Vancouver magician Vitaly Beckman fools Penn and Teller a third time

Vancouver entertainer Vitaly Beckman has scored a hat trick of wins on the magic competition program Fool Us.

The show, in which magicians try to outwit veteran illusionists Penn and Teller with their sleight-of-hand expertise, usually sees the veteran duo coming out on top. But that has not been the case with Beckman — he has now baffled the pair three times.

The most recent win came on March 28 with a routine that involved having presenter Brook Burke arrange a series of fruits on a stand, and with the hands on a broken clock, to create a particular still-life scenario. After she completed the task, Beckman unveiled a painting wrapped in cloth that had been sitting on the stage for the duration of the act.

Lo and behold, the painting featured the same configuration of melons, pomegranate and pineapple on the table, and the exact time on the clock that Burke had set herself. Talk about a big reveal.

It left Penn, Teller and the panel of expert judges on the program mystified, and delivered another win for Beckman, who also got in a good quip about earning “frequent fooler” points for his trips down to Las Vegas to appear on the show.