Random Magicians Who Died During a Performance (8 items)

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  (#2) Karr the Magician Was Ripped Apart By A Speeding Car

  Professionally known as "Karr the Magician," South African escape artist Charles Rowan lost his life during a daredevil escape attempt in 1930. A largely forgotten figure in the annals of magic history, Rowan left behind little in terms of personal biography.

  However, a Reuters report of his death survives:

  A ghastly death befell a traveling magician named Karr here this afternoon, when his oft-repeated stunt of allowing himself to be strapped in a straightjacket and charged by a motorcar failed... a large crowd, including numerous small children... saw a car dash into Karr and kill him... he was struck by the right wheel, which almost severed one of his legs.

  Karr. Car. Maybe it was fate?
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  (#7) Tommy Cooper

  • Dec. at 63 (1921-1984)

  Tommy Cooper was an English comedian and magician known for being terrible at magic. His act consisted of screwing up tricks and mining jokes from his incompetence. It wasn't unusual for him to fall over and lay about on the stage. That's why, during his slapstick routine on Live From Her Majesty's at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, no one realized something was amiss when Cooper keeled over on stage and died from a heart attack.

  Audience members laughed as Cooper lay before them, dying. The broadcast cut as Cooper was pulled off stage, and after several attempts to revive him failed, he was transported to a hospital, where he was proclaimed dead. 
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  (#6) Gilbert Genesta Drowned In A Milk Can

  Royden Joseph Gilbert Raison de la Genesta, professionally known as Genesta, more or less swiped his signature trick from Houdini, who first performed it in 1908. The idea was simple yet extremely attractive to audiences - Genesta locked himself in a milk can or barrel filled with water. One fateful day in 1930, the magician failed to make his escape in time. 

  When stagehands ascertained something was wrong, the curtain came down, a doctor rushed on stage. and assistants pulled Genesta from the can. He was unconscious but revived and rushed to the hospital, where he passed after telling the doctor that, in more than 10 years of performing the trick, he had never failed before. 

  Apparently, the milk can Genesta used during his final performance was dented. This limited the space he had to contort his body in order to make a timely escape, and may have contributed to his demise. 
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  (#5) Madame DeLinsky's Catching Bullets Trick Only Had To Go Wrong Once

  The DeLinskys were a well-known Polish husband and wife magic duo who toured Europe in the early 19th century. One of their most sensational tricks involved Madame DeLinsky facing a firing squad of soldiers and coming away unscathed after "catching" all the bullets. This was achieved by instructing those on the firing squad to load their guns with bullets that they secretly tore open, emptying the gunpowder and making them into blanks. 

  In 1820, Madame DeLinsky, pregnant at the time, was performing a bullet catching trick in Germany for the royal family. A member of the firing squad conscripted for the performance was nervous on stage and accidentally put a real bullet in his gun and shot Madame DeLinsky through the abdomen. Members of the royal family reportedly fainted. The infant inside her was immediately killed and she died two days later. Her magician husband supposedly went mad with grief.  
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  (#3) Black Herman

  • Dec. at 42 (1892-1934)

  Black Herman, AKA Benjamin Rucker, died of natural causes on stage. Herman was a political radical influenced by Marcus Garvey and similar thinkers of the time, in whose milieu he lived after moving from his native Virginia to New York City. During his show, he played up his African heritage, building a strong sense of African American identity that mixed superstitious beliefs, spiritualism, and anti-racist lessons. He performed to mixed-race audiences in the North but was relegated to playing Black-only venues in the South.  

  Black Herman was most known for being buried alive, a trick that could last as long as a week (he wasn't actually buried, it just appeared as though he had been).

  At the end of a show in Louisville, KY, in April 1934, Rucker suffered a heart attack and died. Most people believed this was part of his act, a new trick he was trying out, and refused to believe he was dead. His former assistant used this to his advantage, putting Herman's corpse on view and charging a fee to see if he was, in fact, deceased. 
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  (#8) Amazing Joe Was Crushed To Death Being Buried Alive And It Was Filmed

  Joseph W. Burrus was enamored with Harry Houdini and wanted to be even greater than his idol. On Halloween night, 1990, the 64th anniversary of Houdini's death, the 32-year-old magician was buried alive in a plastic coffin at an amusement park, before a crowd of onlookers including his own children.

  There was little cause for alarm on the day, as Burrus, known as Amazing Joe, had successfully performed the trick a year before. However, at that time, he was buried only by dirt. In 1990, he added cement to the mix, and apparently didn't take into account the extra weight. His plastic coffin was crushed immediately. Rescuers began digging upon hearing the coffin collapse, but Burrus was dead by the time they got to him. 

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