Penn & Teller: Fool Us

It's always interesting to watch a good magician ply his or her trade, and Penn and Teller have managed to pull a good slate, with fascinating tricks that run the gamut from card tricks to illusions involving a performer escaping from a locked trunk. That the duo spends time after every trick to concur and then reveal to the audience some of the aspects of how it was done gives this show a cool edge. Magicians will appreciate that Penn and Teller don't actually blurt out all their secrets. Instead, they suggest the crux of the trick and let the audience guess at the details.

That may prove frustrating to young magicians who are watching and trying to learn tricks of the trade. However, it does make the show interesting for family viewing. If you know that the secret of the trick is connected with a particular sleight-of-hand movement or with a prop, you can debate: How was it done? Even younger kids can learn to view what they see with skepticism, and this show will help in that regard.