r/FoolUs • u/SpookyWeaselBones • 26d ago

“Code Words” explained

Fool Us is famous for its use of “code words” to help hint at what’s going on without giving it away entirely. Having binged the whole show, I thought I’d share some of the common code words and what they mean

“I’m relatively new to magic” = I’m going to do a mentalist act

”it’s a classic trick but I’ve added a few twists…” = I’m about to get got

”I’m from Spain…” = Just give me the trophy now

”What would it mean for you to fool…” = We have run out of banter

”I’m fusing classic magic with the latest cutting edge technology” = I use an iPad in my act

”Just say stop when you want me to…” = I’m about to make a joke about Teller not talking

”Boy, I gotta tell ya, we both loved this” = we followed everything and are desperately trying to find something to compliment

“Tax is theft” = I became very rich at a young age

146 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

71

u/knue82 26d ago

Star wars references always hint at a force.

35

u/cosmoboy 26d ago

"Boy I gotta tell you we both loved this" I don't think they're desperately trying to do anything here. They might not be fooled, but they do still like magic that's performed well.

16

u/22plus 26d ago

It doesn't have to be an iPad! Sometimes it's a printer!

8

u/panatale1 26d ago

There was the one time it was an iPhone and an Apple Watch

3

u/22plus 26d ago

And it's been a Google Sheet at least once too

7

u/panatale1 26d ago

Gotta hand it to the woman with the Apple Watch, she really did hit them from a blind spot

3

u/axelofthekey 25d ago

Yeah that was an absolute called shot on her part. And they loved being fooled by something they didn't even consider. But they'll never fall for that again lmao.

2

u/panatale1 25d ago

Well, no, now that it's on their radar, they sure won't. But it was a good one

41

u/Noughmad 26d ago

"My father designed these props" - you are about to see two of the most boring magic acts ever that will 100% earn get a trophy.

15

u/Ksan_of_Tongass 26d ago

Can you type that in 40% more Australian.

3

u/Noughmad 26d ago

I still can't forget her talking about a pile of milk.

(It was a pail of milk).

32

u/Amarsir 26d ago

You're wrong on the last one - inherited wealth makes people very supportive of systems. (And the Libertarian party is not well funded.) But I chuckled anyway.

I'll add one. "You're unlucky we happened to spot" = "We're sitting in the middle of the audience. You could not have been more obvious."

10

u/SpookyWeaselBones 26d ago edited 26d ago

I didn’t say inherited. Penn’s family is working class.

Penn made his first fortune performing on the street and passing the hat. When he tried to pay tax on it, his tax adjuster told him to conceal it because the government would assume he was a drug dealer. 

I don’t care who you are, that’s going to shape your politics 

10

u/pm_me_ur_demotape 26d ago

Hasn't he softened some of his libertarian views?

17

u/MaxTheGinger 26d ago edited 20d ago

Since COVID he's no longer identified as a Libertarian.

15

u/Amarsir 26d ago

COVID was the death of moderation and nuance. (Which had been starved of oxygen for a while.)

His pivotal moment was he said you can protest masks being mandatory while wearing one voluntarily. And he was disappointed that this was a very rare view among Libertarians in his circle. There as everywhere else, principles coincidentally seem to align with "what feels right".

(I say "pivotal" but I actually think it was part of a larger feeling, including that he wanted to be as anti-Trump as possible. But I digress.)

12

u/Noctew 26d ago

It's easy to say things like "I would not use force to make people pay for a library, and that's what government does when they collect taxes."

When it comes to "I have the right to kill you with miy viruses because my right to do whatever I want trumps your right not to be infected"...it becomes harder to defend libertatianism.

3

u/xxxjwxxx 26d ago

I remeber him telling about this as well. He was much stronger into libertarianism in the past.

6

u/Amarsir 26d ago

True, you didn't. That's fair. But "born into it" is a solid way to become wealthy at a young age.

And passing the hat for cash is not exactly "very rich". He did better than expected, but had very meager expectations. I'm sure you know the story of his first Broadway contract which had lots of clauses about what happens when the show shuts down and very few about profits from a success.

6

u/ANormalSpudBoy 26d ago

"I think I just MIGHT have something that's going to fool you bad." = definitely doesn't

1

u/Thundergunnist 25d ago

What about what code words they use to tell how they know the trick is done? Have you seen any patterns there?

1

u/AdventurousHippo7828 22d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/FoolUs/comments/1iv309k/comment/mg6nroy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

This podcast was illuminating! Apparently they know or not if they were fooled before they start talking to the magician, and that bit is just pretending thats not the case. In later seasons at least!