Why do Penn & Teller break the rules of magic?

[afk341]

Why do Penn and Teller break the traditional rules of magic? According to book Royal road to Card Magic, it contains a list of rules at the end of the preface about several important rules. Maybe I haven't watched Penn and Teller a lot but it seems they break some of the rules. Let me list the rules(a paraphrased version from the Royal Road to Card Magic):

1) Never tell the purpose of the trick

2) Do not repeat the trick.

3) Never tell the secret of the trick

4) Use misdirection to hide sleights or other moves

5)Practice good patter for the trick

Penn and Teller do not seem to break all the rules , but just one, two, and three.So now let me ask you. Do you follow these rules? Do you think these rules are important? Did Penn and Teller create a new perspective in magic?

I'm just curious as to what you guys have to say about this, especially for you experienced magicians out there.

 

[LamontM]

In my opinion the rules you listed are extremely important and each of them does not come without reasoning.


1) Never tell the purpose of the trick - If you tell the purpose of the effect before hand the spectator will know what to expect and may be searching for "The move(s)". I personally prefer the element of surprise so I do follow this rule.

2) Do not repeat the trick. - Again, the spectator knows what to expect and may watch closer to figure out the secret. Most of the time I follow this rule, but it really depends on the effect. If it's an effect I feel I've perfected then I'd be more likely to perform it again if asked.

3) Never tell the secret of the trick - This one is pretty obvious. I once heard a quote that went something like this "The magic lies within the mystery. Once the mystery is gone, so is the magic". The quote may not have gone exactly like that, but I can't remember it word for word . I may share my secret with a fellow trustworthy magician, but never to a spectator.

4) Use misdirection to hide sleights or other moves - Personally I think that misdirection is only needed in some cases and not necessarily every sleight.

5)Practice good patter for the trick - When I first started magic I never really practiced patter because I didn't see the importance, however now I do. Your patter is apart of your presentation. The effect comes off much smoother if you already have planned out what you're going to say.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Here's the thing. There are no rules in theater. There are only guidelines. Yes - Never tell the secret of the trick. Unless doing so makes it a better performance. Yes - Do not repeat the trick. Unless doing so makes a better performance. Yes - Never tell the purpose of a trick. Wait for it.

Unless doing so creates a better performance.

I'm paraphrasing Jamy Ian Smith when I say this. I think. It was in an interview with The Magic Newswire.

Sometimes breaking the rules creates a much better performance. Here's another thing - Usually when Penn & Teller break the rules, they're making up the rules they are breaking. The methods to magic are boring - exposing them is not really all that entertaining. Only magicians and magic enthusiasts care how we do what we do. Most people just want to be entertained.

This is why I just don't stress out about exposure. Who cares? Take any trick you do, put your own personal spin on it, and no one will know any better.

Furthermore - Have you seen Penn & Teller live? Amazing. I love their show. I went to Vegas solely to see Teller performance Shadows and his Red Ball Trick live. Sure, I did other stuff while I was there, but I went so I could see those two tricks. The show I saw was incredible. If they are breaking the rules of magic to create this show, then the rules of magic are wrong.

 

[slicksleights]

I have to agree with ChristopherT i saw their show in Vegas this year. And the red ball trick took me back to being that little kid seeing a magic trick for the first time, even though they told you how its works at the start of it, it was amazing.

 

[William Draven]

Because they are showman and Penn really couldn't give a flying xxx what other magicians think of him or his magic. He's successful, famous, and good. He doesn't need other magicians adoration to validate his existence.

 

[Alex851]

Everytime I have watched Penn and Teller, they have always put a twist on a very cliche trick. For example, they performed the classic "saw the woman in half" and they let the audience look at the box for a while after she was split in two and eventually everyone figured it out. Then they put their twist on it. They "accidentally let the saw fall through the whole contraption and left no part un-sawed. It left me right back in the spot where I started of "how did they do that." And I think that if you still leave the spectator with a mystery, it's perfectly fine.

 

[TeeDee]

I think that it's important to have an understanding of the rules of the art before you think about breaking them. They were written down and accepted as rules for a reason so if you're going to break them, they should at least be intelligently considered rather than just abandoned.

In my opinion, Penn and Teller don't actually break any of the rules, they just appear to. What they actually do is redefine the effect. They may "explain" some aspects of one trick, but that's just part of the presentation for another trick. So, their cups and balls routine is no longer the traditional effect of balls appearing and disappearing under three cups. Instead the audience is invited to marvel at the more impressive effect of the ability of magicians to manipulate the audience's attention even under the fairest and most (literally) transparent conditions. It's an effect about the nature of magic, in which the cups and balls routine is just one element.