<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

The Bullet-Catching Trick has caused the untimely demise of more than one professional magician, including the famous Chung Ling Soo in 1918. Soo, who was actually an American named William Ellsworth Robinson, was killed on the stage of the Wood Green Empire theatre. Following a coroner's inquest in London at the time, Robinson's death was attributed to "misadventure"—in other words, an accident. Derren Brown updated magic's most dangerous effect for his television special, Russian Roulette, which aired on October 5, 2003, on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Television executives were seemingly concerned enough about the possibility of a mishap to use a broadcast time delay.

The trick was performed on the island of Jersey, off the British mainland; presumably to get around laws banning handgun possession. The volunteer who actually loaded the cartridge was selected from 12,000 applicants. After the round was secretly loaded into one of six numbered chambers, Brown fired chambers 3 and 4 at his own head. He then fired 5 away; but the chamber proved empty. Brown paused for a minute or so, before pointing the gun at his own head again. He pulled the trigger on chamber 6 and then, immediately fired the next chamber, chamber 1, with a thunderous bang into a nearby sandbag. The psychological magic showman had apparently cheated death; something a number of his predecessors had failed to do.

Jersey police later revealed that they had been consulted and were assured that no live ammunition would be used on the TV special. Even so, the act of firing even a blank cartridge at such close quarters could have caused serious injury or even proved fatal.