Random Doomed Magic Acts That Ended In Tragedy (10 items)

(#8) Jeff Rayburn Hopper Escaped His Chains But Drowned

In 1984, Jeff Rayburn Hopper was rehearsing a trick for his afternoon show in Winona Lake, IN. His trick involved escaping from chains while submerged in open water. He jumped into the water about 100 yards from shore and actually managed to get all of his chains off. However, he started popping up to the surface yelling to his assistant for help.

High winds at the time made rescuing him impossible, and he drowned in just 6 feet of water.
(#9) Balabrega Blew Up Himself And His Assistant

Johan Miller, a Swedish magician who went by the stage name "Balabrega," was touring in Brazil in 1900, when he bought a trick from a fellow performer known as "The Moth and the Flame." The act used pyrotechnics to make assistants - six women dressed like moths - vanish into a candle flame. The flame required a gas supply, which wasn't readily available in Latin America at the time, so as an alternative, he purchased gas bags of acetylene that he could easily transport to any stage he chose.

When Balabrega was setting up for the show, one of the bags exploded. Balabrega and his assistant died in the explosion, as witnessed by the cast and crew. The accident also severely injured his manager.
(#7) Chung Ling Soo Was Shot While On Stage

As another victim of the "bullet catch," Chung Ling Soo was shot and killed during his performance of "Condemned to Death by Boxer," in 1918. The performer failed to properly clean out the gun, and residual gunpowder ended up firing an actual bullet. This famous Chinese magician wasn't actually Chinese at all. He was originally a magician's assistant named William Robinson, who had an awkward stage presence.

His solution was to copy the act of a Chinese magician named Ching Ling Foo. He then used the persona as a way to avoid speaking during performances and even continued the act off-stage, using an interpreter everywhere he went. When he was shot, he broke character and spoke out in English for the first time, saying: "Oh my God. Something’s happened. Lower the curtain."
(#6) The 'Amazing' Joe Burrus Was Buried Alive

Magician Joe Burrus wanted to outdo magic legend and personal hero, Harry Houdini, who had nearly died while performing a "buried alive" trick. So, on Halloween 1990 - the anniversary of Houdini's death - Burrus attempted his own version of the trick at an amusement park. He was handcuffed, wrapped in chains, locked inside of a plastic and glass coffin, and lowered into a 7-foot hole - at which point, his crew threw seven tons of dirt and wet cement on top of the coffin.

Before he could even attempt his escape, the weight of the mixture broke the coffin and collapsed onto Burrus, who immediately passed from his injuries.
(#5) Vivian Hensley Swallowed A Razor Blade

Vivian Hensley wasn't a professional magician - he was actually a dentist from Australia. But that didn't stop him from performing a few tricks to his wife and son in 1938, specifically the trick that involved swallowing a razor blade. In Hensley's original stunt, he pretended to drop the blade down his throat while secretly stashing it up his sleeve. But he slipped up and accidentally swallowed the instrument.

Hensley's doctor fed him some cotton wool and performed an operation to attempt to locate the razor. Surgeons weren't able to find it, and Hensley passed from his injuries a few days later.
(#3) Madame DeLinsky Bit The Bullet

In 1820, a Polish magician lost his wife and unborn child while performing the infamous "bullet catch" trick. During the act, his wife and assistant, Madame DeLinsky, was fired at while on stage. Six soldiers were invited onstage to load their guns. To load the rifles, the men had to bite open the cartridge to add the gunpowder in the barrel. Then they could insert the rest of the cartridge.

The soldiers were paid "shills" - they had previously been instructed to actually bite the entire bullet, allowing them to fire blanks instead. One of the soldiers got a bit of stage fright and accidentally loaded his gun with the bullet. He then fatally shot the pregnant Madame DeLinsky on stage.