Here’s a look at Penn & Teller’s ‘Fool Us’

It’s almost unfair, really.

Penn & Teller have spent the past four decades together performing and dissecting magic, and the latter possesses a near encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the craft. So finding someone who can master an illusion that stumps them both is a little like having a buxom 22-year-old flash Hugh Hefner and ask if he’s ever seen anything similar.

Yet that’s the premise of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” (8 p.m. Monday, KVCW-TV, Channel 33), which is a bit of a reappearing act for the Rio headliners and “Sharknado 3” co-stars.

“Fool Us” debuted in 2011 on Britain’s ITV, but despite good ratings, it failed to earn a second season. The CW broadcast those shows last summer and, soon after, ordered a new round of episodes.

“I’m thrilled,” Teller says of the resurrection. “We had great faith in it as a piece of television. People just seemed to love that show.”

Each week, four magicians present a trick, Penn & Teller deliberate for a bit, and if they know how it was done, they employ a bit of coded language to prove it. If they can’t figure it out, the magician earns a gaudy trophy emblazoned with a large “FU” — for “Fool Us” — and a spot performing after their show at the Rio.

“Fool Us” is essentially the same show as the first season, down to its host, Jonathan Ross. The only exception: Not only did Penn & Teller not have to fly to England to film it, they didn’t even have to leave the theater that bears their name. Despite the comforts of home, though, filming the new season was anything but relaxing for the duo.

“It’s a tremendously nerve-racking show for us,” Teller says. “In a normal competition show, the judges have nothing at stake. We have our pride. We love getting fooled by people, but we don’t love getting fooled by everybody.”

“Almost anytime I see a guy walk out with a deck of cards, I get scared,” he admits, “because card guys are more likely to fool me. … So I always get quite terrified when they come out.”

But just because an illusion fools the duo — and a few do — that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an entertaining one. Some of the best acts are ones that Penn and/or Teller recognize.

“One of the moral lessons of the show is that sometimes the people who don’t win on this show actually do finer performances than the ones who do win. … Many of my favorite acts are ones that don’t fool us,” Teller says. Of one act in particular, he reveals, “I was almost sad that I realized how it had to be done.”

The breakout star of the British “Fool Us” was John van der Put, who performs as Piff the Magic Dragon.

“He did not fool us, but he was fantastic,” Teller recalls of the current “America’s Got Talent” contestant. “And he ended up being able to move to Vegas and get a green card for America, and many of his dreams came true as a result of that show.”

“Fool Us” returns during a busy period for the magicians. On Tuesday, they are back on Broadway for the first time in more than 20 years for a six-week engagement at the Marquis Theatre. And Teller is bringing his version of “The Tempest” to Chicago for a two-month run starting in September. Between those commitments, they’ll appear in the pop-culture juggernaut “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” debuting July 22 on Syfy.

“They had been pursuing us for several editions of it,” Teller says of the schlocky franchise, “and we just happened to be able to schedule a very long day of shooting in L.A. in which we play cronies of David Hasselhoff … meeting up with him at a diner where, unfortunately, there’s a terrible attack.”

Asked whether he ever thought “crony of David Hasselhoff” would one day grace his resume, Teller lets out a big laugh. “No. Not in my wildest dreams,” he says. “Or, frankly, ambitions.”

That’s not a slam on the “Baywatch” star. Teller has nothing but nice things to say about The Hoff, once he settles on a way to express them.

“People don’t think of him the way they think of Helen Mirren, let’s say. And yet, when you get in there … it’s pretty impressive to watch him work. Hasselhoff really can act. … And he was incredibly cordial.”

As for the project itself, Teller says a “Sharknado” movie is nearly as goofy to make as it is to watch. “It’s pretty silly. But any film venture is so slow that after you’ve waited an hour and 15 minutes for the lights to get right, your sense of whimsy has to be something that you have to work at.”

Until then, they’ll be holding court each week on “Fool Us,” which Teller describes as basically what goes on backstage at their show when other magicians visit. “It’s really like being inside a magicians’ club and hanging out with the gang. But with better production values.”

And, much like the low stakes of those encounters, there are no real losers on “Fool Us.”

“I like the fact that, in the end, everybody wins on the show,” Teller says. “Because the idea is, do a great magic show. And if they can do a great performance, whether it fools us or not, the audience at home knows they’ve just seen a great performance.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @life_onthecouch