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By
FRANK BEHRENS
Magician-comics Penn and
Teller have appeared many times on television. A
DVD from Acorn Media, due for September, it
includes three specials that follow the pair on
trips to China, Egypt and India. The three
episodes run at 50 minutes each and are in 16:9
widescreen ratio.
I was hoping to see a good deal more magic than I
did, but seeing the cultural features of each of
the countries—with special emphasis on the magic
of each country—more than made up for the lack.
What proved most interesting was being shown how
deeply rooted magic is in all of these cultures.
In India, for example, almost all of the street
magic is replete with cruelty. Young boys are
supposedly mutilated in horrible ways and
"recover" only when the crowd gives money to the
performer.
Especially telling is the strong suspicion that
the "Indian rope trick" does not actually exist in
its legendary form in which a young boy is sliced
to pieces after disappearing at the top of the
rope. A somewhat modified form was committed to
film in the last episode, but only after some
glitch in the first attempt was rectified.
The Harpo-like Teller remains silent throughout,
while the 6'6" Penn keeps up a running dialogue
that ranges from quite funny to nearly offensive.
Bonus features include footage not seen on
television, production notes and a biography of
the stars. |
