|
|
THOUGH IT HAS a few problems of its own, a new series from the magic-comedy duo Penn & Teller does a service debunking topics ranging from alternative medicine to pop psychics.
Titled "Bullshit!," the half-hour, 13-week series kicks off Friday night at 11 p.m. on Showtime.
Its first show is a strong one, setting out to show that pop psychics who help people communicate with dead relatives are really just conniving opportunists.
As he explains in an opening monologue, Penn Jillette says the pair's own experiences with carnival tricks and con-artistry puts them in the perfect position to find folks pulling similar things on various types of victims.
In a silly, needless moment, Jillette says they'll use lots of swearing and curse words to describe folks who take advantage of the public, especially pop psychics who prey on those who've lost loved ones in order to make big bucks.
"If we say they're lying or cheating, we could get sued," said Jillette. "If we call them [expletive deleted], we make the same point and stay out of court."
That doesn't add a lot of credibility to the series, nor does the general lack of direct questions to those Penn & Teller accuse of perpetuating "Bullshit!" on the American public.
But as the opening show on pop psychics demonstrates, the duo and the "experts" they enlist perform a service by showing how a canny conniver could dupe an audience into believing psychic connections.
In "Talking to the Dead," the series looks at three popular so-called psychics who get people on camera and claim to talk to their dead loved ones.
Penn & Teller's team, which includes a former psychic, explains how the con men use very general questions, pre-interviews and leading comments to get enough clues about the deceased to pull off the supposed links.
The comedy duo also notes that folks who appear on the shows of these professed psychics must sign long, rigid releases which forbid talking to anyone in the media.
Though it comes off as a little bit hokey and less than professional, it is fun to hear Jillette chime in, "If it's so real, why keep these folks from talking to anybody? What are you scared of?"
Other topics that Penn & Teller wade into on future shows include alien abductions, environmental hysteria, alternative medicine, bottled water, feng shui, creationism, Ouija boards, near-death experiences, sexual-enhancement products, motivational speakers, fad diets, secondhand smoke, smart-baby videos, ESP and the end-of-the-world movement.
Jillette tells viewers at the series onset that the series is being done for dual reasons: to debunk these myths surely, but to have fun doing it as well.
Sure, this makes you wonder how much different these two pitch men are from the folks they're making fun of.
Indeed, the pair is not above a fraud or two of their own, to show how gullible people are.
In the show about alternative medicines, the show sets up a "sting" or sorts in a mall. Telling passers-by that they they've found that snails have healing enzymes in their secretions, the Penn & Teller crew talks dozens of folks into putting a handful of snails on their face to feel better.
Watching these folks as snails crawl hither and yon on their heads and faces, looking so absolutely ridiculous, you begin to see how so many of the hucksters featured in the series are successful.
"Yes, I'm feeling better already," says one man as three big snails dance around his nose.
As Jillette explains, wanting to feel better is a big part of actually getting there, which is why so many people look to be healed by different things.
Though I could do without the obscenities and some of the series silliness, which pulls some of the punches, it does shine a light on the gullibility of people.
If nothing else, it will serve as a start for talking about hucksters who make money off the misery of others.
ROB HEDELT can be reached at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; by fax at 373-8455; by phone at 374-5415; or by e-mail at rhedelt@freelancestar.com.