"Penn & Teller: Fool Us" is an hour long television show featuring magicians Penn & Teller as judges of a sort of magical competition. It has ran for seven seasons, for the first two seasons on the British network ITV, and for the last five seasons on American network The CW. For the first two seasons, the host was British comedian Jonathan Ross, and for the subsequent seasons, it was Alyson Hannigan.
The structure of the show is simple: each episode, four different acts (usually a solo magician, sometimes duos or teams) each present a short magical act, with the hook of the show being that they are attempting to fool Penn & Teller, seeing if they will be unable to guess the trick. Since Penn & Teller are experienced magicians, most of the acts fail to do so. The magical acts run the gamut, from sleight of hand, close-up magic with coins and cards, to mentalism and giant illusions. Sometimes, Penn & Teller stay in their seats in front of the stage, while sometimes the more confident magicians will invite them directly onstage to witness the tricks. Sometimes there is audience participation, and sometimes Alyson Hannigan assists in the act. The competing magicians come from around the world, and are of various ages and experience levels. Winners of the competition are invited to perform an opening act for Penn & Teller's Las Vegas stage show. The show concludes with Penn & Teller themselves performing a trick.
As Penn & Teller (or at least Penn) have said on the show, the entire "Fool Us" angle is just a way to have a magical showcase. While most acts aim to fool them (and a smaller number actually do), some of the acts are just examples of people who do well-known tricks or effects with great skill and finesse.
I was happily surprised by this show. I knew that Penn & Teller had a reputation as somewhat abrasive Libertarians, and thought that like many "reality" competition shows, it might have them upbraiding the performers. But Penn & Teller are very positive, almost always complimenting the performers, and thinking of something good about their performance. (Only in a few cases of particularly obnoxious performers have I seen their ire.) More than just a competition, the show serves as a tribute to the wide world of the art and science of stage magic.