For those that may be interested, (I didn't know which forum to post this to) the P&T documentaries in China, India & Egypt are finally airing in the U.S. Devout Penn and Teller fans will remember the great "Road Penn" and "Teller Speaks" articles that the boys sent in to sin city from overseas.

Penn & Teller's Magical Mystery Tour will be airing in the USA this month on The Learning Channel. Don't miss the India episode on March 28 and the China episode on March 29th at 6:00 PM ET/PT. The Egypt episode will be airing in June. For more information go to:
http://www.tlc.discovery.com/schedule/se......6+teller

Thanx for letting us know, it is appreciated.

Is it the one (Egypt epsiode) where they did the cups and balls in clear cups? I've seen it on TV in Singapore, don't really like the way they showed how the C&B was done on national TV.

Bernard:
In my opinion, P&T have NEVER "showed how the C&B are done on national TV".

Penn & Teller's version of the cups and balls is a demonstration of a skillful magician's ability to fool the eyes, even when the eyes "see" what is happening. Several of the loads are still quite deceptive (I have seen both non-magicians and "magicians" alike be fooled by them).

P&T do no more exposure in the cups and balls than Ricky Jay, Paul Gertner, Dai Vernon and Johann Nepomuk Hofsinzer - all of whom have made statements along the lines of "I only pretend to put it in my pocket, and I sneak it under the cup." And it's rare that these folks are attacked for
"exposure".

Penn & Teller have been accused of this type of "exposure" for years. And as the boys have said, it's really only the amatuers that get upset - and that's because they tell them that they're supposed to be upset. What a beautiful application of the fine art of lying.

Oh wait, I think I'm wrong. There is one thing that P&T used to expose on stage - THEMSLEVES. The boys used to strip down and produce tons of blood. Other than that, I don't think that P&T have hurt magicians in anyway through "exposure".

Eric,
IMO, why use the clear cups when they have already showed the routine using normal cups? I'm not about to start anything about their exposure. However, their C&B routine is really nice.

Bernard:
See above for an explanation of "why" they use the clear plastic cups. Fascinating, in that it still fools the eye, even when the eye "see's" what is happening.

Long story short, late one night in a diner, Teller was thinking about a new cups and balls move. He grabbed a nearby glass to try it out. When he did the move, it still fooled his eyes (even with the transparent glass). Just another happy accident that caused P&T a tremendous amount of success and to be thrown out of the Magic Castle (at least according to Penn - but Penn himself has said, "Something's I just make up.")

Bernard,
P&T make fun of the pretense that some magicians bring to the table... the same way that the Amazing Jonathan does. ("Let's start with the linking rings. Okay, they're linked. Get 'em the (*&@#$ outta here!")

They really, as aforementioned, reveal no secrets. They bring an attitude to the table that some folks just can't stomach. And that's okay. I think folks like them, Jonathan, Michael Finney and others are well needed in the field of magic, as a counterpoint to those magicians and those fans who would take things far, far, too seriously.

My .02; YMMV.