Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End (2005) (TV)

Director:

Star Price

Writers:

Michael Goudeau (writer)
Penn Jillette (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

13 November 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Magic

Cast

Aaron Carter	...	Himself
Penn Jillette	...	Himself
Daran Norris	...	Announcer
Scott Stringer	...	Stand In
Teller	...	Himself
Ezekiel Zabrowski	...	Himself

Directed by
Star Price

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Goudeau		writer
Penn Jillette		writer
Star Price		writer
Teller		writer

Produced by
Patti Duce	....	producer
Paul Frazier	....	supervising producer
Nick Perlmuter	....	producer
Star Price	....	executive producer
Tim Rogan	....	co-executive producer
Mark Wolper	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Gary Stockdale

Film Editing by
Paul Frazier
Patrick Sayers
Tim Schultz

Art Direction by
Rudy Matchinga

Costume Design by
Kathryn Shemanek

Art Department
Russell Tamashiro	....	property master

Sound Department
Kamal Humphrey	....	boom operator
Buck Robinson	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Justin Schultz	....	visual effects matte artist

Stunts
Sandra Boyd-Spoden	....	stunt safety coordinator
Scott Stringer	....	stunt safety diver

Editorial Department
CJ	....	post-production coordinator
Christopher Nunn	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Robin Lynn	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Angela Carroll	....	production coordinator
CJ	....	production coordinator
Alyse Wax	....	script supervisor

Runtime:

88 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Atlantis Hotel and Resort, Nassau, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Magic, Mayhem, and Mermaids?

From the average home-viewer's point of view, Off the Deep End was another special from the Bad Boys of Magic, this time set in front of a beautiful tropical island background. From a magician's point of view, the special was nothing short of phenomenally ground breaking. Sure, Penn & Teller did a few obligatory card tricks, but what really sold the show was the promise that at the end, they would vanish a submarine. Oh, yeah. And many of the tricks were UNDERWATER! Some of the tricks were cute at worst, some were huge ordeals that didn't work right from day one, and others weren't even tricks at all (we have Star Price to thank for making them actually look like tricks). Taking classic routines like Sawing a Lady in Half, Metamorphasis, and the Million Dollar Mystery underwater, as well as doing a comedy/magic routine below the surface, Penn & Teller have once again revolutionized the craft of magic, and seemingly showed you every step of the way (but, like so much else they do, they lied to you).

The two-hour special, which is a long time slot for magic, built up to the finale smoothly, keeping us interested with other well-crafted illusions. A new element of suspense was added to the Houdini Trunk Escape by dropping the trunk (and supposedly Teller) into a frenzy of hungry sharks, and they managed to almost kill one of their lovely assistants when she lost her air supply hose during the Sawing in Half illusion. But surrounded by a team of scuba divers, Penn & Teller went below the surface for their final illusion, and attempted to vanish an Atlantis class submarine.

The DVD also includes additional footage that was cut from the original script. Teller's edit of the Comedy/Magic Routine is included, as is a beautiful desalination trick, and a moving tanline illusion.