Original subtitles

Illusion, the art of tricking the brain, distorting the senses, challenging

perception. You can't trust what you see, even with your own eyes.

Meet the Masters of Illusion.

Hi, I'm Dean Cain, and welcome to Masters of Illusion.

One of my favorite things about hosting this show is that, honest to goodness, I

never know what I'm going to see, and I never know what is about to happen. D.

Mike D. Bill Cook, right here. Hi. Hi. I want to show you how easy it is to make

a magic tree at home. Okay. It's really easy. You need a paper tube.

You need a napkin.

Have you got those things at home? Sure. All you need are those two things and a

flashlight. Yeah. That goes on top like that. Then this goes across the napkin

like that.

And then the flashlight.

Flashlight lets you look through.

The dupe. Right. Okay, that's a magic trick. No, the magic trick is where all

this comes from. That I still don't quite know.

That's pretty good. Good luck. Thank you.

There you go.

Our next performer is fond of the classics, a

real student of his craft, and he definitely has his own style.

Let's hear it for Dan Sperry.

You know,

magic is the second oldest profession in the world. The oldest trick in magic is

thousands and thousands of years old. It's known as the cups and balls. You've

maybe seen it before, or versions of it. Super confusing, right? Three cups,

three balls, you get mixed around, you gotta keep your eyes on the balls, eyes

on the cups, eyes on the hats.

Super confusing, it goes really fast, so I've dummied it down.

To a simplified version that I'm going to share with you right now. My version

of the cups and balls. And hopefully it lives up to the standards set forth by

Harry Houdini. And I hope you guys enjoy it as well as I present to you my

version of the cups and balls that I like to call One Ball, One Cup.

It uses a little wooden ball with a white sweater on it. It's just a ball

blankie, right? And for the cups, I'm not going to use some ancient Egyptian

thing. It's actually just an old grog cup like they used to serve at the pubs

England. back in the day. Now, the object is for you to keep your eye on

ball, right? It goes kind of fast, but I'm going to slow it down. This is the

easy version. The ball can be here, it can be here, it can be here, here, over

here, inside my hand, maybe in my pocket, something like that. You have to

whether the ball is either in my hand, in my pocket, or

underneath the cup.

Do you see how this works, right?

Okay, so we'll go ahead and get started.

Now, I'm going to start right now with this guy right here. All right, we're

going to start with you.

I'm going to take the ball.

Maybe put it in my hand.

Maybe put it in my pocket. Or maybe it's under the cup. Where do you think it is

right now?

In the hand.

No, it's not in my hand.

Not in my pocket. It still goes back under the cup. Like I said, you have to

attention. It goes quick, I know. It goes kind of quick. You have to pay

attention. Remember, this is the ball. This is the cup. This is what you're

watching. We'll try it again, and I'll slow it down.

A little bit more.

Here's the ball.

Like, where do you think the ball is now?

You have the cup.

No, it's on the bottom of the cup because the cup's upside down, idiot.

not great at this.

You're not great at this. We'll try this with you, and I'm going to slow it down

so it goes a little bit easier. I'm going to take the ball.

I'm going to place it maybe in my hand, maybe in my pocket, or maybe it's back

underneath the cup.

Tell you what, I'm going to eliminate the hand to make it easier. So you have

guess. Now, whether the ball is either in my pocket or underneath the cup, I'll

give you a hint.

Never mind. Never mind. Where do you think the ball is?

Pocket? No. See, it still goes back under the cup. You've got to pay

Now, you've seen it go. This time you're going to hear it go. Maybe this will be

easier if I take the ball. Put it in the cup. You can see it in there. If I

shake it up and down, it sounds like dice. Listen.

See, it sounds like dice, but you can hear it. I'm going to slow it down if I

take the ball.

Place it into my hand.

Place it into my pocket.

Where do you think the ball is now? Either in my pocket or underneath the

You probably figured out it doesn't matter what you say. If you say it's in

pocket, it goes back underneath the cup. If you say it's under the cup, it goes

in my pocket. My pocket at the same time is under the cup, right? Wrong. It

still goes back underneath the cup. I don't know how it... Gets back in there,

super confusing.

Here's the thing. You probably feel like you're, what's the saying? Probably

feel like you're behind the eight ball. That's it. Behind the eight ball. And

it's because you are. That's the eight ball that I was looking for. That's the

real eight ball. I'm not sure how it gets there. And just because I feel like

it, here's an actual big white rock that I wanted to just show you guys just for

the fun of it.

And that's my version of one ball, one cup. I don't know how this cup fits in

there. The rock doesn't fit. The eight ball doesn't fit. And hopefully, this is

lived up to the standards set forth by the late, bright Harry Houdini. I almost

feel like his presence is here with us tonight.

Because it is. Or at least what's left of him, anyways.

Magic shows!

Hey, close attention and don't blink.

Our very own master of illusion, Tetra.

You know, when you think about it, recycling is a pretty amazing process.

It seems almost magical how you can take something old and make it new again.

Now, if we could speed that process up, it might look something like this.

Watch.

Sounds cool.

Tastes like magic.

This next performance is no joke. I mean it.

What exactly do I mean? Well, here to explain is Nick Dopich. Thank you.

How's everybody doing?

Good. It's a rhetorical question, obviously.

It's a very simple one. This is a locating card. It's what we magicians do

the time. You pick cards, we find them.

Headline. However, sometimes we need help.

Now, personally, I use the jokers. I like to use the jokers. The jokers are

great at finding any card in the deck. You guys might not know that. They have

that guarantee on them. What I need somebody to do first, if somebody could,

just go ahead and name any number you want, ace through king, anyone you want.

I heard queen.

I heard queen. We're going to use the jokers to try to find the queen.

focus in.

Zoom in, however you got to do it. We're going to cut the cards wherever we

like, right about there.

And we're just going to pass through once, twice, three times. The card will

appear between the two jokers. I know, right? Yeah, please, hold your applause

for a second.

This means nothing yet. We haven't seen anything. We don't know if the jokers

did their job yet. However, let's go ahead and see.

Ah, that's right. We do. We have a queen. We do have one queen.

But there's how many queens in the deck?

Four. We're going to see if we can find all four with all these jokers.

All right, let's try it again. We're going to pass through once.

Twice.

Three times again. Up.

We got queen number two.

We got the two red queens. Queen of diamonds is the most important one.

We have two more to get. Two down, two to go.

Let's try it again.

Okay.

It's not... You know, a great thing about this is that actually sometimes

are obviously wise.

Thank you very much.

The impossible is easy for the masterful manipulations of Joel Myers.

If his next magician existed just a few hundred years ago, he might have been

labeled a witch.

Today?

Well, that could still happen.

Here's Joel Myers.

I'm here with Thander, yeah?

Thander, check it out. I've got a book of matches here. I want you to see

they're all in there. You see that? Go ahead and do me a favor. Point to any

match you want, Thander.

That one right there, that's perfect. Watch this. I'm going to take it out

this. Put your hand out, Thander.

Check this out.

I'm going to light that match, Thander, just like this. Check this out.

Wrap your hand around the matches so I can get them. Check it out, Thander.

Watch.

It's gone, yeah?

Look inside the matchbook, Vander.

Did you see that? Turn around and show everybody that match is attached, yeah?

Yes.

Vander, it gets a little bit more crazy. We're going to try like this. This

time, do me a favor. Close the matchbook up.

That's perfect. We're going to try like this. I'll take the matches.

And then I got an idea. We're going to try this. We're going to take it up a

notch. Try something with the deck of cards. We're going to take the match.

your hand out again.

Wrap your entire hand around the matchbook, your other hand on top, so

no way I can get it, yeah?

I'm going to take out the cards. Check it out, Thander.

I'm going to give these a nice little mix. Quick shuffle, just like this. A

couple little shuffles.

Thander, I'll show you. All the cards are totally different, yeah? They're all

completely different. They come that way, so I can tell them apart.

Yeah! There you go, Thander. Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to

down the side. You say stop wherever you want. That's going to be your card,

Thander. I'm going to do it with my eyes closed, so I can't see. Cool?

Watch this, Thander. Just say stop anywhere you'd like.

Perfect. I can see that one with my eyes closed. I'm going to show the camera

the card you said stop on.

Now, Thander, you know what this is, yeah?

I'm going to put it face up on the deck. It's face up, yeah, where the card is

actually. You can see the card? Yeah. Cool. My eyes are closed, Thander. Watch

that card really closely. I'm going to give it a little bit of a shake just

this. You'll actually see it change just like that. Did you see that, Thander?

Yeah. With my eyes closed just like that. Watch this, Thander. Here's the

part. That card is gone. It is no longer in the deck. It has vanished

completely. I could show you literally.

Each and every card right now, Fander, showing you that that card that you

picked, which was what for the first time? Say it out loud. What was the

King of hearts. King of hearts. And you see your card in there anywhere?

It is gone completely. It was a king of diamonds, but no king of hearts. Yeah,

completely gone.

Fander, where's the craziest place that card could end up?

In the matchbook?

Open up your hand, Fander.

Open up the matchbook.

Oh, my God.

You're kidding me. You see that thing that showed the camera?

It is the nature.

That is crazy.

Thank you so much.

The impossible is made possible by

Joshua J. When we come back.

I think our next illusionist used to be an accountant because he definitely has

a creative way of making money move around.

Let's welcome to the stage Joshua Jay.

Up next, is your mind able to keep up with the antics of Alex Ramon?

Let's take a look at an illusionist spin on a classic con.

Here's Alex Ramon.

Okay, we're going to play a game of three -card Monty.

You know, two jokers and a queen. You mix the cards. You have to try and guess

where the queen is. If you guess right, get the queen, you win the money.

If you guess wrong, get the joker, you lose.

I'm going to be the dealer.

And we're going to play a game of three -card money, except our cards are six

feet tall.

And we have a real queen of hearts.

Let's play.

These two cards just distract you.

Especially this one.

You've got to keep an eye on this joker.

I remember the queen of hearts starts in the center. You always keep an eye on

the center card, but I will give you a freebie.

Look.

She's not over here.

And she's not over here.

Okay, so where is she?

Always check the center.

So where is she? Right, left, my right.

My left.

And if you guessed here, you would be absolutely wrong.

I feel horrible.

Remember, she's where you least expect it.

Please give the Queen of Hearts a big round of applause.

Excellent job.

But you know what?

Look, I'm your friend.

I'm going to tell you how we do it. This way, you can never be fooled.

No one will ever take your money.

All right?

We'll tell you how it's done.

Queen of hearts starts in the center. This much you know.

You are all experts by now.

These two cards, just to distract you.

Okay, so where is she?

Right, left, center.

Okay, look.

Everybody, Megan, show them where you are.

She's in the center, like I told you.

Okay, I'll tell you how we do this.

This is the secret.

This is what you read about. This is the cloak of invisibility.

So, I speak this cloak of invisibility to Megan.

She opens up the cloak, holds it, covering her whole body, from her head

way to her toes. So you can't see her. Then she steps off the stool, walks

across to the other stool.

You'll never see her because of the cloak of invisibility.

It's science.

Okay, okay.

Look, this time I won't cast the spell.

You'll be able to see her. Megan, stay right there. Don't move.

All right?

So now, you can see exactly where she is.

All right. Now, I'm going to cast the spell.

And on the count of three, she will completely vanish.

Here it goes. One, two, and three.

Okay, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Masters of Illusion. I know I

certainly did. Be sure to join us next time. Until then, I'm Dean Cain.

Goodnight.