Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends (Paperback)

by Penn Jillette (Author), Teller (Author) "We owe you something for buying this book..." (more)
Key Phrases: cruel tricks, invisible thread, New York, Ever Saw, Personality Test (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Penn & Teller impart their priceless secrets for conning, scamming, and fooling your closest personal friends. And even they're suprised how many copies of this we've sold: 120,000 to-date.

From the Inside Flap
Penn & Teller impart their priceless secrets for conning, scamming, and fooling your closest personal friends. And even they're suprised how many copies of this we've sold: 120,000 to-date.

Product Details

• Paperback: 203 pages
• Publisher: Villard; Stated First Edition edition (May 20, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394753518
• ISBN-13: 978-0394753515
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67,421 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you buy, make sure it comes with ALL accessories!, March 9, 2003

By	John J. Rinck (Hollister, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

...

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Humiliate people you claim to respect." - Penn Jillette, November 12, 2002

By	Jason Montgomery "Journ" (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Annoying, April 8, 2001

By	Ann E. Nichols (Sierra Vista, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.