Penn & Teller Teach You a Magic Trick — And Prove the Secret Isn't the Most Important Part

 For decades, Penn & Teller have built a career around doing something that magicians were once told never to do:

Tell the audience how the trick works.

But somehow, even when audiences know the secret, Penn & Teller can still fool them, entertain them and make the magic feel impossible.

In the video “Penn & Teller – Teach You a Trick,” the legendary duo once again plays with one of magic's oldest rules by giving viewers a chance to actually learn some magic themselves.

And beneath all the comedy and deception is an important lesson about what really makes a magic trick entertaining.

Penn & Teller Have Always Broken the Rules

Most traditional magicians carefully guard their secrets.

Penn & Teller took a different approach.

Throughout their career, they've created routines where methods are apparently exposed right in front of the audience. Sometimes they'll explain a secret and then perform the effect again. Other times, the exposure itself becomes part of a larger deception.

It's one of the things that made the duo different from virtually every other magic act when they first became famous.

Instead of pretending magic secrets didn't exist, Penn & Teller made the audience's curiosity about those secrets part of the show.

What Happens When Magicians Actually Teach the Audience?

Teaching someone a magic trick changes the relationship between magician and spectator.

For a moment, the spectator isn't simply watching the mystery.

They're becoming part of it.

They get to experience what magicians experience when they first learn an effect: discovering that something which appeared completely impossible may have a surprisingly clever solution.

But knowing a secret and being able to perform a magic trick are two very different things.

That's where this video becomes especially interesting for magicians.

The Secret Is Only the Beginning

Ask almost any magician how they became interested in magic and you'll probably hear a story about learning that first trick.

Maybe someone showed them a card trick.

Maybe they received a magic set.

Maybe they checked a magic book out of the library or watched a magician on television.

Once they discovered the secret, something changed.

Instead of ruining magic, learning how one trick worked made them want to learn another.

And then another.

Eventually they discovered something every serious magician learns:

The secret isn't the trick.

The secret is simply the mechanism that makes the impossible moment possible.

The magician still has to turn that secret into entertainment.

Penn & Teller Understand That Better Than Almost Anyone

That philosophy has been at the heart of Penn & Teller's work for decades.

Their routines aren't memorable simply because of clever methods.

They're memorable because of the personalities performing them.

Penn Jillette's rapid-fire talking and larger-than-life personality contrasts perfectly with Teller's famously silent character. Together, they've created a performing style that is instantly recognizable.

Take the same secret and give it to another magician, and the result could be completely different.

That's one of the beautiful things about magic.

Two performers can perform essentially the same trick and create two completely different experiences.

From Teaching Tricks to Fool Us

There's also something particularly fun about watching Penn & Teller teach magic when you consider what they're best known for today.

On Penn & Teller: Fool Us, magicians from around the world perform specifically to prevent Penn & Teller from figuring out their secrets.

The entire premise depends upon two people who possess an enormous knowledge of magic methods trying to determine what's happening.

Yet even after decades of experience, they're still occasionally fooled.

That's another reminder that magic continues to evolve.

New methods are created.

Old principles are disguised in new ways.

And talented performers find new presentations for ideas magicians have been experimenting with for generations.

Could This Video Create a Future Magician?

There's another reason videos like this are important.

Somewhere, someone may watch Penn & Teller teach a trick and decide they want to learn another one.

That person might buy their first magic book.

They might visit a magic shop.

They might perform a trick for their family.

And perhaps years from now they'll be standing on a stage performing professionally—or even attempting to fool Penn & Teller themselves.

Every magician has a first trick.

Maybe this will be somebody's.

Watch Penn & Teller Teach You a Trick

Whether you're already a magician or simply someone curious about how magic works, “Penn & Teller – Teach You a Trick” is another entertaining example of why this legendary duo has remained such an important part of magic for so many years.

Because ultimately Penn & Teller understand something that's easy to forget:

Learning the secret doesn't necessarily destroy the magic.

Sometimes, it's where the magic begins.

Watch the video and give the trick a try yourself.

And who knows?

Maybe you'll catch the magic bug too.