Richard Young Las Vegas

Magic tricks bring pair a load of fans

THEY did not manage to pull the wool over the eyes of renowned magicians Penn and Teller.

But double act Richard Young and Sam Strange, who dazzled audiences when performing on ITV1 show Penn and Teller: Fool Us on Saturday, received high praise from the magicians.

During the programme, four magical acts performed a trick and challenged the American duo to work out how it was done.

Those who managed to ‘fool’ them got to perform at their Las Vegas stage show.

Richard Young, 26, from Cowley, said: “We do this trick called ‘metamorphosis’, where we change places really quickly and we put our own little twist on it.

“They rumbled us, but they were very careful about the way they explained it – they let us know they knew, but they did not let the audience know what happened.”

In the trick, Mr Young was tied inside a bag in a locked box. Mr Strange, 26, from Eynsham, then pulled a screen in front of the box and went round the back of the screen.

But it was Mr Young who emerged from the other side of the screen, and the box was opened to reveal a glamorous female assistant.

Meanwhile, Mr Strange emerged behind the audience at the back of the studio.

Penn Jillette told the pair: “It is a great act. It is a more modern version of the trick that was the backbone of Houdini’s act.

“You two are such fabulous performers.

“That secret, kept quiet for the rest of your lives, would make you one of the best magic acts the world has ever seen.”

Since Saturday’s show, Young and Strange have been flooded with emails and have attracted more than 100 new followers on Twitter.

Mr Young said: “We have had some really lovely feedback afterwards. Although we did not fool them, more people know about us than did before and we wanted to go on there and be entertaining, which I think we did.”

He added he did not know if the attention would lead to more work for the duo, but said the experience was well worth them taking part.

He said: “We did it purely for the experience of doing it and allowing people to see us.

“It is the biggest stage you could ever hope for and for 10 minutes on Saturday night, it was ours.”

The pair, who have been working together for two years, perform large-scale illusions with a comedic twist.

On Saturday’s show, Mr Strange skipped around the box waving a flag and Mr Young originally appeared wearing a tutu befitting his ‘lovely assistant’ role, until it magically appeared on the woman emerging from the box.

Will TV magic act fool famous duo? (From The Oxford Times)

TWO friends are hoping to cast a spell over top magicians Penn and Teller – and win a chance to perform in Las Vegas.

Richard Young, from Cowley, and Sam Strange, from Eynsham, who perform as Young and Strange, will appear on ITV1 show Penn and Teller: Fool Us on Saturday at 8pm.

The duo, both aged 26, who have been creating large-scale illusions together for about two years, auditioned for the show earlier this year and were picked to perform a trick on TV alongside magicians from all over the UK.

Each act has one shot to perform a trick of their choice and if Penn and Teller are unable to detect how it was done, they win a trip to Las Vegas to appear at the magicians’ show at the Rio Hotel and Casino.

Mr Young said: “There will be some of the best magicians in the world on the TV show and somehow we are on there as well, it’s really exciting.

“We didn’t know until recently that we would appear on the show. The production team warned us we might go through the whole process and not get shown.

“If we had screwed up the trick on the night we weren’t going to get another shot at it.”

The pair are not allowed to reveal if they successfully fooled Penn and Teller, but Mr Young said they were complimentary about Young and Strange.

Mr Young added: “Our trick is one you may have seen other magicians do but the secret to it, the way we make it happen, we believe is unique to us.”

Their act combines magic with comedy and they cite Penn and Teller and illusionist David Copperfield as among their inspirations and heroes.

Mr Young said: “The prize isn’t money – it’s every magician’s dream, which is to perform in Las Vegas.

“This has got to be our biggest opportunity to do this, not to mention our biggest gig so far.

“The tricks we do are spectacular, but rather than very cheesy illusions you may have seen, we do it with a comedic twist.”

Mr Strange said: “It’s amazing to think that this time two years ago, Richard and I were just rival magicians trying to make individual names for ourselves.

“Now we are performing together in front of millions of viewers on national primetime television.”

Since getting together, the pair have performed sell-out gigs in Thame, Didcot and Chipping Norton and will take their show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a month this summer.

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