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Magician Wayne Houchin attacked/burned on Dominican TV show

I was just about to post this and you beat me to it. Just another example of what religion can be when used the way god intended it- pointless and dangerous.
 
Wow. I never met Houchin, but I have some of his effects and DVDs. It is horrific regardless if the motivation was religious or not.
 
The substance Aqua de Florida, which Houchin claims was thrown on him, is also a voodoo cleansing agent popular with shamen and witch doctors in the Caribbean.
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Some kind of voodoo thing?

Why?
 
How the substance, whatever it is, caught fire is what I'd like to know. It wan't burning while cupped in the host's hands, only suddenly bursting into flame when dumped upon Houchin's head, whereupon the supposed attacker immediately seems to start trying to put out the flames.
 
brazenlilraisin said:
How the substance, whatever it is, caught fire is what I'd like to know. It wan't burning while cupped in the host's hands, only suddenly bursting into flame when dumped upon Houchin's head, whereupon the supposed attacker immediately seems to start trying to put out the flames.
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The fire was probably started by static electricity in his hair. I watched this several times, and I don't think the host intended for this to catch fire. The host looks like he's trying to beat out the flames, and when Houchin is on the ground, the host is hunched over him and looks like he's concerned. Regardless of intent, it's still pretty stupid to throw a flammable substance on someone.
 
Here's an update with some good news:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-magician-burned-dominican-tv-show

An American magician was recuperating Sunday in the Dominican Republic after a local television show host lit his head on fire with a flammable cologne.

Chico, California-native Wayne Houchin said he is receiving treatment for burns that doctors are cautiously optimistic will not result in scars. A Sunday statement on his Facebook page says he is "resting, healing & working through the legal process" in the Caribbean nation, where he had been performing with a group of fellow magicians.
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Wayne is a very creative guy--here's hoping he makes a full recovery soon.

And:

Houchin said Barazarte's actions were completely unexpected and he considers it a criminal attack.
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I would agree--whatever the host's intentions, it was very stupid.
 
brazenlilraisin said:
How the substance, whatever it is, caught fire is what I'd like to know. It wan't burning while cupped in the host's hands, only suddenly bursting into flame when dumped upon Houchin's head, whereupon the supposed attacker immediately seems to start trying to put out the flames.
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Wayne Houchin commented on this in another forum. For some reason that thread has disappeared so I can't copy and paste. Apparently the video was taken on a phone by someone in Wayne's crew. They started taking the video after the host had put the liquid in his hands and had someone else light it. You can't see the flame but the liquid is already lit when he turns and dumps it on Wayne's head.
 
Max_mang said:
Wayne Houchin commented on this in another forum. For some reason that thread has disappeared so I can't copy and paste. Apparently the video was taken on a phone by someone in Wayne's crew. They started taking the video after the host had put the liquid in his hands and had someone else light it. You can't see the flame but the liquid is already lit when he turns and dumps it on Wayne's head.
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If that's the case then all I can say is "WTF?"
 
Is there any way this could have been the host's botched attempt at a magic trick? I've seem a lot of magic tricks with fire that doesn't burn (the performer) - using chemicals that ignite at lower temperatures and/or flame-retardant materials I would guess - though admittedly never one where the magician throws the fire on someone (especially someone not expecting it). Has anyone seen a trick like that? I'm just wondering if this could be a magic trick gone wrong, the fire supposed to extinguish mid-air as it's thrown on the other person, perhaps, or burn without injury -- can't see how this would happen without precautions: maybe the host thought Houchin had been prepared for it, when he hadn't? Anyway, just speculating; will be interested to learn what was up when more details come out. Hope Houchin has a swift recovery.

eta:
shemp said:
The fire was probably started by static electricity in his hair. I watched this several times, and I don't think the host intended for this to catch fire. The host looks like he's trying to beat out the flames, and when Houchin is on the ground, the host is hunched over him and looks like he's concerned. Regardless of intent, it's still pretty stupid to throw a flammable substance on someone.
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Whoops, skip it. :blush: That's a much more sensible explanation.

eta2: Or maybe not, in light of Ernie M's posts.
 
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Magic stunt gone awry?

I wonder if the "blessing" on Wayne Houchin was a magic stunt gone awry.

Was the flammable liquid, which I read was “Agua de Florida,” supposed to burn due to the alcohol content, then when the alcohol was consumed by being burned away, the water was supposed to extinguish the flame... without causing harm?

Example: Burning Money - Chemistry Demonstration
(money 'catches' on fire, fire goes out, money not burned)

But pouring the liquid on Wayne Houchin's head with no apparent safety measures in place- was just plain stupid!
 
According to the Mirror's article, Magician's FACE set on fire when TV host rubs flaming liquid on him, it wasn't static electricity that accidentally ignited the cologne.

But the host announced he wanted to give Mr Houchin a "blessing", the American said.

He told one of the other magicians, BJ Bueno, to hand him a bottle of Agua de Florida, a flammable cologne.

Mr Barazarte asked Mr Houchin's wife to pour the cologne into his cupped hands and told Mr Bueno to pick up a lighter on the stage and light the fluid.
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According to this article he is going top be arrested.

Definitely was one of the stupidest thing I've seen. But apparently he did not mean to harm him.
 
Caper said:
According to this article he is going top be arrested.

Definitely was one of the stupidest thing I've seen. But apparently he did not mean to harm him.
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I finally got around to watching the video, which I hadn't really wanted to see.

It does seem as if it was some kind of idiotic prank or stunt (which Wayne apparently didn't know was coming) gone horribly wrong.

I don't know what the presenter was expecting would happen, but whatever his intentions he clearly needs to be held liable.
 
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I can't make sense of the video.

First, he's really rubbing it into Houchin's hair and neck, not just throwing it on top of him. Maybe if someone is exceptionally stupid, ignorant and careless they might think that throwing a burning substance over someone won't make them catch fire because they've tried the same 'trick' with money or whatever. But that is not what he does.

But then, when Houchin does catch fire, he immediately tries to put it out. In fact, he reacts so quickly that it seems this is what he expected, although maybe it is burning more than he expected since in case he did plan to extinguish the fire he was clearly ill prepared to do so.

So if it's a prank that went wrong, it's a very strange one. I don't see what his intent would have been.
 
I'm surprised there hasn't been an update to this here in this thread, but in the latest issue of "Magic" magazine Wayne explains his side of what happened.

It seems the host, Franklin Barazarte, who is not normally the host of that show (he is the Producer and Director and his wife is usually the host) seemed to have planned this as he was not even paying attention to Wayne and his team during the interview; as if he was preoccupied. Then, as they were saying their goodbyes on air, the host asked to "bless" Wayne, and after having a bottle of "Spirit Water" (Agua de Florida, a flammable cologne) poured and lit in his hands, dumped it and then spread it all over Wayne's head! The host's excuse was that he was trying to cleanse Wayne of evil spirits!

The article is worth a read to get Wayne's side of the events, and it doesn't really make me yearn to perform magic in extremely superstitious countries such as the Dominican Republic...
 
genshi said:
I'm surprised there hasn't been an update to this here in this thread, but in the latest issue of "Magic" magazine Wayne explains his side of what happened.

It seems the host, Franklin Barazarte, who is not normally the host of that show (he is the Producer and Director and his wife is usually the host) seemed to have planned this as he was not even paying attention to Wayne and his team during the interview; as if he was preoccupied. Then, as they were saying their goodbyes on air, the host asked to "bless" Wayne, and after having a bottle of "Spirit Water" (Agua de Florida, a flammable cologne) poured and lit in his hands, dumped it and then spread it all over Wayne's head! The host's excuse was that he was trying to cleanse Wayne of evil spirits!

The article is worth a read to get Wayne's side of the events, and it doesn't really make me yearn to perform magic in extremely superstitious countries such as the Dominican Republic...
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In that issue there is also a picture of Wayne from late December, and it's great to see how he's coming along--the burns look like a bad sunburn, and maybe not even that.
 
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