1.
2. There WERE only 2 books. Allisons was very likely gimmicked. Shawns was actually and genuinely blank. Allisons as mentioned was gimmicked, and very likely either had the real text and real page numbers in the book but rearranged such that no matter which page she picked, he could do this trick, or there was perhaps some suggestion she just inherently accepted that guided her to the gimmicked part of the book.
But the way he knew what her page had on it was that he had IN but seperate from the book in HIS pocket, a cheat sheet that had the text on it for him to read.
Now there may be small details that i missed, such as it could have been more than one cheet sheet, but thats just execution not concept.
Now the reason this works and works so well is his presentation.
He knows that pt know many methods that can produce this effect. Memory. Coloring book method. Switches, special ink and glasses, braile, and off stage assistant.
So he does a few things that lead them down a primrose path.
But he doesn actually do those things.
What he did was a simple indirect force, before he even came on stage, then he has a cheat sheet or sheets that he eventually burns. He gimmicks (maybe) some glasses so he can demonstrate that its not special ink and glasses, which would be hard to do if he showed them real glasses. If he did use real glasses, then this is a necessary lie for brevitys sake and pt would understand that and the producers would know the method anyway.
But since the blank book is just a obfuscation of what hes really doing and it doesnt really do the trick, its clean at the end.
He does the entire patter with allison just to set the misdirection up so that he can get the audience and pt to accept and ignore the pocketing of the glasses and book as just patter which it was until the last go through. Thats where the trick was finished. He pulled out the empty glasses and the book after dropping the cheat sheet in the pocket.
Some people have said that the pages and text dont line up on the book on stage vs their copy. That may be important. It may not formats and editions can vary which can cause apparent discrepancy where there is none.
But either way, her book was gimmicked or not, he had some way of getting her to choose a page he had a cheet sheet for and gimicking is thw easiest way. I dont think they looked at allisons book. Just his.
Shawn said in this comment that he couldn't have done it without pocketing the book.
Thats likely not true since he could have very simply palmed the cheater and burned it another way. But he answered it simply because he couldnt have done it like this.
Again im not saying this is how he did it. He absolutely could have done it this way and it would look just like what we saw here.
this performance is simply lovely and incredibly entertaining
its so much fun to see your tricks
At first I thought the book was tapered (shuffling pages would show blank pages when held at one point, but show the words when held at a different point) but then you gave Allison the book and she got to look through it, so that can’t be it. Beautiful trick and performance.
Shawn was trying so hard not to laugh when he realized he fooled them. I can never get tired of watching this.
This is one of my favorite tricks on Fool Us. I don't actually want to know how it's done, but it's a ton of fun to speculate. Keep up the great work! Oh and I think it's great that you've told the fans that figured it out that they got it right. That's a great touch!
This is one of my favorite tricks, too. Not because the trick is so impressive (though it is), but because the performance is so endearing.
Pretty simple, Allison was in on it. She had the blank book and called random pages. He had the real book and turned to those pages. They swapped books at 5:05
@@Jake.warren251 theres no swap though
pause it at 4:31 and look at the glasses
@@ismailhadimi1594 okay so the glasses are able to show what the pages read
I totally love this trick. Most of the time people on the show do some lesser tricks along with some comedy, and end up with a more impressive trick. I was totally expecting the same, thinking the joke was probably going a bit too long this time. Fool me, didn't realize I was actually watching the trick take place.
I love all the tricks you did on Fool Us but this is by far my favorite. I’m not a magician (just a magic lover) and, for that reason, I don’t have any clue on how you did it but you make it so “simple” and super funny that I can only applaud.
Best regards from Portugal
PS-I’ve seen your Fools Us performances more than a dozen times (each) and I became an instant fan.
I don't know if i love more his personality or his magic
I've seen this trick in my local library. This guy always "reads" a bunch of blank books using his fingertips, and wears dark glasses and a long cane.
actually this joke could be they way he did it , it could be blind people book but a special one where its not so obvious or written in a very special way only he can see it or read it
It would still be pretty obvious just looking at it. And he was quickly counting paragraphs and words as well, which would be almost impossible
Totally. He could have memworized a small handful of Braille with paragraph indicators. For example each page only have a few Braille words on it but he can tell her where. Or he got really good at Braille. Love his guy!
My closest guess too.
If this is the secret then he wouldn't need the whole book. He would just need little imprints at the bottom that tell him the number of paragraphs, first few words and the last few words on the last page.
Two of the best and most memorable tricks on P&T
Having seen Penn and Teller live and having nothing but respect for these guys, It is always just as entertaining when another aspiring magician or magic act can elude their experience & knowledge of the magic world.
Glasses are another layer of misdirection
Progressive House Worldwide the glasses have lenses
William Rahl i noticed this as well. At the end the glasses have no lenses but throughout the performance the glasses had a lens on them which was clearly visible due to the reflection of the light. Had lenses until the end where he claimed they didn’t. I see sean liked this comment about the glasses being misdirection and i’m curious. I don’t think sean would lie to use when he says he didn’t use special glasses but we’re the glasses just a distraction in the performance for penn and teller. or are they a distraction from us as well? Hoping we might notice this subtle detail and focus on it to much keeping us from seeing his method. Idk i wouldn’t be shocked it’s sean
maybe its not SPECIAL glasses, but normal cheap reading glasses. you know those type of cheap reading glasses that reflect things that are behind you cause they dont have an anti reflect coating.
Donato Felicella saying the glasses didn't have lenses was necessary, because it's part of the trick. I think (because we don't see it well enough) that he used slight of hand right when he was revealing the glasses. Instead of making a glasses switch he just has easily removable lenses, poked them out with index fingers and palmed them.
At 4:49 is the last time I can see the light reflection, from that point on he doesn't bring his hands near his head at all. So the only possibility is that the glasses reveal is actually the place where he removes them.
I watched them. Every time he put them on, I looked for the glare. It looked like it was there the last time, making how he got those frames out a mystery. I wasn't sure if it was just the plastic of the frames, though, so them having no frames the last time is really the "Occam's Razor" answer.
Oh wow, I remember seeing this for the first time as I was getting interested in magic, crazy that it's been four years now. I've been practicing! I have some tricks I'm very proud of now. I saw a comment saying you're still checking comments, so figured I'd throw my hat in the ring.
This was my guess from back then (I remember thinking about it for hours): you have a small paper/card/what-have-you index (could be double sided if you wanted bigger text) that has "fun facts" about every page (# of paragraphs, some words on a random line, etc) that you'd share. The only slight of hand involved in the trick is getting the index out of the book at the end (I think you could've even gotten away with not doing that because they didn't ask for the book but it seems almost easier to just get rid of the index and I see some moments that would've been lovely times to do it at the end), and making it look like you were flipping to the "correct page" which seems more than manageable.
I was thinking maybe the ":empty book" wasn't so empty.
There could be something there not easily visible, say braille cheat sheets on every page.
Or the possibility of cheat sheets recorded elsewhere less obviously.
Or the possibility of him getting tips from an accomplice.
The fundamental questions are where is the information stored and how did he access that information.
I'm not a magician but there are a number of possible methods.
yes, you are brilliant!!! an index card with only a few pieces of info: page#, # of paragraphs, words in first line, ...... :)
Probably watched this 100 times, not to try and see how it is done cause personally I don't care. I just love the energy you have when you perform and how skilled you are.
I see lenses and when he turns around he doesn't really touch them and the lenses are gone. That's the trick, vanishing glass haha
Holy cow, that was totally unexpected, I love it! Fooled me the moment I never thought he would.
Cool
I wish to never understand how is done because it makes me laugh everytime
Oooh wow. :) Nice use of polarised glasses.
I think this is it as well.
Definitely not. Shawn told no lies at all during the performance of this effect. There really isn't anything special with the glasses. They truly are missing lenses. Also there is no hidden code or UV type of writing on the book. This effect could be performed anywhere in any regular lighting. The method is so freaking devious that when Shawn came up with it I bet he had a maniacal laugh at how this was going to floor people (including myself when i first experienced this effect live).
+TylerScottIllusionist When you pause the video at the right moments, you can see there are lenses in the frame. (for example @ 3:21)
definitely lenses but I can't figure out when he switches the lenses although it could have been when the camera was focused elsewhere or edited out completely because they thought it was useless time. Furthermore it looks like there's something on the right side of the glasses if your looking thru the lenses at 4:42 the judges and the audience can't see it and the camera barely can from this angle.
Nothing to do with the lenses, he sells this effect on a magic site.
Shawn I just want to say it's an absolute honor to watch you fool Penn and Teller a second time. Whatever the technique I won't bother asking, it's just too damn good! If you ever need any blade props let me know and I will gladly supply them free of charge for you sir! Shoot me a message if you ever branch into sharp object illusions.
The reveal to Alyson of the blank book, and her reaction, that was so perfect!
Hi Shawn, my Name is Sven and i want to say, that i love this Performance :)
Thanks Sven...
+Shawn Farquhar
oh my god! :) you Made my Day by answering! :)
Shawn Farquhar I know how you did it! You paused time, peeked over your shoulder to see the page Allison was looking at, then repositioned yourself back and hit the play button to continue time :)
You know, Allison's mirror comment may have been very close to the mark, and this one might not be too far off either. I don't know if he did it this way, but someone with a laptop, Sherlock Holmes ebook and a projector could be backstage helping out on this one. All he'd need to remember is to look where the image is projected.
"... remember to look where the image is projected," and make sure the projection is never in Penn or Teller's direct or peripheral sight line, and project it from a position that doesn't put the beam of light in their sight line.
My solution is similar but replaces the projector with a microphone and a very small earpiece in Sean's upstage ear (the side the guys can't see).
The problem with both techniques is that the show's magic arbiter knows how the trick is done before it is performed, and I suspect that neither a projector nor a wireless earpiece is permitted by the rules of the show.
So that leaves ... uh ...
Rod H Very brilliantly said. Shawn's involuntary facial reaction to Alisson's comment was a hint that many including me missed. Well caught. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on this theory.
But if projectors are earpieces aren't allowed ...
Guess work to a degree kinda but there is a reason he has his back against hers. That's all I'm saying
He used 《The World》
This trick is absolutely amazing and I love it every time I watch. I think the reason I love it so much is that at the beginning the audience thinks they are in on some kind of joke/gag on the guest. It doesn't look like magic but just a funny trick pulled on the guest. But then there is that 1 moment where you show the book to the guest and the entire trick flips. Now the guest is first "in" on the trick and when you reveal to the audience the empty book, everyone watching has to stop and wonder what just happened. I think that single moment between you and the guest before the big reveal is done perfectly and makes this trick absolutely perfect.
Now since everyone is throwing in a guess, I will give mine. The only thing i think is that you have note cards hidden in the book for each page number. And when a guest chooses a page your note card can tell you specific things about that page. Then as the trick goes and you move from page to page you are so crafty that you can remove those notecards from the book. At the very end after you've gone through enough pages you eventually remove all the notecards before showing off the book.
So if you did this trick for another audience but landed on the same page you would have to give them the same info you gave the guest at another show because thats all the info on these small note cards.
guest = host?
They didn't go through all pages, just 3 or 4 of the hundreds, though.
@@PauxloE yes but at the end he also insists on alyson to go a couple of pages forwards which could mean that he already took out the notes of all the previous pages and so he doesn't want her to jump to a previous page... idk just my thought
@@Amin-ew7uz she went back though, from 140 to 136.
It is definitly the Glasses ..With them he can read the invisible Pages
the whole trick is much much more simpler than that. There are no gimmick tools/mirrors or anything like that just a clever idea of a trick.
For once, I can't even venture a guess, due to your brilliant misdirection, I have no idea what was actually true and what was misdirection. Good on you that was a brilliant trick.
Thank you...
The real question is if the trick can be done without a blank book
That's a brilliant question! The answer is no... ;-)
I love what you do onstage and I am trying to figure out this trick for an upcoming performance, however you do it so well that there is no way I could guess what exactly happens, I have a channel and I would love if you checked out my first ever official performance on there
@@jamesonmiller8133 you are aware you can purchase the effect so you can do it correctly at your upcoming performance, yes?
@@ShawnFarquhar so there are 2 different glasses.. the lenses are the key to the blank book...
I've got to say this is my favorite episode... can't watch it too many times, just love it! Your a great stage presence, hope some day I can watch you preform in person..
@@Alis_Grave_Nil, yes there are two pairs of glasses, but they have nothing to do with the trick, they were a form of misdirection and as a shout out to my mentor Jerry Andrus who always wore glasses without lenses. I bought the glasses at a dollar store and they were not special in any way... thanks for the kind words about my performance.
No copy of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes has A Scandal in Bohemia, the first story in the collection, on page 64.
I suspect that if Alyson were to sit down and actually try to read that book cover to cover, it would be pretty damn confusing.
My theory is that it's the story "A Scandal in Bohemia" repeated several times in her book. The Duke's name and the "good night mister Sherlock Holmes" are both key elements of the story.
Also, his book is too thin for being the entire collection of stories included in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", unless it's divided in two parts... And I don't know why someone would sell it like that.
Surely then it would still be a a memory trick
@@CC101CC I think it's pretty clear tat, regardless of the technique used, both copies are printed for the purpose of being props and props only. Even if it is a legit collection of stories, it's still not an edition that was created to be sold.
Brilliant performance! Enjoyed all the way through, going to go find your first appearance now :)
7:28 "Or maybe there is another book, and that's blank too." The best joke ever on this show.
I had a piece of paper in my pocket that said Sorry, and I hoped he ask to see in the pocket!
@@ShawnFarquhar :D
I just love that teller is laughing at Penn
8:44 Penn's outrage for Shaun only lasted until he met Kostya Kimlat lol.
You were the first magician that I really liked when I saw the "shape of my heart" video.
I am sure there's some perfectly reasonable, friendly, and sweet explanation for that Teller went straight in for the hug.
Regardless of whether what I'm about to say is that reason ... this was immediate head canon: It just came across as this immensely respectful, almost compulsory act of love and appreciation. Like, "I have such profound respect for your talent, and for the honor and humility you bring to our craft, that the only expression that comes remotely close is to embrace you as I would family." I choked up instantly the first time I saw it, as it was just so damn genuine and lovely.
AHAHAH 5:54 "we did that so they would freak out" because he KNEW that p&t (and i thought this too) that it was a svengali book, by the way he riffled the pages originally to show the audience. but then when he handed it to allison my jaw dropped and said just what i was thinking! (and completely went over alyson + the audience's head) WELL PLAYED SIR!
Oh my god. Penn's face. That was the best thing I've ever seen.
I just watched this trick again after several years, and I'm amazed not just by the trick (I think the fact that Penn believed it was actual memory trick showed clearly that they have no idea how Shawn did it), but what was even greater was the delivery of the whole thing.
It was just amazing! Very funny, full of energy, no empty time to wonder or get bored ... it was brilliant!
I've watched many of the shows on Penn & Teller, and while many perform incredible magic, I can't think of another that also makes this kind of a show :)
Thanks for your kind comment...
Thank you for the entertainment, we need it the most right now. Magic takes you to a child-like state that makes you both smile and enjoy yourself without thinking about all the bad things we're dealing with on a daily basis. It is both innocent and enlightening. Being able to transport yourself like that even for a few minutes is priceless. Thanks again!
I can't believe nobody realized what he's doing and I feel kind of bad to spoil the secret but here goes.
1. Shawn is a wizard
2. He uses his wizard powers to fool us
He has two books in his suit, only one of which is blank
@@aluminum8365 He said there was no book switch, and also no mirror.
@@no_rubbernecking He SAID
@@aluminum8365 He's contractually obligated to give truthful answers during the evaluation. He can't lie and keep the title based on lying to them after the trick is over.
@@no_rubbernecking Oh.
I’m guessing that he has an index (or several) which has some info for each page. He hides it in the blank book while reading it. The index is in his pocket and he palms it every time he needs to hide it or read it.
Either way if I guessed correctly or not it’s a fabulous trick from an amazing magician!
that makes sense Steve...the whole trick is taking out the lenses that can read invisible ink, making it seem that the glasses don't have lenses...what a creative trick tho!! he's the best in the world imo
+all ears99, thanks for the kind words, but the lenses/glasses had nothing to do with the effect other than to add a layer to try to fool P&T. The glasses didn't fool them, but has been good at fooling so many others...
AMAZING... I'm still trying to figure out the card inside the sealed deck routine.... noone it seems even has a guess ha!! as for the book I'm now clueless again thanks!! u ever perform in Boston?? or are u a reg at a Vegas casino?? love to see u live!!
AMAZING... I'm still trying to figure out the card inside the sealed deck routine.... noone it seems even has a guess ha!! as for the book I'm now clueless again thanks!! u ever perform in Boston?? or are u a reg at a Vegas casino?? love to see u live!!
I work around the world and a lot for Disney. I don't have a "steady gig" although I'm working on it. I will probably be in Boston in 2017, just not sure when at this time.
cool..I'll be looking for ya!! I'll bet your working on a new effect and u MUST go back to P+T to fool them a 3rd time!! maybe work the 3 of spades in trick to rub it in a lil ha!!! keep up the mind blowing tricks!!
I just love the expression on Penn's face when you tell him it's not a memory trick and there's no book switch.
"Category Entertainment"
Yes it is and yes I was. Thanks Shawn.
Bruh you're probably the most amazing magician I know so far, and I've learned the basics myself.
Great job :)
Shawn....can you read braille, and how sensitive are your fingertips?
Simon Johnston that would be a great method.
I love the look on Penn's face when he realizes that Sean fooled him again !!!! 🤣🤣😝😝😁😁👍👍😉😉🤜🤛
When I first saw this, I thought to myself, "Ah, a book that is in public domain". Then when I saw the cover, I said "Ah, that's not any of the covers from actual printings!" And then I thought, hmm, "Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein" is only mentioned once, but is actually on Page 7.
IKR! This struck me as strange. I am a big sherlock holmes fan and I have a hard time with the ordering in this book.
The book is rigged! Damn.
You know you've achieved everything in life as a magician when you get this look from Penn: 8:30 ;)
As a fellow Canadian , I’d love to see you fool them for a third time. You’re amazing. 👏🏼👏🏼💪💥💥💥💥💥
I keep coming to this video over and over again. It's fascinating. Even when I know how you did it. I just have to find out how you changed the glasses.
Mayby he only dump out galeses from frame. Propobly when he was speaking with Allison and try to hide book from her. Anather misdirection, because everybody was foces on book. How's my english? xD
@@Dewal4 It's possible. But I can't see when or how. From the last moment he was reading to the point when he put his fingers through the frame, the glasses were there in plain sight. Your English is not bad, keep working on it!
@@gabekawa It's true that magic disappear as soon as you know how it's done. Not all the time you can see Shawn. There is about two times when camera is switching to Penn & Teller and then probably Shawn is doing his mambo jambo