Very few have been able to stupefy “Penn and Teller.” The success rate is only around ten percent, but when they get duped and bamboozled, it’s a sight to behold. Penn and Teller are no slouches, they’re the best to ever do it, so tricking them really is an accomplishment.

“Penn & Teller: Fool Us” on the CW is the preeminent way to see the best illusions outside of shows in person. If you win, you get to perform in Vegas as an opener to their show, so it’s quite the high honor and challenge to fool them by doing something they’ve seen before, and in a way they haven’t. What’s also great is that Penn and Teller (and CW) let the magicians post their own clips on their own YouTube channels to give them a following, which I think is very cool.

Here is my criteria: you gotta fool them. Otherwise, it’s just what I think is the most impressive act ranked in order. It also helps if you make Penn go bug-eyed or get Teller to open his jaw and become more speechless than he already is. The top tricks all get terrific reactions out of them both. The number one trick made Penn jump out of his chair and almost throw it at somebody.


Honorable Mentions:

17 – Wes Barker and his phone book

16 – Eric Leclerc and his box

15 – Andy Gershenzon and his impossible card trick

14 – Shawn Farquhar and the infamous deck switch

13 – Paul Gertner, clearly their favorite magician and friend, he’s gold every time he takes the stage

12 – Shin Lim, who is pound for pound the best magician working today

11 – Helen Coghlan, who has fooled them six different times

10 – Ondrej Psenicka, who is a demon for having fooled them so many times

9 – Jandro, the most innovative and creative fooler; he’s an automatic surefire fooler with everything he comes up with

8 – Mario Lopez and his moving nipple (and some infinite sand)

7 – Adrian Carratala bares it all

6 – Hernán Maccagno leaves Teller stunned

5 – Javi Benitez and the eye

4 – Dani DaOrtiz invites on Donny Osmond, of all people

3 – Markobi and his championship winning act

2 – Garrett Thomas and his magic ring

1 – Kostya Kimlat and the greatest card trick I’ve ever seen

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