An illusionist in South Africa suffered a head wound when a magic show stunt involving a crossbow went terribly wrong.
Reports say Li Lau was performing an escape when he was shot Sunday in Makhanda. He left the hospital after doctors stitched up his head.
“We just had a little minor incident this afternoon, but I’m all well,” Lau said in a video statement on Twitter that he posted afterward, according to Epoch Times.
The crossbow bolt did not penetrate Lau’s skull, News 24 reported.
The station and other South African news outlets reported that another performer, Brendon Peel, shot Lau.
The National Arts Festival, which staged the show, said those reports were wrong.
“The escape is performed while the crossbow is held by apparatus & fired by a mechanically-timed trigger,” the festival said. “At the time the crossbow was fired, it was not held by either performer.”
Those who saw what happened included a number of children.
“We send our apologies to the kids for giving a few of them quite a scare,” Peel said on Facebook.
The show will go on, the festival vowed.