Penn Jillette and Teller go to China, Egypt and India to see local magicians perform. It's a 3 part mini-series. It's an interesting travelogue that is different and fascinating. In China, the magic show with no audience is absolutely surreal. The rural magic family is endearing. In Cairo, it has good chaotic streets. The glass eater is fun and then he starts eating the brick. In this one, Teller is talking and his explanation of the cup and ball trick is really touching. Actually some of it is quite sadly poignant. In India, the guys go in search for the Indian rope trick. How they resolve the search is an interesting take on the trick. The show isn't about the tricks as much as it's about the culture of magic.
2 Reviews
If you can make it past the god-awful intro, you'll enjoy this short series.
planktonrules29 June 2014
"Penn & Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour" is a short series produced for Canadian television. The famous magicians travel to three cities around the world and they look at the culture and history of magic--especially the state of magic and magicians today. They go to China, India and Egypt and it's all very interesting. HOWEVER, while the shows are pretty interesting, it is doubtful that many will get past the god-awful intro. The song is hellishly bad and the cartoon isn't particularly good, either. In fact, it's just terrible and lacks the polish of their later (and much better) series, "Bull****".
There are MANY things I liked about the show. Some of the highlights include actually hearing Teller talk (!!!) on film, seeing a LOT of squeamish tricks (such as passing snakes up the nose, the guy eating glass and many more) as well as the cultural information you learn (such as how they NEVER heat places in China during the winter). It is well worth seeing--just not among the pairs very best stuff.
By the way, I do love Penn & Teller. They are wonderful magicians and entertainers and I adored seeing them in person in Las Vegas (they were better to their audience than I could ever expect--personally meeting and greeting EVERYONE after the show ended). However, I hated when they talked about bringing all their own food and how they wouldn't eat the local fare. It seemed pretty xenophobic--which is in sharp contrast to the rest of the show. I could DEFINITELY understand bringing water--but food?! Or, if you're worried about illness, eat the canned food but don't talk about it as if there's something wrong the with local foods.
There are MANY things I liked about the show. Some of the highlights include actually hearing Teller talk (!!!) on film, seeing a LOT of squeamish tricks (such as passing snakes up the nose, the guy eating glass and many more) as well as the cultural information you learn (such as how they NEVER heat places in China during the winter). It is well worth seeing--just not among the pairs very best stuff.
By the way, I do love Penn & Teller. They are wonderful magicians and entertainers and I adored seeing them in person in Las Vegas (they were better to their audience than I could ever expect--personally meeting and greeting EVERYONE after the show ended). However, I hated when they talked about bringing all their own food and how they wouldn't eat the local fare. It seemed pretty xenophobic--which is in sharp contrast to the rest of the show. I could DEFINITELY understand bringing water--but food?! Or, if you're worried about illness, eat the canned food but don't talk about it as if there's something wrong the with local foods.
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