Wayne Houchin injured in attack

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Aug 16, 2011
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Not only does calling it a flammable chemical mislead with sinister tones you have the series of events backwards. He poured Florida Water in his hand lit it and then threw it in Houchin's face. Florida Water is a cologne with an alcohol base used in various vodun-based religions in that part of the world for blessings and cleansing (by splashing or spraying it on the person or item to be blessed/cleansed). According to the Spanish text on Houchin's Facebook the man was attempting a blessing.
But the regular splashing and call to the spirits for a blessing don't look all that impressive so for all any one here on this forum know's this man was working off of some stupid ritual he read on the internet and thought would look impressive for the camera. That could have very well been the first time he tried it, and if you're not used to seeing your hand on fire that's the kind of thing that can lead to panic and stupid mistakes, like forgetting to blow it out and then throwing it in someones face. From what I know of occult practices I can see how that ritual was supposed to go, from some of the stupid instructions I've seen people put online I can see how that could have been one of them.

Well...taking a quote from Wayne Houchin about this incident off of his twitter account "This was not part of a stunt or part of an act - this was a criminal attack." That is coming straight from Mr. Houchin himself. You can argue about "voodoo rituals gone wrong" all you want, the fact of the matter is, Wayne Houchin is laying in a hospital bed because of it. I hope he makes a speedy recovery, and comes back stronger than ever!
 
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WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
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We all hope Wayne is well as soon as possible.

I'm guessing that very few of the forum members here have ever been on fire, or worked seriously with fire.

I have. I've been a fire performer for over a decade. I am well familiar with the instant panic that fire can cause. I don't know the man's intentions and I'm not about to assume them without at least seeing an interview with him regarding it. He may, as previously suggested, been trying to bless Wayne (IE: Do something nice) and also trying to play it up for the TV when things went wrong. He may have been trying to cleanse Wayne of an evil spirit. He may be a psychopath. I don't know from the information I have been able to gather. Don't jump to conclusions without information.

Let's not worry so much about what happens to him. I'm sure justice will be served. Let's just focus on helping Wayne in whatever way we can.
 
Apr 6, 2011
540
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Lansing, MI
I have never had the misfortune to deal with fire in that manor, but I have had to recover from third degree chemical burns. It is a very nasty experience. The most painful of my life; the recovery, not when I got burned. I hope that he recovers without scarring or too much pain. This is the kind of thing you expect to happen to David Blaine performing in Haiti, not Wayne Houchin on a TV show..
 
Apr 27, 2010
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baller08.blogspot.com
I honestly don't care what the host's intentions were. At best he was being irresponsible and stupid. At worst he is a psychotic murderer. Wayne could have died had it not been for the actions of his friends.

He has worked his whole life to get to this point in his career, especially now with Breaking Magic. It will be a long time before he can get back to touring and performing. He may not even look the same depending on how bad the scars will be. This was his head, face, and neck. Not to mention the injuries to his right hand.

Here in the US we have become so soft we worry about the criminals more than the victims. It's sickening.

Lets focus on finding ways to help lift Wayne's spirits throughout his recovery.
 
Apr 27, 2010
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baller08.blogspot.com
Help Lift Wayne's Spirits

Wayne has been a positive influence on all of us. I thought that a great way to show we are pulling for him would be to film ourselves doing an effect of his and send it over.

Can T11 or someone create a centralized site were we can all upload our videos? We can also send it individually but I was thinking along the lines of how Calen Moreli's 360 Days of Magic did his site; simple and easy to view all videos.
 
Oct 4, 2012
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Well...taking a quote from Wayne Houchin about this incident off of his twitter account "This was not part of a stunt or part of an act - this was a criminal attack." That is coming straight from Mr. Houchin himself. You can argue about "voodoo rituals gone wrong" all you want, the fact of the matter is, Wayne Houchin is laying in a hospital bed because of it. I hope he makes a speedy recovery, and comes back stronger than ever!
If you go to Houchin's Facebook you can see the release from the program where it states the the host offered "to give them the gift of a blessing" and you can see in the pictures that Houchin had time enough to opt out but not knowing what that loon was about to do why would he. While what the man did was criminal I'm arguing that it was criminal negligence and not a malicious attack, he lacks motive to maliciously attack Houchin. He wasn't some backwater TV host that was threatened by Houchin's Magic, he was a producer for an astrology/pshychic show filling in for the regular host.

At this point with the information available it's all speculation no matter which side you're taking.
 
Jan 1, 2009
2,241
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Back in Time
If you go to Houchin's Facebook you can see the release from the program where it states the the host offered "to give them the gift of a blessing" and you can see in the pictures that Houchin had time enough to opt out but not knowing what that loon was about to do why would he. While what the man did was criminal I'm arguing that it was criminal negligence and not a malicious attack, he lacks motive to maliciously attack Houchin. He wasn't some backwater TV host that was threatened by Houchin's Magic, he was a producer for an astrology/pshychic show filling in for the regular host.

At this point with the information available it's all speculation no matter which side you're taking.

The show, Acercate a Los Astros, is an Astrology/Psychic/Numerology show. The host, Franklin Barazarte, is the producer. He personally burned Wayne. Franklin's wife, Adriana Azzi is the normal host, but she was out of town. The voodoo charges, and the suggestion that this was God's revenge, were made against the the show in general, and the Curiosidades team that were on the show (BJ Bueno, Wayne and Fran) in particular, by Domngo Bautista, host of the television program Super Revista.
 

j.bayme

ceo / theory11
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Jul 23, 2007
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Details are still coming in, but Wayne is stable and recovering. While I can't speculate (or begin to understand) what this guy was attempting to do - or not do - the whole incident is simply shocking. For now, please keep Wayne and his family in your thoughts, and join us in wishing him a fast and full recovery.
 
Jan 1, 2009
2,241
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Back in Time
Mad Hatter -

I'm not sure why you insists on making excuses for the host. It makes no difference. Always looking for an excuse for the person committing the crime. It's disgusting.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=WQOeFC0d12k

This doesn't look like someone who didn't know what he was doing. Warning its graphic and very hard to watch.

I've read up on the subject and actually it seems that the only thing that comes close to lighting is a candle during the ceremony. and you don't pour a whole bunch on the person's head. You dip your finger in it and just make a cross on their forehead. Like with holy water. The way the guy did the whole thing, and if you watch has he tries to spread it all over Wayne's head. It pretty much says that he had the intention to harm.
 
Oct 9, 2012
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I was gonna mention even in cleansing rituals, they don't ignite the stuff, as Randy said. Also, not sure if anybody saw it or not yet, but Wayne's FB page says the doctors are cautiously optimistic he won't have any scars or permanent damage.

So, did anything happen with the sending him videos of your performances? You could make a new account on Vimeo/Viddler/YT/etc. and just share the login info here on the forum maybe? I'd really like to participate in that actually, Ultragaff was one of the first things I got when I started getting back into magic. Part of the appeal for me was feeling like you are actually sitting down with Danny and Wayne, it's very comfortable and relaxed, pretty funny at parts as well.

EDIT- Nevermind, sorry. Just saw the other post.
 
Mad Hatter -

I'm not sure why you insists on making excuses for the host. It makes no difference. Always looking for an excuse for the person committing the crime. It's disgusting.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=WQOeFC0d12k

This doesn't look like someone who didn't know what he was doing. Warning its graphic and very hard to watch.
WOW! Wayne is a bad ass! He's just sitting there and calmly says, "I need to go to a hospital."
 
I am disgusted with the man who did that. From what I saw in the video, it seems as if he tried to spread the fire through Wayne's hair.

I wish Wayne the speediest recovery in the world. He's one of the brightest minds in magic today...it is so upsetting that something like this happened to him.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
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I'm glad the video was posted. It clears some things up. The actions were definitely deliberate, the attacker is even spreading the liquid out more to cover more of Wayne's head with the fire. From what I see of the burns, I'm pretty sure he'll have no scars, which is good. I've seen burns that were much worse have no scarring.

Regardless, I hope the attacker is brought to appropriate justice and I hope Wayne makes a speedy recovery. He's a stand up guy and his positivity seems endless.
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,241
1
what a crazy story. the dude proceeded to touch his head even after the fire was out, why wouldn't someone get him the hell off of wayne? He's really lucky his whole face didn't burn off, that seemed like a big flame. hope he does well, he may not be physically scared, but emotionally this has to be extremely tough
 
Jul 13, 2009
1,372
0
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what a crazy story. the dude proceeded to touch his head even after the fire was out, why wouldn't someone get him the hell off of wayne? He's really lucky his whole face didn't burn off, that seemed like a big flame. hope he does well, he may not be physically scared, but emotionally this has to be extremely tough


I think there was a moment of extreme shock to everyone. It was unexpected and so quick. I honestly have to say this is starting to look like a malicious attempt to disfigure Mr. Houchin. Pretty tragic and honestly one of my worst fears ever since I was threatened when I was young that I was a devil child from performing magic.
 
Oct 4, 2012
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Mad Hatter -

I'm not sure why you insists on making excuses for the host. It makes no difference. Always looking for an excuse for the person committing the crime. It's disgusting.

http://youtube.com/#/watch?v=WQOeFC0d12k

This doesn't look like someone who didn't know what he was doing. Warning its graphic and very hard to watch.
I'm not making excuses. I completely agree that what hid did was criminal and he needs to be punished. But there is a huge difference between criminal negligence, malicious assault, and religious nuttering, especially in a court of law. That's why at least here in america we have the concept of innocent until proven guilty and "mens rea".

As a magician you should know how people see what they want/expect to see. Now a hero of your has been hurt and you want to see those responsible as demons, and all the evidence presented to you looks to confirm what you want to see. I lack the ability to get emotionally tied to this story so to me the face of pure evil lacks any signs of anger or disgust, but it dose have down pulled features of worry. Where you see spreading the flames I see the panicked swatting to put the flames out (that most people attempt when they see fire on the loose). If he wanted to hurt Houchin why stop, he's right there on top of him the whole time, he's rubbing Houchin's head rather gently around 40 seconds in. I've seen a few attacks in person at dive bars and I've never seen an attacker stop without intervention. Also I don't speak Spanish but according to the translations in the comments on the video the host says to get him off camera and later offers the excuse that he was nervous.

You want him to be guilty of pure malicious assault and will accept no other alternative. If there were definitive proof that it was malicious assault I would have nothing to say on the matter. And if that's what it turns out to be I hope they throw the book at him, although if it's negligence then I hope they throw a different book at him, and if it's nuttering then I hope they throw another different but appropriate book at him.

That guy running the camera though, he's the kind of guy you want in a situation like that, on top things, calls for a medic, trying to keep people calm.
 
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