All language subtitles for Justin Willman_ Magic Lover.en.closedcaptions

[crowd cheers]

["I Just Wanna Shine"
by Fitz and the Tantrums plays]

-[lights thunk]
-[crowd cheers]

[whistling]

Yes.

♪ I just wanna fly… ♪

Wow.

♪ To the top of the mountain ♪

[Justin laughs]

Thank you.

-I mean, wow.
-[audience member whistles]

[song fades]

You guys,

magicians don't normally get
this kind of respect in show business.

[audience titters]

We're the chiropractors
of the entertainment industry.

Not tonight, though.

-[crowd cheers]
-Thank goodness.

You know,
I've been doing magic a long time

and I've learned there are two kinds
of people who come to a magic show.

First group of people,
people who like magic.

They like the way it makes them feel,

they don't wanna know the secrets,
they just want to experience wonder.

I call them magic lovers. Any here?

[cheers and applause]

Thanks for coming.

The second group of people

are the people
the first group brought with them.

[laughter]

The plus-ones.

[chuckling]

Plus-ones, they don't like magic.

They don't like watching it.

They don't like
the way it makes them feel.

It irritates them.

They think they need to know the secret
if they're gonna move on with their life.

Where's my plus-ones at? You here?

-[cheers]
-Wow.

Thank you for coming.

Right up front. Great.

Thanks for-- No, thank you.

You should know, plus-ones,

I know you think you wanna know
the secret, but you don't.

Think of it this way.

Magic is like hot dogs.

[laughter]

[light clapping]

The more you know,
the harder it is to swallow.

[laughter]

Remember the day
you found out how hot dogs were made?

Sad day.

Same with magic.

And to prove my point,

I'm gonna do something
you don't see at a magic show.

I'm gonna show you a trick
and then I'm gonna tell you how I do it.

All right?
Just so you can feel how that feels.

Sounds fun, right?

I have a box.

I put something in this box
earlier tonight.

It'll be important in a second,
so take note of the box.

What's in the box?

Uh, I also need somebody to help me out.

So I'm gonna toss this Frisbee out.
Heads up.

If you catch it, stand up.

Hello.

You robbed that guy of that Frisbee.

He wanted it.

How are you?

-So excited!
-You're so excited?

We're gonna hand you a microphone
so we can hear that excitement.

-Here we go. Hi.
-Hello.

-What's your name?
-Larissa.

-Hi, Larissa. Justin.
-[Larissa] Hello.

-Nice to meet you.
-Can I ask you a personal question?

-[giggles]
-Okay. Remember your first crush?

-[Larissa] Yes.
-[Justin] Who was it?

-Spencer.
-[Justin] Spencer. Spencer.

What was his last name?

[crowd chuckles awkwardly]

-Do you remember his last name?
-No.

[laughter]

-Oh! Yes, I do.
-[Justin] You do?

-[Larissa giggles]
-Spencer what?

Kuznia.

How do you-- How do you spell that?

K, U, Z, N, I, A.

-K, U, Z, N, I, A.
-[Larissa] Correct.

-Spencer Kuznia.
-[Larissa] Correct.

Great. Who are you here with tonight?

[laughs] Not Spencer.

Not Spencer, okay.

[Larissa laughing]

Larissa, is there any way
I could've known about Spencer Kuznia?

-No.
-[Justin] Take a seat.

You'll enjoy this.

Ladies and gentlemen,
first trick of the special.

It better be good.

That is why tonight

we have a very special guest with us.

-[mouths] Oh!
-[nervous laughter]

Please welcome to the stage

Spencer Kuznia, everybody!

[tepid applause]

That would've been fun.
Wouldn't that have been fun?

[laughter]

Not for Larissa.

[laughter]

Uh…

Spencer's not here.

Don't worry. Phew.

The box is here, though.

"What's in the box?"

It's not Spencer's head, okay?

That would be a great way
to start the show.

I'm just sayin'.

Inside the box before the show,
I placed a prediction.

A piece of paper.

On that piece of paper I wrote down a name
I couldn't have known before the show.

Yet here we are.

One sheet of paper
that happens to say Spencer Kuznia.

[tepid applause swells]

[applause and cheers]

I mean…

I'll give that to him to burn.

Now, um,
that's what the magic lovers came to see.

I know. I could feel it.
The plus-ones are irritated right now.

Um…

Wheels are turning. They're like,
"Ah! It happened already! Ah, magic!"

I'm gonna do something--

I'm gonna do something
magicians don't normally like.

Uh, if there's a plus-one here
who has a theory

as to how I got Spencer Kuznia
out of the box,

throw your hand up in the air.

-You got a theory?
-[man 1] Why not?

White-hat guy? Stand up.
We're gonna give you a mic.

Here's what I'm gonna do.

What's your name?

-Nick.
-Nick. I'm gonna let you take a guess.

If you guess correctly how I got
Spencer out of the box, I'll tell you.

-How'd I do it?
-There's a printer in there.

Connected to, like, Wi-Fi.

[applause]

Sure.

[man 2] Go, Nick!

You could take his mic back.

[laughter]

That was… That's a good guess.

Okay, uh…

By the applause, I can tell
that's what everyone thinks. Um…

Uh, yeah.
Uh, there was a printer in the box.

Ta-da!

Thanks for ruining Christmas, Nick.

How's that hot dog taste, huh?

Kinda sad, right?

A moment ago, I was this cool magician
with supernatural powers.

Now I'm just a regular dude
with a little printer.

You paid to see a guy print stuff.

Could've done that at work for free.

Now we're all sad. Okay.

You know?
I'm not gonna reveal any more secrets.

Here's what I ask.
Tonight, let's not be two kinds of people.

There's enough
out there in the world to divide us.

Magic should not be one of those things.

Tonight, let's let magic
bring us together.

[applause]

All right.

Let's start the show.

[surf rock music plays]

[music stops]

[whistling]

[Justin chuckles]

How you doin' now, Nick? You okay?

Oh man.
Let me tell you a little bit about me.

Uh, I'm married. We have two kids.
We've got a daughter Rosie. She's two.

Super cute. Our son Jack is six.
I love being a dad. I do. I love it.

I like to think it's
the most important job I'll ever have

and I can say that
because I am a magician.

[laughter]

[chuckles]

One of the perks.

Sometimes I get to combine
being a magician and being a dad.

Love it when that happens.

Uh, one day my son
asked me what inflation was.

Eh? Smart kid.

I know a lot of money tricks
so I had the perfect trick

to explain to him
the concept of inflation.

Does anybody have a, like, a $1 bill?

-[woman] I have a $2 bill.
-You have a $2 bill? All right.

[laughter]

You must be a fun aunt. I can tell.

Right here. Hello.

-Hello.
-[Justin] Your name?

Lauren.

Lauren, thank you for being one
of the few people around you to even reach

and check if you have a $1 bill.

Can you hand me Lauren's $1 bill there?

Thank you, Lauren. Appreciate it.

Oh, it's… it's been-- it's been
in circulation for a little while.

Okay. So, uh,
here's how I broke it down for Jack.

I said, "Hey, buddy."

-[audience chuckling]
-[Justin chuckles]

"You can't buy a lot
for a dollar these days."

"You can't even buy a can of Coke,
which is crazy."

"But 100 years ago,
you could buy a lot for a dollar."

"Can of Coke was only 5¢.
A dollar would buy you an entire case."

"And that's back when
it was the original recipe, by the way."

[light laughter]

[laughter increases]

[clears throat]

"The good stuff."

"Today that costs much more." Uh…

"In fact, 100 years ago, what only cost
$1 today to buy that very same thing,

you might end up spending as much

as

$20."

[applause]

Yeah.

And I said, "That is what inflation is."
And he got it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh.

Could've been you.

Could've been you. You gotta reach.

[man 1] I got a hundo.

You have a hundo?

I'll figure somethin' out. Okay.

Bless you. All right.
So he wants to see it again. Um…

-What's your name? Andy.
-Andy.

Let's do
a little follow-up lesson for Andy.

[clears throat]

[laughter]

"Hey, buddy."

"Watch your $100 bill."

"Watch it close, you sweet, trusting man."

"Watch as that $100 bill

slowly

transforms itself

all the way into…" Oh boy.

And that is what a recession is.

Thank you, Andy. Thank you.

[Justin chuckles]

Thank you for coming.

Moving on.

Thank you guys
for not being on your phones.

It feels good to not be on the phone.
I use my phone too much.

Uh, I checked my screen time once.

Bad idea.
It said my daily average was 27 hours.

However, I have recently come up with
a solution to the screen-time problem.

Anybody else uses their phone
more than they want? Yeah?

[light clapping]

-What kind of phone you use?
-[man 2] Uh…

New iPhone. The 16.

Sixteen? The new one. Yeah, those are--
They're designed to be addictive.

How about you?
You use your phone too much?

What's your name?

-Rachel.
-Rachel.

I'll help you
with your screen-time problem.

Come-- Give it up for Rachel.

Rachel, bring your phone.
We'll put a microphone on you.

[smooth electronic music plays]

Rachel, everybody.

[music ends]

-You wanna stand right here?
-Okay.

How's it going?
Thanks for coming. Who you here with?

Nick, the guy who knew you had a printer.

[Rachel laughs]

How long you guys been together?

Almost 20 years.

-Wow, okay.
-Yeah.

[Justin] Wow.

Twenty years of mansplaining. That's, um…

-Give this woman a medal.
-Thank you.

Where are you from?
Don't tell me, actually.

Don't tell me.
What's your ZIP code where you're from?

55016.

-Uh… oh, 55016…
-Yeah.

…is Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

-Yeah!
-[Justin] Yeah, right, I've been there.

[applause]

Let me…

I'll do one better.

Uh, four blocks from your house
there's a Starbucks.

Yeah, okay. [laughs]

[chuckles] You use your phone a lot?
Can I see it?

-[Rachel] Mm-hm.
-Okay.

Wow. It's not too old. This is good.
You got a Target notification.

-Can I swipe?
-[Rachel] Yeah.

Look at that. Where is this?

-Can we see that…
-Uh, that's Tybee Island in Georgia.

[Justin] Beautiful photo. Great.

Let's see what your screen time is here.
Let's see. Screen time is…

There we go. Your daily average,
four hours and thirty-four minutes.

[man] Whoo!

Oh, that's impressive?

[laughter]

-That's a part-time job. Guys.
-[Rachel laughs]

Rachel, what are you doing on your phone?

Well, lately I thought my dog was dying,
so I was researching a lot of stuff.

But…

But? But…

Today the vet said
that maybe she just fractured her hip.

Yay!

That's great news.

But I'm a nurse,
so I always assume the worst.

-That's your job.
-[Rachel] Yeah.

So then I was,
like, googling a lot of stuff.

-I see. That's why your screen time's up.
-Yeah.

I'll help you
with your screen-time problem.

-Okay.
-But first, let's play a game.

Okay.

-Can I take the phone out? Okay.
-[Rachel] Yeah.

Wouldn't want anything bad
to happen to the case. Um…

[laughter]

We're gonna play a game
called Where's My Phone?

-Oh…
-You ever play Where's My Phone?

-No. [laughs]
-[Justin] Okay, well, you…

You will as you get older.
Uh, here's how it goes.

We take Rachel's phone.
It goes inside of an envelope here.

So we can't see it. And I'm gonna seal it.

So that we-- So that we can't…

[laughter]

"Tamper-proof"? Okay.

So it's in there, but we can't see it.

-You gotta keep an eye on it.
-Okay.

Rachel, where's your phone?

-It's there.
-You're doing great.

Here's where it gets tricky.

I have, uh, another phone.
Now, this is an old, broken iPhone 8.

-It is, uh, it's been smashed. Long story.
-Oh…

But if I put this old, broken phone
into an identical envelope, Rachel,

what's fun
is that they look kind of similar, right?

So this is not your phone, okay?
That is your phone.

-Okay.
-Don't let me confuse you.

We paying attention?

No, I wasn't.

-[Rachel laughs]
-Do you know where your phone is?

Left or right?

-I don't, to be honest.
-It's on the left.

In front of a crowd,
I'm a little overwhelmed.

Focus. Focus.

This is the easy part of the game,
to build your confidence,

and it's not going well.

So, Rachel…

[Rachel laughs]

-…this is the part--
-I thought my dog was dying.

I know, I know.

Great, great fodder for a comedy show,
I know, but…

Dog's fine. Just a broken hip.
We should all be so lucky.

-That's your phone. Keep an eye on it.
-Okay.

-There you go.
-Where is it? Left or right?

-That one!
-Great! Okay.

I have another broken phone
already in an envelope.

-Rachel, left, middle--
-That one.

Doing great.

Just one more time.

I have three more broken phones
already in an envelope.

Oh God! l--

You guys were cocky. Clearly.

Someone's been to Vegas.

All right,
so, Rachel, you wanna cut the deck?

-Okay…
-Just cut.

Great. Okay. So, Rachel.
So one of these envelopes has your phone.

Five do not. You don't need to guess.

Here's what I want you to do.

Would you number the envelopes
one through six?

Using this marker, which is fantastic?

Um…

-Okay. [laughs]
-Calm down.

One, two, three, four, five, six.
Do you play Wordle?

-Yeah, I do. How'd you know?
-Bleh…

Same way I knew about the Starbucks. Uh…

Here.

[light applause]

-Wordle drives my screen time up, so I--
-[Rachel] I know. Me too.

I have a--
I have a phone-free Wordle version.

This is low-tech,
so it doesn't bring up your screen time.

Here, uh, you toss me?

Fantastic. Everybody here
think of a five-letter word, okay?

Think of a five-letter word. I'm gonna

throw this out to a random…

Oh, wow.

Nice catch. Stand up.

-What's your name?
-Uh, César.

Thinking of a five-letter word?

I'm gonna try to guess it.

Was it "magic"?

Okay, sit down. You can sit down.

[laughter]

I was thinking, he's at a magic show.
It would've been easy at a magic show.

Okay, but not César. All right!

Just killin' time. All right, here we go.

Uh, Rachel,

great font. Look at this.

Six, five, four, three, two, one.

So, listen, one of these envelopes
had your phone, five of them do not.

We're not gonna rely
on statistics and odds.

We are gonna rely on your luck.
Do you have good luck?

-Usually not.
-Well, okay, well…

See if we can turn that around.

I have a luck detector. A six-sided die.

One, two, three, four, five, six.
Come closer.

-[Rachel] Okay.
-Warm that up in your hands.

Rachel, you're gonna roll the die

inside this bottle
so it doesn't go all over the place.

-Pop it in there.
-Okay.

-[die clacks]
-There.

You're gonna give the die a shake.
Whatever number you roll, you say it.

-So three…
-[Rachel] Oh.

…two. But just roll it once.

Be gentle.
Don't break the bottle. Little shakes.

-[die clacks]
-She's gonna love this game.

Five.

Five. Okay.

-Okay.
-[Rachel] What?

-Oh God!
-[laughter]

Oh wait.
Did I not mention the hammer? I apologize.

Sorry. The hammer's
the original handheld device,

if you think about it. Uh…

Irony.

"Irony." César, was the Wordle "irony"?

Okay, fine.

Don't be a jerk about it. Uh…

What's gonna happen.

We're gonna keep rolling and smashing
until there's one envelope left.

And, Rachel,
if the last envelope has your phone,

you win.

[laughs] I'm scared.

It's a Game of Phones. Shake it.

-[epic fantasy music plays]
-[die clacks]

-Four.
-Four.

[Rachel shouts, laughs nervously]

Kids, try this at home!

-Roll again. One, two, three, or six.
-[die clacks]

-Two.
-[Justin] Two. Okay.

The envelopes are padded. Don't worry.

Roll again. One, three, or six.
One, three, or six. Gentle, gentle.

-[Rachel] Okay, two.
-One, three, or six.

-Six.
-Six.

Oh, wow.

That one sounded different.

[Rachel laughs]

It's cool. We're left with one or three.

One or three, Rachel.

Two.

Two. Two.

-Four. One.
-This is statistically unlikely.

-What?
-I got one.

[music ends]

-Should I roll again?
-No.

-[chuckles]
-[Rachel] I mean, I could.

You were right.
You are not a very lucky person.

-Um…
-[Rachel laughs]

It's cool. Uh…

You do this one. You do this one.

-I don't want to.
-It's cathartic.

You really deserve it. You deserve it.

Come on. Really…

'Kay. Good. Oh, one more.

[laughing]

Hey, funny story. Um…

Do you guys wanna know
how I got all these broken phones?

[laughter]

[light applause]

[die jingles]

[whispers] I'll tell you later.

-Rachel, um, listen.
-[Rachel] Yeah?

You can open up envelope number three…

-Okay.
-And--

And we can all see
what's inside right now.

Or you can keep that envelope sealed
till you get home tonight.

Open it up now

or live in the moment till this evening.

Wait, okay.

What if I gave you $100?

I have cash on me at the moment. Um…

[Rachel laughs]

It's a different bill.
What do you wanna do? Now or later?

I mean, I might as well do now
and show the audience.

Okay. Open it up, Rachel.

Reach in, make the screen light up.

Show us that island.

[hollers, laughs]

[Justin] You did it!

Um, Rachel.

I promised you I'd help you
with your screen time.

-[Rachel] Yeah.
-So, uh, here.

Would you have, uh…
Nick's his name, right?

-Yeah.
-Would-- would you call her phone?

Yeah. Get ready.

Call her when I say "go."

Okay?

I'm gonna let you have this bottle.

Can I borrow your phone?

-Whoa!
-You call it?

-[laughter]
-Call her up. Go, go, go.

-Calling.
-[Justin] Calling? Calling?

-Call from… Call from Nick.
-[phone voice] Call from Nick.

What?

-[cheers and applause]
-[phone rings]

Screen time
is no longer an issue for Rachel.

Rachel, everybody!

That's for you. Thank you so much.

-Thank you.
-Nice meeting you.

Careful here.

Careful here.

Livin' in the moment.

Moving on.

My son recently asked me
when he's allowed to get an iPhone.

And he's six. I mean…

I said, "Jack, you can get an iPhone
when you're as old as I was

when I got an iPhone."

Which was 27. Uh… [chuckles]

'Cause when I was six,
I did not get an iPhone.

I got something quite different.

When I turned six, I got one of these.

A Rubik's Cube.

-[scattered applause]
-Yeah.

Best-selling toy of all time.

Can you believe that?

Blew my mind 'cause I hated this thing.
I hated it.

It is very similar to an iPhone.

It also wastes your time,
makes you feel bad.

It's very similar.

I got a Rubik's Cube
when I was six and, uh,

that was before the internet

and before YouTube,
so I couldn't look up how to solve it.

It was just me in my room.

Justin versus Cube.

I started out going like this. Just…

"I did it."

[laughter]

But eventually, I would get cocky
and I would take this thing

and I would scramble it up
and I would not be able to solve it.

It was extremely frustrating.

I didn't have the attention span for it,
so I would throw it in the trash.

I didn't want my parents to know,
so I'd lie and tell them I lost it.

I was like,
"Oh I'm so sad. I just solved it too!"

And my mom,
being the awesome mom that she was,

would feel bad
and she'd buy me another one.

Again and again.

That's why
it's the best-selling toy of all time.

That's my theory.

Then I became a magician.

When you're a magician,

you don't need to know
how to solve a Rubik's Cube.

All you need is a paper bag,

a mixed-up cube…

and boom.

Oh yeah.

You need a second cube as well.

You also need a second cube.

Anyone, like me,
never been able to solve a Rubik's Cube?

Always wanted to learn?

Oh, wow.

Hat guy. Stand up.

-What's your-- what's your name?
-Kyle.

-How's it goin'?
-[Kyle] Fantastic.

-You can't solve a Rubik's Cube?
-No.

Let's talk. Come up here.
They'll put a microphone on you.

Kyle, everybody!

[man] Whoo!

-[applause]
-[funky music plays]

[whistling]

[music fades]

Hello, Kyle.

-How's it going?
-Fantastic.

Justin.

-Good to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

-Thanks for coming.
-Absolutely.

Who you here with?

I got my wife and my daughter.

[Justin] Oh wow. It's a family affair. Hi.

Kyle, where are you from?
Well, what's your ZIP code?

Lemme think. [laughs] 55092.

55092. You are from Wyoming, Minnesota.

-You got it.
-Yeah!

You got it.

Let me…

Four blocks from your house…

there's no Starbucks.

No, there isn't. [laughs]

Little more rural. All right.

Kyle, what do you do for a living?

Uh, I own a small business.

Tree-service work.

-Oh, fantastic.
-[Kyle] Yes.

[applause]

-Hey, hey. Right. [laughs]
-Wow.

Only in Minnesota.

Everyone's like,
"Thank you for your service, Kyle."

There are so many trees.

It's a hard job, I bet.

-Can be.
-What do you do to 'em?

Uh…

-Get rid of 'em.
-Okay.

[both laugh]

-The opposite of conservation.
-Yes. Yes.

-You're a tree exterminator.
-That's right.

For people-- For residential?

Actually, I only do stump grinding.

Work with tree-service companies
and I do all their stumps.

-So you're a stump grinder.
-Yes.

-And what does that entail?
-Uh, grinding the stump.

Yeah.

[laughter]

Sorry.

You ever bring your work home with you?

-[chuckles] Actually, yeah.
-You do?

Yeah, the stump grinding's
come home with me.

-The grindings?
-Yes.

What do you do with 'em?

Well, I dump 'em,
and I'm making a wall at my house with it.

[mild laughter]

-Your wife is proud.
-[Kyle] Yeah. Yeah.

-But you can't solve one of these.
-No.

What if I told you that you will solve
that Rubik's Cube tonight

in front of a thousand people
in under a minute?

-[audience] Whoo!
-Let's go.

-Can't be harder than grinding a stump.
-Yeah. [chuckles]

Go ahead and mix it up.

You know how to do that. Look at that.

Yeah, look at me go.

Uh, Kyle, do you know how many
Rubik's Cube combinations are possible?

-Nope.
-Guess.

[Kyle exhales]

12,807.

[audience titters]

I know-- I know someone who knows.

-Hey, Siri.
-[audience laughs]

How many
Rubik's Cube combinations are there?

[Siri] A Rubik's Cube has 43 quintillion
different possible configuations.

Quintillion.

You were so close.

[laughter]

-Forty-three quintillion.
-Yeah.

-You ever heard of that? That's a number.
-I know.

It's such a big number.

Let me give you context.

Hey, Siri. How many grains of sand
are on planet Earth?

[Siri] There are an estimated
seven quintillion grains of sand on Earth.

Wow.

Wow.

Take that in for a second.

Wow.

You've got questions. I've got questions.
First off, who counts the sand?

[laughter]

That job sucks.

You're havin' a hard day,
be glad you're not a sand counter, okay?

I bet they also bring
their work home with them.

Yeah. [laughs]

[laughter]

[quietly] In their shoes.

-In their shoes.
-[Kyle chuckles]

Shoes. Shoes. Was the Wordle "shoes"?

Okay. Uh…

Listen, the reason I tell you
all this information is so you know

that the cube you just mixed up

may be the only cube
that's ever existed like that.

The odds of there being another cube
that looks exactly like that one

are 1 in 43 quintillion.

-Impossible, right?
-[Kyle] Impossible.

Don't move.

[audience members] Oh…

[quietly] Don't move.

[Kyle] No way.

[laughter]

[Justin] Dude.

-[applause]
-[woman] Whoo!

[cheering]

Wow.

[Justin] Bro.

Bro.

Throw it.

Here, here.

Wow.

That's not even why you came up here.

-You came up here to solve a Rubik's Cube.
-Yeah.

Nothing's impossible.

-Kyle, stand next to me.
-'Kay.

Kyle, here's the thing.

You can look up
how to solve a Rubik's Cube. Anybody can.

It's on YouTube. There's tutorials.

They're taught by children,
so it's a little humbling. Uh…

They're so good.

Their little fingers
are just movin' so quick

and they're trying to focus on speed.

We're not gonna do that.

Kyle, for a guy like us… How old are we?

-Thirty-seven.
-Right.

[laughter]

Instead, Kyle, you're gonna take it

and you're gonna twist it
behind your back like this.

-Okay.
-Okay.

You're not gonna try
to solve it in your hands.

You're gonna solve it
with your imagination.

Okay.

-Face forward.
-Yup. [chuckles]

-Do you have a good imagination?
-Excellent.

-Okay, good.
-Yes.

Let's find out.

-Here, behind the back.
-[Kyle grunts]

Just practice nice and slow.
Nice and slow.

What're you thinkin' about?

-[Kyle chuckles]
-[audience titters uncomfortably]

Thinkin' about my wife right now,
actually.

She's so proud.

-[Kyle] She's…
-[Justin laughs]

[laughter]

[light applause]

-[Kyle chuckles]
-Stop, stop, stop.

All right. Don't think about your wife.
No offense, but…

-That wouldn't work.
-The stakes are too high.

-[chuckling] Okay.
-Okay? Don't think about your wife.

Don't think about me.

Don't think about
the thousand people here judging you.

Don't think
about the millions more at home.

Think about colors. Think about colors.

I'm gonna say a color,
think of things that are that color, okay?

All right, face the people.

Behind the back.

All right, just twist.

Twist. Just think of orange things.

-What's orange, Kyle?
-Pumpkin.

All right, good. Good.

You see? See? Pumpkins.
Maybe there's pumpkins.

Are they in the wild
or are they at a store?

-Both.
-Y--

All right.

We're standing on the edge of a pumpkin…

We're at a farmer's market.
It's a wild store.

-Okay.
-[Justin] Pumpkins.

Big pumpkins,
little pumpkins, medium pumpkins.

Wonderful. Pumpkins.
Doing great with orange.

Yellow. What's yellow?

School bus.

Okay, we're--
We left the farmer's market. We are at…

We're at a school. We're just--
We're at the corner, it's school bus time.

The school bus pulls up.

It's dropping off the kids.
A beautiful, yellow school bus.

Yellow. You're marveling at the yellow.

Blue. What's blue?

The sky.

Okay, we're looking up at the sky,
ignoring the school bus.

We're looking at the beautiful blue sky.

It's beautiful. It's blue. Green.

-Trees. Leaves.
-Great! Leaves.

All right. So, you're at work.

You're at work.

That's fine.
You're marveling at the beautiful trees

that you are gonna
just disintegrate with your machine.

You're gonna pulverize them
into nothingness.

Red. What's red?

Balloons.

-Okay.
-[laughs]

We're at your retirement party.

You did a good job of pulverizing roots.

Beautiful red balloons.

Now white things.

What's white?

Wedding dress.

Oh wow, okay. If…

Well, you're renewing your vows
'cause your wife is so proud of you.

She's so proud of how good you were
with your colors and your imagination.

You were such a good boy
thinking of things that were every color.

You were so good
that you know what you just did?

For a brief second,
you forgot about the cube.

-You forgot about me.
-I did.

You forgot about them.

When you feel like it's time to stop,
just freeze.

[clears throat] Uh?

Show them what you did.

-Wow.
-[applause]

[rock music plays]

[Justin] That was you.

[Kyle laughs]

That's awesome.

So nice to meet you.

-That's a souvenir.
-Thank you.

Kyle!

[applause]

Man.

Um…

That's the power
of the imagination right there.

Power.

Was the Wordle "power"?

[light laughter]

Screw you.

Uh, hey, does anybody happen to have

a, uh, $1 bill
that I can borrow for a trick?

One-dollar bill? Oh, hello. Hey!

Have we met? Uh…

-What's your name, sir?
-Andy.

Andy, you happen to have--
Hi, hi. You happen to have… Yeah. Ooh…

I didn't know if you were… [sucks teeth]

…gonna pull me down there, uh…

Thank you for givin' this--
What do you got to lose?

[light laughter]

[Justin clears his throat]

"Hey, buddy."

[audience gasps]

Andy, you know the phrase "fool me once"?

"Fool me twice"?

Now, Andy, don't worry.

Andy. Watch close.

I'm not only going to restore
that $1 bill back into one piece,

but I'm going to transform it
all the way into…

Wait.

[applause]

What was once worth something
is now worth nothing.

And that's how NFTs work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

[chuckles]

Uh…

Movin' on.

What's your ZIP code, by the way?

55330.

55330?

Uh, Elk River, Minnesota.

[man] Whoo!

Four blocks from your house… Uh…

-Two blocks.
-[Andy] No, there's two of them.

There's two Starbucks?

I've been there.

I haven't, actually.
Let me tell you what's goin' on.

When I was 12, I spent one summer
memorizing every ZIP code in America.

I don't wanna say I was unpopular, um…

I had a lot of free time on my hands.

This was before the internet.
This is what we did.

I got a gift when I was 12.

I'll never forget it.
I was gifted the, uh,

ZIP Code Directory.

Yeah. That's how I learned
there are 46,000 ZIP codes in America.

This book, not a fun read.

Audiobook even worse.

Let's see if I still got it.

Uh, if you've got a good ZIP code…
Let's venture outside of Minnesota.

Put your hand up in the air,
I'll try to tell you where you're from.

[applause, cheers]

Balcony, hello.

Black sweater.

Stand up.

-What's your name?
-Angela.

-[Justin] Angela, what's your ZIP code?
-45251.

45251 is Cincinnati, Ohio.

What's up? All right.

Yeah.

Hello. Hi.

Hi. 546--

What's your name?

-Rachel.
-[Justin] What happened to the niceties?

-What's your name?
-Rachel.

-[Justin] Hi. What's your ZIP code?
-54601.

54601. 54601.

-That La Crosse, Wisconsin?
-It is.

Fantastic.

You know what?

Hold on.

I know what the plus-ones are thinkin'.

Let me take this microphone off my head.

Okay.

I'm gonna switch to this one.

Um, hey, Nick?

Do me favor? Would you check my ears?

Make sure
there's no tiny Wi-Fi printers in there?

You can stick your fingers in there.
No one's talkin' to me like a news anchor?

-Mic's off.
-Do you wanna give me a wet willy?

-Nah.
-You're sure?

-Take your word. Yeah.
-'Kay, what's your ZIP code?

Uh, I live with her. You already got--

Oh yeah, I did.

-55016, I believe.
-[Nick] Yeah.

Yeah, what's up? Okay.

If you've got a good ZIP code,
I'll try to tell you where you're from.

We'll go over here.
Hello. How you doing? What's yours?

33323.

Oh, 33323 is Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

-That's correct.
-That's what's up. Okay.

Hello, hello.
How you doing? Where you from?

Hastings, Florida.

No-- [mumbles]

The ZIP.

I didn't specify.

My brain works ZIP code first, then the…

[guffaws]

Who's got a good one here?

Yeah, just the number.

54481.

Uh, 54481?
That is Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

-Yes.
-Yes. Yes.

Hello, you're wearing gloves.

That looks classy. Thank you.
What's your ZIP code?

-[whispers] 55434.
-55434.

-[whispers] That's Minneapolis, Minnesota.
-Yes.

-Blaine area. Blaine?
-Yes.

Okay, thanks for wearing gloves.

Hi. You could speak at a normal voice.
What you got?

-55011.
-Uh, 55011 is Cedar.

-Yeah.
-Minnesota. There we go.

We could venture out of Minnesota.
Try to stump me.

Uh, 19128.

Pennsylvania.

19128 is Philadelphia, PA.

Whoo! All right, come on. What's yours?

54703.

54703 is Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

-Yes. You…
-I pronounced it right. Come on.

-What do you got?
-49230.

Uh, 49230. 4923--
That is Brooklyn, Michigan.

-Yes.
-I know where that is.

On the mitten. Here we go.
Uh, hey, you. Hey. Hello.

54016.

54016. Hudson, Wisconsin?

-Yes!
-Yes!

Let's go to the lobby. Here we go.

Thank you. Hello.
Come with me to the lobby.

Hello. Hello.
How's it goin'? What's your ZIP code?

ZIP code? 50701.

Thank you. 50701 is Waterloo, Iowa.

-It is.
-It is. What's up?

And you're holding water-loo. All right.

Here we go. Anybody here?

Nope? Okay. Let's keep it going.

Let's venture out of the region.
Let's go on a trip. What do you got?

-74055.
-Thank you.

74055 is, uh, "Wassa…"

Owasso, Oklahoma.

-Yes.
-Owasso, Oklahoma.

That's a hard one to say.

Yes, okay.

Okay, here we go. What do you got?

63124.

Oh, St. Louis, Missouri. What's up?
Did we go to high school together?

-Ladue Horton Watkins?
-What year did you graduate?

-Ninety-five.
-Ninety-five.

Well, I'm 37, so, um…

It's good to see you.

You got one? What's yours?

44720.

Uh, 44720 is North Canton, Ohio.

Not South Canton. Property values.

Hello. What do you got?

99701.

Uh, oh! 99701 is Fairbanks, Alaska.

-Right, it is.
-There we go! Come on.

All right,
who's got a real humdinger? Stand up.

Oh, no pressure. What's yours?

89511.

89511? What is your name?

-Tiffany.
-Tiffany from Reno, Nevada.

Are you not entertained?

-[applause]
-[cheering]

Would everyone
who said a ZIP code stand back up for me?

Okay, great. Good.

Hastings, you can stand up too. [laughs]

[laughter]

Be nice!

Well, you've been through enough.

You can take a seat.

I'm gonna try
to recite your ZIP codes back at ya.

[man] Ooh…

I'll try to do it in the order
you gave them to me, so…

Listen for your five digits.
When you hear your ZIP code, take a seat.

Okay?

[quietly] Okay, that was a lot. Uh…

-[audience member sneezes]
-Bless you.

We had

5… 45251.

Cincinnati.

Oh, up there.

Then we had 54601.

Then we had 33323.

Then was Hastings, Florida in the house.

Alright, then we picked up some gas.

We had 54481.

There was 55434.

We had 55011.

There was 19128.

We had 54703.

We had 49230.

54016,

50701 out in the lobby there.

74055. 63124.

44720.

99701.

And 89511. That's it.

-[applause]
-[energetic rock music plays]

[whistling]

[music fades out]

Hey, Andy. Um…

[laughter]

If you had to put a dollar amount
on how much fun you've had so far…

[laughter]

I bet I know what it'd be.

[chuckles] You've been a good sport.

I have a prize for you, actually.

Andy, um,
actually I have six potential prizes.

Whatever number you pick,
you get that prize.

You have a choice to make.

One, two, three, four, five, or six.

Andy, what do you want?

Four.

Four? This one right here?
Okay. Who are you here with?

-My wife.
-[Justin] Your wife. Hey.

Do you wanna ask her
what her thoughts are?

I don't know.

She said, "I don't know, man."

I support four.

-You support four?
-[Andy's wife] Yeah.

Okay. Final answer is…?

Four.

[quietly] Okay.

It's a good one.

-It's a selfie.
-[laughter]

What could be better than that?

[laughter]

[audience] Whoo!

I'm gonna come down there.

Andy, we're gonna take
a $100 selfie right now.

Come here. Stand next to me here.

You wanna take it
or you want me to take it?

-Either way.
-I'm pretty good at it.

-Okay.
-Are ya?

Yeah, let's see.

[audience laughing]

-Thank you.
-Come here, come here.

Is it okay if I tag DJ Khaled
when I post that on Instagram?

Do whatever you wanna do.

Um…

-I can't leave it like this. You're sweet.
-Thank you.

But these people
are gonna get asked tomorrow,

"How was the Justin Willman show?"

And they're gonna say,
"It was fun, but he did rob a guy."

[audience laughing]

It's… That's bad press.

I'll be outside. [laughs]

[audience laughing]

Oh. Oh yeah. There's that too. Oy.

And I'd love to see you outside.
For another…

I'm sure another friendly selfie, um…

[smacks lips] I got one more offer for ya.

I have a…

I have my wallet.

Actually, I have both my wallets.

I have two wallets.

Andy, one of these wallets
has a $100 bill in it.

You get to pick one wallet.

You get what's in that wallet.

So do you want this one or this one?

This one?

-You sure?
-This one.

You wanna ask your wife?

[Andy's wife] No, you can't be trusted.

-Pick the other one.
-Okay.

-It's the other one?
-[Andy's wife] Yeah.

[man] Go with your gut.

Go with your gut? This was your gut.

-[man] Go with your gut.
-[boy] Safety.

Who the hell are you?

[laughter]

I think he wants to meet you outside.

[audience laughing]

All right, Andy.

Just… I wouldn't want
to be you right now, okay?

Fifty-fifty shot. These are good odds.

The best odds anyone's had all night.

Rachel's odds were one in six
and her phone's in a bottle.

Uh, so…

It's a bad example, actually.

Do you wanna go with your gut
or your wife's gut?

It's up to you.

-I'll go with that one.
-You're gonna go with…

[audience groans doubtfully]

Here. Go ahead and open it up.
Take a peek up top there.

Show 'em. Hundred bucks.

I'll take that. Yeah.

Thank you.

-Am I done? Thank you.
-Yeah. You're done.

Hey, in the future,
always trust your wife.

[applause]

I got lucky.

[sighs] You know,
my son stumped me the other day.

He asked me what serendipity was.

He watches a lot of rom-coms.

No, I love-- I say serendipity a lot.
I love serendipity.

I love the concept.
I love pointing it out when it happens.

But it is a hard concept
to explain to a kid.

Serendipity is something
you have to experience,

I think, to really understand.

And there aren't any magic tricks
that explain serendipity,

so I thought tonight
we could make one together.

[audience cheering]

In a moment,
five people are gonna come on stage

and they are each
gonna spin this prize wheel

in order to win
one of these 12 stuffed animals.

Behold Temu's finest array.

After they win a stuffed animal,

they are gonna choose one
of these five colorful seats to sit in.

Here's the thing.

Um… since this is something I'm trying
to use to explain something to my kids,

it's only right that the five people
who come on stage are kids.

Do we have any kids here tonight?

Oh, we do.

We're gonna choose our five kids
by throwin' out five Frisbees.

All right,
I'm gonna hurl these into the audience.

If you catch it and you're not a kid,
give it to the nearest kid.

That kid should mow your lawn, all right?

Frisbees comin' out.

[upbeat music plays]

All right.

Five kids, come on up.

Hold onto those Frisbees.

Wait at the bottom of the stairs.
We're gonna put a microphone on you.

-[music ends]
-Here's the thing.

The dictionary defines serendipity
as an unexpected fortunate discovery.

Happy accident.
I think it's something much deeper.

I'll show you what I mean.
Let's welcome our kids.

Kids, come to the stage.

Hello. You're gonna stand here in a line.

Join me a little this way.
Hello, kids. How's it going?

Okay. You caught the Frisbee. You did it.

Uh, on your Frisbees,

will you turn it so the black-dot side
that's facing the audience?

That black dot under is a sticker
and under that sticker is a number.

So if everyone'll pull the tab
on that black dot?

Show everybody what number you have?

Great. That number determines
the order that you spin for a prize.

So I'll take those stickers back

and everybody here can wait
while number one joins me at the wheel.

Come on over here.

[game show style music plays]

-Hi.
-Hi.

-What's your name?
-Emilia.

Emilia, give the wheel a spin.

-How old are you, Emilia?
-I'm 13.

Thirteen.

What's it like bein' 13?

-It's really great.
-You're just livin' in the moment.

What do you wanna be? You know?

Um… no idea.

-No idea?
-No.

-Maybe a stump grinder.
-Maybe.

[laughter]

You've won an inch worm!

-[fanfare plays]
-Yay!

[laughter]

-Emilia, you caught a Frisbee randomly…
-[Emilia] Mm-hm.

…you have now won a random stuffy.

Now, you get to take a seat
in any one of these chairs.

There are five colors.
Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

-Go ahead and pick a seat.
-[Emilia] Okay. [chuckles]

[applause]

Who's number two?

Join me, number two. Come on over here.

Number two. What's up?

[jazzy music plays]

How you doin'? Let's face the people here.

-What's your name?
-Uh, Frederick.

Frederick. Nice to meet you.

Give the wheel a spin.

How old are you?

Eight.

[Justin] Eight.
What do you wanna be in the future?

-I don't know.
-You don't know.

You don't have to set it in stone
until you're 14.

[laughter]

Real quick, what are your thoughts
on AI and its implications on humanity?

I have no idea.

You've won a horse.

-[fanfare plays]
-A horse for Frederick, everybody!

There it is.

Go ahead and choose a seat.

[audience chuckles]

Satisfied customer.

Number three, join me at the wheel.

[jazzy music plays]

-Hi.
-Hi.

-[Justin] What's your name?
-Louisa.

Louisa, give the wheel a spin.

-Louisa, how old are you?
-Eleven.

Eleven. I was 11 when I was your age.

[Louisa giggles]

Do you know
what you wanna be in the future?

-Not really.
-Let's figure it out now.

What do you-- What do you enjoy?

Um…

[giggles] I like drawing and dance.

You should be… [splutters]
…a dance sketch artist or something.

Y-- You've won a sloth. All right!

[fanfare plays]

That's cute.

Go ahead and pick a chair.

Number four!

Hello.

[jazzy music plays]

-What's your name?
-Lily.

-Lily?
-Yeah.

Spin the wheel, Lily.

Oh, we're gonna be chattin' for a while.
Um…

Uh, Lily, your sweatshirt
says Bear Island Lake. Where is that?

Minnesota.

[Justin] You know
how many lakes are in Minnesota?

11,800…

[both] Quintillion.

Well, you have won yourself a…

narwhal!

That's lake-related.

A narwhal.

All right. Pick any chair.

Number five!

Hello.

Hi.

[jazzy music plays]

-What's your name?
-Simon.

Simon, give the wheel a spin.

How old are you?

-Um, 13.
-[Justin] Thirteen.

What are your thoughts on AI
and its implications on humanity?

Uh, tons of children in my grade
use it to cheat on math tests.

[laughter]

How many of their names
can you say right now? Who?

Uh, Ava, Sarah… I dunno!

Who's gonna find out?

You've won a sloth and it's already won,

so spin it again
and spit out some names, bro.

-Uh, Blake, Joey, Emmett, Owen…
-Who you got?

-Oh yeah.
-Um…

It's goin' down.

Sam, Caleb, Ethan, Jameson…

That's right.

-Uh…
-Do you do it?

-Mm.
-[laughter]

You've won an eagle.
Our time is up. All right.

That is for you.

Choose any chair.

Look at the joy these stuffies
have brought these children.

I'm sure you're wondering what
any of this has to do with serendipity.

Listen, dictionary definition
I don't think does it justice.

I think serendipity
is the universe letting you know

that you are in the right place
at the right time.

Five strangers,
the same room, the same time,

probably for the first time ever.

You're in the same room at the same time
probably the last time ever.

Yet somehow, they are exactly
where they're supposed to be.

All because they caught a Frisbee.

Would you show your numbers
to the audience so we can see?

I'm gonna write this down
if that's cool here.

Just rotate it a little bit.
That one, the two's a little…

[audience titters]

[laughter]

You have created, uh, let's see.

Three, two, one, four, five.

Three-two-one-four-five.

If any of them had chosen
to sit in a different seat,

we would've created a different number,

but we created this five-digit number.

Three-two-one-four-five,

which, uh… which happens to be a ZIP code.

You got a phone?
Would you open it up to Google Maps?

Google Maps, okay good.

32145. I'm just gonna type 32145 ZIP.

ZIP.

Would you tell them what city
that's the ZIP code for?

Hastings, Florida.

-[Justin] "Hay…"?
-[Louisa] Hastings, Florida.

[applause]

No joke.

No joke, bro.

Hastings, Florida.

Hastings, Florida.

You didn't even know that.

You're welcome.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

[cheering]

Why did you choose the red chair?

Because my favorite color's red.

That's what I'm talkin' about.
Why'd you choose the green chair?

Because one of my favorite colors…

[Justin] One of 'em.

You guys are up here
'cause you caught a Frisbee.

You spun the wheel.
You got paired with a stuffy.

Would you show them what you won?

Show them. This beautiful sloth.

All because
you caught Frisbee number three,

which I don't refer to
as Frisbee number three.

To me, it will always be

the sloth Frisbee.

Interesting.

Show them what you got.

You won a horse
'cause of Frisbee number two,

which just so happens to be

the horse Frisbee.

[chuckles] You won

the most portable stuffy of all,
the inch worm.

The inch worm Frisbee.

Narwhal.

Narwhal.

Eagle.

You're darn right it's an eagle.

Would the five of you stand up,
step to the right?

You won an eagle.

You chose to sit in the blue chair.

Which just so happens to be

where the eagle is.

[triumphant music plays]

You won a narwhal. You chose
to sit exactly where the narwhal is.

Inch worm.

Inch worm.

Horse.

Of course.

And of course

the sloth!

[music kicks it up]

Take a bow.

Give it up for the kids!

You can head back.

Head on back.

Thank you. Thank you.

Giddyap.

And that is what serendipity is.

Oh!

Kill the music.
Sorry. Kill the music. Kill the music.

-[music ends]
-Kill the music, kill the animals.

No. [laughs]

You know what I meant.

The Wordle. It's gonna bug me.

Stand up.
Would you just tell me what it is?

-Shine.
-Shine.

Of course it's shine.

Of course it's shine!

Because shine

is spelled

"s," as in "sloth…"

["I Just Wanna Shine" plays]

…"h," as in "horse,"

"i," as in "inch worm,"

"n," as in "narwhal,"

and "e," as in "eagle."

S-H-I-N-E!

Thank you!

Thank you, St. Paul!

["I Just Wanna Shine" plays]

♪ I just wanna shine
Like the sun when it comes up ♪

♪ Run the city from the rooftops
'Cause today is gonna be my day ♪

♪ I just wanna climb
To the top of a mountain ♪

♪ Standin' tall when I'm howlin'
'Cause today is gonna be my day ♪

♪ Wake up and I
Stay up 'cause my ♪

♪ Sugar days are up and
If I get outta my way ♪

♪ I just wanna shine
Like the sun when it comes up ♪

♪ Run the city from the rooftops
'Cause today's gonna be my day ♪