To Catch A Bullet

Testing bulletproof vests is a snap in comparison to the magic trick of catching a bullet in your teeth.

The feat was first performed in 1631 and remains a staple of magicians.

The set-up involved a gun expert who loaded a marked buller into a gun and then fired the gun.

The bullet struck a pane of glass and the magician usually fell to the stage accompanied by the gasps of the audience, except the fired bullet consisted of a waxy liquid allowing the magician to branish the caught projectile between his teeth.

Back in the late-50s I read about a German magician performing the bullet catch for a fee of 2,000 DM. Ralf Bialla wore bullet-proof glasses, strong gloves on his hands with which he covered parts of his face, and his front teeth had been replaced by steel dentures. According to Wikipedia a .22 rifle was fired and the bullet had to go through three glass panes before Bialla caught it with his teeth. He was seriously wounded nine times but survived into the 70s as a sensation to his fans.

What a tough act to follow, but testing bulletproof vest might be a good warm-up.