Chung Ling Soo
Chung Ling Soo.
A Famous Magician in the early 1900s who had a truly spectacular stage Act.
Although he dressed in Chinese Clothes and had assistants dressed as Boxers (the Chinese Boxers (members of the Society of Right and Harmonious Fists a Martial Arts Association who were leaders of the Boxer Rebellion) Chung Ling Soo was actually English but spoke to the press only through an interpreter.
Originally his stage name was Robinson Man of Mystery (His real name was Wlliam Ellsworth Robinson) but he changed it to make his act seem more exotic.
Much of his act was in fact copied from a Famous Stage Magician who really was Chinese and whose name was Ching Ling Foo.
He performed many of the stage magic tricks and illusions of Foo and toured around Europe extensively.
This lead eventually to a sort of Magical Feud between the two Magicians and they both derided the other as an imposter.
The trick that really made Chung Ling Soo famous was the Bullet Catch.
He actually called it Condemned to Death by the Boxers
The essence of this Illusion was that Soo would invite members of the audience onto the stage to mark a bullet that was then fired at Chung Ling Soo by one of his Boxer assistants and he would appear to catch the bullets in mid-air and spit them out on to a plate.
Soo palmed the marked bullets.
The guns were rigged muzzle loaders designed to drop the bullet into a chamber under the barrel.
Regrettably Soo did not clean the gun properly and he died as a result of the bullet actually being fired instead of dropping into the secret chamber.
This was onstage at the Wood Green Empire Theatre in London on March 23rd 1918
Soo spoke after in English saying Oh my God Something has happened Lower the Curtain..
He was taken to Hospital but died the next day.
There are various theories that his death was not an accident but a result of a love triangle between his wife and his agent or that he was deeply in debt but this was never proved.
The Bullet Catch
This trick has often been ill-fated with a number of magicians being injured or killed while performing it.
Penn and Teller perform the most spectacular modern version of the Bullet Catch involving two guns and two bullets which are fired simultaneously through a sheet of plate glass.
Their Guns are further fitted with laser sights to enhance the effect.
Other Versions in the past have involved catching the bullet in a handkerchief or a bottle or astoundingly on the tip of a sword.
The Curse of The Bullet Catch !
Coulew of Lorraine (France, early 1600s; who was clubbed to death with his own gun by an irate assistant in 1613)
Kia Khan Khruse (England, shot by spectator in 1818)
De Linsky (Germany, who shot his own his wife in 1820)
"Torrini" De Grisy (killed his son Giovanni in 1826)
Dr. Epstein (Paris, who died during the trick in 1869)
De Line ( De Line killed his son in 1890)
Michael Hatal (United States, shot by audience member in 1899)
"Bosco" Blumenfeld (Switzerland, shot by audience member in 1906)
Edvin Lindberg (Germany, killed in 1905)
Chung Ling Soo (London, killed in 1918)
Ralf Bialla (Germany, 1950s - 1975), wounded nine times, starring in the documentary "Wer schieίt auf Ralf Bialla?" (1972) by Hans-Dieter Grabe
Kia Khan Khruse (England, shot by spectator in 1818)
De Linsky (Germany, who shot his own his wife in 1820)
"Torrini" De Grisy (killed his son Giovanni in 1826)
Dr. Epstein (Paris, who died during the trick in 1869)
De Line ( De Line killed his son in 1890)
Michael Hatal (United States, shot by audience member in 1899)
"Bosco" Blumenfeld (Switzerland, shot by audience member in 1906)
Edvin Lindberg (Germany, killed in 1905)
Chung Ling Soo (London, killed in 1918)
Ralf Bialla (Germany, 1950s - 1975), wounded nine times, starring in the documentary "Wer schieίt auf Ralf Bialla?" (1972) by Hans-Dieter Grabe
Here are some links about Chung Ling Soo and The Bullet Catch