A magician has been assaulted during a performance when a man charged straight into him after he appeared to be intimate with his partner.
Australian magician Ben Murphy was tackled by the audience member while performing on the Royal Caribbean's Quantum last week (1 March).
While the audience cheered over the trick - it's clear that one person wasn't happy about it one bit. Check out the on-stage rugby tackle here:
Murphy had invited a volunteer up to the cruise ship's stage upon which the pair acted out a magic trick together.
Advert
The magician can be seen mere millimetres away from the woman as they both face one another each with a playing card between their lips.
The two then share a comedic peck using the playing cards wedged between the mouths before Murphy is struck down by none other than the volunteer's partner.
Within an instant, the magician was laid out on the floor of the stage as the woman attempted to calm her partner down as the audience erupted in an unanimous gasp over the incident.
Footage from the crowd has since been making its rounds on social media with Murphy himself uploading a series of posts about the attack to both his Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Advert
In a TikTok video, which has since amassed over 6.7 million views, Murphy shared with his fans the bizarre encounter.
He captioned the clip: "My assault onboard."
The magician and illusionist has since claimed that he wasn't approached for a statement until a whole week after the attack took place.
Murphy was allegedly told that the delay was due to a lack of witnesses - despite crowd footage from the night showing what seems to a be sold-out show.
The rest of the caption reads: "Entertainment, comedy, and magic are NOT contact sports.
Advert
"This guest should not have been allowed to enjoy the rest of his cruise," the magician concluded.
A follow-up post titled 'Part 2' shows the man in question walk off the stage as the crowd boos him and Murphy has since revealed that he was 'somehow' able to finish his set despite the attack.
Many social media have since weighed-in on the cruise ship antics, offering their praise and support for the magician.
"I hope you have him reported and put on an assault charge. That is really disgusting behaviour," one Instagram user commented.
Advert
A second clearly outraged viewer wrote: "He ASSAULTED you in front of an audience full of witnesses.
"He should have been escorted out, back to his room to gather his things and [sic] booted off at the next destination. That cruise line should ban him for life," they continued.
Many agreed that further action should be taken against the tackler with another adding: "Legal action definitely required."
"Should be spending the remainder of the cruse in the brig," put forward a fourth.
Advert
An audience member who claimed to have seen the whole fiasco from the 'fourth row' noted: "The man’s demeanour changed the moment she set foot on stage. You should definitely be taking further action."
"If you finished that show, you deserve an award," praised a final Instagram user, "it would take superhuman strength to be able to stay on stage after that."
LADbible has reached out to Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas for comment.
Rhiannon Ingle