The Bullet Catch

[Lupin3rd]

I am a big fan of Penn & Teller and one of their most famous tricks happens to be The Bullet Catch. To see their performance, refer to the link below:

http://youtu.be/DjDcARq8ty8

The summary is both Penn and Teller chose an audience member to pick out a 357 round out of an ammo pouch. The audience members put their initials on the bullet and draw a small picture (smiley face or stick figure) on the casing. They both load a round into each of their revolvers and, with aid of a laser sight, aim at each other's mouths. They pull their triggers, stagger as if they had been shot, and reveal that they have successfully "caught" the bullets in their teeth.

The only real hint that the magic duo gives is that this is a trick so at no point are their lives really in danger and they are not actually shooting live ammo at each other. Anyone have any idea how this is done? I've got my own theories but I'd like to know everyone else's opinion.

 

[williamnewman1]

audience member in on it ? , that would be the oldest "illusion" in the book

 

[jmdavis984]

All that fanfare, and they whip the cylinders into the guns at the end! Don't they know that will bend the arm?

 

[MagicKev]

audience member in on it ? , that would be the oldest "illusion" in the book

Perhaps the oldest 'illusion' in the book...but no, that is not how it's done. Different audience members every show. It truly is the best version of this routine.

 

[blamecharles]

 

[Westside]

Had a friend get picked out of the audience. He said it was hard to wright on the bullet because it moved in the shell!!!! I wonder how they do it.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

If you knew, it would take all the fun out ....ah screw that...I want to know too!

 

[Lupin3rd]

Had a friend get picked out of the audience. He said it was hard to wright on the bullet because it moved in the shell!!!! I wonder how they do it.

If the bullet was moving freely in the casing, perhaps they pull their bullets and exchange them with some misdirection and slight of hand.

 

[wizard_of_ahs]

If the bullet was moving freely in the casing, perhaps they pull their bullets and exchange them with some misdirection and slight of hand.

OR....maybe they are just great shots

 

[JettaKnight]

It's obvious - they've mastered the ability to teleport objects with "lasers".

 

[JettaKnight]

OK, I'll hazard a real guess.
There's enough close ups and long camera shots in the video to see that most of it is on the up and up. Everyone knows P&T are masters of the sleight of hand to ensure that we don't think there's any chance of that happening - Penn even pulls up his jacket sleeve tight.

1. There's a long period where they gear up - this is strict for show. This the point when the audience is distracted. They're convinced the cartridge is safely in the gun. This may be true. But it would be possible that a stage hand draws a similar picture on a second bullet and it is passed to P&T at this time and deposited in the mouth. EDIT: see how the move around a lot? See the position of the gear toward the back of the stage near a curtain?
2. [EDIT: first guess removed b/c it was dumb] Perhaps the bullet is lodged in the barrel after discharge and the fake is produced. Perhaps a translucent charge is on the glass. EDIT: if the bullet is loose it could easily slip out and be lodged in the modified barrel. There's enough shaking the gun around to accomplish this or even a primer discharge to force the bullet out. No one checks the barrel after discharge - just the chamber.

There's only so much detail you can put on a .357 bullet with a thick sharpie. It wouldn't be too hard to replicate a match. And what's the audience guy to do? Say, "it's close but I think it's a copy", and then have the rest of the audience boo him for ruining the show? No, you figure it out and tell you friends it all fake after the show.

 

[hammer24]

Here's David Blaine doing a bullet catch. This was real though, steel cup and .22 rifle. High speed video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZdKujIUFrwc

 

[Lupin3rd]

I don't think slight of hand can be totally dismissed. I think they manage to trade the bullets before they fire at each other. The problem with assuming that the bullet simply lodges in the barrel due to a squib fire is that a squib charge might fool the common man but sooner or later, a gun enthusiast will catch on.

One thing I'd like to direct your attention to is how the bullets have a rounded tip. All the 357 mag bullets I've seen have flat noses (not to say they don't exist, I've just never encountered any). This seems to indicate to me that the bullets are not real. Maybe they have a small enough diameter to not only fall out of the casing but to also fall out of the chamber when tilted.

 

[Lupin3rd]

Here's David Blaine doing a bullet catch. This was real though, steel cup and .22 rifle. High speed video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZdKujIUFrwc

So David Blaine actually catches the bullet in his mouth? That's an interesting spin to an old trick.

 

[JettaKnight]

I don't think slight of hand can be totally dismissed. I think they manage to trade the bullets before they fire at each other. The problem with assuming that the bullet simply lodges in the barrel due to a squib fire is that a squib charge might fool the common man but sooner or later, a gun enthusiast will catch on.

That's why the avoid the guy with the S&W tee shirt.

 

[JettaKnight]

So David Blaine actually catches the bullet in his mouth? That's an interesting spin to an old trick.

Oh yeah, David Blaine's a catcher alright...

 

[Scutter01]

I think it's an illusion of some sort.

 

[netsecurity]

It's simple, they break the bullets off, and put them in their opposite mouths. The remaining casing contains a blank and is fired. So the only trick is how they broke the bullet off of the blank casings, when the audience member loaded the guns?

I'm sure that has something to do with them setting the identical guns down while the camera moved away to hear their touching "4 rules" speach. Perhaps there were mirrors by the guns so that one could be removed at a time without anyone being the wiser? I dunno, but someone certainly removed the bullets and must've put said bullets in their goggles or something.

But how does the glass get a hole blown in it when they fire? That could be just a remote switch. Most likely both guns and the glass holes all occurred with the press of one switch, otherwise the trick would look hokey.

 

[netsecurity]

One thing I'd like to direct your attention to is how the bullets have a rounded tip. All the 357 mag bullets I've seen have flat noses (not to say they don't exist, I've just never encountered any). This seems to indicate to me that the bullets are not real. Maybe they have a small enough diameter to not only fall out of the casing but to also fall out of the chamber when tilted.

Ah yes, that's an even simpler explanation than a third party swapping the bullets, and very likely what happened. Maybe the delay while they talked about the four rules was so that someone behind the curtain could make the bullets look shot, before putting them in their mouths.