I know that some of these are located in isolated posts here and there. But I thought it would be informative to have a posting where all of the "Russian Roulette with Sharp Items" Effect has gone very wrong with the performer (or spectator!) ending up with serious injuries to their hands. If I missed one, or the next time one of these effects goes wrong (and there WILL be a next time), it can be posted here.

Perhaps the younger and/or inexperienced performers can learn from others' mistakes. Remember Murphy's Law: "If something can go wrong, it will!"

Since not all of these are videos and since this is generally considered a mentalism effect I posted it here.

WARNING: Graphic content on the videos. Watch at your own discretion!

Video of German Performer on German TV Stabbing His Hand

Article on Marc Salem and the Knife Trick That Went Wrong.

Video of Menny Lindenfield Stabbing his......i] Hand.

Seen it.

one word: Scorpion

Two words:

Rubber Chicken

Three words:

Don't do it.

Four words

Get Jimmy Fingers' routine.

Five words

Totally agree with Roth, thanks.

Six Words

What was I going to say?

Oh, yea.

Marc Salem!!! How very sobering.

Steve

Not just Marc Salem (twice), several other high profile performers have had incidents with this type of routine (I won't mention the names). As I outlined in several other threads, it is bound to happen.

Tony

http://www.smh.com.au/news/royal-easter-......493.html

This article mentions an Aussie who did himself a damage in his show. (I've heard it is a GREAT show BTW)

Does Gary Kurtz still perform this sort of routine in his stage shows?

Every night.

Wow, very interesting Michel. Thanks for the reply. Certainly seems like a dramatic piece, from the reviews off of the Riez Encore website.

Something we seem to forget sometimes when discussing this type of routine is that there are several routines/ideas in magic that has led, or can lead to, the injury or death of the performer if something goes wrong. I do think that the potential or actual maiming of an audience member is the worst idea you can think of. However, when the performer risks their own safety it DOES get the audience to sit up and watch if they care about your health at all. They may want you to succeed, they may want you to fail. The point is they still care about the result. I perform this type of routine in my show. I have for quite sometime and will continue to do so. I do it because I want people to take notice, I do it because it gets attention, but mostly I do it because I want to. I understand the risks and feel that anyone who performs this, the bullet catch, the water chamber escape, and any other dangerous performance should as well because they take their health into their, and sometimes someone else's hands.

One time I did a center tear and got a serious paper cut.

Ah yes, the legendary center tear "Danger Effect".

I think it's called "The Center Tear Of Death" by Jesus Dathurtz

Roth, you've even got my cat doing bizarre mentalism. Today, he coughed up a Scorpion ball.

I could not help but to feel for the peromers who cut their hands,But to use a spectators hand is simply F.U.B.A.R

Being a member of the Kurtz Kut Klub, I really advise against sharp object tricks... I did my routine, Tigre & The Knife of Death at trade shows for about two years. One day it happened; I lost concentration and then the side of one finger. Jon Racherbaumer and Bob Sheets were watching... I think it did draw a bigger than average croud to the booth though.

Stabbing a spectator's hand is just the worst imaginable thing a performer could do, is it not? What an error in judgment. And no apology to the lady either.