Don't know if you've clicked on Ed Alonzo's banner but this is pretty funny.

http://thelecturenetwork.com/blooper.html

I had a very similar thing happen to me in a showground performance. It didn't tip quickly as above, but very very slowly and the woman slid slowly down the baord until she ground to a halt sat on the floor. I thought at the time we covered it quite well as the audience seemed to think it was part of the show.

Do you have any similar experiences?

Mark

That was hilarious!

I don't have the clip, but I remember one on America's Funniest Home Videos where the magician was sawing the lady in half and cut through the supports as well as the box!

I didn't think that was funny - I thought it was kinda scary, and amounted to exposure of sorts.

I guess that's why you remove the chair at the feet.

I didn't find it funny either. This is a perfect example about the need to know your equipment and know it well. That woman could have been more seriously injured. Just a quick look (from somebody who works with this illusion alot) indicates that she is not a good candidate.

I think a blooper is a mistake that affects the magician only...not a spectator.

She definately wasn't a good candidate. I didn't think it was really funny either. It was more shocking that he would let go when it was dipping that far.

LOL I agree.... whooops!

Was that for real or did Alonzo stage that like that?

I can't imagine anyone putting a full sized adult on the $400 version of that illusion, with their neck at the chair, and expecting them to remain suspended...

Alonzo has been doing illusions for years - he must have known better.

Mine is not the MAK version that can hold the weight of a small rabbit. Mine was built by a builder in the UK. No, its certainly not funny when it happens to you. But on the one instance that it happened to me, in that split second when you see that the volunteer is ok, and the audience respond with the sort of reaction that says 'he meant to do that and it looked *** funny', you can either stand there and make a big deal of the fact that the whole illusion was ruined and you're now going to go and sulk, or turn it into a comedy moment. Obviously I went with the latter, but I've been EXTRA careful ever since! In every trade things go wrong - it happens, its how you cover it that makes the difference.

Mark

I think that was staged......surely Ed Alonzo knows better than to let that happen. Then again.