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I finally figured out Penn & Teller's bullet illusion...

I am a life long pistol shooter. I have shot in national level pistol chanmpionshps. I have worked as a gunsmith and I have loaded my own ammo for over 30 years.

I was in The Rio in 2003 and not only saw the show, I was on stage, on the side with Teller, when they did the magic bullet trick.

I have the bullet and case they used in the trick, or at least the ones that were marked on stage. I have the bullet Penn spit into my hand and Teller then handed me the case.

I giot no clue but I'm pretty sure it's misdirection and switching the bullet I selected for another trick bullet.

It was a great show and the neat part is, before I went on stage, my wife was selected by Teller to sit on stage holding a small fishbowl while he did some close up work with shiny pennys and goldfish is a tall round aquarium. She has the fishbowl and penny's he used in the act.

The thing to remember is "it's a trick".
 
I mentioned this to someone today and he said there's an exposure video on YouTube explaining the trick step by step. The video independently confirms what I had guessed, step by step. Interestingly, there's another video identifying the 50 greatest tricks of all-time, and there's segment on this bullet catch with Penn saying "No one knows how it's done." :rolleyes:

The trick with the coins and goldfish is fantastic, much better than the double bullet catch.
 
Cain said:
I mentioned this to someone today and he said there's an exposure video on YouTube explaining the trick step by step. The video independently confirms what I had guessed, step by step. Interestingly, there's another video identifying the 50 greatest tricks of all-time, and there's segment on this bullet catch with Penn saying "No one knows how it's done." :rolleyes:

The trick with the coins and goldfish is fantastic, much better than the double bullet catch.
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Afterwards I asked my wife if she saw anything and evne just two feet from Teller's hands, she saw nothing that indicated where the fish or coins came from.

I have examine the bullet very closely, it has real groves on it from being fired. I think a stage hand fires the bullets picked out through a supressed pistol backstage and then gives the case and bullets somehow to P&T.

Suprerssed (silenced) weapons are not illegal is they are properly registered. I know a number of people with fully automatic supressed H&K MP5's and I've had the opportunity to fire them.
 
If I remember correctly, the bullet was seated far enough to cover any grooves that may have been put in place before it was seated into the case and marked by the people in the audience. Only the ogive and tip were showing. Grooves are easy to put on a bullet by pushing it through any gun barrel with a wood dowel. The brass case can be sized to allow the bullet to be seated firmly, but removed with one's teeth or a small set of pliers concealed in the magician's hand. No need to go through the silencer and recovering a bullet routine to mark it with grooves.

I have no idea how they switched the brass cases between their "magic wands"

Ranb
 
Ranb said:
If I remember correctly, the bullet was seated far enough to cover any grooves that may have been put in place before it was seated into the case and marked by the people in the audience. Only the ogive and tip were showing. Grooves are easy to put on a bullet by pushing it through any gun barrel with a wood dowel. The brass case can be sized to allow the bullet to be seated firmly, but removed with one's teeth or a small set of pliers concealed in the magician's hand. No need to go through the silencer and recovering a bullet routine to mark it with grooves.

I have no idea how they switched the brass cases between their "magic wands"

Ranb
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As Cain said, there's a YouTube version that might help with that.

Still - great trick. I watched the goldfish trick again, though, and that is really impressive.
 
As I have said in another thread, I'm not sure why people cannot just link to the YouTube video. Instead there has to be vague hints after which people have to search for it themselves.

Either it is easy to find in which case why not just link straight to it, or it is difficult to find in which case mentioning it isn't really very helpful.

I find it a bit hypocritical too - why does no-one have a problem linking to videos showing how Uri Geller does his tricks. (And before anyone replies with comments about how he claims what he does is real, it seems comparable to people not linking to explanations of Derren Brown and we know he misleads people about how his tricks are done).

Sorry but I'm just getting a bit fed up with all this protected status of magic tricks - I find how magic tricks done to be very clever and interesting and I appreciate them massively - but after I have seen them I like to know how they are done (either by working out myself or, if that fails, by explanation) - and this drip feed of information (you are allowed to know how that trick is done but not this one) a little frustrating and, to a certain extent, annoying.

It is very easy to say "I know how X was done but I'm not going to tell you" and I am surprised it is so readily accepted on a sceptical site on which paranormal trickery is analysed and exposed, especially when it sometimes uses known illusionist techniques.
 
Some tricks are easy and it doesn't takemuch to figure them out.

However, when you have a really spectacular effect, it's a secret for the same reason no one knos what Ingredient X is in Coca Cola and why the two people who know the formula do not ride on the same plane.
 
Ashles said:
As I have said in another thread, I'm not sure why people cannot just link to the YouTube video. Instead there has to be vague hints after which people have to search for it themselves.

Either it is easy to find in which case why not just link straight to it, or it is difficult to find in which case mentioning it isn't really very helpful.

I find it a bit hypocritical too - why does no-one have a problem linking to videos showing how Uri Geller does his tricks. (And before anyone replies with comments about how he claims what he does is real, it seems comparable to people not linking to explanations of Derren Brown and we know he misleads people about how his tricks are done).
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Penn and Teller tell you they do tricks. Geller claims it's a mystical force.

That's the difference and that's why Geller should be exposed.

As for Derren Brown... he's very clever. He tells you that his tricks use a mixture of magic, suggestion, psychology and showmanship. He's clever because he never tells you in what degrees those are used. He is also clever because, as he says, "He's always honest about my dishonesty."

THe fact that people see a Derren Brown trick and instantly think of some psychological illusion when it's a simple multiple out or other form of magic trick says more about those people than it does Brown.

So essentially, Brown and P&T admit they are tricks... Geller claims a mystical force. That's the difference.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
I...However, he went on to say that very few magicians know how the P&T bullet catch is done. It's that good. Which leads me to believe that the OP is most likely wrong in stating that he has figured it out.
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It's been said that one of the differences between lay people and magicians is that if a lay person figures out just part of a trick, he will feel he knows it all; if a magician figures out all but part of a trick, he will feel he doesn't know it at all.
 
GregHouseMD said:
...
I have examine the bullet very closely, it has real groves on it from being fired. I think a stage hand fires the bullets picked out through a supressed pistol backstage and then gives the case and bullets somehow to P&T.
...
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No. No need for a gun at all when you can do the same thing with a purpose-built hydraulic tool in seconds.
 
Monza said:
It's been said that one of the differences between lay people and magicians is that if a lay person figures out just part of a trick, he will feel he knows it all; if a magician figures out all but part of a trick, he will feel he doesn't know it at all.
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Then this makes me a lay person. I watched the other video that tells how the trick was done. It looks like the person who edited in the comments has an axe to grind. :)

Ranb
 
BenBurch said:
That one had you fooled?

I must have been on a good sight line from it, because I could make you that box right now. Its all optics and partitions.
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Pssssht. The standard for a trick is not that it must fool me. That can be a great feeling. The fish bowl for Miser's Dream followed by a goldfish production. It's funny, it's visual, it's magical (plus there's not a lot of Penn in it). My strongest objection is that uses animals (a recent TIMES (London) article claims goldfish are as smart as mice).

Who cares if the bullet trick is more difficult to figure out. I can do a card trick based on a stack of principles -- memorization, floating key card, and clocking -- but, if presented right, spectators will remember the one where I changed an indifferent card to their selection in their own hands. It's all about clarity of effect, and this one is so clear that it takes virtually no words.
 
Well, I'm no magician, but I figured out at least part of it just watching the video once.
 
I love the Bullet Catch. What a great trick. In descriptions from others, I've seen many say that a confederate backstage is watching the live video and then tries to re-create the marks drawn on the bullet. I don't think so. I'm convinced the bullets that come out of the mouths are the very same ones the audience marked up.
 
Dumb All Over said:
I love the Bullet Catch. What a great trick. In descriptions from others, I've seen many say that a confederate backstage is watching the live video and then tries to re-create the marks drawn on the bullet. I don't think so. I'm convinced the bullets that come out of the mouths are the very same ones the audience marked up.
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Of course they are.

Yes, the backstage crew is involved, though.

If you COULD do this on a bare stage with no curtains and nothing at the wings you would be doing a different illusion.
 
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