From swallowed razors to setting co-stars on fire, we look at 8 magic tricks that went
horribly wrong.
8.
Razor Burn • Amateurs should really leave magic to
the professionals, even if they occasionally off themselves too.
• One such amateur named Dr. Vivian Hensley was performing a trick of his very own for
his son.
The trick made it look as though he’d swallowed a razor, but he actually dropped them down
his sleeve.
But one fatal day, he fucked up and dropped it into his mouth and somehow swallowed it.
He was rushed to hospital and operated on but intestines are long as shit and the doctors
couldn’t find it.
He died four days later.
• You gotta feel for his kid though, maybe he hoped all the hubbub was part of the act
too.
Like, “Aww shucks Dad got me good, had me thinking he’d really swallowed a razor.
Even faked his own death.
Now he’s doing the ol’ get buried alive act, what a trooper.”
7.
Rollin’ in the Deep • In 1990, Joseph Burrus tried to do a homage
to Houdini on the anniversary of his death.
• He would attempt to recreate the trick that very nearly cost Houdini his life; he
would be buried alive.
Where Houdini was buried in a casket under six feet of dirt, Burrus tried to one up his
hero by opting for a mixture of dirt and cement.
He chose a glass coffin so that the audience could see his genius in detail, but the coffin
was crushed under the weight of nine tons of dirt and cement.
• So the audience got a close up of squished magician instead of the ingeniousness he’d
planned for.
Crews attempted to reach Burrus in time but unfortunately failed.
Moral of the story is; always shop around for your coffin, especially if you’re pouring
fucking cement onto it.
6.
Milk Can’t • The magician known as Genesta was also
attempting one of Houdini’s tricks when tragedy struck.
• In this trick one of the big metal milk canisters would be filled with water and the
magician was dunked in wearing a straitjacket.
He would escape the jacket and there was a hatch that automatically undid all the locks
on the outside of the canister that were added for melodrama.
• What they didn’t know was the hatch had been damaged in transport, so Genesta
didn’t have enough room to remove the strait jacket, let alone pop out of the container.
The magician’s assistants had given the keys to the locks to various audience members
and so by the time they realized something had gone wrong, they had to start scrambling
to get the keys back.
It was utter mayhem and despite doctors reviving him at first, he died later that night.
5.
Bullet Catch • Williams Ellsworth Robinson performed
under the stage name Chung Ling Soo adopting the persona of Chinese mystic despite being
white as fuck.
• Throughout his career he spoke in a fake Chinese gibberish during all public appearances.
He would perform the old bullet catching routine.
The magic was in the gun; an audience member would load a real bullet in the chamber, but
there was a second barrel that held a blank.
That is until one day the accumulated gun powder caused the real bullet and the blank
to fire at the same time, landing a slug in his lung.
• But I like about this guy is that he was doing yellow face before it was uncool.
He’s like the hipster of racism.
And people were way more interested in Asian mysticism than when he spoke in his real accent.
Sort of like if Russel Brand had an American accent and people finally realised that he’s
a rambling lunatic. 4.
Balabrega and the Flaming Moths • Balabrega had a trick called the flaming
moths that went awry, which is a shock because surely fire and magic always go well together.
• His assistants would dress as moths, become engulfed in flames and then disappear.
Pretty nifty.
He performed this trick successfully a number of times using bags of gasoline.
But when he changed over to bags of acetylene for reasons unbeknownst shit went bad.
• One of the bags exploded, killing Balabrega and one of his assistants and injuring a numerous
others.
Fire and magic don’t mix.
Neither do fire and fun in general.
Unless you’re roasting marshmallows.
Or cooking something delicious.
Actually maybe fire is fun.
I’ll get back to you.
3.
Sword Swallower • Princess Tenko is a Japanese pop singer
turned modern day magician, completing impressive feats all around the world.
• But in 2007 one trick gone awry was very close to being her last.
The trick entailed escaping from a box before ten swords plunged into her flesh.
Unfortunately she didn’t make it out in time but because the swords weren’t sharpened
instead of being impaled, she suffered some broken ribs and punctured her cheek.
She was ridiculously lucky that she didn’t lose an eye.
• Despite being in unbearable pain Princess Tenko declared that the show must go on and
continued her performance for another half hour before organisers made her stop.
Maybe she was bleeding all over the audience.
The Japanese are fucking hardcore, they take their work very seriously.
2.
Madame DeLinsky • In 1840, Madame DeLinsky was another illusionist
that dared to tangle with the ballsy bullet-catch trick.
Unfortunately she’s also one of the ones that died in the process.
• In her routine, six soldiers would look as though they were loading a real bullet
into their pistols and when they all shot at Madame DeLinsky, she would catch the bullets.
But in actuality, the real bullets were tucked away and blanks were loaded in their place.
One night however, one of the soldiers fucked up and loaded the real bullet and shot the
illustrious illusionist in the abdomen.
• The soldier was either running on automatic because of stage fright or was a complete
sociopath, we’re not quite sure.
Not a lot is known about him but it might’ve ignited his blood lust.
Poor Madame DeLinsky died from the bullet in her belly two days later.
1.
Houdini Haters • One of Houdini’s most famous tricks
led to the legend’s demise.
It was all a mixture of appendicitis, failure to prepare and some guy being an epic douche.
• Houdini had a knack for withstanding any punch to the gut, no matter how hard.
One night before a show, some colossal d-bag sucker punches him when he was least expecting
it.
The trick only worked if Houdini tightened his core like a Russian gymnast.
That and even more unfortunate, his appendix was already on the way out.
So Houdini feels like death but dammit he’s a professional, so he goes on stage with a
ruptured appendix.
• Which I’m so impressed by, I won’t even go to work if I have a cold sore, or
a really painful pimple.
He died two days later from appendicitis and inflammation of the tummy.
So remember budding magicians; if you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail.
So always use lube, preheat the oven etc. etc.
Speaking of creepy stuff: What’s the creepiest thing you’ve ever seen?
Let us know in the reddit page linked below and you might be featured in a future countdown.