Originally published at: Penn and Teller performed the best magic trick ever on SNL in 1986 | Boing Boing
…
3 Likes
Except it was obvious from the get-go that they were doing that P&T thing.
My favorite P&T was their NBC special, Don’t Try This At Home.
5 Likes
8 Likes
Okay, my bad, but you practically tell from the screen grab…
4 Likes
I remember this well, but my favorites, from around that time, are the card trick involving a prerecorded VHS reveal (alternately, using the giant video screen in Times Sq.), or when they were on Letterman and did a routine to Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Do You Believe in Magic?” Pretty sure the latter has been here on BB, but I can’t find either online right now.
7 Likes
Ah, the Libertarian Magicians.
10 Likes
If you look at any successful libertarian policy long enough you’ll figure out it’s all an illusion.
29 Likes
Oh, very nice. 
8 Likes
They really nailed the portrayals at the end with the speech about how climate change isn’t real because Priuses are bad at drag racing*.
Oh, what’s that? I must have imagined that part. Would have been more believable that way.
*An actual point they tried to make on their TV show
7 Likes
I when I first saw this, that I was immediately struck by how fat their faces looked. Because whey you’re upside down, everything sags “upwards.”
My favorite trick that I saw them do live was the one where Teller drowns in a tank of water.
1 Like
Which also explains why the faces of astronauts at the International Space Station look odd. No sag.
1 Like
Second best.
4 Likes
No their best trick was the post-act arm sleeve pull of a spotted rabbit on David Letterman’s couch in the 90s after dropping a white rabbit into a wood chipper on the stage. I cannot find a clip! Should be Jan 8, 1989
3 Likes
You know something is up as soon as the clip starts and the audience keeps laughing for no apparent reason. It’s an old comedy bit. Not sure if spoilers need apply.
2 Likes
Besides being a stupid point, it’s hilarious how wrong that turned about to be. Fast acceleration and instant torque for cheap are the biggest advantages for electric vehicles in racing. Many drag strips won’t even let you race a stock Model S Plaid without a parachute and safety gear because it’s too fast in the quarter mile.
7 Likes
Also because microgravity does weird things to your fluids. Everything balls up and sloshes around into new positions. Everyone apparently gets “zero G face” at least for a while. According to some, that goes away if you’re up there long enough because your body figures out how to get things moving properly again. I don’t know if that latter part is true- the claim comes from Neal Stephenson’s SevenEves, so take that for whatever it’s worth.
3 Likes
Haha, yep, exactly. The coal rollers down at the strip on Wednesday night won’t accept it, but electric is going to be the death of ICE in drag racing, as soon as the club and class regs catch up to the technology. Once they’re allowed to start winning, nobody will bother with anything else. Nothing can compete with 100% torque at zero RPM. Nothing.
6 Likes
LOL. Yeah, I got a glimpse into that world when I researched for my first EV. EVs are really breaking the brains of some gearheads. Probably my favorite video where you get a sense of that tension: The World's Quickest Cars: Lucid Air Sapphire v Bugatti Chiron v Tesla Plaid - Cammisa's Drag Race - YouTube
4 Likes
Yeah, that was weird. The audience reactions were all out of sync/proportion for what was happening.
1 Like
