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Penn & Teller's Magic Bullet

WildCat said:
Is this actually true? I always thought that was just part of the spiel, the trick (and I don't think I'm giving anything away here) doesn't actually involve catching a bullet w/ your teeth. Does anyone have a list of the magicians who have died doing this trick?
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While not terribly authoritative, Wikipedia has this to say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_catch

Anyone who saw the movie "The Prestige" saw how one version was done.

Is the trick dangerous? Yes. Would I or the JREF recommend anyone attempt this trick? No. Is there hype about how many people have died trying to peform this trick? Probably.

I don't know HeyLeroy personally, but if he has 30 years of conjuring experience, I'll have to assume he knows what he's doing.

At any rate, please keep in mind that the explicit exposure of how illusions are performed is not allowed here.
 
Hal Bidlack said:
Sorry if I am the guy who doesn't get the joke, and am a party pooper, but as this is on our forum, I feel I must reply on behalf of the JREF, very seriously.

This trick is not simply potentially lethal, it has been proven lethal. The JREF can not condone anyone attempting this illusion, nor can it accept serious discussion of this on our forum. Please, please, PLEASE do not attempt this trick, and please do not carry on a discussion about method or training here.

again, it's possible this is all a big joke, and I'm missing the point, and if so I apologize, I often miss the point of jokes.

Hal
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Whose gonna tell him? :D

Chunng Ling Soo is the only person(without checking Wiki article)I know who died doing bullet catch(although he wasn't catching it between his teeth).
 
Beady said:
Only one person has died doing the Bullet Catch? Oh, well, that's different. I'm convinced.

:id:
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Well, there are more than one way to do the trick. If I recall correctly, the one death involved a muzzle-loaded flint-lock rifle, and there was an "equipment malfunction" involving the ramrod.

Penn and Teller's method is different and of negligible risk (and considering it is performed nightly, it had better be of very low risk).
 
P & T's routine is brilliant,the so many "convincers" to the audience.Ive no idea on it.
 
Alright, I'll shuddup about trying it.

At least six illusionists have died performing this stunt. In one incident, an audience member poured a handful of nails down the barrel of the rifle; in another, the performer successfully performed the stunt when an audience member stood, produced a pistol, and shot him dead.

I can look up the others.

It is an extremely deadly stunt.
 
There are two rules for handling firearms:
  1. ALWAYS assume ANY firearm is loaded, and
  2. NEVER point a firearm at ANYTHING you don't wish to destroy.
I discourage anyone from violating these rules.

Apologies to the JREF.
 
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Hal Bidlack said:
Sorry if I am the guy who doesn't get the joke, and am a party pooper, but as this is on our forum, I feel I must reply on behalf of the JREF, very seriously.

The bullet catch is an extraordinarily dangerous trick. A number of magicians have died over the years. Penn and Tellers version is particularly brilliant, and I shall not give anything away here, other than to say you don't always see what you think you see.

This trick is not simply potentially lethal, it has been proven lethal. The JREF can not condone anyone attempting this illusion, nor can it accept serious discussion of this on our forum. Please, please, PLEASE do not attempt this trick, and please do not carry on a discussion about method or training here.

again, it's possible this is all a big joke, and I'm missing the point, and if so I apologize, I often miss the point of jokes.

But if not, please don't do it, and please don't involve our forum. Just say no to bullet catches.

Hal
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Yes mein furrier. But the arrow through the frontal cortex is not verboten, ja?
 
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HeyLeroy said:
At least six illusionists have died performing this stunt. In one incident, an audience member poured a handful of nails down the barrel of the rifle; in another, the performer successfully performed the stunt when an audience member stood, produced a pistol, and shot him dead.
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I don't see how audience members murdering the magician has any bearing on the actual stunt. And the nails thing would only work w/ a muzzle loading firearm.
 
WildCat said:
I don't see how audience members murdering the magician has any bearing on the actual stunt. And the nails thing would only work w/ a muzzle loading firearm.
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The stunt's been around since the 17th century. The guy who died from the nails was using a muzzle-loader.
 
Saw Hans Moretti performing this on an old tape today.But he was crazy anyway.Allowed by his wife to fire a crossbow-blindfold-at her head!!
 
It's seems apparant that there are loads of way of performing a bullet catch. Many of them need not be dangerous. The whole gun thing is pretty superfluous really - nobody believes a man can catch a bullet. It's about apparantly getting the marked bullet across the stage to the other person.

I would have thought your choices are to secretly move the bullet, secretly move the mark, or secretly reproduce the mark on a different bullet. The latter would be the cleanest.
 
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