TED ANNEMANN AND HIS DRAMATIC BULLET CATCH
Enjoy this short film featuring an actual performance of the Bullet Catch!
The World's Most Dangerous Magic Trick.
No, it isn't the Water Torture Cell or the Buried Alive illusion, or even the Straitjacket Escape.
The effect known as the Bullet Catch has claimed the lives of at least 15 magicians who were killed in connection with this potentially lethal trick.
If you are not familiar with this infamous effect, READ DETAILS ABOUT THE BULLET CATCH AND ITS HISTORY HERE.
Ted Annemann
(1907-1942) was a legendary magician and author who was best known for his contributions to the art of mentalism.
But Ted Annemann was an extraordinary card magician and stage performer as well.
Born Theodore John Squires, Annemann was an extremely talented performer, but a very troubled person.
His almost unbearable bouts of stage fright gave him an ironic advantage when performing mentalism.
Sometimes he would be so upset that he would shake and break out into a sweat.
His audiences thought that this was "proof" that he was putting forth incredible mental effort!
Annemann was also a master of attracting publicity.
He would perform stunts such as a blindfold drive, or the Bullet Catch, making certain that the news cameras of the day were present to record his theatrics.
And dramatic he certainly was!
His over-the-top presentation of the Bullet Catch was especially riveting, as you can see from this newsreel.
Annemann was in fact scheduled for an exhibition of the Bullet Catch when life became too much for him and he committed suicide.
Annemann is still an important name in magic history, and copies of his long-running publication, The Jinx, are very collectible.