I can't believe I found this. The other day I was watching TLC when I saw this thing on the secrets of magic. It was really more of a history of... very good show. In the middle of it, I saw Penn and Teller do their cups and balls routine. I had seen the show before, knew what was coming and taped it.

As is Penn and Teller's style, they broke the four basic rules of magic: they did the same trick twice, they said exactly how it was done, showed the secret setup and, as they put it, "something that even Paul Daniels would agree with" (?) they did it all with CLEAR PLASTIC CUPS (they were using aluminum foil balls and plastic cups).

Of course they did a two to three minute trick in fifteen seconds so you couldn't see what was happening; unless you recorded the show (like me) and studied the tape for an HOUR (like me). I now know Penn and Teller's Cups and Balls routine. nothing fancy but a really good teacher for almost every effect.

If you like this trick, try to order the video. there may be a bit of red tape to clear, but a special request should suffice.

-Happy hunting

Tropical Penguin!!!

Could I get some thoughts as to my find... yea, nay, rock on, I'm gonna hunt you down... that sorta thing. This was my second post so I don't have much public opinion on this.
-toodles
Tropical penguin

wow, good for you... modest also

I've learned a lot over the years studying tapes in slo-mo. My fave was getting Jason Byrne's (sp?) dove routine down pat.

Then I learned an important lesson, the hard way.

Immitation is not a good thing as you must be able to immitate the magicians presence and charm, something needed to pull it off like they do.

So use what you have learned to come up with your own routine.

will do good buddy
-tropical penguin

Nowadays with DVD's it's going to be easier since the frames are a lot clearer when you pause or look at something in slow mo.

My question is, why do we get so mad when the masked magician exposes tricks but we let Penn and Teller get away with it??
I don't see how this works. Penn and Teller always exposed technique and well know tricks. The masked magi just exposes tricks that are to impractical for anyone to care.

Have you ever seen Pen and Teller perform?
Because if you did,then you would know that at the end they realy do not expose anything.
As for the masked magician specials, I do not believe that the tricks they showed are impractical for anyone to use. Just because some methods are old ,it doesn't mean they are bad.
Plus exposure have been here for ages and it doesn't look like, that magicians will be out of bussines any time soon.

The masked magician and the producers etc involved are just out to make a buck. I have never seen Penn and Teller show how to do a trick that I couldnt do another way, and they are also very talented performers.

Their shows (televised ones at least) are presented very tongue in cheek as they do alot of magic that they do not explain. The cup and Balls with clear cups is a classic example, they 'show' people how to do a trick without really showing them.

Like Vaclav said, exposure has been around as long as magicians and we hae survived so far.