Horror/Magician/Illusionist show question.
 

Anybody remember a show that was on either Showtime or HBO in the late 70s/early 80s that had illusionists performing bloody gory things like sawing people in half with buzz saws with spraying blood and guts, etc.
I don't ever remember seeing it but a friend is wanting to find out what it's called and see if it's on dvd.

Don't remember a series, but that sounds like a description of the HG Lewis movie "The Wizard of Gore".

I doubt there was a full-blown series on HBO or Showtime like you describe. Maybe your friend is remembering an episode of Hitchhiker or Tales from the Crypt or a skit from one of the comedy shows.

These were filmed performances with an audience from Las Vegas or somewhere. Somewhat like a David Copperfield show. Evidently there are illusionists who specialize in gore/blood shows.

Was it a movie, or a performance by actual magicians? Cause it sounds to me like the kind of thing Penn and Teller were doing in the 80s.

Live performances by actual magicians with an audience.

There's a youtube clip from Britain's Got Talent with a guy called Dr. Gore that is similiar.

So could it be Penn and Teller? At one time, pretty much all of their illusions ended with Teller either dead or maimed. This is from their movie, but is pretty indicative of their performance style in the 80s

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The Amazing Jonathan had an act that always featured blood back in the 80's. I saw it on HBO before:

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I thought I heard something about the Amazing Jonathan using the wrong prop and accidentally hurting a volunteer audience member. However, I can't find any articles about such an incident. Maybe I made it up.