10 Magicians Who Died Performing Magic Tricks

10 Magicians Who Died While Performing Magic Tricks

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be discussing 10 Magicians Who Died While Performing Magic Tricks.

For this video, we’ll be going over the tragic stories behind individuals who passed away, while attempting to perform feats of prestidigitation.

Were you aware of any of these stories? Let us know in the comments.

Chanchal Lahiri, a.k.a. Jadugar Mandrake

The spectre of famed illusionist Harry Houdini still looms large over the world of magic. This, perhaps, explains why Indian magician Chanchal Lahiri attempted this dangerous stunt back in 2019. Known by his stage name Jadugar Mandrake, Lahiri was attempting a daring underwater escape; he was chained, blindfolded and placed into a padlocked cage. The cage was then lowered into the Hooghly River while spectators watched…and waited. Unfortunately, Lahiri failed his attempt, despite succeeding in similar stunts in the past. His body was later recovered, still tied, not far from the site of his initial drop into the river.

William Ellsworth Robinson a.k.a. Chung Ling Soo

It’s certainly problematic by today’s standards to learn how William Ellsworth Robinson, like other performers during the Vaudeville Era, pretended to be a different race in order to cultivate a gimmick. Robinson went to egregious lengths to make people believe he was a Chinese man and worked tirelessly to keep his real identity a secret right up until his death. His “Condemned to Death by the Boxers” illusion was meant to showcase Robinson stopping bullets that were fired by an assistant. However, the means by which Robinson and his crew rigged the weapons eventually allowed for unburned gunpowder to ignite, expelling a bullet that struck the magician in the chest. He would die from his wounds the following morning.

P.C. Sorcar

Born in 1913, here was a man who would eventually go on to assume the moniker P.C. Sorcar, “The World’s Greatest Magician.” The title was something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Sorcar did indeed enjoy a thriving career as one of India’s most popular illusionists. Sorcar was approaching sixty (and going against the advice of physicians) when he embarked upon a long tour of Japan. It proved to be his last, as Sorcar succumbed to a heart attack on January 6th, 1971 at the age of 57. It’s unclear whether it was the stress of traveling or something during a show that did in Sorcar, but the performer collapsed almost immediately after the end of a stage performance in Hokkaido, Japan.

Jeff Rayburn Hopper

Experience and endless rehearsal can be an integral aspect of a magician’s training. Unfortunately, an aspiring enchanter by the name of Jeff Rayburn Hopper suffered a fatal accident while preparing for an upcoming performance. A New York Times article dated from the 8th of July, 1984, details how Hopper was rehearsing a trick that saw him practicing in Indiana’s Winona Lake. The trick was to see Hopper escape from a chain position and handcuffs underwater and, though he was reportedly successful in completing part of the trick, he drowned before making it back to shore. He was only 23.

Johan Moller, a.k.a. Balabrega

Sometimes, it’s not the trick that goes wrong, but some kind of horrible malfunction on stage. This is what unfortunately happened to Swedish magician Johan Moller. Moller went under the stage name “Balabrega,” and became famous during the Vaudeville era with a trick that involved assistants dressed as moths. These moths would dance to flames produced by Balabrega via a gas that he’d become trained to safely navigate. It all went wrong, however, during a tour of South America, and a performance in Brazil. The gas Balabrega usually used for his performances couldn’t be accommodated and was instead replaced by the highly flammable acetylene. An explosion was triggered, killing him and an assistant.

Charles Rowan, a.k.a. Karr the Magician

Charles Rowan was another magician who sought to emulate the enduring influence of Harry Houdini. He did this by successfully navigating escapes from strait-jackets, under the moniker of Karr the Magician. One of his most popular tricks involved escaping from a strait-jacket in the nick of time, in order to move out of the way of an oncoming car. A performance in South Africa proved fatal, however, when this one strait-jacket was giving Rowan some trouble. The incident proved so stressful to the magician that he suffered a heart attack while attempting his escape. Karr the Magician was then horrifically struck by the car barreling in his direction.

Royden Joseph Gilbert Raison de la Genesta

Escape tricks, as we’ve learned, can often prove fatal with only the slightest of miscalculations. Tragedy struck Kentucky-born sorcerer Royden Joseph Gilbert Raison de la Genesta on November 9th, 1930. Genesta was another magician who thrilled audiences during the Vaudeville era with wildly dangerous and exciting escapes. This performance was supposed to see Genesta emerge from a milk container filled with water. This wasn’t an original idea of Genesta’s, but rather an homage to, you guessed it, Harry Houdini. Unfortunately, a dent in the milk can was discovered only too late, and it prevented Genesta’s only escape route. Because he performed from behind a curtain, no one knew anything was wrong until he was found drowned at the scene.

Madame Delinsky

It certainly takes nerves of steel to attempt the Bullet Trick. This is a legendary magic stunt that sees a performer either catching or avoiding a bullet that’s fired at them on stage. Madame DeLinsky worked together with her husband as a couple’s act, and performed the stunt way back in 1820. A firing squad was reportedly set up to fire the bullets at the pair, but, somehow, a live round was inserted into one of the guns. The bullet hit Madame Delinsky in the abdomen. She allegedly lived a couple of days with the bullet lodged inside of her, before finally succumbing to her wounds.

Sigmund Neuberger, a.k.a. The Great Lafayette

The Vaudeville era comes up again and again with our research for this topic, which is unsurprising given that this time period brought something of a boom for many up-and-coming magicians seeking to make their mark. Sigmund Neuberger was one such illusionist, a popular and successful practitioner of prestidigitation that went under the moniker of The Great Lafayette. Neuberger thrilled audiences for years with riveting stunts, and was handsomely paid for his work. However, a 1911 performance killed The Great Lafayette when a fire accidentally broke out during one of his most famous illusions, “The Lion’s Bride.” There were a number of casualties, including Lafayette himself, who went back into the burning building in an attempt to save his horse.

Joseph Burrus, a.k.a. Amazing Joe

An L.A. Times article from 1990 details the harrowing events that signified the end of a magician’s early career. Joseph Burrus idolized Harry Houdini, and tried to impress an amusement park crowd on Halloween night with a Houdini-inspired daring escape attempt. Burrus, who went by the moniker of Amazing Joe, had, in the past, successfully navigated a stunt where he escaped from a see-through coffin that was covered in dirt. When he tried to perform it again that night, however, the dirt ended up mixed with wet cement. As you might be thinking, the cement proved too heavy for the glass coffin. It eventually cracked the lid and, to the horror of many, buried Burrus alive.