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'Live' shooting on TV

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON OCT 6. Britain had a taste of the ultimate in reality television on Sunday when a stuntman attempted to shoot himself `live' on TV as shocked viewers watched in horror and disbelief. In a spine-chilling display of Russian roulette, Derren Brown, a British illusionist, put a loaded gun to his head and pulled the trigger three times, risking his life each time as he was ostensibly unaware which chamber contained the single live bullet loaded by a volunteer chosen by him. Having survived the `blanks,' he fired one away from his body. His guess that it was a live round proved right as the bullet exploded after hitting a specially erected sandbag.

A relieved but visibly shaken Mr. Brown got up, hugged his equally shaken volunteer and walked off the stage saying he was "off to have a few whiskies." The show, based on a mind-control technique developed by him, was shot on a secret location outside Britain to beat its strict gun law.

It was the first time that such a deadly trick was played by anyone on TV live, and provoked widespread condemnation. Channel 4, which telecast the unprecedented show, was accused of resorting to "sick entertainment" in pursuit of ratings, and Mr. Brown faced criticism for appearing to promote gun culture at a time when the Government is struggling to combat it. "I'm flabbergasted. It sends entirely the wrong message. You're going to get copycat kids doing this and we're possibly going to end up with some tragedies," a spokesman of the Police Superintendents' Association said.

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