What magic trick has gone most horribly wrong?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “knife cup magic trick fail“
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What magic trick has gone most horribly wrong?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “knife cup magic trick fail“
About Ximena
From a “horrible” perspective, the two that come to mind first are The Bullet Catch and “Smashed and Stabbed.”
The Bullet Catch trick goes back over 150 years now, and there are at least 13 famous magicians who have been killed performing it. There are doubtless more unknown magicians and amateurs who have been hurt or killed attempting it. Penn and Teller are currently performing a “foolproof” version of the effect, but even they have tremendous respect for what can go wrong.
The Smashed and Stabbed effect is more recent – a knife blade or metal spike is hidden under one of five cups or bags, and the performer smashes his hand on the cups he believes do not contain the spike/ blade until only one cup remains, and the spike/blade is revealed beneath it. Like the Bullet Catch, there are a variety of reasons this can go wrong, but the results are extremely painful and graphic (and were at one time available in a compilation on YouTube). The worst example is a magician who actually impaled a spectator’s hand on the knife blade. I understand several venues have banned the effect entirely.
If you see someone doing one of these effects, I hope this heightens the drama for you (but I wouldn’t go on stage to help…).
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I was living in Oakhurst, California when the following happened. Oakhurst is about 45 minutes from Fresno, and the whole tragedy went down in Fresno, so it was only natural that we’d hear about it. (I have no idea whether or not it made the national news.)
Magician Killed Attempting Coffin Escape Trick : Halloween: ‘Next Houdini’ perishes when tons of dirt and wet cement fall onto casket in which he was buried. [ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-01-ca-522…
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From a “horrible” perspective, the two that come to mind first are The Bullet Catch and “Smashed and Stabbed.”
The Bullet Catch trick goes back over 150 years now, and there are at least 13 famous magicians who have been killed performing it. There are doubtless more unknown magicians and amateurs who have been hurt or killed attempting it. Penn and Teller are currently performing a “foolproof” version of the effect, but even they have tremendous respect for what can go wrong.
The Smashed and Stabbed effect is more recent – a knife blade or metal spike is hidden under one of five cups or bags, and the performer smashes his hand on the cups he believes do not contain the spike/ blade until only one cup remains, and the spike/blade is revealed beneath it. Like the Bullet Catch, there are a variety of reasons this can go wrong, but the results are extremely painful and graphic (and were at one time available in a compilation on YouTube). The worst example is a magician who actually impaled a spectator’s hand on the knife blade. I understand several venues have banned the effect entirely.
If you see someone doing one of these effects, I hope this heightens the drama for you (but I wouldn’t go on stage to help…).
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Technically, these are not “magic tricks,” they are “escapist tricks,” but both the Underwater or Water Torture Cell trick and the Buried Alive or Coffin Escape have killed magicians, including quite recently.
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What are some of the worst cases of magic tricks going wrong?
Not the worst — nobody died, — but pretty bad.
One December 31 in early 90’s (I forgot the exact year) I was watching the New Year festivities at Times Square. As part of the show, an 8′ glass fishbowl was wheeled in and filled with champagne. Two escape artists were handcuffed and dropped into the bowl. Keep in mind, this was December 31, sub-freezing weather. They were unable to unlock their handcuffs before succumbing to the cold. As the escape artists’ eyes closed and they began visibly passing out, someone grabbed a sledgehammer (no doubt, prepared for just that eventuality) and smashed the bowl. A torrent of champagne flooded out, along with two hapless would-be Houdinis.
I wonder if they ever lived it down.
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