Sick Publicity Stunt - Russian Roulette

Sunday 5th, October, 2003, Channel 4 TV

Tonight Channel 4 TV will feature the latest sick TV stunt - illusionist Darren Brown will play Russian Roulette on TV.

Although termed an entertainment it's just another dumbing down of TV in Britain. The audience will tune in to see Darren Brown "play" at shooting hmself and the advertisers will earn their ratings. But will we be better off, will children start to emulate this sick stunt?

We all know it's just an illusion, so here's one suggestion about how it's could work.

A good illusionist obeys the first rule: KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Take an ordinary pistol, with only one simple modification, which I'll get to in a minute.
Proove to the audience that it's an ordinary pistol by shooting one bullet.
Now load the gun, only make sure that the bullet is loaded into just one adapted chamber.

The gun has the normal key components: Hammer (H), Chamber (C) and Bullet (B).
The hammer closes and strikes the cartridge of the bullet, Bang! - one dead illusionist, one great audience rating.

However, this is an illusion and there really is no risk to the illusionist. Although there are probably a number of ways the stunt could be performed there is one simple way to do it ( CHILDREN!! DO NOT TRY TO COPY THESE SICK PEOPLE ).

Take an ordinary pistol, revolver, and drill out one chamber so that it is a little deeper than the others. Ensure that the bullet goes here, because when hit by the hammer the firing pin won't strike it too hard and make it fire.
Part of the illusion is to tell beforehand when the bullet is about to reach the hammer - when it is in the next-to-be-fired chamber. The trick is that the bullet is actually struck, because with a looser chamber the illusionist will hear the slight rattle as the bullet is pushed up the chamber but not fired.

When the illusionist opens the pistol he uses a simple distraction to allow him to push the chamber back one space and demonstrate that he "telepathically" senses the bullet before it reached the hammer.

So why am I spoiling the fun? Well, it's a bad example of the growing trend in TV production in Britain to use sensationalist and sick stunts to entertain. Any interest in quality TV is being lost to the dumbest, lowest common denominator. We have tabloid TV, we have "Reality TV" and we have "sicko TV" but where's the aspiration for something greater, something that entertains and amuses?

Will we be amused when an illusion is promoted in such a public fashion? When it's so obvious that nothing will really happen? There's no danger and seemingly little real skill in this. We know he's not going to be harmed, but we may want to know how it works.

Noesy buggers the lot of you!

Enjoy life, not pretending to commit suicide. And don't forget to tell all your friends!