At least half of the reason I enjoy Fool Us is because of how kind and supportive Penn and Teller are to the performers. The other part is, well, the tricks are so clever.
It’s also really cool because the consolation prize is almost as valuable as the actual one. They still get big exposure and professionally produced, high quality footage for reels.
Helicopter, Uniforms, Military, Army, Navy Howler, Uakari, Monkey, Ape, Nomascus Houdini, Upper class citizen, Magician, Abraham Lincoln, Nobleman Himalaya, Ural, Mountain, Alps, Nepal Hotel, Urban, Manhattan, Apartment building, New York I'm sure there might some better choices. If not, you can always come up with a creative back story to properly link the term and the image!
@@flonixcorn I think the trick was that the pictures can be renamed to each letter. For example, the monkey could easily be called a "Monkey" for the M in "HUMAN" if it was placed in the 3rd slot. Even Penn made a point to call it a monkey. So ya, magnets would be required to change the letter on the back.
This was clever. It's easy to understand the trick but it really reveals the importance of the set up and storytelling for this type of magic. What seems like just random waffling and jokes is basically the key to making the trick work.
I'll never get over the complexity of magic. How everything is construction _just so_ so that all the pieces slide into place without us seeing all the work that goes on behind it all. I can't even conceive of how some of the props are put together, but it's really one of the most impressive things about the art; the engineering of innocuous-looking things. And it just occurred to me why the envelope has to be empty. That's damn clever, right there!
I think I understand the whole trick, but why does the envelope need to be empty? So that he doesn't accidentally get it right? Oh lol, got it, because he doesn't assign a name to the paintings until after she puts them in order, right.
@@nickhy9223 Isn't it a great feeling when you don't understand something and then suddenly it just _clicks_ like that? But yes, with no envelope, there's no trick at all. It's a huge misdirect. It has to be empty so there can be a "big reveal" at all. It's wonderful theater!
What's most incredible is how Penn can communicate the required hints to the magician so that he/she can realize P&T haven't been fooled, all the while most of the audience hasn't the slightest clue about it.
@@TechTomVideo precisely, though the audience would have a hard time seeing them from far away. More than likely there are varying heights of sticks in the easels that push the middle to the appropriate setting.
Actually appreciate the need to get the papers from off stage. They did have 120 different options depending on what she chose, each using the words he used to describe the pictures based on their location and of course purposely off by the numbers, but reinforcing that notion that those were the only possible names for those pictures.
It would be sooo much better without, though. On fool us, it first seems like a nice red herring at first, but I feel like Penn gave it away a bit too much if it wasn't glaringly obvious. I would have asked "So you won with this exact trick in a European competition? Were you performing in your native tongue for that or did you have to speak English?"
@@manp1039 There are clear slit lines showing on all of the backs. The left and right vertical lines are the same for all, and the middle one is one of 5. There must be something on the easel that "click's" the right middle portion into place. I'm sure all five pictures have the same exact mechanism, and it's the easels that are the critical part of the trick. Have her move the easels around and the magician likely wouldn't have been so happy. At least that's my guess.
@@manp1039 i am thinking he had script prepared for any outcome Alison come up with. LIke for "Alps" for example. if she put it in 3rd place instead of 4th, he would just say it is art of mountain so M, or if it is in 1st, he would just say it is himalayi and not alps. Penn basically spoonfed me this theory by pointing out that you could simply call Uakari a "monkey" and it would be M. i think it is case of multiple outs as in he has story prepared to "name" every art to spell human no matter where alison position it, and then papers come in important to make audience think that words used and narrative told is only option (making illusion that there is no multiple outs)
Yeah, honestly, if he'd just put it away after he was done rather than standing there talking for several minutes, I never would've noticed. It wasn't until just after Penn started speaking that I noticed the gimmick 😅
I really liked it when he asked him what the name of the monkey was. The performer glanced back at it when he answered. I believe it was a subtle way of confirming their theory of how the trick worked. The performer was unintentionally glancing back to check the position of the picture, remembering it was the U and so that's the name he needed to answer with.
Yeah! Also, when Penn says "The way the *middle* is constructed in this trick" he let's the performer know they figured it out with the double meaning.
@@Snowdrift72 and the earlier comments about layers and "coming back and reinforcing". Honestly if the connections had been cleaner I would've been stumped but being able to see the lines on the M and N helped.
The key point is that the pictures have different names depending on where they're placed. The mountains for instance can be 'H'imalayas, 'Urals', 'M'ountain, 'A'lps, or 'Negoiu'. Little flaps and magnets on the back let him lock in the letter.
I have to say this trick was awesome but I was able to piece it all together and love it. Each picture could be named something differently to spell out Human. Then the real important part is that the stage hand had to bring the right combination of papers out after finding out what the names would be. Anyway the end of the trick was that the center of each letter was a magnet strip that was actually already on the stand when the trick started but it was colored to look like part of the stand and only needed to modify the center of each letter. Well done sir.
This is well thought out. Excellent planning went into this trick. Nice subtleties to each picture. Wasn't too difficult to crack, but was well done either way. I enjoyed this. That said, just because I can figure it out doesn't mean I can execute it, nor come up with it myself.
Very charming. And funny -- Penn and Teller really appreciate the humor in magic and they could tell this guy was one of them. Easy to figure out but it was clever and well executed.
There are a few different guesses here, and they may be partly right or completely wrong, but the common thread seems to be that the trick can only work if you have a truly masterful performer. His confidence, storytelling and charisma really drive the trick. Great to look at also. The stuff with the paintings is clever but the real magic is watching a genius performer in his element. I've watched so much of this show and only the smallest handful of people have the performance skills to pull this off. I think he has an incredible career ahead
Do you see those vertical lines that divide each letter into thirds?? Each one of those letters, the first and the last third are exactly the same, so all he has to do is change the middle third of each letter of any arrangement of those 5 letters and he can spell out HUMAN. And the U and the H and the A are all nearly identical, very little needs to be changed about those 3. So when does he change the backs to spell out HUMAN? Hehehe, that's the best part. See he doesn't even really do it. Look at the easels when he turns around each picture... the BACKSIDE of that middle third panel is painted exactly the same as the easel! It's hiding in plain sight! Awesome. I'm so happy I noticed all that!
I'm glad you didn't describe yourself as a "funny" magician. Your humor was just delightful and nicely in pace with the trick. Fooled me! A beautiful trick.
Much fun and entertaining! As previous comments suggest, it is also fun to ponder the possibilities. It is challenging, but not impossible for us mere mortals to figure out.
This is beautiful act. Elements like staging, storytelling, comedy the method is all amazing. I think getting the first predication wrong downplayed the act in the minds of the audience. In the end when word "Human" is revealed there is no instant audible gasp or no thunderous round of applause. It looked like Yann is implying the spectators "the act is over, you can clap now". May be you get the paper prediction right somehow and then also get the word human will get you standing ovation. Well done on constructing this act !!!
He could get the paper prediction right just as easily as he can get it wrong. Getting it wrong is important because it suggests that the "prediction" was made ahead of time, which reinforces the idea that the names of the paintings were selected ahead of time. It's really smart.
you know what , that was awsome ... you really had me with your "fail" there .. imo i think it would be cool to see other "unexpected" things happen to "ruin\enhance" more performances .. its like 4th wall breaking... great job friend
Have not seen the other comments but I think many of you have figured it out and I am really late to the game but the key is the "middle" (a word Penn say). The font is constructed in the way that only the middle part has to change to change the letter and thus is is some kind of sliding thing that he makes happen when he put it up on the holder.
Oh man, I thought it would be a real faliure, I felt so sorry for the guy, and by then he already fooled me. I can see how this can be done it is truely a masterpiece. I would love to learn the other outcomes of this.
@@sinner2499 my guess: he has several alternate names for each image: alps, mountain, hills. Uakari, monkey, ape. NYC, apartment, house, etc. The wrong papers are carefully put together backstage for every combination. At 0:59 you can see that the easels are not quite right, there are long magnetic strips sticking out painted to look like wood. They slot into each picture and because every letter in HUMAN has two bars either side it's enough to change the middle (Penn mentioned "the middle")
Man!! I loved every bit of the performance.. It really deserved to win at least for the creativity of it.. Expecting equally beautiful creations from you in future, buddy.. You totally ROCK!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I figured it out as it was going on, and then when Penn explained it afterwards, I could actually understand the code. He doesn't just speak code in one part of the response, the ENTIRE RESPONSE is the code, deconstructing the trick without telling the audience how it's done. That's truly amazing, and I would love to do this one myself
Really nice spin on the chair prediction. Lots of praise by the Noble magi judges 😂 But it was indeed immediately what I thought too. And when I saw the letters I knew exactly that I was right. But awesome effect! But not as awesome as the patter, that really was funny and cleverly written. The joke of The Alps was simply magical!
Ambiguity can be a useful thing at times. Very creative. The off-stage fail works to head everyone's minds off in the wrong direction. Mental misdirection. Well done.
It’s the best part of the trick. 25 potential words everything could be called so the only way to get the right words in the envelope is the “fail”. If he figured out how to get the right words in the envelope without an obvious switch I bet it would have fooled them.
Wonderful performance. This trick stays nice to watch again even when you know how it's done, perhaps bevause now you can enjoy it in a second way to marvel at how smooth it was done.
Yay, I figured it out before Penn gave his clues at the end. It was like I was the magician trying to pick up on his code words, and I did! That was fun to have that experience!
It's easy to figure out the trick. But it doesn't diminish the petformance, preparation and art work in it. A lot of thinking has gone into the artworks. Also memorizing 25 jokes to reinforce Alison choices. German masterpiece, where you are more enchanted by the process and preparation than the wow or spectacularization factor.
Magnets on the back of each picture to spell the right word. All of them just have straight bars on the back for letters so the magnet fills in the correct letter and then the story he uses makes the pictures the correct letter. Penn's description of the 'middle' of the trick is what gave it away. Also a neat affect for the 'fail' so the stage hand can hand him whatever the names of the pictures will be to make everything match. Still a fantastic trick!
He's sort of stuck with a problem that can't be overcome in that the letters have to be visible to the entire audience therefore very large and noticeable similarities.
How about the fact that "H" was initialized by helicopter, "U" by the monkey, "M" by magician, "A" by Alps, and "N" by that dirty city? Was that a coincidence?
@@agentm10 No coincidence is possible,so, hmmm... ºº that complicates things a bit; well, ?does it mean that for each picture he has 5 different names, each one starting with one of the 5 letters H U M A N ( U -uakari? is also M- monkey and so on...), and when he places each pic on the stand,he names it according to H U M A N ? but i wonder what could the other names be.
@@agentm10 what? No matter what picture would end up somewhere else, it would always still spell HUMAN (for example if the "alps" wouldnt be on 4 but on 3 he wouldnt say that the picture is alps, he would call that "mountains" so it matches with the M and so on.. the uamari can become a Monkey, or an Ape or whatever.. the helicopter one could be Military, Navy or whatever else it needs to be.. And the letters on the back would also spell Human because all the letters have permanent lines on the sides and only the middle part is moveable and probably magnetic to make every letter what it needs to be in just one move while he puts the picture on the stand.
I had noticed the odd sections in the back element of the stands. When looking at the letters at the end trying to figure it out, I noticed that every letter in HUMAN has verticals on either side. The letters also have odd gaps between the segments that make them up.
I figured this one out on my own when he had the woopsie ending. I have had the fortune of watching Penn and Teller figure out enough other tricks of course. We are all a little more educated these days. lol Still a highly entertaining and fun trick even if you can figure it out... great presentation.
Each picture can be named five different ways using the letters H U M A N. The easels are pre-programmed to move the middle bar of each letter to correspond with the easel, such as easel 1 moves the middle bar to form the letter H, easel 2 moves the middle bar to form the letter U, etc.
The easel is my best guess too, but I am not 100% convinced that's how the gimmick works on moving the letters. That would need to be done with motors and magnets. That could possibly be quite difficult to do reliably. It would be some impressive engineering.
No, the easels already have the letters on them. Nothing has to move. If you notice, each letter has two columns in them, like a vertical equal sign. Each of the paintings has a slot running down the back of it, where they rest on the easel. The trick is that the center of each letter is already on the easel and connects to the back of the painting, probably with a magnet. So no matter what painting Allison chose to put first, that easel always had the "--" on it, which would turn the "| |" that's on the back of the painting into an H. If you look at the easels before he puts the paintings on them, you can see them on there painted to look like part of an empty easel.
You can see the attached centrepieces on the H and the U at 4:32. The M that he's holding has no centrepiece, so each painting must have an M on the back, and easels 1, 2, 4 and 5 have the appropriate vertical centrepieces for H, U, A and N to attach over the middle of each M.
@@sinner2499 OK, if you need further explanation, each vertical centrepiece covers the two diagonal lines (v) at the top of the M, leaving only the two vertical bars (| |) on either side of the M. The four different centrepieces contain -, _, = and \, to turn the two vertical bars into H, U, A and N, respectively.
HOW ITS DONE ALERT: This one us super easy to figure out. Notice that the letters on the back of each painting are segmented. There is some element in each painting that would correspond to each of the 5 letters so then it's just a matter of adjusting the letter on the back to make it match where she placed it. The papers coming out are a subtle trick to make you think the words for each painting were set in stone, they weren't. They just pulled the 5 out of the 25 that corresponded to where each photo was placed. The numbering on the pages also helped reinforce that false understanding that the word for each painting was going to be the same no matter where it's placed.
@@scottsmith7203 : Oh, I think it is. If you disagree, then how do _you_ think it's done? (As far as _I_ can see, it's appears to be done with magnets, probably hidden in the otherwise-mysterious black strips to either side of the wooden uprights on the easels. Note the loud "click" and shudder each time he places a painting on an easel, except for #1, which is default "H"; I think that's the magnets pulling the _middle_ segment up, down, or sideways. Also note that he never allows anyone to see the backs of the paintings until they've been on easels; that's because, before adjustment, they spell "HHHHH", not "HUMAN".)
I believe the crux of the trick lies in the fact that any of those pictures could be described using each of of the 5 words.. Mountains, Metropolis, Monkey.. etc.. so the order Alison put them in wasn't an issues.. The papers being offstage however was brilliant reinforcement.. Loved it all round. Bravo!
He's doing a bit of a psychological force to try to get the letters to be in this particular order though. It's somethign mentalists are very good at. But yes, I think as a backup he's got the option to swap the middle of the letters around so that any picture can spell any letter. This was the best case scenario because it's the first and most obvious letter for each and I don't think he had to do any fiddling to get the spelling right, they would have been pre-arranged in this order.
When Penn call it Monkey, I think you can create another letter or word from the beginning like instead of U that could be M for monkey! But it was an amazing trick!!!
I could see the difference in layers on the paint for the lettering from the stage light glare, something less reflective could help blend the 'middle' with the 'end'. Such a fun presentation piece :D
Trick is very easy to understand, but i think it is still very clever. Sometimes you don't need to fool P&T to be recognized by the community as a great magic trick' builder 😂. Keep going mate!
@@ausarge For example Penn called the "Urakari" a "Monkey" that could also be "Ugly". He pointed out that any of paintings could be referred to as something, that starts with one of the five letters in "HUMAN". So the magician has to know 5 words for each of the pictures, depending where they are put. @VedunianArt pointed out a few alternatives in the comments. The letters on the backside can be flipped or moved. They all have a big, white rectangle to the left and right. Just the middle has to change to form one of the letters.
this is an amazing trick because even after seeing the props from the angle that gives them away and after Penn explains enough to know what the real trick is I still can't figure out the sheer amount of effort that went into this trick, its like a trick inside another trick.
**Spoiler** : H is the default of every picture. The virtical lines on all pictures do not move. The middle slot of each picture is on a scroll that moves in all directions. Each easel has a magnet to the North South East and West. Each easel pulls the scroll to the respective positions. 1. (H) default 2. pulls down the scroll moving the middle line of the to "H" making it (U). 3. Magnet pulls scroll left revealing the V making the (M). 4 pulls up moving the middle of the H up and revealing another horizontal line making (A). 5 pulls right revealing the diagonal line making (N).
That would be one way of doing it. But I don't think that's what he's doing. I'm guessing part of each easel comes off and _becomes_ part of each letter.
@@freeeflyer Yeah I am kind of bummed that the lighting gave the physical gimmick away. I mean I probably could have eventually figured it out anyway but it's a lot easier when you can actually _see_ the gimmick. It's like if someone is doing levitation stuff but you catch a glimpse of the actual wires.
That was very nice! and once you get the complex parts down and effortless, this must be a really fun trick to perform, especially with the fake readings.
"the things in the middle"... the letters can be rearranged moving around the white middle sections of paper in between the white bars behind every picture, tha's clever. The magician just moved the pieces to match the position while Alison chose random pictures. Although reviewing the video, i noticed he didn't actualy manipulate the back of the pictures, it seems to me that he may have built them so that the letters rearrange automatically when placed on their stands.
letters never moved...he would have just called thepictures by a different name that matched the letter. For example, regardless of what picture was put in the middle, it would have started with M. Monkey, Manhattan, Matterhorn, Military or Magician...all 5 pictures had 5 separate words associated with them so it didn;t matter where they went
@@ricmndy1 The letters do move. Notice how each letter has a right and left vertical line. The only thing different is the middle of the letters. If you look closely, the middle of the letter can be shifted to produce any of the letters 'H', 'U', 'M', 'A', and 'N'. That's why Penn kept on emphasizing 'the middle' when making his guess. He manipulates the letters somehow. Notice how he grabs the center of the photo after Allison makes her choice. That's probably when he manipulates it.
@@ricmndy1 makes no sense that way if the letters don’t also shift. You are correct about each picture having 5 different names, but what if the helicopter with an H that doesn’t change, was placed in the number 5 slot or elsewhere, or any other pic with the letter on the back placed anywhere else of if doesn’t change, as the letters are on the backside of the pictures. The letters shift and they each have different names as well.
The easels the pictures are put on have special magnets in them that change the middle part of the pictures to correspond with what place they are put in.
Teller took so little time to catch how this trick was made, that Penn had a lot of time to express it in code! Penn's coding is a masterpiece as the magician's trick!
I'm almost always entertained by the acts on Fool Us, whether I know how they work or not. Not so much this time. That's OK by me. I still love Penn & Teller's Fool Us.
I loved the story. Saddly the moment he turned the first picture around I knew how the trick was done. They needed far more refining and to blend in better.
If you look closely at the HUMAN letters, the "middle" (as P&T noted in their comments) is the only variable between any letters. So the magician, when she was choosing the art, had a way to change the middle white part to form the HUMAN letters in order. Look closely at the letters and you can see seams that allow the middle white part to move. Not sure the exact mechanism that allows this, but the switch happened as he was putting the art on the easels.
Yup. As he puts each picture down he holds it from the top, in the middle. I think the center portion of each letter is on a scroll, and he's subtly using his fingers to roll it to the right position.
@@exdeathex3949 This is the correct answer. If you look at the center part of the easel after the reveal and he lifts them back off, there's a silver dot in the top right that's visible that wasn't there before he originally placed them.
H is the default of every picture. The virtical lines on all pictures do not move. The middle slot of each picture is on a scroll that moves in all directions. Each easel has a magnet to the North South East and West. Each easel pulls the scroll to the respective positions. 1. (H) default 2. pulls down the scroll moving the middle line of the to "H" making it (U). 3. Magnet pulls scroll left revealing the V making the (M). 4 pulls up moving the middle of the H up and revealing another horizontal line making (A). 5 pulls right revealing the diagonal line making (N).
@@AarOnCoasters Too complicated, but your right about the magnets. On each easel the middle part of the letters is hidden, as the back side is the same color as the easel itself. See how thick the easel is? Look at the last picture he puts down, you can clearly see black outlines on each side of the easel that is behind the picture. That is the plate of the middle part of the letter. When the magician puts down the paintings, the middle part of the letters snaps on to the paintings by a magnet. On the last picture he puts, you can hear the snap of the magnet.
At least half of the reason I enjoy Fool Us is because of how kind and supportive Penn and Teller are to the performers. The other part is, well, the tricks are so clever.
You can always tell if they’ve been fooled or not by how nice they are 😂
I like when they get angry when they are fooled and give the magicians a "F*ck You" award lol.
Yeah it's a positive show which is rare. No one loses and it's kept lighthearted.
It’s also really cool because the consolation prize is almost as valuable as the actual one. They still get big exposure and professionally produced, high quality footage for reels.
@@TSfish94 Ya. I love magicians and LOVE IT when they get the award. I know it's a big boost to their careers!
Helicopter, Uniforms, Military, Army, Navy
Howler, Uakari, Monkey, Ape, Nomascus
Houdini, Upper class citizen, Magician, Abraham Lincoln, Nobleman
Himalaya, Ural, Mountain, Alps, Nepal
Hotel, Urban, Manhattan, Apartment building, New York
I'm sure there might some better choices. If not, you can always come up with a creative back story to properly link the term and the image!
Very clever! Never would have thought that. And I'm guessing the letters on the back are changeable?
I was picking up on some of these options as I thought about how the pictures all seemed kind of generic looking.
@@lGlppl Invisible ink.
@@dutchreagan3676 uh. No. Go and try to do this with "invisible ink" lol
@@otallono I mean.. you can't see it so how would you know?
This is the first magic trick I actually could figure out without any explanation.
Same here. This one was easy. Especially because he used the word Uakari. And the fact that the letters were clearly segmented.
This is the only trick at P&T that I was able to figure out by myself. It made it even more enjoyable to watch. What an awesome act. Thank you, Yann!
Yann. I'm so impressed that you could create such a clever linguistic trick in a language that is not your Mother Tongue! Ausgezeichnet!
well you see how did he get the letters on the back of the cards? magnets?
@@flonixcorn I think the trick was that the pictures can be renamed to each letter. For example, the monkey could easily be called a "Monkey" for the M in "HUMAN" if it was placed in the 3rd slot. Even Penn made a point to call it a monkey. So ya, magnets would be required to change the letter on the back.
@@runnergo1398I think you're right about the ambiguous naming thing. Alps could be Mountains, Nature, Highlands, Uplands for example.
One of the few tricks I was able to piece together, but one of the even fewer still that was *better* once i knew. Beautiful performance!
Waddup lmao didn't know you were a P&T fan :)
love working out how its done cause it adds a new layer of respect for the work imo
This was clever. It's easy to understand the trick but it really reveals the importance of the set up and storytelling for this type of magic. What seems like just random waffling and jokes is basically the key to making the trick work.
The way Alison says “Oh! Papers!” Is very funny and I enjoyed it a lot
straight from dunder mifflin
The more I understand the mechanism behind this mentalism, the more I’m amazed by how smooth it was carried out! Chapeau, monsieur.
this is one of the most genius wordplays i've ever seen. what a beautiful, brilliant act
I'll never get over the complexity of magic. How everything is construction _just so_ so that all the pieces slide into place without us seeing all the work that goes on behind it all. I can't even conceive of how some of the props are put together, but it's really one of the most impressive things about the art; the engineering of innocuous-looking things.
And it just occurred to me why the envelope has to be empty. That's damn clever, right there!
I think I understand the whole trick, but why does the envelope need to be empty? So that he doesn't accidentally get it right? Oh lol, got it, because he doesn't assign a name to the paintings until after she puts them in order, right.
@@nickhy9223 Isn't it a great feeling when you don't understand something and then suddenly it just _clicks_ like that?
But yes, with no envelope, there's no trick at all. It's a huge misdirect. It has to be empty so there can be a "big reveal" at all. It's wonderful theater!
😊😊😊😊
What's most incredible is how Penn can communicate the required hints to the magician so that he/she can realize P&T haven't been fooled, all the while most of the audience hasn't the slightest clue about it.
if you know it you can communicate and rest of people dont understand hence the fascination
you clearly see the seams of the signs
I'm impressed by that always. That's the real magic.
I think this one was a little on the nose. That said, the camera makes this trick easier to spot that I'm not sure what the audience sees.
@@TechTomVideo precisely, though the audience would have a hard time seeing them from far away. More than likely there are varying heights of sticks in the easels that push the middle to the appropriate setting.
Actually appreciate the need to get the papers from off stage. They did have 120 different options depending on what she chose, each using the words he used to describe the pictures based on their location and of course purposely off by the numbers, but reinforcing that notion that those were the only possible names for those pictures.
It would be sooo much better without, though. On fool us, it first seems like a nice red herring at first, but I feel like Penn gave it away a bit too much if it wasn't glaringly obvious. I would have asked "So you won with this exact trick in a European competition? Were you performing in your native tongue for that or did you have to speak English?"
how do you think he got the backs of the cards st spell out human in the correct order if she was selecting the placement of the fisrt 4 pictures?
@@manp1039 There are clear slit lines showing on all of the backs. The left and right vertical lines are the same for all, and the middle one is one of 5. There must be something on the easel that "click's" the right middle portion into place. I'm sure all five pictures have the same exact mechanism, and it's the easels that are the critical part of the trick. Have her move the easels around and the magician likely wouldn't have been so happy. At least that's my guess.
@@illinialumni that is what i concluded too. i wonder if there was anything he could have done to improve on this trick.
@@manp1039 i am thinking he had script prepared for any outcome Alison come up with. LIke for "Alps" for example. if she put it in 3rd place instead of 4th, he would just say it is art of mountain so M, or if it is in 1st, he would just say it is himalayi and not alps. Penn basically spoonfed me this theory by pointing out that you could simply call Uakari a "monkey" and it would be M. i think it is case of multiple outs as in he has story prepared to "name" every art to spell human no matter where alison position it, and then papers come in important to make audience think that words used and narrative told is only option (making illusion that there is no multiple outs)
Very subtle and clever. And, as noted, the storytelling element was a good diversion, cementing the surprise ending.
Yeah, honestly, if he'd just put it away after he was done rather than standing there talking for several minutes, I never would've noticed. It wasn't until just after Penn started speaking that I noticed the gimmick 😅
@@dismalthoughts , I didn't understand Penn's code lingo (as usual :)), but I saw a way to manipulate the outcome in each possible combination.
I really liked it when he asked him what the name of the monkey was. The performer glanced back at it when he answered. I believe it was a subtle way of confirming their theory of how the trick worked. The performer was unintentionally glancing back to check the position of the picture, remembering it was the U and so that's the name he needed to answer with.
Yeah! Also, when Penn says "The way the *middle* is constructed in this trick" he let's the performer know they figured it out with the double meaning.
@@Snowdrift72 and the earlier comments about layers and "coming back and reinforcing". Honestly if the connections had been cleaner I would've been stumped but being able to see the lines on the M and N helped.
The key point is that the pictures have different names depending on where they're placed. The mountains for instance can be 'H'imalayas, 'Urals', 'M'ountain, 'A'lps, or 'Negoiu'. Little flaps and magnets on the back let him lock in the letter.
That is a good observation you made there. I noticed him looking but didn't think he was searching
that would be 25 combinations and words to remember @@ghosttwo2
The humour is what got me, great performance!
Hahaha, "It's never technically worked before", what a clever guy!
I have to say this trick was awesome but I was able to piece it all together and love it. Each picture could be named something differently to spell out Human. Then the real important part is that the stage hand had to bring the right combination of papers out after finding out what the names would be. Anyway the end of the trick was that the center of each letter was a magnet strip that was actually already on the stand when the trick started but it was colored to look like part of the stand and only needed to modify the center of each letter. Well done sir.
This is well thought out. Excellent planning went into this trick. Nice subtleties to each picture. Wasn't too difficult to crack, but was well done either way. I enjoyed this. That said, just because I can figure it out doesn't mean I can execute it, nor come up with it myself.
Even knowing how it was done doesn't make this trick any less enjoyable. Well done!
Very charming. And funny -- Penn and Teller really appreciate the humor in magic and they could tell this guy was one of them. Easy to figure out but it was clever and well executed.
There are a few different guesses here, and they may be partly right or completely wrong, but the common thread seems to be that the trick can only work if you have a truly masterful performer. His confidence, storytelling and charisma really drive the trick. Great to look at also. The stuff with the paintings is clever but the real magic is watching a genius performer in his element. I've watched so much of this show and only the smallest handful of people have the performance skills to pull this off. I think he has an incredible career ahead
This is by far the best act i have seen on fool us
Do you see those vertical lines that divide each letter into thirds?? Each one of those letters, the first and the last third are exactly the same, so all he has to do is change the middle third of each letter of any arrangement of those 5 letters and he can spell out HUMAN. And the U and the H and the A are all nearly identical, very little needs to be changed about those 3. So when does he change the backs to spell out HUMAN? Hehehe, that's the best part. See he doesn't even really do it. Look at the easels when he turns around each picture... the BACKSIDE of that middle third panel is painted exactly the same as the easel! It's hiding in plain sight! Awesome. I'm so happy I noticed all that!
I'm obsessed with this trick and performance. Great work!
Thank you!
Penn & Teller have always been my favorites since they first started. I met them after one of their shows and they are both really great guys.
I'm glad you didn't describe yourself as a "funny" magician. Your humor was just delightful and nicely in pace with the trick. Fooled me! A beautiful trick.
Much fun and entertaining! As previous comments suggest, it is also fun to ponder the possibilities. It is challenging, but not impossible for us mere mortals to figure out.
That's one of the most thrilling magic acts I've ever seen. Awesome!
Thank you so much!
This is beautiful act. Elements like staging, storytelling, comedy the method is all amazing. I think getting the first predication wrong downplayed the act in the minds of the audience. In the end when word "Human" is revealed there is no instant audible gasp or no thunderous round of applause. It looked like Yann is implying the spectators "the act is over, you can clap now". May be you get the paper prediction right somehow and then also get the word human will get you standing ovation. Well done on constructing this act !!!
He could get the paper prediction right just as easily as he can get it wrong. Getting it wrong is important because it suggests that the "prediction" was made ahead of time, which reinforces the idea that the names of the paintings were selected ahead of time. It's really smart.
What audience? There's no audience on this one because of covid
This might be the first one I actually figured out while I was watching it!
Such a clever trick. Like Penn said, wonderful layering. I enjoyed this.
you know what , that was awsome ... you really had me with your "fail" there .. imo i think it would be cool to see other "unexpected" things happen to "ruin\enhance" more performances .. its like 4th wall breaking... great job friend
Derren Brown pretty much always makes a mistake here and there, and then camps it up. It disarms you before the big reveal.
Have not seen the other comments but I think many of you have figured it out and I am really late to the game but the key is the "middle" (a word Penn say). The font is constructed in the way that only the middle part has to change to change the letter and thus is is some kind of sliding thing that he makes happen when he put it up on the holder.
Oh man, I thought it would be a real faliure, I felt so sorry for the guy, and by then he already fooled me. I can see how this can be done it is truely a masterpiece. I would love to learn the other outcomes of this.
I taught this to him. Super easy to do once you master one thing
ok so say how did he get the letters right at the end@@hemanghuria4956
@@sinner2499 my guess: he has several alternate names for each image: alps, mountain, hills. Uakari, monkey, ape. NYC, apartment, house, etc. The wrong papers are carefully put together backstage for every combination. At 0:59 you can see that the easels are not quite right, there are long magnetic strips sticking out painted to look like wood. They slot into each picture and because every letter in HUMAN has two bars either side it's enough to change the middle (Penn mentioned "the middle")
Man!! I loved every bit of the performance.. It really deserved to win at least for the creativity of it.. Expecting equally beautiful creations from you in future, buddy.. You totally ROCK!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
One of few tricks I figured out - but it was hella' entertaining! Darn good presentation!
I figured it out as it was going on, and then when Penn explained it afterwards, I could actually understand the code. He doesn't just speak code in one part of the response, the ENTIRE RESPONSE is the code, deconstructing the trick without telling the audience how it's done. That's truly amazing, and I would love to do this one myself
Really nice spin on the chair prediction. Lots of praise by the Noble magi judges 😂 But it was indeed immediately what I thought too. And when I saw the letters I knew exactly that I was right. But awesome effect! But not as awesome as the patter, that really was funny and cleverly written. The joke of The Alps was simply magical!
Ambiguity can be a useful thing at times. Very creative. The off-stage fail works to head everyone's minds off in the wrong direction. Mental misdirection. Well done.
It’s the best part of the trick. 25 potential words everything could be called so the only way to get the right words in the envelope is the “fail”. If he figured out how to get the right words in the envelope without an obvious switch I bet it would have fooled them.
Wonderful performance. This trick stays nice to watch again even when you know how it's done, perhaps bevause now you can enjoy it in a second way to marvel at how smooth it was done.
Absolutely awesome performance. 🎉
Eine schöne unterhaltsame und spannende Vorführung! Ich mag den Aufsetzer und die Präsentation im Allgemeinen richtig gern. :) Danke fürs Teilen!
Yay, I figured it out before Penn gave his clues at the end. It was like I was the magician trying to pick up on his code words, and I did! That was fun to have that experience!
It's easy to figure out the trick. But it doesn't diminish the petformance, preparation and art work in it. A lot of thinking has gone into the artworks. Also memorizing 25 jokes to reinforce Alison choices. German masterpiece, where you are more enchanted by the process and preparation than the wow or spectacularization factor.
Slide of hand! Very well done!
I really like the way the latters relate to the picture. Definitely sells the trick in a subtle way.
Really bold! Wishing you the best!
Magnets on the back of each picture to spell the right word. All of them just have straight bars on the back for letters so the magnet fills in the correct letter and then the story he uses makes the pictures the correct letter. Penn's description of the 'middle' of the trick is what gave it away. Also a neat affect for the 'fail' so the stage hand can hand him whatever the names of the pictures will be to make everything match. Still a fantastic trick!
He's sort of stuck with a problem that can't be overcome in that the letters have to be visible to the entire audience therefore very large and noticeable similarities.
How about the fact that "H" was initialized by helicopter, "U" by the monkey, "M" by magician, "A" by Alps, and "N" by that dirty city? Was that a coincidence?
@@agentm10 No coincidence is possible,so, hmmm... ºº that complicates things a bit;
well, ?does it mean that for each picture he has 5 different names, each one starting with one of the 5 letters H U M A N ( U -uakari? is also M- monkey and so on...), and when he places each pic on the stand,he names it according to H U M A N ? but i wonder what could the other names be.
@@agentm10 what? No matter what picture would end up somewhere else, it would always still spell HUMAN (for example if the "alps" wouldnt be on 4 but on 3 he wouldnt say that the picture is alps, he would call that "mountains" so it matches with the M and so on.. the uamari can become a Monkey, or an Ape or whatever.. the helicopter one could be Military, Navy or whatever else it needs to be.. And the letters on the back would also spell Human because all the letters have permanent lines on the sides and only the middle part is moveable and probably magnetic to make every letter what it needs to be in just one move while he puts the picture on the stand.
I had noticed the odd sections in the back element of the stands. When looking at the letters at the end trying to figure it out, I noticed that every letter in HUMAN has verticals on either side. The letters also have odd gaps between the segments that make them up.
Fantastic presentation! Well done.
I figured this one out on my own when he had the woopsie ending. I have had the fortune of watching Penn and Teller figure out enough other tricks of course. We are all a little more educated these days. lol Still a highly entertaining and fun trick even if you can figure it out... great presentation.
Great trick! I understand the method, now I'm just stuck with the number 5 in my head all day and how to add that to many things in life. ;)
I would personally value Penn's opening compliments as much as an actual trophy
this show is always entertaining and 'feel good' .......fooler or not I love watching it.
This is a really great act and knowing how it is done just make it more magical so I'm glad you've not deleted the explanations in the comments.
Even though you didn't fool them, you had me enjoying you from the beginning and fooled me.
one of the best illusions ever omg!
Each picture can be named five different ways using the letters H U M A N. The easels are pre-programmed to move the middle bar of each letter to correspond with the easel, such as easel 1 moves the middle bar to form the letter H, easel 2 moves the middle bar to form the letter U, etc.
The easel is my best guess too, but I am not 100% convinced that's how the gimmick works on moving the letters. That would need to be done with motors and magnets. That could possibly be quite difficult to do reliably. It would be some impressive engineering.
@@NotMyActualName_There's an internal layer that slides. When you're placing it in position one, you slide the layer to position one.
No, the easels already have the letters on them. Nothing has to move. If you notice, each letter has two columns in them, like a vertical equal sign. Each of the paintings has a slot running down the back of it, where they rest on the easel. The trick is that the center of each letter is already on the easel and connects to the back of the painting, probably with a magnet. So no matter what painting Allison chose to put first, that easel always had the "--" on it, which would turn the "| |" that's on the back of the painting into an H. If you look at the easels before he puts the paintings on them, you can see them on there painted to look like part of an empty easel.
Very impressive effect!!!
That dentist joke deserved a much bigger laugh.
You can see the attached centrepieces on the H and the U at 4:32. The M that he's holding has no centrepiece, so each painting must have an M on the back, and easels 1, 2, 4 and 5 have the appropriate vertical centrepieces for H, U, A and N to attach over the middle of each M.
no one knows what u wrote
@@sinner2499 OK, if you need further explanation, each vertical centrepiece covers the two diagonal lines (v) at the top of the M, leaving only the two vertical bars (| |) on either side of the M. The four different centrepieces contain -, _, = and \, to turn the two vertical bars into H, U, A and N, respectively.
Such a brilliant effect 😊👍😊👍😊
The very top of each of the pictures is interesting. Good catch by Penn.
Lol. You had me guessing till the code. Nicely done.
HOW ITS DONE ALERT: This one us super easy to figure out. Notice that the letters on the back of each painting are segmented. There is some element in each painting that would correspond to each of the 5 letters so then it's just a matter of adjusting the letter on the back to make it match where she placed it. The papers coming out are a subtle trick to make you think the words for each painting were set in stone, they weren't. They just pulled the 5 out of the 25 that corresponded to where each photo was placed. The numbering on the pages also helped reinforce that false understanding that the word for each painting was going to be the same no matter where it's placed.
THAT'S NOT HOW IT'S DONE WHATSOEVER, GIRLFRIEND!!!!!
@Scott Smith k. Thanks sis.
@@scottsmith7203 : Oh, I think it is. If you disagree, then how do _you_ think it's done? (As far as _I_ can see, it's appears to be done with magnets, probably hidden in the otherwise-mysterious black strips to either side of the wooden uprights on the easels. Note the loud "click" and shudder each time he places a painting on an easel, except for #1, which is default "H"; I think that's the magnets pulling the _middle_ segment up, down, or sideways. Also note that he never allows anyone to see the backs of the paintings until they've been on easels; that's because, before adjustment, they spell "HHHHH", not "HUMAN".)
I believe the crux of the trick lies in the fact that any of those pictures could be described using each of of the 5 words.. Mountains, Metropolis, Monkey.. etc.. so the order Alison put them in wasn't an issues.. The papers being offstage however was brilliant reinforcement.. Loved it all round. Bravo!
He's doing a bit of a psychological force to try to get the letters to be in this particular order though. It's somethign mentalists are very good at. But yes, I think as a backup he's got the option to swap the middle of the letters around so that any picture can spell any letter. This was the best case scenario because it's the first and most obvious letter for each and I don't think he had to do any fiddling to get the spelling right, they would have been pre-arranged in this order.
Very cool trick. Congrats on the idea!
When Penn call it Monkey, I think you can create another letter or word from the beginning like instead of U that could be M for monkey! But it was an amazing trick!!!
I could see the difference in layers on the paint for the lettering from the stage light glare, something less reflective could help blend the 'middle' with the 'end'. Such a fun presentation piece :D
Trick is very easy to understand, but i think it is still very clever. Sometimes you don't need to fool P&T to be recognized by the community as a great magic trick' builder 😂. Keep going mate!
Boy, first time I figured it out and was able to understand Penn's secret code. :D I'm kinda proud right now.
Care to share please?
@@ausarge For example Penn called the "Urakari" a "Monkey" that could also be "Ugly".
He pointed out that any of paintings could be referred to as something, that starts with one of the five letters in "HUMAN".
So the magician has to know 5 words for each of the pictures, depending where they are put.
@VedunianArt pointed out a few alternatives in the comments.
The letters on the backside can be flipped or moved. They all have a big, white rectangle to the left and right. Just the middle has to change to form one of the letters.
this is an amazing trick because even after seeing the props from the angle that gives them away and after Penn explains enough to know what the real trick is I still can't figure out the sheer amount of effort that went into this trick, its like a trick inside another trick.
Handsome, handsome and handsome. This guy is my favorite magician. I agree: a truly masterpiece!
**Spoiler** : H is the default of every picture. The virtical lines on all pictures do not move. The middle slot of each picture is on a scroll that moves in all directions. Each easel has a magnet to the North South East and West. Each easel pulls the scroll to the respective positions. 1. (H) default 2. pulls down the scroll moving the middle line of the to "H" making it (U). 3. Magnet pulls scroll left revealing the V making the (M). 4 pulls up moving the middle of the H up and revealing another horizontal line making (A). 5 pulls right revealing the diagonal line making (N).
That would be one way of doing it. But I don't think that's what he's doing. I'm guessing part of each easel comes off and _becomes_ part of each letter.
It's like the old lcd screens that can display all of the numbers using the same layout
What a cool trick. Yes, it didn't fool me, but really a nice idea!
Looks thorough with a good amount of routines can't wait for beu to tell us more.
Smilesotheylikeyou
I figured this out pretty quickly. I usually ge fooled, but the magician slow played the ending and gave it away.
Yeah me too.. Rather I saw than I figured out.. Clever trick, maybe better prop not as visible?
@@freeeflyer Yeah I am kind of bummed that the lighting gave the physical gimmick away. I mean I probably could have eventually figured it out anyway but it's a lot easier when you can actually _see_ the gimmick. It's like if someone is doing levitation stuff but you catch a glimpse of the actual wires.
The board game that inspire is presumably Dixit! A great game!
Great trick. I love the "mistakes".
That was very nice! and once you get the complex parts down and effortless, this must be a really fun trick to perform, especially with the fake readings.
"the things in the middle"... the letters can be rearranged moving around the white middle sections of paper in between the white bars behind every picture, tha's clever. The magician just moved the pieces to match the position while Alison chose random pictures. Although reviewing the video, i noticed he didn't actualy manipulate the back of the pictures, it seems to me that he may have built them so that the letters rearrange automatically when placed on their stands.
letters never moved...he would have just called thepictures by a different name that matched the letter. For example, regardless of what picture was put in the middle, it would have started with M. Monkey, Manhattan, Matterhorn, Military or Magician...all 5 pictures had 5 separate words associated with them so it didn;t matter where they went
@@ricmndy1 The letters do move. Notice how each letter has a right and left vertical line. The only thing different is the middle of the letters. If you look closely, the middle of the letter can be shifted to produce any of the letters 'H', 'U', 'M', 'A', and 'N'. That's why Penn kept on emphasizing 'the middle' when making his guess. He manipulates the letters somehow. Notice how he grabs the center of the photo after Allison makes her choice. That's probably when he manipulates it.
@@ricmndy1 makes no sense that way if the letters don’t also shift. You are correct about each picture having 5 different names, but what if the helicopter with an H that doesn’t change, was placed in the number 5 slot or elsewhere, or any other pic with the letter on the back placed anywhere else of if doesn’t change, as the letters are on the backside of the pictures. The letters shift and they each have different names as well.
Probably the editing, unfortunately
The easels the pictures are put on have special magnets in them that change the middle part of the pictures to correspond with what place they are put in.
First time I understood the code, which subsequently led me to understand how the trick was done. Very clever.
This is the FIRST time I've understood Penn's code. "The Middle" because each letter is turned into what he needs it to be in the middle.
The game may be Dixit. Images that may have different meanings for each person
Good call. As an avid board gamer I really wanted to figure that out.
Alison's wardrobe is stunning!!!
Teller took so little time to catch how this trick was made, that Penn had a lot of time to express it in code! Penn's coding is a masterpiece as the magician's trick!
Crazy thing is, I just sat here and picked the numbers my self, and I picked exactly the same numbers as Alison did!
"The most human thing there is... Art"
Yeah not anymore sir 😂(Stable Diffusion)
I'm almost always entertained by the acts on Fool Us, whether I know how they work or not. Not so much this time. That's OK by me. I still love Penn & Teller's Fool Us.
very good! love how it went from i f***ed up to got ya!!
Love this show!
I loved the story. Saddly the moment he turned the first picture around I knew how the trick was done. They needed far more refining and to blend in better.
How’s it done?
@@TinkerTailorSoldier1 I sent you an email explaining what I saw. If you want to know read that if not well you can keep it magic and as a mystery.
@@rurirotaru516 :O is it possible to send emails through youtube?
@@rodrigoespinoza4833 nope. I went to his channel and he had his email listed
@@rurirotaru516 :o ok, thx for the answer!
If you look closely at the HUMAN letters, the "middle" (as P&T noted in their comments) is the only variable between any letters. So the magician, when she was choosing the art, had a way to change the middle white part to form the HUMAN letters in order. Look closely at the letters and you can see seams that allow the middle white part to move. Not sure the exact mechanism that allows this, but the switch happened as he was putting the art on the easels.
Yup. As he puts each picture down he holds it from the top, in the middle. I think the center portion of each letter is on a scroll, and he's subtly using his fingers to roll it to the right position.
@@exdeathex3949 This is the correct answer. If you look at the center part of the easel after the reveal and he lifts them back off, there's a silver dot in the top right that's visible that wasn't there before he originally placed them.
At the start of the explanation Penn also snuck the word layers :)
H is the default of every picture. The virtical lines on all pictures do not move. The middle slot of each picture is on a scroll that moves in all directions. Each easel has a magnet to the North South East and West. Each easel pulls the scroll to the respective positions. 1. (H) default 2. pulls down the scroll moving the middle line of the to "H" making it (U). 3. Magnet pulls scroll left revealing the V making the (M). 4 pulls up moving the middle of the H up and revealing another horizontal line making (A). 5 pulls right revealing the diagonal line making (N).
@@AarOnCoasters Too complicated, but your right about the magnets.
On each easel the middle part of the letters is hidden, as the back side is the same color as the easel itself. See how thick the easel is? Look at the last picture he puts down, you can clearly see black outlines on each side of the easel that is behind the picture. That is the plate of the middle part of the letter.
When the magician puts down the paintings, the middle part of the letters snaps on to the paintings by a magnet. On the last picture he puts, you can hear the snap of the magnet.
Wow a trick I figured out almost immediately!
This is the most fun trick to figure out
God I love this so much
The game he's talking about is Dixit
this is epic and poetry.
This is amazing, so clever!