by Sara Yood
Over winter break, I had the pleasure of attending Penn & Teller’s
magic show in Las Vegas. Unlike some other magicians, Penn & Teller’s
show isn’t about fooling you in the traditional way. Penn & Teller
are skeptics and libertarians, and their performances show that quite
clearly. At the beginning of the show, Penn lectured the audience on
how every single thing they were showing was a trick, and about how
other magicians (and conjurers, fortune tellers, dead-communicators
and the like) are all lying if they tell you otherwise. It is a
provocative perspective from two people whose job it is to fool you.
But the presentation of one of their newer tricks seemed designed to
strike at the heart of their libertarian beliefs. In the setup, Penn
describes how they stopped traveling after the September 11th attacks.
Even though they would often get recognized at the TSA security
screenings and would be treated nicely, they witnessed other
passengers being “harassed” and disliked the experience so much that
they stopped traveling and took up residence at the Rio Hotel.
As Penn is describing this, they bring out an actual airport metal
detector, and demonstrate how the levels on the metal screening work.
At the lower settings, Penn can walk through and nothing happens. But
at the higher settings, the detector will go off. Then they use a
hand-held personal screening wand, and a piece of metal in Penn’s
pocket sets off the detector. Penn displays the piece of metal, and
then tells the audience that it is printed with the Bill of Rights.
Penn discusses the 4th Amendment while explaining why the airport
searches bother them so much. Then he mentions that the audience can
buy the metal Bill of Rights in their gift shop. You can also
purchase a plastic comb that opens up to be a blade, which will not
set off the detector but is certainly a weapon.
After this, Teller walks through the big metal detector, not setting
off the machine. But then, from his pocket, he produces a flaming
metal ashtray, a fire extinguisher, and a full-sized metal shovel. I
won’t spoil the end of the trick, but involves both the TSA’s
regulations and a really huge gun.
It’s a challenging take on an issue that is so present now, especially
with the recent security breaches in air travel. Should we be worried
about potential violations to the 4th Amendment with the increased
security, or accept that post-September 11th, it has to be the norm?
Penn & Teller are worried about that. Personally? I’m more worried
about all the people who want to blow up planes.
