Magician Shoots himself as stunt backfires

MAGICIAN David Blaine is known for his crazy stunts, but he has risked death in his latest trick — which saw him shoot himself in the mouth.

The 43-year-old’s show Beyond Magic, which aired this week, showed a clip of him spitting out frogs to a live audience which included footballer David Beckham, The Sun reports.

The show’s main event was Blaine’s famous bullet catch, which he first attempted in 2010.

Blaine has revamped the trick by pulling the trigger on himself, in front of 20,000 people at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The performer prepared for the dangerous trick by allowing friends to shoot him in the chest, while wearing a bulletproof vest.

He was then fitted with a special gum shield to hold a metal cup, in which Blaine would catch the bullet.

But the cup was slipping in and out of the grooves of the mouth guard, showing the first sign of later problems.

Blaine held a rope attached to the rifle, while the laser pointed to the spot where the bullet would hit.

As Blaine tugged on the rope, the bullet was fired into the cup — but the gum shield shattered in the process.

Speaking over the action, Blaine’s narration explained: “Time just started to move really slow.

“When the bullet struck the cup, there was a high-pitched ringing in my ears and I felt an impact on the back of my throat.

“I was sure the bullet went right through my head and that I was dead.

“Suddenly I became aware of the pain and it brought me back. At that moment I realised that the mouth guard had shattered again, and I was alive.”

After being checked over by doctors, Blaine discovered that he had a lacerated throat — and his friends have refused to assist with the death-defying stunt ever again.

But, shockingly, Blaine still plans to do the trick in his upcoming world tour.