-Hello. Welcome. -(CALM MUSIC PLAYING)
Say, um, are you like me, Jeff Goldblum?
Well, hopefully not in... (CHUCKLES) ...all sorts of ways that I can imagine.
But maybe we share an interest in magic.
MALE VOICE: This is a good trick. Watch it closely.
JEFF: Ever since I was a little kid, I've always loved
-to marvel at the impossible. -(CHILDREN LAUGHING)
JEFF: From fantastical fairy tales, to spectacular stage shows.
But there's one big question
that to this very day has gotten me a little bit perplexed.
(CROWD APPLAUD)
Why do we human beings like being deceived?
Oh, as a matter of fact, let me write down one more idea for...
I need a pencil.
-Oh! (MUMBLES) -(OPERATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
This could be the start of something big. Here we go.
Let's, you and I, now disappear down the rabbit hole
into the mesmerizing world of magical illusions.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: It's been a while since I've been bamboozled by magic,
so I want to find out whether watching a trick or two still has that same allure.
(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)
(MEN CHEER)
JEFF: I mean, kids like magic, of course, but still for many of us,
you know, we get a big kick out of it. Why is that?
(HIP-HOP MUSIC CONCLUDES)
I got some wish paper. You have no idea what I'm talking about.
Right there.
-CROWD: Ooh! -MALE VOICE: Okay.
-You wanna take the ball? -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(ALL CHUCKLE)
-A trick is going on. -ERIK: Think about something...
Hey, Jeff, come over here, I wanna show you something.
-Really? Really? -MALE VOICE 2: Whoo!
I'm gonna show you how to make this turn into a bunch of money.
If you can take the lighter?
-Light it for me please. -You're going to turn this into money?
-(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) -(CROWD CHEERS)
MALE VOICE: Yes! Is that real money? Oh, my God.
-Oh, it's real. You can check it. -MALE VOICE 3: Are you serious? Damn!
-(CROWD CHEERING) -(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONCLUDES)
What a trick. Wow. Why do we like it so much?
I believe everything that you ever thought of throughout the whole day is now gone.
And, now you're just focused on this beautiful moment right here.
-It's like a... a break from reality. -Yes! Yes, I like what you're saying.
Takes us out of the ordinary.
-MALE VOICE: Yeah, right. -Right.
Can you raise your hand like this?
All right, perfect. Can you hold your hands down like this?
-JEFF: Okay. -ERIK: Excellent.
I want you to squeeze tight, tight as you can.
-Oh boy, I... -(CHUCKLES)
ERIK: I'm gonna try to get permanent ink to transfer
from my hand to somebody else's hand. Okay, so we'll just do this.
-JEFF: Did you see that? He just put... -ERIK: Six permanent Xs.
If you just keep rubbing it, you can actually get it to come off.
(ERIK CLICKS TONGUE)
One, two, three, four, five, six.
Hold your hands out like this. Squeeze tight,
-squeeze tight, like this. -Everybody, everybody. Wait, wait, wait...
ERIK: At the count of three, you're gonna open your hands.
-All right, all right. (CHUCKLES) -One...
-(CHUCKLES) -...two, three. Show your hands.
-(CROWD CHEERS) -(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
-MALE VOICE 1: Yo, yo, yo, yo. -MALE VOICE 2: Yo, yo!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JEFF: Wait a minute. All these good folks are being hoodwinked
-and let's face it, deceived. -Oh, my... (CHUCKLES)
-(SCREAMS) -(SCREAMS)
JEFF: But look! Those aren't faces of dismay or chagrin.
-MALE VOICE: Wait. -How did you do that?
JEFF: They are obviously, uh, completely thrilled.
-(CROWD CHEERS) -(ERIK CHUCKLES)
-JEFF: What? What? What? What's going on? -(MAN CHUCKLES)
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES)
With any of these tricks, if you're fooled,
is there anything in you that starts to go, "Hey, I don't like this."
It keeps you wanting more, like, cause you're wondering like...
-MALE VOICE: Yeah. -"How did he do that?"
-MALE VOICE: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. -So, now you wanna see more tricks
to figure out how do you do the next trick.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Seeing a magic trick, isn't that being lied to?
Yes, deceived. Yes, it is.
So, w... Isn't it strange that people are willing? I guess it is strange.
I've seen it in action on the street level.
Now, I want to tap into the people
who are doing it at the most masterful level.
And what happens to us when we witness such a thing?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC CONCLUDES)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Now, when it comes to wizardry,
just as interesting, at least to me, as the suspension of disbelief
of the audience is, what the heck these performers are doing.
So, let's go meet a couple of maverick magicians
who have promised to give us all a little peek behind the mystical curtain.
-The great, Penn and Teller. -Come on in.
-(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONCLUDES) -JEFF: I guess it's showtime,
but I'll be cow-swigged if I'm gonna get fooled again.
-We have taken grapefruits here... -(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
...and we've written the names of some of the movies you've done.
Pick a number between one and ten.
-Ten. -Ten. Good, do you want black or red?
-Black or red? -Black.
Black clubs or spades?
-Clubs. -Clubs. We're going with the ten of clubs.
Now, we got three movies going on. All good movies.
-(CHUCKLES) -Which one of those movies do you want?
-Jurassic Park. -That one, Teller, Jurassic Park.
Now, if you'd chosen Thor, we would have had nothing
but citrus goodness in there.
If you'd chosen The Fly, nothing but citrus goodness...
-JEFF: Uh-huh. -PENN: But Jurassic Park...
There's something in there, Jeff.
Well, I'll be hornswoggled, there's a card in there.
-And that one card, Jeff... -JEFF: No.
...out of the middle of your grapefruit was the ten of clubs.
-(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC CONCLUDES) -(GASPS) I did that?
And you should do that. It's a good trick.
-It's a fantastic trick. -(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
Totally amazing. I don't know what you did.
-(CROWD APPLAUDING) -JEFF: Penn and Teller
have been doing this stuff together for more than 40 years.
They are one of the highest paid magic acts in the world,
and they're quite well-known for debunking other illusionists
who claim to have mystical powers.
Do you consider yourselves like...
um, other artists who break the fourth wall
-and say, "What is magic?" -Some magicians like to blur the line.
We are of the tradition of wanting very much to be honest
about the fact that we're lying. We don't want anyone to leave the theater,
believing something that we know not to be true.
And it doesn't diminish their enjoyment of it?
It doesn't at all. (HESITATES) It increases it, as a matter of fact,
because you're not being insulted.
JEFF: Well, I want to put Penn and Teller's theory to the test.
If magic is all about lying, am I still going to be able to enjoy it
if it's deconstructed right in front of my very animated and goggley eyes?
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: I think it's time for me and Penn and Teller,
to get some analysis from a learned, uh, power couple.
SUSANNA: We're going to use magic to get a handle on your brain
by measuring your eye movements today while you watch a magic trick.
We're gonna be fitting you with these glasses,
which are gonna track your gaze.
These two little cameras are pointed at your eyes,
so that later on, we're gonna be able to see exactly
what direction you're looking at.
JEFF: Neuroscientists have been studying magicians like Penn and Teller
to try to understand how a magician's sleight of hand
is able to outsmart our eyes and brains.
I'm going to show you, perhaps one of the oldest tricks in magic,
perhaps the oldest trick, cups and balls.
MALE VOICE: Well, well, well, the oldest conjuring trick in the world.
The hand is quicker than the eye.
JEFF: Here comes another display of devilish dexterity,
but I'll be a ring-tailed monkey if I'm going to get buffaloed again.
It goes like this. We, uh, take the ball, place in our hand,
vanish it and it appears underneath the cup.
Here's variation Teller came up with, where he takes the ball, placed his hand,
shows underneath the cup, and it still appears underneath the cup.
You're so talented.
PENN: We need that center ball, place it center cup.
Get the two, side balls, they still rejoin underneath the center cup.
Now, this is a little bit of juggling over here for you, Jeff...
-JEFF: I love juggling. -PENN: Where are you looking now?
And then, a giant ball beneath the center cup,
-giant ball on either side, of course... -JEFF: Oh, come on. Oh, come on.
-...for the finish.... -(CHUCKLES)
-...it's an American baseball! -Ah! Come on! (CHUCKLES)
And our way of, um, exploring how this fools people,
is by breaking a few rules of magic with clear plastic cups.
JEFF: Okay, they're see-through, so that's it. Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, you can't fool the fool me.
Take the first ball, pretend to place it in our hand,
I've already snuck it underneath the first cup.
To the second ball simultaneously secreted beneath the cup,
we'll place it our hand, and show it.
Take the third and final ball, pretend to place it in our hand,
pretend to show under the cup.
Replace with the cup that's secretly secreted, and reveal it.
Now, we're all set for the second half. Three cups all loaded,
three balls on top, grab the center ball, placed into the cup.
The two side balls, we put 'em away, we don't need them,
we have three balls already loaded inside a cup.
These three balls will be... And this is not juggling,
this is called misdirection. While you're looking over here,
Teller switches the final ball under,
one more on either side, and of course for the finish...
-it's the baseball, Jeff. -Wow! That was fantastic.
My brain has been examined now by the good doctors.
Hey, I like... I like this. This is what I was seeing.
Faces are very interesting to our visual systems
so we tend to look at faces a lot and that's exactly what you're doing.
Now, these cups and balls, it divides attention.
Three cups, three different spatial positions,
makes it that you have to split your attention. See, you can't decide
between the three locations of the cups, there are two faces,
you're driving yourself a bit crazy just trying to keep track of everything
at once and just switching.
And every time that you switch, you lose time.
STEPHEN: As he juggles, you're looking there.
-You're not looking at what just happened. -Right?
-Which is what the tricksters intend. -STEPHEN: Right.
And so what makes this particular trick really interesting,
they redo it again...
-JEFF: Yeah. -...but now with transparent cups,
and you shouldn't fall for any of the tricks
-that they had you fall for. Right? -JEFF: Yeah.
STEPHEN: So, even though you've been warned,
-you are falling for every single trick. -JEFF: Right.
You think if I saw the trick now, after having seen this,
-I would... -SUSANNA: Oh, you'll fall for it, again.
-STEPHEN: Still. -I would fall for it again.
Yeah, in the end, magic, if you think about the mechanics,
it's simple. The real magic is happening inside of the brain.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Well, science is only just beginning to understand
what magicians have known for centuries.
That how our brains function make us ripe for trickery.
Uh... Okay, this is how it works.
From the moment that we're born, we're constantly
-looking for explanations. -(BABY GIGGLING)
JEFF: So, when we encounter something that seems to defy the laws of logic,
it can blow our so-called minds.
And magicians know all too well how to exploit this
by bombarding us with information and clever misdirection,
which forces us to focus on the things
that seem like they might be the most important
and this creates cognitive dissonance,
uh, a conflict between what we believe to be true
and what we actually experience,
all from just missing the things that are right in front of our eyes.
(OMINOUS MUSIC CONCLUDES)
JEFF: And there we have it.
Modern magic can be boiled down to science and stagecraft.
But let's not forget that the origins of magic
find their roots in the realms of the mystical.
I'm gonna take you someplace now. I don't wanna give it away.
But look at my eyes. Look at my eyeballs and see what I'm thinking.
I'm telepathically sending you a message.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Long before there were magicians like Penn and Teller,
magic was a source of fear and wonderment throughout the known world.
(CHUCKLES) Well, I'll show her! (CHUCKLES)
JEFF: But even in this so-called age of enlightenment and reason,
some of us hold onto a fervent faith
in the power of magical spells, rituals, the paranormal, and all things mystical.
-(WITCH CHUCKLING) -(OMINOUS MUSIC FADES)
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
KAITLYN: Good spirits that surround us, be with us now.
-Bless us and protect us. -KRYSTA: Ashe, Amen.
BRANCHE: Ashe, Amen.
-Amen. -BRANCHE: Oh, hello.
-KAITLYN: Hi. -KRYSTA: Hi.
-(CHUCKLES) -I sit at your feet. My name is Jeff.
-(BRANCHE CHUCKLES) -Well, welcome to our space.
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC CONCLUDES)
Do you want to join the coven, Jeff?
Is that what this is? Is this a coven?
-Coven, church, family. -KAITLYN: For sure.
-JEFF: Oh, I see. -KAITLYN: We're family. We've shared
-many lifetimes together. (CHUCKLES) -BRANCHE: Yeah. (CHUCKLES)
-Really? -KAITLYN: Yes.
BRANCHE: Absolutely.
Look, I'm meat and potatoes in some ways, but my, uh, acting life caused me to seek
maximum openness and interest in the unseen.
That's what magic has done for me. It lets you explore
beyond the boundaries of what society says is possible,
and get to that place where you are open to endless possibility.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: These wonderful witches have a whole grab bag
of different beliefs which all fall under the mystical cloak
-of what we could call magic, I suppose. -I consider the skeptics medicine.
JEFF: And they even claim that they have the power
to communicate with otherworldly entities.
I'm a tarot reader, I'm a psychic, I'm a medium.
I'm an extra-large, in case you're...
-Oh, medium. I see. No, no. -(WITCHES CHUCKLE)
JEFF: I may be skeptical, but from what I can tell,
these particular witches believe in something
that certainly is...
-(WITCHES CHUCKLE) -...uh, nurturing for them.
JEFF: And I do wanna see what's possible
-when I surrender to the spirit. -(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
-KRYSTA: Here we have an ancestor altar. -JEFF: Okay.
KRYSTA: You've brought me pictures.
-I wanna see them. -JEFF: I'll tell you everything.
This is my grandparents.
Anna-Kat and Sam Temeles came from, I think, you know, right around Russia.
This is my dad. That's Harold Leonard Goldblum.
KRYSTA: Okay... (CHUCKLES) ...here we are.
-(JEFF CHUCKLING) -This is the altar for your family.
So, what we do we have this, and we just call 'em in.
There's a couple of things that I'm hearing that I'd like to share,
just because they're coming through my mind really quickly.
They were saying to me that it is really important that you hear
that you are doing such an excellent job
as a father. It's so emphatic, the way that they say it.
What are you saying? Can you slow down? You're... (CHUCKLES) Sorry.
The way that you speak to them and the way that you are there to just help them be
exactly who they came here to be, is the single greatest accomplishment
of your entire life.
Yes, I'm sorry, yes. They're not gonna waste an opportunity
to speak directly to you and say, "Stay on the line,
"stay on the path and that..." Is that it? And that's it. That's it.
-Thank you so much. -You're welcome. I'm just a vessel.
-I mean, once you have kids, you know... -(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC FADES)
...you know, your heart just breaks open.
(SIGHS) You hope that you're doing everything you can for them.
KRYSTA: And so, that's what this is. That's the power.
(SNIFFLES) Wow. What a... What a session.
-(CHUCKLES) -Holy cats, I'll never be the same.
-Oh. -(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Hey, I definitely felt somethin',
but, uh, was that just my heart overruling my head?
I did have an experience, because when you're meditating
on departed relatives,
it can be a beautiful thing and a fruitful thing.
And even though I didn't let myself be so open-minded that my brains fell out,
Um, I was, uh, delighted by these witches.
I'm fervent and passionate about my devotion to science,
but I'm gonna always like the nutty and even the spectacular,
while still keeping a close eye on myself, you know? (CHUCKLES)
-(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONCLUDES) -(WIND HOWLING)
JEFF: Whether it's real or not, magic is all around us.
And imagining the impossible has fueled scientists and adventurers
to push beyond boundaries and literally reach for the stars.
Believe it or not, when Newtonian gravity was first discovered in the 17th century,
it was written off by some as simply magical airy-fairyment.
But despite this, experts continue to make cutting edge breakthroughs
inspired by the feats and accomplishments of our humble magicians.
And this offers hope that science is gonna keep finding answers
to life's great mysteries, and it shows us once again
that, uh, a little wonder in the world can go a long, long way.
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Of course, there's another kind of illusion
that I'm a little bit familiar with,
you know, I've, uh, I've played around with.
Where am I right now?
It's a cavernous warehouse of some kind. Ooh!
(ZIP LINE WHIRRS)
What's going on?
Do my eyes deceive me? It's Zach King ziplining in. Look at you.
-Well, not unlike, uh, Mr. Goldblum... -(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
...it was the magic of movin' pictures that first cast their spell
over the amazing Mr. King.
-You know who you remind me of? -Who?
-You're a kind of Peter Pan. -Yeah. Peter Pan. I could see that.
I believe in play, because it unlocks subconscious ideas.
JEFF: But in this warehouse, well, he's not trying to make
big-screen blockbusters, but a little bit of cinematic chicanery
that we can all watch on our little phone devices.
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES)
We, you know, create all our videos in here, we create sets.
We have a giant donut in here that I'll show you in a second.
-Have you had breakfast yet? -(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
Yes, but I always like a second breakfast. I'm grazing all day.
JEFF: Zach's eyepopping illusions have racked up
an online following of more than 80 million fans
and his videos have been watched over a billion times.
ZACH: And I'll do a lot of large-scale, gigantic things
'cause we love to play with perspective. This is the giant donut.
JEFF: Look at that. That's a sugary donut.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC FADES)
JEFF: So, when you were a kid, when is the first time
you can remember going, "Ah, magic. I wanna do that. I wanna..."
I remember doing magic from a really young age. My grandfather got me in.
But eventually, my love of filmmaking, like,
-took over, so that's when... -Well, how'd that happen?
My dad just sent me a clip. I was four years old
when he showed me Jurassic Park.
They... They filmed it 'cause they thought it was kind funny how... how scared I was.
And I just started grabbing the camera and filming.
-(PROJECTOR CLATTERING) -(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: In fact, the very first film special effects artists were bona fide magicians.
And for over a century now, audiences have demanded
ever-increasing on-screen trickery, that's helped keep movie magic alive.
Zach has taken some of those Hollywood camera techniques
and made them his very own,
continuing to push the boundaries of what our eyes can believe.
Oh... Oh!
I lost you there, on the tour. If you walk all the way down...
JEFF: And it's tricks like this that make Zach the millennial poster boy
-for optical wonderment. -Keep going. Yeah, you're so tiny.
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC CONCLUDES)
I have no idea what you are getting painted up for.
You're gonna be in a video where you're gonna be
-a master renaissance painter. -Fantastic.
Hey, that sounds like a lot of acting for me. I got a lot to do.
-No, there's no lines actually. -If something occurs to me, you know?
So, as a pioneer, what's the future of magic and film magic?
I think there'll always be magic in the world.
There'll always be people who can do amazing stage magic,
um, because I think we love that wonder. What's blowing my mind
is how people can do this on their phone. But I think that's the future,
as everyone has these powerful tools.
We just try to have a little bit of wonder in 15 seconds.
"Wonder in 15 seconds." It's a fantastic thing.
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Well, everybody is, uh, crying out for it to such a deafening degree,
that I guess Mr. Jeff Goldblum might have to make an appearance.
-All right, let me get... hop in here... -Okay.
-...and that'll just block it out. -Good, good, good.
Tell me if I'm not subtle enough. I've been known to,
on early takes, uh, overdo.
-ZACH: All right, here we go. And action. -(HUMS)
(HUMS)
(ZACH GRUNTS)
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC CONCLUDES)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: What does Zach King's content show us?
Well, maybe we're all looking, you know, in the course of our ordinary lives
for at least a sprinkling of the magic. I think so.
Well, as we learned, your eyes can play tricks on you.
-As a matter of fact, watch... watch this. -(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
Hmm.
Yeah, how about that?
I'm energized.
I am full to bursting with magical energy.
-Talk about recovering your childhood. -(RIVER CHEERS)
JEFF: As a dad, I've had a ringside seat
to my two sons delight in magic and enchantment.
-Do you think that's a real knot? -RIVER: Yeah.
-Peekaboo. It's not. It's not. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JEFF: They already have a sense of wonderment and imagination
and I kind of want to keep nourishing that in myself.
We believe in you, fairies, and the magic you bring.
JEFF: Whether it's through stage craft or props or performance, magic exists,
I think in some ways, because of our willingness
to believe in things that we don't understand.
-Hey, I feel something. -You did?
-(CHARLIE CHUCKLES) -You think it was the fairies?
And if you're intelligent, keep your feet on the ground
and know your facts,
then you can enjoy these moments of inspiration.
And hey, if illusion and a couple of tricks can remind us of our playful
and colossal creativity, then sure, that's good for me.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I surrender. I'm willing to be deceived.
That's a wrap on magic.
CHARLIE: It's not.