BulletCatch.Com

Official Bullet Catch Page
Most dangerous feat in magic! BulletCatch as done by famous Magicians Worldwide including Americans David Blaine-Penn & Teller-Criss Angel- Dorothy Dietrich, others, etc. Explaination & presentation methods & dangers, deaths, killings, failures, injuries, etc.

Penn & Teller Bulletcatchcoheninjury
20+ Who Died
1500's To The Present		 Suceeded
Pre 1900		 Suceeded & Lived From 1900 Injured

NEW! 2017 Death! Pedro Ruiz III - June 26, 2017. 19-year-old Killed Attempting Bullet Catch stunt for YouTube
Click here for a list of performers injured by the Bullet Catch

A few old timers who beat the Bullet Catch JINX!)

JOHN HENRY ANDERSON, THE GREAT WIZARD OF THE NORTH
 
The first to produce rabbits from a hat. His tricks & illusions included the Inexhaustible Bottle, which appeared to produce any drink requested by the members of the audience. The Great Gun Trick, described as the most wonderful feat ever attempted by man, Anderson was seemingly able to catch a bullet fired at him from a musket. It was always kept as the finale in order that ladies might withdraw, to avoid witnessing it. He was a philanthropist & expert showman, & was one of the earliest magicians to attain a high level of world renown. He became a huge influence on the great Harry Houdini. In the year Anderson died, 1874, his great admirer Harry Houdini was born. His headstone was restored by Houdini who also endowed a trust for the perpetual upkeep of the grave. In tribute in Scotland Houdini had hundreds of pairs of shoes made to distribute to the poor barefoot children he encountered. His generosity echoed that of The Great Wizard who while in America had given generously to charities for the poor.
JEAN-EUGENE ROBERT-HOUDINStopped a revolt with the aid of the bullet catch trick. In September 1856 Robert-Houdin came out of retirement for the French Government, to go to colonial French Algeria to impress locals to quell support for Marabouts, who claimed to be holy men & used magic claiming to be prophets of Allah, to cause discent. The Marabouts used tricks to gain control over a gullable public. Besides duplicating & improving on their tricks he made use of the bullet catch trick to show French magic was stronger. In theater performances he had people fire at him & caught their bullet in an apple on the tip of a sword. When challenged, he caught a bullet in his teeth, & rather than firing back, shot at a wall of a building. Blood began to trickle out the bullet hole. The uprising was deprived of its strength & Robert-Houdin added to the legendary history of the bullet catch trick. Algeria brought magician Jean Eugne Robert-Houdin out of retirement, shipping him off to colonial French Algeria with the purpose of impressing the local chieftains in order to quell support for the native Maraboutsm who claimed to be holy men and "holy men" who used fakir tricks (glass eating, fire walking, snake charming) to build credibility as prophets of Allah, who used fakir tricks (glass eating, fire walking, snake charming) to build revolt. Robert-Houdin made use of the bullet catch in one of his most famous exploits, the taming of the Marabout uprising in Algeria. The Marabouts were causing dissension in the region by claiming that they were capable of powerful magic and using demonstrations of these powers to generate fear and control over the superstitious public. Robert-Houdin was called upon to demonstrate the superiority of French magic and thus sap the influence of the Marabouts. He allowed people to fire upon him as he caught their bullets in an apple that was stuck on the tip of a sword. Further, when challenged, he caught a bullet fired at him in his teeth, then, rather than firing back at his assailant, he aimed at a wall of a nearby building. His shot hit the wall and blood began to trickle out of the bullet hole. Clearly these were impressive feats, the public was astonished, and the Marabouts were convinced that the French were capable of magic vastly superior to their own. In this way, the uprising was deprived of its motive force, and Robert-Houdin added to the legendary history of the bullet catch.

The bullet catch trick was also done by ALEXANDER HERRMANN the leading family of magic in the early days of vaudeville, & later by ADELAIDE HERRMANN. she performed the infamous Bullet catch trick, which had been an occasional feature of her husband's act. On January 19, 1897, a month after his death, she stood in his place in front of a firing squad at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Publicity material describes her as catching six bullets fired at her by local militiamen. For some reason to this day people think she did on a regular basis as part of her show!
HOUDINI. The only stunt Houdini backed away from was the bullet catch, his friend, Dean of Magic, Harry Keller warned Houdini that there were too many things that could go wrong & requested that he not do the stunt: Harry Kellar wrote to Houdini: " "Now, my dear boy, this is advice from the heart, DON'T TRY THE DAMN Bullet Catching..no matter how sure you may feel of its success. There is always the biggest kind of risk that some dog will "job" you. & we can't afford to lose Houdini. You have enough good stuff to maintain your position at the head of the profession. & you owe it to your friends & your family to cut out all stuff that entails risk of your life. Please, Harry, listen to your old friend Kellar who loves you as his own son & don't do it." Houdini had announced that would try the stunt at a benefit after well known headlining magician Chung Ling Soo (also a Bro. Mason whose real name was William Ellsworth Robinson) had been killed performing it, but Houdini assented to Brother Keller's sage advice. He did the upside down strait jacket instead. Houdini, as a youngster, had experimented with the bullet catch & throughout his life had a bullet loged in his hand from an accident. "M-U-M", August 19th 1919, an article by Houdini, called "New Light on the Bullet Catching Trick"
Theo Bamberg (Okito) Okito. Bullet-Catch. Three typed pages by Okito titled, Is The game worth the Candle? This is Okito's opinion on the dangers of performing the bullet catch. He references those who have performed this dangerous feat, including Okito's first-hand experience of seeing Alexander Herrmann's version of the bullet catch. Bamberg speaks of Professor Epstein, Chung Ling Soo & Milbourne Christopher. This letter also provides details & a drawing done by Okito of a gun barrel. He writes: "My father had the intention in taking this effect in his repertoire, his technique was as follows: The pistol used was a rebuild affair & executed by a skillful gunsmith..." Okito continues the description along with the fact that his father's nerves got the best of him & he never produced the trick.
"Randi. There is one trick that even he would not attempt the infamous bullet catch."
PENN & TELLER & the Bullet Catch.
Penn & Teller Penn & Teller Penn & Teller
An amazing magical presentation of the bullet catch trick by these two stars of magic. "Things can horribly wrong, even in reasonably safe tricks," Penn Jillette once remarked. "Chung Ling was shot in the chest & killed by an assistant in 1918. In 1880, Raoul Curran was doing his medicine show featuring the bullet catch trick. A heckler in the audience stood & shouted, 'If you can do that, catch this!' Curran caught the slug from the heckler-murderer's non-trick gun square in his forehead. I had a few gang-bangers in L.A. yell to me, 'Hey, man, are you that guy who can catch bullets in your teeth?' I threw my hands up & screamed, 'It's a trick!'"

Penn & Teller did not invent their version of the Bullet Catch. When they played Jones Hall, they spent some time with BANACHEK at his home. BANACHEK showed them a video of his "Bullet Catch" act. "The gun is fired & I catch the bullet in my teeth. The bullets, markings are checked by the audience members & everyone breathes again." Hearing he no longer performs the act, they bought the "Bullet Catch" for a nice piece of change. "I was compensated well," is the way the BANACHEK put it. banachek


Famous American magician DOROTHY DIETRICH, is the first & only women in history to catch a bullet in the mouth. She has also performed the second most dangerous stunt in magic, the escape from a straight jacket while suspended high in the air from a burning rope.
FAMOUS AMERICAN MASTER MAGICIAN: DOROTHY DIETRICH

Another historic event. Famous American magician Dorothy Dietrich becomes the first women in history to catch a bullet in her mouth. Each time she has done it, it was done under strict conditions with a commitee from the sponsor of the event instructed to buy the bullets ahead of time, keep them under guard & bring them to the event to assure that live ammunition was in play.

......


Picture on national TV of first freely chosen sample bullet shot in wall that Dorothy will stand in front of...

This longer 7 minute video has a short biography of famous American magician Dorothy Dietrich, shows the test firing of one of the randomly selected bullets going into the wall in front of which Dorothy will stand, & the ambulances arriving before the second randomly fired bullet is caught.

FAMOUS AMERICAN MAGICIAN DOROTHY DIETRICH:
The Bullet Catch at Donald Trump 10th anniversary Resorts International in Atlantic City

Go to Woman Magician Famous American magician DOROTHY DIETRICH's home Page.

In a recent press release from CRISS ANGEL, magician & star of A&E's series Mindfreak, he expresses his concerns about the network possibly not wanting to air an episode of this show in which Korn's Jonathan Davis took part. Here is why:

"I did something that is a famous effect that 12 magicians have tried to do & died" to catch a bullet in your teeth. I wanted to devise a way to really try to do it. I had a ballistics expert fabricate a metal cup for my mouth designed to absorb the .22 bullet. & I had a sharpshooter, a guy who is an incredible shot - Jon Davis from the band Korn. & we were successful in doing it. We did it & I didn't kill myself! I want to show people."

This quote appeared in USA Today.

Angel's presentation seems to be similar to the presentation done by famous American magician Dorothy Dietrich many years before using a "a sharpshooter" & "I had a ballistics expert fabricate a metal cup for my mouth designed to absorb the .22 bullet".
In 1980, CARL SKENES performed his "bullet catch" on the television show, "That's Incredible!"

Carl Skenes Carl Skenes
Carl earned notoriety that has remained with him to this day, even earning mentions from several celebrities on VH1's "I Love the 80s," & a mention in "Ripley's Believe It or Not" column. Carl subsequently performed this on the international shows "Super Sabado" (Puerto Rico), "Fantastico" (Venezuela), & "We're Number One!" (Japan), & "That's Incredible" re-aired in 2004 on the "That's Incredible! Reunion." This series was controversial in that "an expose in a May 1982 issue of TV Guide revealed several of the programs' stunts to be rigged or, even worse, straight out frauds."
http://networkcableguide.com/thats_incredible.htm
http://www.oocities.org/barbie24_61/thats_incredible.htm

That's Incredible! "The popular 1980s reality-show precursor traded primarily in eye-opening stunts (a chimp tending bar, a plane landing on a moving truck, jousters on top of cars, a man 'catching' a bullet with his mouth), & the credibility of some segments was occasionally called into question (a May 1982 issue of TV GUIDE revealed that several 'death-defying' acts had been rigged)."
"An expose in a May 1982 issue of TV Guide revealed several of the programs' stunts to be rigged or, even worse, straight out frauds. But this had absolutely NO effect on the shows' producers." http://www.oocities.org/barbie24_61/thats_incredible.htm
http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/thats-incredible/cast/204847/
https://www.fan.tv/shows/1073-thats-incredible/seasons/1

Carl's other magic related performances include balloon animal sculpture twister, magic shows, & mostly Santa Claus! https://www.gigsalad.com/carl_skenes_orlando Like most magicians, with the exception of Penn & Teller, he claimed to really catch a bullet with no trickery.

SEBASTIAN, "The Human Target" (Edward Sebastian Adriani) The bullets are fired from a specially modified .22 calibre rifle & travel at 750 miles an hour. The tricks of his trade are good marksmanship, carbide-steel dentures & the special rifle, an Olympic competition model, made for accuracy. To prove Sebastian actually catches the bullet in his teeth, both bullet & shell are marked by volunteers prior to the shot. After the bullet has been fired, the bullet & shell markings are matched. The shot is fired from a distance of 35 feet by a qualified marksman. He introduced his bullet-catch act on April 13, 1976, in Miami, Fla., after several years of "intense and careful practice." Sebastian sacrificed his own teeth for the steel dentures, a pair of specially-constructed teeth of cold-pressed steel with carbine inserts. "It took me three weeks to convince my dentist that I was serious when I asked him to pull my teeth out. He didn't want to take them out because I had very good teeth." Why would a person want to become a bullet catcher? " I had been interested in it since I was a kid." "But things can go wrong. You can't afford to daydream, cough or sneeze." While performing at a show in Washington, a child jolted the sharpshooter as he prepared to fire. The bullet narrowly missed my head & slammed into a backdrop of hay. "That was too close for comfort." Sebastian said he doesn't get nervous, because "I know my field and business, and bullet catching is my field." "The men behind the gun are precision shooters they don't make mistakes," "I make a six-figure salary a year in the short four-month season." "I do it because I like it. I like tbe reaction it has on the audience. It's a feat that outrages reason." When he and his longtime Green Beret marksman separated, he would have a local sherrif fire the bullet, or if he felt unconfortable with that, he would bring in his own marksman. A police officer marksman is selected at random, which makes it even more dangerous. The officer is told to use his own bullets. The Great Sebastian is the only man to do it this way, today - His own unique way! Sebastain claims to be the only living bullet catcher. "The only other ones are dead," he says. To document his unique claim to leaden fame, Sebastian sends a list of the fates of past practitioners of the bullet catch. Viewers of ABC's Wide World of Sports may recall that Ralph Bialla tried the trick for a national television audience. He missed, returned to his native Germany and died several months later of the injuries. To prevent Sebastian's name being added to the list, he and his marksman, a onetime Green Beret named Dana Zornes, practice daily on target accuracy and timing. After biting the bullet, he drops it into a plastic cup and holds it aloft for all to see. Sebastian says he doesn't like to talk about his act. "It will only encourage some poor fool to go and try it," he says. He'll also welcome all comers to a game of tic-tac-toe and says he'll beat anyone blindfolded. Like the bullet catch, he says he's never lost. Sebastian, decided suddenly yesterday he wanted his own marksman firing the weapon instead of Sheriff Nate Thomas. Although newsmen were told the sheriff would fire the Remington Rangemaster rifle at Sebastian he decided against it. Newsmen suggested that Sebastian let the sheriff perform the act, but Sebastian politely avoided those suggestions. "I would have to see how well the sheriff shoots on a rifle range. He would have to be a master marksman before I would let him do it." Edward Sebastian Adriani is appearing at the fairgrounds today. There is no admission charge for the public, & is sponsored jointly by the Tennessee State Fair and the sheriff's office The bullets fired from the specially modified .22 calibre rifle, travel at nearly 1,200 mph. When he spit a bullet into a container his wife sighed with relief. "I guess it is like a woman who watches her husband shot out of a cannon except it is about 10 times worse," the attractive blond said of her husband's act. Sabrina, 21, met her 50 plus year old husband in a library in Virginia as he was passing through town, She also performed a feat at yesterday's exhibition. Sabrina performs various acts concerning hypnosis and mental suggestion. She also said she makes predictions, and has for several years. "I have been reading and studying about hypnosis and mind-control since I was a child," she said, adding she has made several predictions in recent years which have later come true. "I predicted Nixon would resign, she said. Sebastian
On loan to The Houdini Museum, Scranton, PA. From the collection of Dorothy Dietrich.
A few credits include:
1978, The Philadelphia Civic Center with the "Hunt Circus," Albuquerque, N. M.,Sport Show.
1979, in Vegas at Circus Circus.
1980, toured with the King Bros. Circus.
1981 Pontiac, Mich., Silverdome for a sports show. The act was booked by William Shilling.
1981 Kansas City, Mo., Bartle Expo Hall Sports Show.
19th annual New Mexico Sports Show at the Convention Center. His bullet catch was exhibited at many sports shows around the country and in circuses, civic centers, stadiums, night clubs, casinos and on TV.
DAVID BLAINE did a version of the Bullet Catch, along the lines of famous American magician Dorothy Dietrich, on his special "Dive of Death!" Everytime Dorothy would run into David at a show or Houdini auction, he would point at her & say "Bullet Catch" So Dick Brookz would say to her, "I'll bet someday he is going to do the Bullet Catch!"

David Blaine & famous American magician Dorothy Dietrich have been known to keep a team of medics trained in on-site trauma handy for the bullet catch.
This would be followed by another presentation on a TV special "Beyond Magic" in 2016 where "BLAINE attempts one of the most famous & deadliest effects in magic." "For the first time in history, the magician was also the marksman." On this special short film clips of two legendary entertainers are shown doing the bullet catch in the mouth, Ted Annemann (committed suicide two weeks before the performance.) Dorothy Dietrich speculates that a contributing factor to the suicide could have been that his method was not suitable for indoors.

Note, Dorothy Dietrich is Acknowledged above. More at DavidBlaine.com


The bullet catch trick has a long dark history, mostly done by leading performers.

Things to do

Learn about magic's most dangerous stunt | Website of Scranton Fun Magical Mystery Entertainer Dick Brookz | Things for bus groups to do. | Book a room in any city in the world | Various informative links | Take a cruise | Guide to cruises | One of the world's leading famous female magicians | Poconos online magazine of things to do | Where to go on a Honeymoon | Discounts for Honeymoons, Caesars, etc | Houdini Information World's only Museum entirely devoted to Houdini | Site dedicated to the Houdini Seance | List of magic events | New site for magic auctions | Calendar of magic happenings | Dedicated to NY's Magic Towne House. | Travel the USA | Auction site dedicated to magic | mystery bus ride | mystery bus tour | mystery bus trip | Visit with a leading mystery entertainer | Spend a Mystery Night out | originalhoudiniseance in NY | petfoodrecipes | Boating in the Poconos | Pocono Mountains Directory | Pocono Mountain Index | Coupons for Pocono Mountains attractions | Discounts in the Poconos | Poconos Leading Guide | Getaway to the Pocono Mountains | Getaways in the Pocono Mountain Region | Discount Honeymoons in the Pocono Mountains | Honeymoon int the Poconos Mountain Region | Comprehensive directory of Pocono Mountain NE PA Hotels | Restaurants in the Mountains of the Poconos | Pocono Honeymoon Information | The first auction site in Canada | http://Everything important to do in Scranton PA | Find & Reserve throughout the world | Comprehensive listing of magic events throughout the world | Haunted events throughout the world that run most of the year. |

Web Sites of Interest

bulletcatch, magic's most dangerous | busgroups | CityDirectories | crosslinkz | Cruise Fun Guide | Cruise Line Guide | Dorothy Dietrich, Leading famous American female magician | Guest Magazine | Honeymoon Discounts | Houdini Museum Archives HoudiniShowspot | Houdini Seance | Magic Calendar | Magicians Auction | Magicians Calendar | NY's Magic Towne House | MagicUSA Travel reservations | Magic USA auctions | Mystery Bus Ride | Mystery Bus Tour | Mystery Bus Trip | Mystery Entertainer | Mystery Nights | Original Houdini Seance in NY | Pet Food Recipes | Pocono Boating | Pocono.net | Pocono.org | Pocono Coupons | Pocono Discounts | Pocono Fun Guide | Pocono Getaway | Pocono Getaways | Pocono Honeymoon | Pocono Honeymoons | Pocono Hotels | Pocono Restaurants | Pocono Rooms | Poconos Honeymoon | PolarAuctions | Psychic Evening | Psychic Night | Psychic Theater | Psychic Theatre | Anime site | Scranton, PA | Supernormalist | Where To Find Travel | Comprehensive listing of magic events throughout the world | Haunted events throughout the world that run most of the year. |

© 1993 - by magicusa. Except for reviews, no part of any of this document may be reproduced or quoted in any form, without written permission by the authors. This does not include a limed amount of quotes that are credited. The graphics have been retouched, computer enhanced & resized by the authors. Here is our email address. We are more likely to get it if you put the subject in Caps.

harry houdini
Address: 1433 N. Main Ave., Scranton, Pennsylvania (PA), 18508