A young magician in the making: BBMS student tries to fool Penn & Teller
February 1, 2024 at 1:07 a.m.
With a flick of the wrist, Rachel Gordon turned a large black die into several smaller ones. Then, with a wave of her hand, a pinwheel of playing cards started levitating with no support.
How does she do it? Who knows. A magician never tells their secrets.
A local star, Gordon has beamed in the spotlight since she was 5 years old. And her most recent endeavor not only premieres her newest talent but looks to make television history in the process.
From modeling to magic, the 11-year-old spent this week setting up her Sylvanleigh Road home for an epic watch party she’s hosting on Friday, Feb. 2, where her friends and family will join to check out her featured performance on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.” The episode will premiere at 8 p.m. on CW Channel 11.
“When they called us to say I was going to be on the show, and they were really excited to have me, I was just so excited,” Gordon said.
The episode, titled “The Youngest Act in Fool Us History,” is referring to none other than Gordon—the Blind Brook Middle School sixth-grader is the youngest magician to land a spot on the show.
“Penn & Teller: Fool Us” is a popular reality show where a series of magicians take the stage to perform their acts before the famous illusionists, attempting to “win” by performing a trick they can’t explain. Though Gordon was in Las Vegas filming for the program in August 2023, she only received 10 days’ notice about the upcoming premiere.
A Blind Brook Middle School sixth-grader, Gordon is no stranger to the stage. She’s been riding the entertainment wave in an upward trajectory for most of her life, and she doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.
It certainly wasn’t the path her mother, Esther Gordon, initially anticipated for her daughter—after all, for a long time, she was too anxious to speak.
At a young age, Gordon was diagnosed with selective mutism.
“It’s an anxiety disorder that prevents you from speaking in public,” she explained. “You can speak at home, but when you’re outside of the home, it’s more than shyness…you’re just too anxious to speak.”
Stepping out of her shell and into the spotlight was Gordon’s way to battle her anxiety. Initially, that fight took place in the world of fashion, where at 5 years old, she began modeling and found herself walking the runway for New York Fashion Week.
“My mom got me into runway modeling because you don’t have to talk, but you’re still on the stage,” she said. “So, it’s like a good compromise.”
Since then, Gordon’s career in the entertainment industry exploded as she found passion in music, singing and acting. In 2019, she starred as Cindy Lou Who in the Broadway National Tour of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and has recently stepped into the world of voice acting.
Recording remotely from her private studio set up in her bedroom, her voice has been featured in the DreamWorks Animation “Gabby’s Dollhouse,” the PBS Kids show “Alma’s Way” and she’s slated to be in an upcoming Nickelodeon animated series.
“I love performing, and it really distracts me from my anxiety,” Gordon said. “It makes me feel happy and confident, especially when I’m doing magic.”
“I still get anxious sometimes. But I learned a better way to cope with it, and doing magic and practicing tricks makes me feel like I’m in my happy place,” she continued. Now, she also serves as an ambassador for the Selective Mutism Association, where she aims to inspire other children with her transformation.
Performing in front of Penn & Teller feels like a full circle moment for Gordon—they’re the ones who inspired her love of magic.
“I always liked to watch their show when I was young. It was so fun, and I wanted to create my own magic,” she said. “It’s so captivating and it would make me so happy. I just didn’t know how they did it, but I wanted to create magic like them because I was drawn into it. And I like entertaining people and making people feel happy.”
She’s been practicing her tricks since she first became mesmerized with the famous duo, starting as a preschooler arranging makeshift performances for her class. And she continued to try to wow her friends as time went on—even in the era of COVID-19, she’d perform for them over Zoom and FaceTime.
She studies the art of illusion in her spare time, reading as many books as possible on magic that she can and picking up new tactics. While she’s still looking to find her specialty, she gravitates toward clever card tricks.
“For me, this has all been shocking,” her mother Esther said. “We didn’t think we’d come so far. Performing was really kind of therapy for her, and now it’s become her thing. It’s like, now we believe in magic because miracles and magic really do happen.”
Gordon’s lifestyle has her busy—sometimes she’s on the road, while other days she’s booking auditions. And her family credits the Blind Brook School District greatly for being accommodating.
“Her teachers and principals have been so flexible and supportive, we’re very grateful,” Esther said. They’ve also been monumental, Gordon added, in helping her work through symptoms of anxiety.
Gordon is no longer fearful of stepping onto the big stage—it’s something she’s grown accustomed to. When she filmed for “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” she just put herself in “the zone” to give them the best performance possible.
So, did she successfully trick the master illusionists?
You’ll have to check out the show on Friday to find out.
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