DOWN UNDER-HANDED TRICKS WOW VEGAS

A Gold Coast magician has turned heads with her performance on a hit international TV show filmed in Las Vegas

A GOLD Coast magician has fooled world-renowned magicians Penn and Teller on their hit international TV show filmed in Las Vegas.

Helen Coghlan, daughter of revered Gold Coast magician and escapologist Arthur Coghlan, performed two magic tricks for her act as part of season 5 of the hit series filmed at the Penn and Teller Theatre at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.

On the Gold Coast, Coghlan is perhaps best known for helping her father chop Gold Coast City Councillor Dawn Crichlow’s head off in an infamous stunt.

“Some magicians use methods that are under-handed. This magician is from Australia, so she uses methods that are Down Underhanded,” Penn and Teller: Fool Us host, actress Alyson Hannigan said as she introduced Coghlan. In a video intro to her act, Coghlan said she had grown up on the Coast surrounded by magic.

“My dad’s a well-respected magician in Australia,” she said.

“So I’ve grown up with it and we’ve been working together now for about 36 years.”

Renowned as “the greatest escape artist Australia has ever known”, Arthur Coghlan designs and builds all of his own illusions, something that has made him a sought-after consultant and adviser.

Helen was the first woman in the world to perform Houdini’s Chinese water torture escape trick.

“That was a feather in my cap,” she said. “I have two tricks that no one else in the world is doing. This is Australia versus Vegas and it’s on.”

With her daughter and her parents in the audience, Coghlan put a metal rod through a glass of milk for her first feat — a trick devised by dad Arthur.

Coghlan’s second trick saw her string “my grandfather’s tennis racket” in front of the audience.

“He doesn’t use it anymore. He’s dead,” Coghlan deadpanned.

While the second trick didn’t fool Penn and Teller, Coghlan was awarded a trophy for bamboozling them with her milk trick.

Penn and Teller: Fool Us screens in Australia on the ABC and Netflix.

Magician Arthur Coghlan and his daughter Helen, who fooled Penn and Teller in Las Vegas, and Helen on stage during the Vegas show (inset).