Teller called and made the invitation that he and Penn would like to fly me in and put me up at Bally ’ s so I could go and see the show .
Sat , June 10 , 1995 , at 9 P . M . I entered the Celebrity Showroom , I was seated in Section A , table 106 , seat 1 . The show commenced . Again , I saw the wonders of P & T that I had seen and been entertained with in the past . I also witnessed their wonderful version of the Spirit Cabinet , it is hauntingly frightening . Finally , they got to the ‘ Magic Bullet ’. It was great , incredible , but more importantly , it was P & T . Oh , the method for the marking and watching the bullet go into the gun , the breaking of the glass was mine , but the rest was all P & T .
Interestingly , everyone talks about the glass and the loading of the gun , but what gets me is no one is talking about the fact that Penn or Teller ( In the first stage version that includes tossing a coin ) never put their hands to their mouth at all . And speaking of the coin toss , at Bally ’ s , they used a house $ 5 token with Teller on one side , and Penn on the other . The spectator gets to select how the outcome will be , and Penn and Teller never , come near each other at all during this and after .
After the show , P & T met with me in Teller ’ s dressing room , the same one Frank Sinatra used to have . We talked , I raved , and I mentioned one or two small things , things P & T had already discussed ( did I not say they thought out every little detail ).
As I left , they both thanked me . Teller placed something nonchalantly in my pocket . Back in my hotel room , while undressing I reached in my pocket . There was an envelope , inside was a check for the bullet catch . I felt immense guilt . P & T had taken my smalltime effect and turned it into something first-class . It has so much of P & T all over and so little Banachek that I barely recognized it . Teller later assured me , that they could not do the effect without my method and would not have ever thought of doing it had I not assured them that my way was safe .
I have heard many explanations for the Penn & Teller “ Magic Bullet ”, most are way off , a few have come close , but no one I have run into has yet figured out the full method .
Since that time I have shared a few brainstorming sessions with P & T . In fact , I gave them an awful lot for one of their books , but again , Penn & Teller took my ideas and made them unrecognizable , they made them pure P & T . Talking with others I notice that originality comes hard for some people . I think up thousands of ideas no matter how silly , and sooner or later I come up with a gem . I must have sent P & T hundreds of E-Mails and out of all those effects they found another they liked , the Psychic Ring surgery . Again though , they came up with their own presentation .