Customer Reviews

Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Please take note that this book originally came with a packet of trick accessories and another, smaller book. If you buy this book used and all you get is the main book, then many of the tricks in the book will be useless to you. Such is the case that happened with me.

Penn and Teller are great writers (and showmen, of course) and you will thoroughly enjoy their stories, but there's just something missing when you are not able to perform all the tricks they mention because you don't have all the original materials. The mind-reading trick sounds so wonderful, but without the extra book you can't perform it, for example.

Another impossible trick is the very first one where they tell you to call a phone number. I called it and was directed to the voicemail of someone within Random House (not the publishers of this book, btw). Being that the book came out in 1989 it looks like Penn and Teller have long given up that particular number.

Maybe in a dusty old bookstore, sometime in the future, I might be lucky enough to stumble across this complete package, but until then, if ever, I can only wonder at what might have been.

...

This was Penn & Teller's first book, and they made the actual book a prank in itself. Now, I won't give anything away, but the book is designed to drive anybody who reads it "the wrong way" batty. Plus, there are stories about how they did a lot of their tricks, including the infamous "cockroach trick" that made David Letterman leave his show. Plus lots of other mean stuff to pull on unsuspecting people.

Oh, and there's also the full text of the screenplay for "Penn & Teller Get Killed." Here's hoping you have good eyes.

I'm not that familiar with Penn & Teller. If not for my younger sister, I probably wouldn't even know who they are. I picked up a used copy of this book because I thought it would be funny. I enjoyed the descriptions of the cockroach trick, the 3 of clubs eyeballs trick, and the cutting the snake in half trick. The pictures were delightful. The cruel tricks reminded me of some I used to read about in "Children's Digest" when I was a kid. (If you, too, have friends who are too smart for them, you can still amuse yourself by imagining stupid persons you loathe falling for them.) I think I like the personality test trick the best. The short stories weren't bad. I'm torn between "The Best Magic Trick I Ever Saw" and "Invisible Thread" for my favorite. The annoying part is all those pages of red type on light grey paper with a dark grey swirl design smack in the middle. They are HARD to read. I had to keep a finger on the line so I wouldn't lose track. I'm not sure the authors expected anyone to read them because they're chock full of typos. However, if you do take the trouble, you'll read "Penn & Teller get killed", more cruel tricks on video, a strange tribute to Harry Houdini, the "Sharpening Stone", another version of "Invisible Thread", and "Penn & Teller at the Ritz". These are definitely very strange men. Happy Hunting for a copy.

I picked up this book since I'm a fan of magic and especially Penn and Teller, but was rather disappointed with this book.

The book seems big because the book itself is meant to be a trick for your friends. You can leave it laying out on the coffee table without worrying about someone picking it up and learning all your secrets. That is, unless they read the whole thing. Parts of the book are printed just to fool your friends and some tricks don't work unless you know the secrets.

Many of the tricks mentioned you won't be able to do yourself and are more of Penn and Teller revealing the secret behind cutting a snake or making cockroaches appear. There are very few tricks that you yourself will be able to make use of. Included with the book (or should be) are several aids used in some of the tricks, making the book feel more like a child's toy. One item that is quite useful is a book made specifically for the trick of mind reading, or making it appear that you can read minds. Although, it only works if you can casually leave the book on a table and casually say, "Let's use this one."

In all, I found the book to not really live up to the standards of Penn and Teller and only found two or three tricks that might have actually worked on friends. If you're looking for a book full of tricks to really decieve your friends, keep looking.

This is a wonderful book, even without all (or any) of the accessories. The fantastic humor throughout makes this a great read even if you never intend to do the actual tricks.

Alright, you like magic and you want to trick or impress your friends. This is the book for you. These two are great. In fact, I can't think of anyone else I would like to see on stage more than Penn and Teller. They put on a great show and this book is a good intro to them. Guaranteed you will enjoy this book. (I'm not related and I have never met them). Order their books from amazon.com and you will not regret it!

I bought this book new, and I did get all the extra stuff that came with the book. Trust me, the book itself is all ya need. other than that, the exrta book doesnt have anything really important in it. if anything at all. The book is the most important thing. All you need is just a pair of red and blue 3d glasses for the rest of the stuff in the book if you read the first couple pages you will understand. It is a strange book due to the fact that the majority of the book is just to fool your friends. It doesn have great stories and some good tricks though. out of all 3 books, this is my least favorite but still one of my top 3 all time favs because of the authors.

If you like magic of meat tricks and pranks or you are just a Penn & Teller fan you will love this book!