Magicians are scientists of the stage

Clever methodology and sleight of hand are used, not mystical powers

I have no idea how they do it. Zilch! I’m talking about Penn and Teller’s “bullet catch.”

I have seen countless live magic shows, watched numerous others on TV and have an extensive library of books on magic. Like most magicians, I have shelves and drawers brimming with magic tricks, many never performed, just purchased to find out “the secret.” After being immersed in magic for decades, one rarely comes across a performance that totally baffles. While the exact details may be elusive, basic conjuring methods are pretty standard and are known to most magicians. Not so for the case of Penn and Teller’s bullet catch. They load real guns with real bullets, each marked by an audience volunteer, on opposite sides of the stage. Without ever approaching each other, they fire the weapons, shattering a glass plate that divides the stage. Simultaneously they reveal the bullets, seemingly caught in their mouth, and show them to be the exact ones marked by the volunteers.

While I’m totally puzzled by this performance, I know the feat is accomplished by some clever scientific methodology. There is absolutely no insinuation of any “paranormal” phenomenon being involved. Indeed, like most magicians, Penn and Teller are incensed when magic tricks are passed off as “real.” Bending spoons with apparently no force is done by sleight of hand, not sleight of mind. Levitations require ingenious apparatus, not transcendental mumbo-jumbo.

Magicians can be considered scientists of the stage, using a variety of scientific means to give the illusion of defying the laws of nature, like catching a bullet. But if the science goes astray, illusion can become harsh reality, as happened in 1918 in front of close to 2,000 spectators who had flocked to the Wood Green Empire Theatre in London to see Chung Ling Soo, the celebrated Chinese magician, perform “Defying the Bullets.”

An audience member was asked to select a bullet from a box and initial it. This was then carried to the stage in a cup where a muzzle loading rifle was waiting. The weapon had already been examined by a couple of other volunteers and declared to be ungimmicked in any way. Soo then proceeded to pour gunpowder into the barrel, packed it with the ram rod, and loaded the bullet. He handed the rifle to a marksman, marched across the stage, held up a plate in front of his face and waited to “catch the bullet.”

In the usual sequence of events, the marksman fired, the plate shattered, and Soo plucked the bullet from his mouth. Thunderous applause followed as the volunteer who had marked the bullet confirmed that his initials were indeed still there. However, on March 13, 1918, the marksman fired, the plate shattered, but Soo, instead of triumphantly displaying the marked bullet, clutched his chest and sank to the floor. Panic ensued as blood soaked through the elaborate Chinese garments. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors got a real start as they removed the magician’s clothes. While the entertainer’s face and hands were covered with makeup, the rest of his body was white! Chung Ling Soo was not Chinese at all! William Robinson for years had cleverly played the role of an exotic Chinese magician to increase his mystique. Now though, Robinson lay dead, his chest punctured by a very real bullet.

The secret of the bullet catch was revealed at the inquest that followed. The rifle actually had been gimmicked in such a way that the gunpowder went not into the barrel, but into the shaft that usually held the ram rod. Indeed, this shaft had been configured as a second barrel. When the percussion cap was struck, it lit the gunpowder in this barrel, but the illusion was that the gun had actually fired. As the audience’s attention was distracted by the shattered plate, the marksman secretly removed the bullet and placed it in the cup into which Soo would then spit the bullet he had hidden in his mouth.

Unfortunately, the magician had used very fine gunpowder for the effect, probably to maximize the smoke produced. Over many performances, some of the powder had worked its way into the real barrel and on the fateful day, it also ignited, firing the bullet. The tragedy would probably not have occurred had Soo used a more coarse gunpowder. Houdini adamantly refused to perform the bullet catch, calling it too dangerous. Penn and Teller’s version is completely safe. And completely mystifying.