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Even magic can go wrong 🎩😬
In this video, we count down the Top 15 magician fails caught on live TV, featuring awkward mistakes, broken illusions, and unforgettable on-air moments.
From failed tricks to shocked audiences, these magicians learned the hard way that live TV leaves no room for error.
🎥 Full Top 15 Countdown
👉 Subscribe to watchmojo.world for more funny fails, live TV moments, and viral Top countdown videos.
In this video, we count down the Top 15 magician fails caught on live TV, featuring awkward mistakes, broken illusions, and unforgettable on-air moments.
From failed tricks to shocked audiences, these magicians learned the hard way that live TV leaves no room for error.
🎥 Full Top 15 Countdown
👉 Subscribe to watchmojo.world for more funny fails, live TV moments, and viral Top countdown videos.
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TVTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most memorably disillusioning
00:10broadcasts of magic tricks gone wrong.
00:13The styrofoam and the lights form electricity, which pulls the page… look.
00:23Number 15.
00:24Flighty Editing
00:25Criss Angel Mind Freak
00:27Have you ever heard the phrase, the magic of editing?
00:30In that case, maybe it was the editor of this 2006 episode of Mind Freak who botched the
00:35act.
00:43But with levitation being the signature trick of rock star illusionist Criss Angel, you'd
00:47think he could more convincingly stage float between rooftops in Seattle.
00:51The drawn-out, heavily edited sequence allows viewers to scrutinize small jump cuts, glare
00:57daylight changes, and questionable camera angles… never mind the acting of the supposed bystanders.
01:06Critics are always on the lookout for the wires in Angel's self-aggrandizing spectacle.
01:11Whether the technical team was hoping for that in this non-linear scene's post-production,
01:16the internet didn't fall for their misdirection.
01:18We're gonna make it!
01:19We're gonna make it!
01:20We're gonna make it!
01:21We're gonna make it!
01:22We're gonna make it!
01:23We're gonna make it!
01:24We're gonna make it!
01:25We're gonna make it!
01:26We're gonna make it!
01:27We're gonna make it!
01:2814.
01:29The Masked Magician Face Up
01:30The height of Val Valentino's career was highly controversial for both his secret identity
01:34and his exposure of the magic industry's secrets.
01:36He tosses it into the air to show you that the rabbit isn't hidden inside.
01:40The Masked Magician got his comeuppance when he performed a simple card trick on the Brazilian
01:44breakfast show, Jose Endia, to promote breaking the magician's code.
01:48It's a probably awkward moment when he forgets his own instructions to host Tiziane Pinheiro
01:54and pulls out the wrong cards.
01:59Valentino casually brushes off the incident, but it was the kind of amateur mistake that
02:04more orthodox magicians were hoping to see from this supposed expert.
02:09You've found all the aces, oh, except for one.
02:1513.
02:16A Sleight of Lag
02:17Czesko-Slovakia, Ma Talent
02:20There are no narrow successes with certain tricks, such as escaping chains before a spiked
02:26bed falls on you.
02:27Czesko-Slovakia, Ma Talent semi-finalist Magic Alex returned for an ambitious audition in 2015
02:34with the Table of Death.
02:36His incredible escape wasn't pretty for the table or his left leg, which he seriously
02:41injured while jumping down.
02:47Alex was luckily given a second to repeat the stunt more cleanly, and barely made the cut.
02:53Gain did come out of his pain, though he didn't get nearly as far on the show as he did in 2013.
02:59At least Alex left us with a reminder to watch every step in a magic act.
03:1212.
03:13Phoning It In
03:14Dynamo, Live at the O2
03:16Stephen Frane undoubtedly lives up to the stage name Dynamo to be the first magician to headline the O2 arena in London.
03:24Talk about an unfortunate time for something to go wrong, and on a live broadcast no less.
03:31Dynamo dazzled audiences when he apparently teleported volunteer Tom's phone into a bottle.
03:36That's Tom's phone inside the bottle!
03:39No less impressive is how he kept his composure when he had another volunteer call the phone to confirm the trick's legitimacy.
03:45But the call didn't go through.
03:47Dynamo assured audiences that it really was Tom's phone, which probably encountered a battery or signal issue.
03:53Either way, we also saw live how one technical glitch in an otherwise terrific show can be the only thing people talk about.
04:02Believe me, that is Tom's phone in his bottle.
04:05It might be broken, but he'll have to tell us all the story there.
04:1011.
04:11Curtain Call
04:12Breakfast Television
04:13Somebody needs a bigger stage.
04:15On Canada's Breakfast Television, Vladimir, the master of illusion and levitation, successfully makes two of his assistants disappear.
04:31He uses a massive vanishing box to accomplish this, rotating it throughout the performance.
04:36But when part of the box gets caught on the curtain and tears it down, the trick loses some razzle-dazzle.
04:48The level of showmanship Vladimir is trying to accomplish here is certainly minimized by the space of this local TV soundstage.
04:55But, awkward mishap aside, at least he was able to make his helpers reappear.
05:0010.
05:07Acid Drinking
05:08Vietnam's Got Talent
05:10Definitely don't try this at home.
05:16During the semifinals of Vietnam's Got Talent, Tran Than Phat set out to wow the judges with an extremely dangerous trick.
05:24Phat fills one glass with acid, and four with water.
05:28A judge shuffles them, and the magician must then drink from the cups, ingesting only the H2O.
05:41If it wasn't already obvious by the title of this entry, and this video, the trick fails, and he drinks the acid.
05:47He was taken to the hospital afterward, having sustained minor burns.
05:51And, spoiler alert, he did not win Vietnam's Got Talent.
06:029.
06:03Not So Houdini
06:04Nightline
06:05We hope you're not claustrophobic.
06:06Eight.
06:07Armed American steel pads off.
06:10And one set each.
06:12Maximum security.
06:14Smithy Weston handcuffed.
06:16Escape artist Spencer Horseman attempted Houdini's water cell trick in front of a live audience broadcast by ABC.
06:23But about midway through the performance, he blacks out, requiring immediate medical attention, failing his escape.
06:34This stunt is very dangerous, and it's not the only time Horseman has performed it.
06:39Or something similar live.
06:41Years after this broadcast, he successfully undid the restraints in the tank in under two minutes on the America's Got Talent championship season.
06:49You know what they say, if at first you don't succeed, do it for Howie Mandel.
06:548.
06:55Curtains for David Martin
06:56America's Got Talent
06:58Glam metal showmanship turned David Martin's Body Divine Illusion act into an early highlight of the 2008 edition of America's Got Talent.
07:06Then it became one of the season's most memorable bloopers.
07:09During his Vegas round performance, Martin makes it look as if he separated an assistant from her torso.
07:15The movement at the top of the secondary box is awkward enough, but things literally fall apart when Martin drops the screen over the main box and the black curtain falls to reveal the assistant's real torso.
07:27The magician is all smiles when he bafflingly explains that this mistake was a deliberate trick on the audience's mind.
07:33The judges didn't buy it and sent Martin home.
07:367.
07:37Is This Your Card?
07:39David Blaine's Facebook Live
07:40Being one of the most popular magicians in the world, it's rare to see David Blaine mess up a simple card trick.
07:46This clip shows him engaging with the small crowd in live time, asking each person around him to get involved in the illusion.
08:06He has one woman think of a card she sees shuffled, and he must identify the card based on the dice rolled by another audience member.
08:14But when the woman names her card, Blaine is clearly hesitant.
08:18But first, can you say your card out loud?
08:20Six of hearts.
08:21The six of hearts.
08:22That's the card you were thinking of.
08:25If you're not sure, you can change.
08:27Is it six of hearts?
08:29Yeah.
08:30He incorrectly counted or misread his shuffle when showing them initially.
08:34Either way, Blaine has a good attitude about his mistake and agrees to do another trick to redeem himself.
08:39The cutest fail on this list goes to a super perceptive boy named Murray, to whom the magician David Williamson tries to show a card trick on live TV.
08:46Williamson places three cards face up in front of him.
08:59But Murray immediately notices an additional card stuck to one of them, ruining the trick.
09:16Williamson is shocked that Murray has so quickly spoiled the illusion and sends him off.
09:30The duo reunited decades later at the International Magic Convention, where they hugged it out.
09:35Williamson hilariously admitted that Murray was the best and worst thing to happen to his magic career.
09:465.
09:47Sacked
09:48Sky Star Search
09:50A magic act better be awesome if it's to be named Robert's World of Magic.
09:54This contestant on Sky Star Search ultimately wasn't much to write home about except for his baffling hook.
10:00Robert starts with an escape trick involving a mere drawstring sack, but he can't even get out of that without help.
10:06From there, he mostly does scarf tricks before Keith Cheggwin cuts him off for going over time.
10:11The performance in general was so bad that Judge Jim Bowen said Robert set the magic industry back 40 years.
10:17It has since gained a cult following for that reason.
10:20That is, if you don't decide to escape after Robert botches the simplest of first impressions.
10:254.
10:26Nail Fail
10:28Question for breakfast
10:30This fail is not for the faint of heart, so viewers, beware.
10:35Making an appearance on a Polish morning show, magician Marcin Poloniewicz presents his trick to co-host Marzena Rogalska.
10:42In front of them are paper bags, one of which has a nail standing upwards inside it.
10:48Poloniewicz instructs Rogalska to slam her hand down on one of the bags, but he tragically chooses the wrong one.
10:56This mistake is extremely hard to watch.
10:58You can feel her pain through her live reaction.
11:01But don't worry too much.
11:03Rogalska later reported that her hand was all better, and revealed that she wasn't mad at Poloniewicz.
11:08Still, we wouldn't expect him to try this trick again anytime soon.
11:133.
11:14Close Call Escape
11:18The good news is that Pedro Volta technically succeeded in escaping a straitjacket and a
11:23water cell on season 4 of Got Talent España, but for all of his admittedly tedious physical
11:29preparation, paramedics had to get him out.
11:32The scene horrified the judges and audience who exploded in applause when Volta caught his
11:43breath and took a triumphant stand.
11:45The fact is that he didn't simply fail to escape on his own.
11:49This rare mishap nearly cost the master escape artist his life, and occupies much of his
12:04international image.
12:06So too does his ability to find glory, even in failure.
12:172.
12:19Blaine's Bullet Catch
12:20David Blaine, Beyond Magic
12:22The bullet catch is one of the most infamous tricks in magic, for its obvious danger.
12:28David Blaine is one of the very few to survive deflecting a high-caliber rifle bullet with
12:32a metal mouthpiece, as the 2016 special Beyond Magic showed with audition footage.
12:37He took the final live performance further by triggering the rifle himself.
12:41Up slightly, up slightly, stop, stop, yes.
12:44The bullet thankfully bounced off, but shattered the mouth guard.
12:47This popped off.
12:48This whole thing came off.
12:50The show ended with Blaine being rushed off to receive medical treatment for lacerations
12:54in the back of his throat from debris.
12:56This incident raised serious questions about the ethics of Blaine's masochistic showmanship
13:01and its influence.
13:02He has not performed the bullet catch since.
13:271.
13:28Heirich Exposed
13:29That's My Line
13:30Former jailbird James Heidrich became a celebrity for incredible feats of telekinesis.
13:41Among the TV shows that featured him was the short-lived CBS show That's My Line, where
13:46he had an unfortunate encounter with the amazing Randy.
13:49James Randi was a skilled magician famous for exposing his own secrets and paranormal claims.
13:54Suspecting that Heidrich moved the pages of a phone book by subtly blowing on it, Randi
13:59laid down foam peanuts as an obstacle, which the psychic somehow couldn't bypass.
14:03It's not going to turn for you.
14:13He later revealed his secrets to investigative journalist Dan Coram, but not all of them.
14:18In 1989, Heidrich was convicted of sex crimes that were facilitated by his routine.
14:23Some tricks deserve to be exposed.
14:26My whole idea behind this in the first place was to see how dumb America was, how dumb the
14:32road is.
14:33What are some other on-camera magic missteps that made the audience want to disappear?
14:37Pull your card in the comments.
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