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Okay, I admit that I
may not own that many rap CDs, but rap pioneer Ice T's O.G. (Original
Gangsta) is one of my favorites. I've always believed him to be a smart,
talented guy, and so I wasn't surprised when he proved to be so on Sin
City – but I wasn't fully prepared for his easygoing, good-humored
style or the fun we'd have working together. It all started when we were
over at the Hard Rock Café, preparing to shoot a "remote"
guest spot with Pamela Anderson Lee. Suddenly we got word that Ice T was
her guest star that day, and that he might drop by for our shoot with
Pam. Quickly Penn & Teller and the writers put our heads together
to try to come up with an idea for something to do on the fly with Ice
T, just in case he'd be so inclined. So we pulled out a trick of mine,
from my 1987 cover issue of Genii magazine (and my subsequent European
lecture notes), entitled "Stabbing Case," in which a signed
card is returned to the deck, the deck is boxed, and a knife is stabbed
through the box. When the box is ripped away, the signed card is impaled
on the knife, still stuck in the board. A week or so before we had thought
of using this trick for a possible remote with Tim Allen of Home Improvement,
and at that time, Teller had come up with the idea of using a power drill
and wood screw instead of the knife. After some rapid brainstorming at
the Hard Rock, Penn came up with the premise that he would ask Ice T where
his "section" of memorabilia was hanging. Ice T would say there
wasn't any, and then Penn would rip somebody else's piece of famous memorabilia
off the wall, and in its place – by performing the card trick –
leave a playing card signed by Ice T screwed into the wall. Michael Goudeau
raced off to the shop to collect the props, while we ran around Hard Rock
to pull it all together. Meanwhile, we didn't even know if Ice T would
do it!
We got set for the bit. Ice T came by, and Teller asked him if he wanted
to do a spot with the guys. He said he was a fan and would be glad to
do something, so while Penn & Teller were taping with Pamela, I sat
around and did some close-up magic for him and his friends. He really
enjoyed the magic and was a hell of a lot of fun to perform for and to
hang with. After the Pamela spot was finished, we shot Ice T's spot quick
and dirty, pretty much in one take, and it went great. And I still have
the card!
But there's more to the story. Teller had previously had the idea that
it would be funny for a rapper to do a kid's birthday party magic trick,
like Hippity Hop Rabbits. We mentioned the idea to Ice T, he liked it
instantly and, since he was going to be in town for a few more days
and we were taping shows that weekend, he agreed to come on the show.
So the next morning he came by the shop, and I performed a simple version
of the Hippity Hop Rabbits for him and gave him a couple of possible
presentation ideas, including suggesting that we get some little kids
together for him to perform for, birthday-party style, at the taping.
We spent some time working together while he learned the mechanics of
the trick, and then he was off and running on his own. Over the next
forty minutes or so he kept riffing on the concept and created a truly
clever and funny routine, complete with an original story, and every
time somebody new from the production team came into the office, he'd
perform the trick for them. Each time it got better and better, and
after a half dozen performances or so, he was done and we knew we had
a great bit. It was really wonderful to see a guy that focussed and
talented just create something out of whole cloth right before your
eyes.
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