Magician shot in the head with crossbow as escape act goes wrong

'Thank you for your support I am 100 per cent and the show is going to go on,' said Li Lau

A magician was shot in the head with a crossbow during a live performance at the National Arts Festival in South Africa on Sunday.

Li Lau, who goes by the stage name One Crazy China, was performing alongside fellow magician, Brendon Peel, at the festival in Makhanda, when he was shot.

Initial media reports indicated Peel was holding the crossbow as his fellow artist was performing an escape during the “Carnival Sideshow and Other Magical Things”.

But production company, Magic Africa said, on behalf of the artists, the crossbow had fired as a result of a technical glitch - not human error.

“The escape is performed while the crossbow is held by apparatus and fired by a mechanically-timed trigger. At the time the crossbow was fired, it was not held by either performer.”

In the statement the duo said the escape, designed by Mr Lau, had been a regular part of their act and this was the first time such an incident had happened.

Mr Lau, who was treated in Settlers Hospital for a head wound, shared a video with his fans after being discharged with three stitches in his head.

“We just had a little minor incident this afternoon, but I am all well, we just took precautionary measures. “We would never put ourselves at harm or any potential risk,” he says in the video.

“So thank you for your support I am 100 per cent and the show is going to go on.”

Fellow illusionist Brendon Peel also issued a statement on his Facebook page as he issued his apologies for giving everyone a bit of a scare.

“We assure everyone that Li is absolutely fine and we are more than happy to come chat to any of the kids in the audience,” he said.

“We as performers are always mainly concerned about our audience and we would never in a million years wish to put our audiences (both young and old) in any discomfort whatsoever.”

The duo’s act is set to continue, as planned, with daily performances until July 6.

However, they’d agreed to remove the act with the crossbow, as the festival organisers investigated how the accident occurred and ensured additional safety measures were in place.