On March 1, a magician and Australian TV broadcaster named Ben Murphy allegedly came under attack while performing on a Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas cruise.
Murphy leaned in for a “kiss” during the trick, where the magician will “switch” the cards to the other’s mouth. Murphy and the volunteer were sitting with folded playing cards protruding from their mouths.
The performer then made an attempt to remove the card from his lips, but a member of the audience—possibly the woman’s partner—charged the stage and knocked him to the ground. Murphy’s reaction was shown on a giant screen on stage.
“My assault on board. Entertainment, comedy, and magic are NOT contact sports. This guest should not have been allowed to enjoy the rest of his cruise,” Murphy wrote on TikTok.
Many bruises, as well as “blurry vision,” according to Murphy’s claims, as reported by 7News.
“Hit my head so I have had blurry vision,” Murphy said, adding the onboard medical team advised him to see a neurologist.
Murphy said the volunteer had given her consent for the act.
“She was lovely and was laughing and having a real good time, she danced and giggled and gave consent for it all,” Murphy said.
The magician made a veiled allusion to the authorities’ lack of cooperation after the incident by claiming that his statement wasn’t obtained until a week after the alleged assault.
“Statements should have been taken by the witness that day,” Murphy said. “How they said there were no witnesses to this baffles me.”
Viewers took to Instagram to share their support with Murphy, one asking if the magician was able to go on with the show.
“If you finished the show, you deserve an award. It would take superhuman strength to be able to stay on stage after that,” magician Chris Herrick commented on Instagram.
“Finished the show (25 minutes remained. And did 2 more shoes 4 nights later)” Murphy responded.
Other commenters took the opportunity to ridicule the attacker.
“Tell me your insecure in your relationship without telling me your insecure in your relationship lol,” one user said.
“Dog ruined the damn magic trick, now I will never know what was supposed to happen,” another user added.
According to an itinerary on CruiseMapper, the Quantum of the Seas was on a five-day roundtrip Queensland cruise that sailed from Brisbane on February 26 and arrived back on March 3.
According to Murphy’s website, he has performed the “Houdini Chinese Underwater Torture Cell” more times than anybody else in history, and he has sold out over 300 events in the States.