A talking goldfish, a dragon and Teller sound like the beginning of a strange joke. In “Fin & Teller,” they become the cast of an unusual mentalism routine that closes Season 4, Episode 6 of Penn & Teller: Fool Us.
The episode, “Something Fishy This Way Comes,” originally aired on August 17, 2017. Its closing performance brings Piff the Magic Dragon together with Penn’s talking goldfish persona and Teller’s familiar silent stage character.
Piff introduces Fin as a mind-reading goldfish, then invites an audience member named Abe to choose one of three books. Abe is asked to think of a word at least eight letters long. Even the fish is covered so it cannot peek at the selection.
The first attempt at mind reading becomes an extended alphabet joke. Fin struggles with the opening letter, while Piff tries to keep the performance moving. The exaggerated confidence of the supposed psychic makes the slow progress part of the comedy.
Then Fin’s new home turns out to be a blender, and Piff announces that the fish must identify the word to survive. The theatrical threat adds a dose of Penn & Teller’s dark humor to a book test—the familiar mentalism effect involving a word selected from a book.
There is an interesting connection to Piff’s wider act. A May 2017 profile in Las Vegas Magazine described another of his stage characters, David Copperfish, as a mind-reading goldfish. Fishy wordplay was already part of the dragon’s repertoire before this television collaboration.
The same profile explored Piff’s relationship with Penn & Teller following his 2011 Fool Us appearance. Piff recalled that they contacted him after seeing his performance and generously answered his questions about show business. That background gives this reunion an added layer of interest.
For magic fans, “Fin & Teller” offers an entertaining example of building a routine around characters. A book and a thought-of word provide the mystery; the unlikely cast gives the audience a comic story to follow.
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