… Or Die Trying

Location Info

Map

Contemporary Jewish Museum

736 Mission (at Third St.)
San Francisco, CA 94105

Category: Community Venues

Region: South of Market

0 user reviews	Write A Review
Save to foursquare	0

Related Content

• Get Into the Escape
  December 21, 2011
• Artifacts of Escape
  October 12, 2011
• Fall Arts: Eight Visual Art Exhibits You Must See This Season
  September 7, 2011
• Magical Death Match
  January 11, 2012
• Devil's in the Details - Literally
  January 5, 2011

More About

• Joshua Jay
• William Ellsworth Robinson
• Harry Houdini
• Magic and Illusions

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

We should all go out as well as William Ellsworth Robinson did: In 1918, the legendary American magician (with the stage name Chung Ling Soo -- these were racist times) ended the famed Bullet Catch trick by dying. He caught the bullet. You're not supposed to catch the bullet. Misdirection and sleight of hand are supposed to take care of the bullet, but throughout history, bullets have found their way into magicians who've attempted the Bullet Catch. It's a magic trick with a body count. In the past 400 years it has claimed three to 12 lives (the true number is fuzzy, because of the magic involved), and its history takes a prime spot in "Tragic Magic — Joshua Jay: A History of Fatal Conjuring." The talk/performance covers not only magicians who have killed themselves, but also those who have killed their assistants and audience members -- an illustrious group, no question. One who won't count himself a member of that group is Joshua Jay, who presents the show. He's a clean-cut, refreshing return to a traditional act. Which is to say, he doesn't want to piss via catheter while entombed in ice for two days, he wants you to pick a card. He's also a wizard of close-up magic and author of the pre-eminent go-to guides Magic: The Complete Course and Joshua Jay's Amazing Book of Cards, along with the upcoming The Complete Magician. Today's show accompanies the exhibit "Houdini: Art and Magic." Which, for the record: ruptured appendix.
Thu., Oct. 27, 7 p.m., 2011