I enjoy the magicians, but what I enjoy the most from this show is watching Teller get excited. When he smiles and darts his eyes it makes the whole act far more enjoyable.
@@djjackata8756 It's supposed to be "food", but he spelled it "FUd" (the letter "u" in this context is supposed to make the same sound as "oo", even though I don't think there's anywhere else in English where that's allowed). But the "u" is also capitalized, and FU is the initials of Fool Us. So he made the bag specifically for this one performance, which is pretty cool.
I think Penn once said that good magic has a sense of inevitability. You know what's coming, but you can't believe it's happening. That's how I felt this whole trick. I know it was going to be a seemingly impossible balancing act of some kind, but each step was a delight to see set up, and the final part just had me with my jaw hanging opening. True magic.
I was all "Oh, this is beautifully presented and charming as all heck, but it's pretty standard stuff..." and then the dog jumped and the structure collapsed, and my jaw collapsed into my lap. That one twist takes this from a good trick to a great one. Well done!
I dont understand you see everything as a standard stuff but collapsing get you? what did you expect happened on well balanced structure after dog and the sign go off? the blue cylinder and bag of dog food probably weight little more than expected. It is a nice trick but not a great one.
@@ondrejsoroka8170 - Dude, seriously? Santa isn't real and this trick didn't involve anything being balanced. Sorry to spoil the illusion. This is part of a family of tricks where an illusion of impossibly perfect balance is created by locking the pieces together. Usually the "balanced" structure is then dismantled by hand, manually disconnecting all the locking mechanisms. For it to fall down when the dog jumped, there needed to be a way to disengage all of the locking mechanisms all at once, which is the real trick. Like a lot of good tricks on P&T, it's a standard setup that's elevated by a new twist.
Anything not being balanced? So you think that it is not important how weight of that chair is distributed and there is no relation between weight of a dog and weigth of the bag of dog food? Center of mass of the whole structure is not above the little step ladder? What you expect would happen after dog jump off the weight of the bag over weigth everything. I am sure that it can be calculated and manifactured of course maybe i am wrong and it is done some different way but i was not suprise by the falling of the structure I would be more suprise if that would stay. You can see that ball was not touching the board so it was in stable position and the ball and cylinder just help him with building the structure.
@@ondrejsoroka8170 Things "looking balanced" is part of the trick. The actual physics of why these tricks work has nothing to do with balance. The balancing is the distraction to make you think that's how the trick works. It's why the falling apart was such a great twist -- it brought that part of the illusion back and made the idea of the stacking relying on balance even stronger (even though, again, it's not how it actually works)
@@rikkirikki4892 There's no talking to that guy. He's stuck on the step ladder and missed the part where the dog park sign is floating on mid-air with no counterweight.
Beautiful trick! Suspensions can be cool visually but man when its rigid and like Penn said when deconstructing it at the end,,, does kind of make them less magical. When everything fell apart that made it above and beyond. Wonderful act! Great vibe!
I don't kinda understand where suspensions are used. I thought it was used in the wooden stand but not entirely sure. Could you explain a lil bit further?
@@huyphamuc6372 my own take: he specially made a ladder, a board, a chair, a platform, all with some kind of button activated super magnet that turn on when he his a button; my guess is pulling on the dog's leash deactivates the magnets; personally, I think this would explain the wobble, because he still hadn't activated the magnets.
@@AlexanderNixonArtHistory Nothing button based, just small latches - a knob in a slot - made so that trying to bend the joint in one direction holds it together, letting it spring back disengages the joint, and balanced: plank without the chair tilts towards the food side, disengages from the ladder. Chair without the sign falls over backwards, detaches from the plank. Sign without dog springs back, detaches from the chair. I suspect solid steel frames or at least sizeable inserts inside the plank and the chair because this sort of bending momentum could easily rip anything this small from wood. Essentially a tensegrity build, where the weight of the dog holds all the joints latched tightly, and removing it makes everything flex back and all joints disengage. Now for the reward - this all, being under load, flexing like that, has a tendency to introduce wobbling - dog stepping over the sign would make the whole thing shake at the springy joints and break the illusion, making it clear how it's all latched together. It's the dog's exceptional training and skill that keeps wobbling invisible.
This dog is a genius! The way he was able to make Alex look in control was simply amazing and that's without saying a word about the trick itself. I now have restored faith in the planet. Thank you MJ and your stunning human.
Very, very well done. Charming approach with little MJ, and honestly the one thing I caught watching this, I doubt I would have caught without the benefit of the camera angles and closeness. And I agree with Penn's comments about the finish, the whole thing collapsing was a very nice, fresh finish on an age old act. Gotta say though, the most magical thing about this routine is how much that little dog clearly loves and trusts you. A lot of the times when a magician brings an animal into the act it makes me uneasy for the animal's sake, but MJ was as cool as a cucumber and knew you were the person to keep his attention on and he did not seem stressed out by the act or the environment. You are clearly a very good assistant ;)
The top of the ladder as an electromagnet in it, you can see it at 7:14, the 3 silver rectangles. It actually looks like a maglock for a security door. The silver plank has a hole in the backside that a peg from the chair leg inserts in to. You can see the hole at 2:09 and then at 2:53 you can see a button on the back side of the chair leg that electromechanically actuates the peg, which he presses at 3:35 when he puts it in place. The only thing I can't easily see is how the sign is attached to the chair but i'm guessing something on the backside of the chair is holding on to the sign, also electrically actuated. at 5:24 when he has the dog jump you can see he's pressing a transmitter in his right pocket which disengages the maglock on the ladder, the pin on the chair leg, and whatever holds the sign.
I think at 3:57 he releases something that flaps down a portion of the back side of the frame so it lays flat on the chair (which we wouldn't see at our perspective), Then at 4:05 pressing a button on the leg of the chair (you can see the button at 4:58) that activates an electromagnet in the chair to firmly attach the sign (you can even hear a click sound as it snap into position at 4:06). I'm guessing the electromagnet in the ladder is also passing electricity through to power whatever is in the chair so it can stay light. But he's careful to never really show the back side of the sign.
I love how MJ looks straight into the camera after Alex's question "Have you gained some weight?" (at 3:57) as if to say "Seriously? Are y'all hearing this?" 👍🐕🥰🐶❤ That sweet doggie surely deserved that trophy and all the treats in the world! 🤗🐕🦺😍
Nice trick. 03:33 +3 seconds. Here is where the magic happens: some tiny but rigid rods fall down from chair's feet to the hole in the bridge base. The bridge has reinforced structure here, you can see it at 03:45. The blue roll is not required here anymore. The whole construction remains stable, when it is tensioned to the right. The same happens with the bridge, where the dog stands: 03:56 you release the rods, that fall down into the chair, 04:07 you hear them locking. (Notice that Black dots on the god's bridge: these are "extensions" - reinforced compartments where rods reside). The whole construction now has more weight on the left and the rods in the locks are tensioned. When you remove weight on the right (the dog), the construction naturally falls to the left, because there are no "locks". Most probably when construction falls apart all rods are retracted by light springs. The dog food at the right "plays" only at the end. It is only required to pull the whole setup to the left, so it falls down and self-destructs (retracts). I am really surprised, why P&T did not get it. Probably because you are a good performer and were able to distract them with the dog and the red shoes! :)
@@PietBonte Maybe because of the cut, but I do not see anything. You are right - he is holding his right hand near his pocket and it is "fixed", so probably he is doing something there...
The better performers they are the more leeway they give to the "fooling or not". I saw someone come on there with simple slide of hand but because he was such a good performer they were like "Well, we technically know exactly how you did everything, but we didn't see a single move of any of it, so take the trophy"
Well done. I'm incredibly impressed. I'm a musician with 3 dogs, and videos like this make me wonder what my path could've been if I had gone down a different road. I've always been fascinated with magic. I'm glad you fooled them. You deserve it.
What a great routine. So incredibly complex, so much practice that nobody who doesnt know the trick would recognize, and the idea of training a dog to be a prop in this kind of illusion is just mindblowing. This is one of the most difficult tricks ive ever seen, and top to bottom it was a wonderfully entertaining routine. So much fun, exactly what magic should be.
Awesome! I love that meta-level slight-of-hand (I thought it was going to be the broom suspension too). 😁 Everytime I expect you to zig, you zag. You are constantly stepping up your game. Brilliant!
I got to see Alex perform for our family personally at our aunts house because they know him. It was a great performance and MJ obvoously blew us all away at the end.
Rewatching it now, I could lip-read a muttered "Jesus Christ" from Teller, which amused me. Maybe he was made the silent one because he swore too much. ;)
MJ is adorable! As someone who's been involved in the dog world for over 30 years, the amount of training that went into this is amazing. Well done, MJ, your hard work & obvious bond with Alex paid off!
I GOT YOU!!! Two Locks 3:34 - 1st Lock set up (Watch closely the right hand pressing down the lock) 3:57 - 2nd Lock set up for the flat form attaching to the chair Lock Release when the weight on the end of the board loosen perhaps the locking system is a hook type.
The wobble the Penn mentioned is @ 3:56 They were surprised when the entire mechanism wobbled, because suspension tricks are usually stiff mechanisms with "Pin A into Slot B". When the dog moves it wobbles. Why? Because the bottom part of the structure is not "Pin A into Slot B" it is a balance. The chair and dog food are simply balancing on the stepladder. This also helps when he wants the mechanism to break apart. At 3:48 you can barely see the pin from the plank sticking up into the chair leg. At 4:07 you can see and hear him lock the "Dog Park Sign" into the chair.
Well compare it to cats and dogs always lose. Dogs need too much attention for my liking. Cats are awesome - they have my "I don't give a fuck"-attitude to life
@@xellos5262 How is that great? So you just want a roommate that doesnt pay anything. You have to feed it, poopa coop it. doesnt care if you come home, brakes everything that on a table. Ive had a bunch of cats too. meh. We saved one, and now she hides everytime i come over to my parents place. Id rather have a dog, who always has my back.
Great setup! He knows his stuff. Look at his left hand when he says he has to be sure. He fixes the plank, then tbe classic plexiglass trick as he rocks the chair into position and now supported by the glass. Then the dog plank fixed with his right hand into the left front corner of chair. You can see its not centered on the chair. The whole thing works amazingly cause he fools you with the blue roller and ball but it's already fixed into position as soon as he rocks and twists the plexiglass into position. It's a civil engineering marvel of a trick. Nice job!
There's nothing more lovely than watching somebody succeed at what they are meant to do. Especially with the aid of the such a sweet, good boy! Very satisfying Fool Us, Alex and MJ 👏
What they said, it's truly the best suspension ever seen! period! not to mention the training of the dog! I never liked "Balanced" for the problem you solved at the end and it changed everything, pure genius.
Hi Alex, I get to your channel by a recomendation of your mom. 😅 For wich I am very grateful, I was blessed talking to her yesterday and it was a joyful one. How proud your family would be of your talent.
Alex, great routine, well deserved win, etc. I don't know who deserves more credit here, MJ for being so well-behaved, or you for being such an unbelievably good dog trainer. Even if P&T or even us as the audience could have easily figured out how to do the trick, you still deserve massive props for incorporating an animal as part of your routine. You mentioned as a joke that there's a rule in magic about always needing a blonde assistant, but there's actually a "rule" in show business about never working with children or animals. Animals introduce an inherent element of unpredictability, they will never be the perfect assistant or stooge in the same way that a cognizant human would; and even though I'm not a magician, I can only imagine that unpredictability is the worst enemy of magic. Had MJ stepped in the wrong place, or gotten scared or bored or whatever and just NOPE'd out, your routine is ruined. But obviously MJ played the part of the assistant flawlessly, so like I said, you deserve props for both having the guts to incorporate MJ in your act, and for being such a good trainer that your routine is able to go off without a hitch.
CONGRATULATIONS! Nice job Alex!.. You did it! I mean MJ did it! You all are a great tem! 1005 support and respect! Great seeing you in Tahoe and we hope all is well.
If you notice right before the props fall apart @5:23, he's holding the dog leash and pulls on it , which I think is connected somehow to the trick. I'm just not sure how!
And... WHEN everything came crashing down, it negated every possible way that I thought it could have been done. Wonderful act! And, I'd probably never be able to figure out how MJ and Alex did it, no matter how much I think about it.
This is a fantastic act! I love it! I'm also have an engineering mindset, so I want to know how it works. I have an idea how it could work, and if my idea is right, it's genius and I love it even more! As Penn said, the wobble and the dismantle sales it. Without those springing into action it would never lock in the beauty of this trick. That said, I have the luxury of watching it twice, so I'm certain I wouldn't have gotten it in the moment. Of course the way I'm thinking is one of many ways I'm sure it could be done, so I could still be fooled. Either way I love it! Well deserved! 💖 -Ava
You really hit the button on that one at the end, great job! MJ has quite the attractive personality for this routine, really good at staying put right until he's required to move.
Alex, you are getting better and better all the time. I met Penn&Teller for lunch in 1989 and can tell they really like you. Also remember when MJ was your little puppy.
5:06 no pressure on broom bristles. Not sure why they gave a FU but okay. They saw the board bend and the pressure of the dog jumping was enough to dislodge the connections. Snug the blue cylynder tight, get a longer broom so the bristles look BENT from the weight of the plank resting upon it and make everything wobbly UNTIL you get the NEXT piece snugged up to it. That would improve this, my opinion but what do I know? nothing.
Kudos! I've been waiting for this video for a week! At first I thought it was not gonna be impressive, but MJ playing his part perfectly added more than enough spice to the gimmick. The way I get it, the mechanism you built before our eyes is one that functions on additions and subtractions, and the flow of the calculation matters more than the basic principles of "suspension tricks" for this show. The applied weight of the dog food package may be remote controlled as well. It was impressive that P&T could not even come up with an idea to explain the wobble. Seeing a happy dog is always a pleasure, and I hope you two achieve even more success.
Thank you! I am glad you liked the performance. We had a great time. As far as your guess... nice try but you would have had to give MJ the trophy as well ;-)
@@AlexRamonmagic Seems like you press a button shortly before mj jumps in your arms which is at the end of the dog line. doesnt know what it does at 5:25
Alex! So good seeing you on Fool Us! 😃 Well done! I was just thinking about you guys and our time together at FS training. Seeing as how well MJ performed, I guess he will have to spend 4 days with us and we’ll get him spun up as well, haha!
@4:37 MJ is sitting down and is closer to the edge of that board, and a then @ 4:40 it's standing up and a little further back. Also @5:29 the board is resting on top of the dog food bag, and the chair is on its back to the left of the bag, but @5:33 the board is now resting on the floor in front of the dog food bag and the chair is on its side behind the bag. Perhaps there was a few takes because the first ones didn't quite go as planned?
They film acts several times, usually not in front of an audience/judges. Preshooting. Its how they learn what angles they need for air. All shows do this, even live tv like SNL and American Idol. Usually the skits you see were pretaped earier that day. And the "live" performances are pretapes. People preform better without an audience.
Omg I'm so proud of u, I remember working in Tahoe together and seeing ur show and how much fun I had watching u wonder the audience and now seeing u fool possibly two of the most iconic magicians in the world is so awesome......I can't wait to see u again absolutely my favorite magician in the world 🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎 Congratulations Alex u deserve it!!!!!
Legend says that Alex is still running with MJ: We did boy,we did it! We did it boy, we did it... Jokes aside that was just so nice to see how happy he was ❤
congratulations Alex and MJ. been watching you work with animals since your first magic with the dove. your shows are always great and always entertaining. From the closeups to the stage illusions fantastic!!!
My wife and I saw Alex at the Hard Rock in South Lake Tahoe. Truly amazing show and we highly recommend as you will not believe your eyes! Thanks for the show Alex it was a lot of fun!
very neatly performed, have no clue, even something technically could be the answer: however, we can't see it, if it's so! But we have a wonderful story and performance!!! Will show it to my clever border collie tonight, maybe he will figure it out!
Impressive act! Well done! We can see at 5:26 that you are pressing a button to deactivate something, probably the plank and we see that the chair is designed to stand on the back legs, since it hops and it still balances perfectly. So the only thing requiring a secret mechanism to stand is the plank on the chair. It can be either magnets or retractable hooks. Even though it looks super clean at the end, I think its some kind of hooks and amazing balancing.
I definitely thought that was timed/remote but until you said something I didn't notice he catches the dog one-handed. Not that that's magically relevant, it's just...I've never seen someone try to catch something as important as their dog, way high up in the air, one-handed, because why risk it. The dog isn't in danger in real life because he knows what he's doing but I could see where that would draw attention that something fishy was going on.
Look further back, maybe at least 5:24 for the buildup and you will see that he is only showing his left arm and hand. His right arm and hand are out of view so yeah. It is most likely how you mentioned it. Tricks sometimes need to make use of blind spots after all.
I never thought a levitation trick will fool me or anyone. But you fooled me, and you fooled Penn & Teller. Great trick. Still doesn't know how it works, and I don't care. Congrats!
3:35 he activates a pin on the rear left of the leg that holds the chair in place, later same thing on the board...at the end he hits a remote switch in his pocket with his right hand when he catches the dog...
Great work, MJ. I can appreciate you keeping Alex around for the explanation, treats and his opposable thumbs. My mini Golden Doodle is impressed and she thinks you're cute too but apparently she keeps me around for the same reason. Regardless, amazing performance, keep up the great work.
Fabulous act, gorgeous magician and the assistant was well trained! Brilliant to see a balancing act using everyday objects and I haven't a clue how MJ pulled it off. Disappointing to see Penn's anti-dog reaction and he's gone right down in my estimation because of that. Superb routine MJ and Alex and I'm chuffed they got the trophy.
1:22 and 8:26. The dubbing in this episode is ridiculous lol. The “everybodayyy” and then penn rambling without pause as he gets up and walks up to him is just hilarious lol
Great job guys ! Seen this guy in person. Highly recommend seeing his show. Even pulled me up onto his show years ago. I sat at the far corner of the place. Even was a little late. It was the Last 2 seats in the place. Boy was I nervous never been selected to go up on stage. I Still don’t know how you did certain things. Even had some audience members after the show commenting to me that said that’s the funniest stuff they’ve seen. Yes folks magic and comedy was thrown in there. Man What a experience I would never forget. Thank you Alex. 😁👍🙌 Looking forward to seeing another show.
the only anomaly that I saw was when you balanced the chair on the cylinder, the chair wasn't actually touching the cylinder. The chair was already fixed in that position and unable to lean forward. And using a metal chair in lieu of a wooden one had me thinking why. But great trick. the suspense, the trick, the performance, and the cutest magician ever.... awesome
I thought the same but then in a later shot you can see it is resting on it but the reflectiveness of the blue plastic makes it appear otherwise (shallow angle = very reflective, known as the fresnel effect. so as the curve of the plastic gets closer to the direction of the camera it becomes almost like a mirror finish).
Excellent trick MJ. Your assistant Alex looks very well trained in these sorts of things, and is distracting the audience while you do all the work.
ahahahaha this is so true!!!
Just a warning, M.J. Be careful when licking your assistant, you may get sued.
Also dont poop on the bed 😂😂 or you get sued@@wimpow
@@kartik1041 too soon
Bahaha 🤣 😂 😝
@@kartik1041 lmao took me a second to get that
I enjoy the magicians, but what I enjoy the most from this show is watching Teller get excited. When he smiles and darts his eyes it makes the whole act far more enjoyable.
It's because they've seen it all, so when they see something new it's exciting.
I met him once. He is such a gentleman! Love that guy!
@@ayehtunohn yes. a shame that he's an atheist, though. no magic video. th-cam.com/video/vyAh9OENJPU/w-d-xo.html
You mean how he overdoes it because he doesn't speak and that's the only way he can pull off his shtick?
It's acting.
That is the fun part, seeing P&T enjoying the act
"He'll tongue you." "I'm hoping for it!" Priceless!
AHAHAHAHAH Thats my favorite part too!
just another day at band camp xD
@@justahengin87 Oh thank you! I didn't have to type that!
@@AlexRamonmagicMr Ramon please help me.
Y'all too funny 😂🤣
Love how the dog food is spelled "Dog FUd". Commitment to the gig, love it.
THANK YOU FOR NOTICING!!!!
and the dog on the bag is MJ
what does FUD mean in this context? I'm not a native speaker of english.
@@djjackata8756 It's supposed to be "food", but he spelled it "FUd" (the letter "u" in this context is supposed to make the same sound as "oo", even though I don't think there's anywhere else in English where that's allowed).
But the "u" is also capitalized, and FU is the initials of Fool Us. So he made the bag specifically for this one performance, which is pretty cool.
@@CLove511 'Rude' and 'nude' and 'attitude' make that sound from the u. Not sure if that counts.... ;-).
I love how happy MJ gets when everyone goes nuts over the fooling
Michael Jackson's not there.
Editing cut.
@@Cacophony314 MJ stands for Michael Jordan.
@@Averagebum21 - after some careful consideration, I'm confident it's Mick Jagger.
@@Cacophony314 I'm sure you're Peter Pan though.
Alex: "He'll tongue ya"
Alyson: "I'm hoping for it"
Alyson, few years later: "one time, in a magic camp..."
he didn't say tongued where
@@davep6977 5:52 so what did he say then?
I think he said tongue, which he meant as "lick your FACE", I just added another meaning to it as a joke.
@@davep6977 get them ears checked
@@panda4247
I think he meant , that he didn't specify where he'll tongue her, as to which part of the body :P
That one time in camp is really iconic
I think Penn once said that good magic has a sense of inevitability. You know what's coming, but you can't believe it's happening. That's how I felt this whole trick. I know it was going to be a seemingly impossible balancing act of some kind, but each step was a delight to see set up, and the final part just had me with my jaw hanging opening. True magic.
The chair was already floating on top of the blue roller thing.
Also the broom was not under the flank the poochy was standing on.
YES!! 🙌✅
Thank you!!
So how does the sign balance with the chair and the dog on top???
I was all "Oh, this is beautifully presented and charming as all heck, but it's pretty standard stuff..." and then the dog jumped and the structure collapsed, and my jaw collapsed into my lap. That one twist takes this from a good trick to a great one. Well done!
I dont understand you see everything as a standard stuff but collapsing get you? what did you expect happened on well balanced structure after dog and the sign go off? the blue cylinder and bag of dog food probably weight little more than expected. It is a nice trick but not a great one.
@@ondrejsoroka8170 - Dude, seriously? Santa isn't real and this trick didn't involve anything being balanced. Sorry to spoil the illusion. This is part of a family of tricks where an illusion of impossibly perfect balance is created by locking the pieces together.
Usually the "balanced" structure is then dismantled by hand, manually disconnecting all the locking mechanisms. For it to fall down when the dog jumped, there needed to be a way to disengage all of the locking mechanisms all at once, which is the real trick.
Like a lot of good tricks on P&T, it's a standard setup that's elevated by a new twist.
Anything not being balanced? So you think that it is not important how weight of that chair is distributed and there is no relation between weight of a dog and weigth of the bag of dog food? Center of mass of the whole structure is not above the little step ladder? What you expect would happen after dog jump off the weight of the bag over weigth everything. I am sure that it can be calculated and manifactured of course maybe i am wrong and it is done some different way but i was not suprise by the falling of the structure I would be more suprise if that would stay. You can see that ball was not touching the board so it was in stable position and the ball and cylinder just help him with building the structure.
@@ondrejsoroka8170 Things "looking balanced" is part of the trick. The actual physics of why these tricks work has nothing to do with balance. The balancing is the distraction to make you think that's how the trick works. It's why the falling apart was such a great twist -- it brought that part of the illusion back and made the idea of the stacking relying on balance even stronger (even though, again, it's not how it actually works)
@@rikkirikki4892 There's no talking to that guy. He's stuck on the step ladder and missed the part where the dog park sign is floating on mid-air with no counterweight.
Beautiful trick! Suspensions can be cool visually but man when its rigid and like Penn said when deconstructing it at the end,,, does kind of make them less magical. When everything fell apart that made it above and beyond. Wonderful act! Great vibe!
I don't kinda understand where suspensions are used. I thought it was used in the wooden stand but not entirely sure. Could you explain a lil bit further?
@@huyphamuc6372 my own take: he specially made a ladder, a board, a chair, a platform, all with some kind of button activated super magnet that turn on when he his a button; my guess is pulling on the dog's leash deactivates the magnets; personally, I think this would explain the wobble, because he still hadn't activated the magnets.
@@AlexanderNixonArtHistory Nothing button based, just small latches - a knob in a slot - made so that trying to bend the joint in one direction holds it together, letting it spring back disengages the joint, and balanced: plank without the chair tilts towards the food side, disengages from the ladder. Chair without the sign falls over backwards, detaches from the plank. Sign without dog springs back, detaches from the chair. I suspect solid steel frames or at least sizeable inserts inside the plank and the chair because this sort of bending momentum could easily rip anything this small from wood. Essentially a tensegrity build, where the weight of the dog holds all the joints latched tightly, and removing it makes everything flex back and all joints disengage.
Now for the reward - this all, being under load, flexing like that, has a tendency to introduce wobbling - dog stepping over the sign would make the whole thing shake at the springy joints and break the illusion, making it clear how it's all latched together. It's the dog's exceptional training and skill that keeps wobbling invisible.
@@sharpfang thank you for explaining!
White woman
Seeing Teller mouth "that's great'" right as you finished was really cool - and well deserved!!
Thank you so much.
01:22 him saying ‘Everybody’ without moving moving his lips fooled me right there and then
It was the dog doing ventriloquism.
fucking hilarious. Didn't catch that at all.
They edit the shit out of these shows before they go to air and film several episodes at a time.
LOL didn’t realize that
LOL
This dog is a genius! The way he was able to make Alex look in control was simply amazing and that's without saying a word about the trick itself. I now have restored faith in the planet. Thank you MJ and your stunning human.
MJ for President. And He's young enough to not be senile.
ahahahahah thanks
Very, very well done. Charming approach with little MJ, and honestly the one thing I caught watching this, I doubt I would have caught without the benefit of the camera angles and closeness. And I agree with Penn's comments about the finish, the whole thing collapsing was a very nice, fresh finish on an age old act. Gotta say though, the most magical thing about this routine is how much that little dog clearly loves and trusts you. A lot of the times when a magician brings an animal into the act it makes me uneasy for the animal's sake, but MJ was as cool as a cucumber and knew you were the person to keep his attention on and he did not seem stressed out by the act or the environment. You are clearly a very good assistant ;)
Thank you so much!
The top of the ladder as an electromagnet in it, you can see it at 7:14, the 3 silver rectangles. It actually looks like a maglock for a security door. The silver plank has a hole in the backside that a peg from the chair leg inserts in to. You can see the hole at 2:09 and then at 2:53 you can see a button on the back side of the chair leg that electromechanically actuates the peg, which he presses at 3:35 when he puts it in place. The only thing I can't easily see is how the sign is attached to the chair but i'm guessing something on the backside of the chair is holding on to the sign, also electrically actuated. at 5:24 when he has the dog jump you can see he's pressing a transmitter in his right pocket which disengages the maglock on the ladder, the pin on the chair leg, and whatever holds the sign.
totally right
I think at 3:57 he releases something that flaps down a portion of the back side of the frame so it lays flat on the chair (which we wouldn't see at our perspective), Then at 4:05 pressing a button on the leg of the chair (you can see the button at 4:58) that activates an electromagnet in the chair to firmly attach the sign (you can even hear a click sound as it snap into position at 4:06). I'm guessing the electromagnet in the ladder is also passing electricity through to power whatever is in the chair so it can stay light. But he's careful to never really show the back side of the sign.
I saw that the chair kinda float and the front legs wasn't touching the blue roller when he tilted it back.
BUT HOW DID THE DOG COME OUT OF THE EMPTY CARDBOARD BOX??!!!
As a dog lover, the performance was automatically a winner. As a fan of magic, ditto. To see P and T fooled by a dog and his magician? Priceless.
MJ and Mr. Piffles should collaborate haha.
I think you meant to say "P and T fooled by a magician and his human? Priceless." XD
I read "winner" as "weiner" and laughed a long while at the Daschund pun until I realized that I am a doofus.
Thank you!
I love how MJ looks straight into the camera after Alex's question "Have you gained some weight?" (at 3:57) as if to say "Seriously? Are y'all hearing this?" 👍🐕🥰🐶❤ That sweet doggie surely deserved that trophy and all the treats in the world! 🤗🐕🦺😍
Nice trick.
03:33 +3 seconds. Here is where the magic happens: some tiny but rigid rods fall down from chair's feet to the hole in the bridge base. The bridge has reinforced structure here, you can see it at 03:45. The blue roll is not required here anymore. The whole construction remains stable, when it is tensioned to the right. The same happens with the bridge, where the dog stands: 03:56 you release the rods, that fall down into the chair, 04:07 you hear them locking. (Notice that Black dots on the god's bridge: these are "extensions" - reinforced compartments where rods reside). The whole construction now has more weight on the left and the rods in the locks are tensioned. When you remove weight on the right (the dog), the construction naturally falls to the left, because there are no "locks". Most probably when construction falls apart all rods are retracted by light springs. The dog food at the right "plays" only at the end. It is only required to pull the whole setup to the left, so it falls down and self-destructs (retracts).
I am really surprised, why P&T did not get it. Probably because you are a good performer and were able to distract them with the dog and the red shoes! :)
I’m surprise too
My guessing is that P&T are perfectionist and so they gave the trophy for not knowing the technical term
Not quiet right. The real magic happens when MJ jumps in his left arm. Watch his right hand
@@PietBonte Maybe because of the cut, but I do not see anything. You are right - he is holding his right hand near his pocket and it is "fixed", so probably he is doing something there...
The better performers they are the more leeway they give to the "fooling or not". I saw someone come on there with simple slide of hand but because he was such a good performer they were like "Well, we technically know exactly how you did everything, but we didn't see a single move of any of it, so take the trophy"
Well done. I'm incredibly impressed. I'm a musician with 3 dogs, and videos like this make me wonder what my path could've been if I had gone down a different road. I've always been fascinated with magic. I'm glad you fooled them. You deserve it.
Thanks! You should see if your dogs can do a few tricks!
3:48 gives the trick away when the blue cylinder isn't even touching the chair but it stays up
I noticed that straight away as well. But still well presented 👌
I noticed that too but I still don't know how everything stayed up
battery in the dog food
What a great routine. So incredibly complex, so much practice that nobody who doesnt know the trick would recognize, and the idea of training a dog to be a prop in this kind of illusion is just mindblowing. This is one of the most difficult tricks ive ever seen, and top to bottom it was a wonderfully entertaining routine. So much fun, exactly what magic should be.
Awesome! I love that meta-level slight-of-hand (I thought it was going to be the broom suspension too). 😁 Everytime I expect you to zig, you zag. You are constantly stepping up your game. Brilliant!
Thank you that is an amazing compliment!
You're both extraordinarily charismatic and what a great trick! I think M.J. just uses real magic and calls it a day. Well done!
I got to see Alex perform for our family personally at our aunts house because they know him. It was a great performance and MJ obvoously blew us all away at the end.
Thank you!
He's the cutest, goodest boy and goodest magician dog!!!!
Nice job for assistant Alex too lol
Seeing Teller's face at the end of the trick makes it so much more worthwhile.
Rewatching it now, I could lip-read a muttered "Jesus Christ" from Teller, which amused me. Maybe he was made the silent one because he swore too much. ;)
Girlfriend is deaf and reads lips. She read, "That's great."
@@ericmgarrison - I can see how they'd look similar.
@@jamesdominguez7685 Totally agree with you!!!
exactly. that was genuine surprise.
MJ is adorable! As someone who's been involved in the dog world for over 30 years, the amount of training that went into this is amazing. Well done, MJ, your hard work & obvious bond with Alex paid off!
i love the delivery of the trophy! i felt genuine suspense then he said "you don't get a trophy" and my heart broke lol only for a second
mine too!
Wonderful act!! The falling apart at the end was so magical and artistic, somehow that ending impacted me emotionally. KUDOS on a brilliant win
My favorite part is “good boy MJ, good boy Alex” because it’s brilliant and whoever came up with it is just great 😇
YEAH... That was a good one ;-)
@@AlexRamonmagic Mr Ramon please help me
That was defintely MJ's idea. After all MJ is the magician.
MJ came up with it
Sophia, did you come up with it? 😀
I GOT YOU!!! Two Locks
3:34 - 1st Lock set up (Watch closely the right hand pressing down the lock)
3:57 - 2nd Lock set up for the flat form attaching to the chair
Lock Release when the weight on the end of the board loosen perhaps the locking system is a hook type.
... or releases when he presses a button with his right hand while catching MJ with his left.
@@SombraEnMovimiento wow! that pretty much it! a hand purposely hidden is surely something!
Been a fan of them for years and still can't get over how funny the "F U" trophy is.
I have it on display and people always laugh
Ahaha, that was beautiful! Loved the "good boy, Alex" and sneaking a treat for yourself. And Alyson's reaction to it.
Fun trick and so great to see you back on the stage instead of on zoom 🙂. MJ is so well trained.
Thank you so much!!! Hope to see you again in person!
I just love the fact that the award says "F U"
It's like "we appreciate you, but we hate you"
Exactly!
I didn't even want to know how it was done. It was a great performance! Good job MJ. Oh and also your assistant.
ahahahah thanks!
I've not see Teller with that look of amazement at the magic for a long time.... Brilliant :)
Thank you so much!
The wobble the Penn mentioned is @ 3:56 They were surprised when the entire mechanism wobbled, because suspension tricks are usually stiff mechanisms with "Pin A into Slot B". When the dog moves it wobbles. Why? Because the bottom part of the structure is not "Pin A into Slot B" it is a balance. The chair and dog food are simply balancing on the stepladder. This also helps when he wants the mechanism to break apart.
At 3:48 you can barely see the pin from the plank sticking up into the chair leg. At 4:07 you can see and hear him lock the "Dog Park Sign" into the chair.
The only thing disappointing here is finding out Penn doesn't like dogs :( lol
Yeah, but I prefer that over him pretending to love dogs
Well compare it to cats and dogs always lose. Dogs need too much attention for my liking. Cats are awesome - they have my "I don't give a fuck"-attitude to life
@@xellos5262 How is that great? So you just want a roommate that doesnt pay anything. You have to feed it, poopa coop it. doesnt care if you come home, brakes everything that on a table. Ive had a bunch of cats too. meh. We saved one, and now she hides everytime i come over to my parents place. Id rather have a dog, who always has my back.
@@frostxr You have to really work to make a cat like you. That's the major difference to me.
@@xellos5262 Yeah exactly , wtf? I give you a home, feed you, scoop your poop. Respect me!
Theres a specific frame at 5:30 where you can see the moment penn & teller realize they dont actually know how he did that. Amazing i love this stuff
it's so a wonderful act. A lot of viewers were amazed including me. wow. ENJOY.
Great setup! He knows his stuff. Look at his left hand when he says he has to be sure. He fixes the plank, then tbe classic plexiglass trick as he rocks the chair into position and now supported by the glass. Then the dog plank fixed with his right hand into the left front corner of chair. You can see its not centered on the chair. The whole thing works amazingly cause he fools you with the blue roller and ball but it's already fixed into position as soon as he rocks and twists the plexiglass into position. It's a civil engineering marvel of a trick. Nice job!
What glass?
Yeah what glass?
Yeah what glass?!?
There's nothing more lovely than watching somebody succeed at what they are meant to do. Especially with the aid of the such a sweet, good boy! Very satisfying Fool Us, Alex and MJ 👏
What they said, it's truly the best suspension ever seen! period! not to mention the training of the dog! I never liked "Balanced" for the problem you solved at the end and it changed everything, pure genius.
Thank you so much! I agree and Josh agreed as well! Appreciate it
Hi Alex, I get to your channel by a recomendation of your mom. 😅
For wich I am very grateful, I was blessed talking to her yesterday and it was a joyful one. How proud your family would be of your talent.
Alex, great routine, well deserved win, etc. I don't know who deserves more credit here, MJ for being so well-behaved, or you for being such an unbelievably good dog trainer. Even if P&T or even us as the audience could have easily figured out how to do the trick, you still deserve massive props for incorporating an animal as part of your routine. You mentioned as a joke that there's a rule in magic about always needing a blonde assistant, but there's actually a "rule" in show business about never working with children or animals. Animals introduce an inherent element of unpredictability, they will never be the perfect assistant or stooge in the same way that a cognizant human would; and even though I'm not a magician, I can only imagine that unpredictability is the worst enemy of magic. Had MJ stepped in the wrong place, or gotten scared or bored or whatever and just NOPE'd out, your routine is ruined. But obviously MJ played the part of the assistant flawlessly, so like I said, you deserve props for both having the guts to incorporate MJ in your act, and for being such a good trainer that your routine is able to go off without a hitch.
MJ for sure!
Atta Boy MJ!!!!! Wonderful job Alex!
I think I need to go back on the show to get a trophy for me!
CONGRATULATIONS! Nice job Alex!.. You did it! I mean MJ did it! You all are a great tem! 1005 support and respect! Great seeing you in Tahoe and we hope all is well.
Thank you so much! MJ is the star so he got the trophy. Look forward to seeing you again.
That is one of the cutest, coolest dogs I've ever seen
If you notice right before the props fall apart @5:23, he's holding the dog leash and pulls on it , which I think is connected somehow to the trick. I'm just not sure how!
His right hand was deactivating the magnets as the dog jumped.
I watched Alex Ramon’s magic show tonight at Harvey’s in Tahoe. Flawless performance, outstanding talent, showmanship and also a great personality.
Thank you. I appreciate that!
HELL YEAH!!! Congrats MJ and Alex. That lil dude's gunna go places.
I’m gonna say you have Gone Fishing with a Potato Gun….hopefully that’s in good enough code. The wobble was a great way to add some “tension”.
NICE code! If I am correct in what you're thinking... You sir... would owe MJ a trophy!
I always love the respect between magicians and keeping secrets
Happiest contester ever😂😂 loved how happy he is ❤ amazing trick.
He was definitely happy! My favorite part is how he got so excited. I hope you enjoyed it.
This was already the best act of its kind that I've seen before everything came crashing down.
And... WHEN everything came crashing down, it negated every possible way that I thought it could have been done. Wonderful act! And, I'd probably never be able to figure out how MJ and Alex did it, no matter how much I think about it.
I'm sat here.....Clapping in my kitchen, a year after this was uploaded !! 10/10
Wow, this is WONDERFUL! What a lovely, fun, fooling effect - and you have a great energy Alex, bright, light and likeable!
Thank you so much!
I can't imagine anyone not loving a dog never mind their own dog.
I love all animals, especially dogs. XO
Teller's lips read "wow, that's great" was awesome just as the performance was awesome too
I love that part!
Marvelous trick! M.J. is spectacular!!! And your act is one of the coolest I have ever seen!
I thought Penn was going to say wow, what a magnetic personality!
This is a fantastic act! I love it!
I'm also have an engineering mindset, so I want to know how it works. I have an idea how it could work, and if my idea is right, it's genius and I love it even more! As Penn said, the wobble and the dismantle sales it. Without those springing into action it would never lock in the beauty of this trick. That said, I have the luxury of watching it twice, so I'm certain I wouldn't have gotten it in the moment. Of course the way I'm thinking is one of many ways I'm sure it could be done, so I could still be fooled. Either way I love it! Well deserved!
💖 -Ava
You really hit the button on that one at the end, great job! MJ has quite the attractive personality for this routine, really good at staying put right until he's required to move.
U gave it away. That is why he catches dog with one arm. Back hand is pressing a release button.
Kicking the whole thing apart at the end is what got me. I thought I had it figure out until then.
Alex, you are getting better and better all the time. I met Penn&Teller for lunch in 1989 and can tell they really like you. Also remember when MJ was your little puppy.
Thank you so much!
5:06 no pressure on broom bristles. Not sure why they gave a FU but okay. They saw the board bend and the pressure of the dog jumping was enough to dislodge the connections. Snug the blue cylynder tight, get a longer broom so the bristles look BENT from the weight of the plank resting upon it and make everything wobbly UNTIL you get the NEXT piece snugged up to it. That would improve this, my opinion but what do I know? nothing.
Kudos! I've been waiting for this video for a week! At first I thought it was not gonna be impressive, but MJ playing his part perfectly added more than enough spice to the gimmick. The way I get it, the mechanism you built before our eyes is one that functions on additions and subtractions, and the flow of the calculation matters more than the basic principles of "suspension tricks" for this show. The applied weight of the dog food package may be remote controlled as well. It was impressive that P&T could not even come up with an idea to explain the wobble. Seeing a happy dog is always a pleasure, and I hope you two achieve even more success.
Thank you! I am glad you liked the performance. We had a great time. As far as your guess... nice try but you would have had to give MJ the trophy as well ;-)
@@AlexRamonmagic 😂😆🤣
@@AlexRamonmagic Seems like you press a button shortly before mj jumps in your arms which is at the end of the dog line. doesnt know what it does at 5:25
You get in the stage with a little angel, i dont care, you already on! Hahah congratz to you both!!
Alex! So good seeing you on Fool Us! 😃 Well done! I was just thinking about you guys and our time together at FS training. Seeing as how well MJ performed, I guess he will have to spend 4 days with us and we’ll get him spun up as well, haha!
@4:37 MJ is sitting down and is closer to the edge of that board, and a then @ 4:40 it's standing up and a little further back. Also @5:29 the board is resting on top of the dog food bag, and the chair is on its back to the left of the bag, but @5:33 the board is now resting on the floor in front of the dog food bag and the chair is on its side behind the bag. Perhaps there was a few takes because the first ones didn't quite go as planned?
They film acts several times, usually not in front of an audience/judges. Preshooting. Its how they learn what angles they need for air. All shows do this, even live tv like SNL and American Idol. Usually the skits you see were pretaped earier that day. And the "live" performances are pretapes. People preform better without an audience.
I love how Penn always has to lead people to think he got them figured out before giving them the trophy 😂 he's so fucking good at it!
I could not tell at all!
Very impressive skills but nothing more than a very intricate balancing act !
Omg I'm so proud of u, I remember working in Tahoe together and seeing ur show and how much fun I had watching u wonder the audience and now seeing u fool possibly two of the most iconic magicians in the world is so awesome......I can't wait to see u again absolutely my favorite magician in the world 🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎 Congratulations Alex u deserve it!!!!!
Thank you so much! I will be back in Tahoe soon
@@AlexRamonmagic yessir i might come their for thanksgiving (i already saw your performance in tahoe) i want to come see you again
@@spongebobgaming6177 yes he's freaking amazing and a sweet heart.....
@@spongebobgaming6177 I will be there Thanksgiving. Come by and see the show at Hard Rock and say hi!
@@shontoya69 Thank you!
I can come up with a solution but it's pretty crazy lmao, great trick.
When MJ jumped I literally yelled “WHOAH!!!”
ahahahahah
Legend says that Alex is still running with MJ: We did boy,we did it! We did it boy, we did it...
Jokes aside that was just so nice to see how happy he was ❤
congratulations Alex and MJ. been watching you work with animals since your first magic with the dove. your shows are always great and always entertaining. From the closeups to the stage illusions fantastic!!!
From the doves.... A LONG TIME AGO. Thanks for keeping an eye on me. Hope to see you at a show!
My wife and I saw Alex at the Hard Rock in South Lake Tahoe. Truly amazing show and we highly recommend as you will not believe your eyes! Thanks for the show Alex it was a lot of fun!
Hey man! I went to Berean Christian and remember seeing you come for a show one time. Great to see you doing such great things man
Awesome! Thanks so much! Hope to see you at a show.
Wait, Elbing, KS Berean?
When he said, " This is the most difficult part of the trick for me" He actually mean it....
very neatly performed, have no clue, even something technically could be the answer: however, we can't see it, if it's so! But we have a wonderful story and performance!!!
Will show it to my clever border collie tonight, maybe he will figure it out!
ahahaha your border collie is smart I'm sure he will figure it out before you!
I saw you 8 years ago in Tahoe with my wife on our honeymoon. It's awesome to see you still performing!
Thank you! Come back to Tahoe I will be there
Why was Alex with your wife on your honeymoon?? Hmmmm?
@@hoopyfrood4391 🤣
@@hoopyfrood4391 TF. Lol, now things are awkward. 😂
Love the "dog fud" bag with MJ's face on it. Clever way to incorporate a pre-planned weight
Impressive act! Well done! We can see at 5:26 that you are pressing a button to deactivate something, probably the plank and we see that the chair is designed to stand on the back legs, since it hops and it still balances perfectly. So the only thing requiring a secret mechanism to stand is the plank on the chair. It can be either magnets or retractable hooks. Even though it looks super clean at the end, I think its some kind of hooks and amazing balancing.
I definitely thought that was timed/remote but until you said something I didn't notice he catches the dog one-handed. Not that that's magically relevant, it's just...I've never seen someone try to catch something as important as their dog, way high up in the air, one-handed, because why risk it.
The dog isn't in danger in real life because he knows what he's doing but I could see where that would draw attention that something fishy was going on.
At 3:56 he does something with his right hand to connect the sign and chair so maybe he pressed a switch to have them come apart.
Look further back, maybe at least 5:24 for the buildup and you will see that he is only showing his left arm and hand.
His right arm and hand are out of view so yeah. It is most likely how you mentioned it.
Tricks sometimes need to make use of blind spots after all.
@@赤ゲキ dont anythink like this Was done. It is just some physic stuff
@@derschnarch9106
m.th-cam.com/video/UwlvxTsoMAE/w-d-xo.html
I never thought a levitation trick will fool me or anyone. But you fooled me, and you fooled Penn & Teller. Great trick. Still doesn't know how it works, and I don't care. Congrats!
I think the assistant was more excited about winning than the actual magician 😂
True!
3:35 he activates a pin on the rear left of the leg that holds the chair in place, later same thing on the board...at the end he hits a remote switch in his pocket with his right hand when he catches the dog...
It doesn't wobble after that! You must be right
Great work, MJ. I can appreciate you keeping Alex around for the explanation, treats and his opposable thumbs. My mini Golden Doodle is impressed and she thinks you're cute too but apparently she keeps me around for the same reason. Regardless, amazing performance, keep up the great work.
ahahahahhahha yeah he's definitely the one keeping me around!
In so many years of Penn and Teller, this is, probably, the 3 act I liked. Lovely magician MJ.
Fabulous act, gorgeous magician and the assistant was well trained! Brilliant to see a balancing act using everyday objects and I haven't a clue how MJ pulled it off. Disappointing to see Penn's anti-dog reaction and he's gone right down in my estimation because of that. Superb routine MJ and Alex and I'm chuffed they got the trophy.
I appreciate that so much! MJ deserves the trophy and now I have to get back on the show to get one for me. :-)
The greatist part is how much he cares for his dog. Awesome cool trick though.
1:22 and 8:26. The dubbing in this episode is ridiculous lol. The “everybodayyy” and then penn rambling without pause as he gets up and walks up to him is just hilarious lol
It's amazing seeing a magic trick with a dog!!!
i think i have some idea how the trick is done when you caught MJ with one hand.
Great trick though, and super patient doggo. :-)
Results
Wow that was insane. Very good trick and well executed. Great performance too. Trophy well deserved Alex.
A man and his dog......on stage doing magic!
ahahahah Great book title!
Great job guys ! Seen this guy in person. Highly recommend seeing his show. Even pulled me up onto his show years ago. I sat at the far corner of the place. Even was a little late. It was the Last 2 seats in the place. Boy was I nervous never been selected to go up on stage. I Still don’t know how you did certain things. Even had some audience members after the show commenting to me that said that’s the funniest stuff they’ve seen. Yes folks magic and comedy was thrown in there. Man What a experience I would never forget.
Thank you Alex.
😁👍🙌
Looking forward to seeing another show.
the only anomaly that I saw was when you balanced the chair on the cylinder, the chair wasn't actually touching the cylinder. The chair was already fixed in that position and unable to lean forward. And using a metal chair in lieu of a wooden one had me thinking why.
But great trick. the suspense, the trick, the performance, and the cutest magician ever.... awesome
Yeh the pivot points at the table, chair leg and sign are all locked during the trick. How he released them at the end was the magic
I thought the same but then in a later shot you can see it is resting on it but the reflectiveness of the blue plastic makes it appear otherwise (shallow angle = very reflective, known as the fresnel effect. so as the curve of the plastic gets closer to the direction of the camera it becomes almost like a mirror finish).
@@asmrbuddha9033 ngl I'm pretty proud of myself for catching the release trick on first watch through
Alex, I just saw this and was amazing by both you, and MJ! What a fantastically well executed performance!
Thank you
5:29 Teller lipped "Jesus Christ..." while shaking his head after the dog jumped off the balancing structure lmao.
all incomprehensible technology can be seen as magic. For me this is magic