Line #39 Main/KnifeThrowingAct


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8	[[quoteright:350:[[Music/{{Slaughter}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stickittoya.png]]]]
9	[[caption-width-right:350:DoNotTryThisAtHome. [[DoWrongRight Try it at school]]!]]
10
11	->''"My mother was a show thrower. She could throw knives all around a person and never harm a hair. She never missed."''
12	-->-- '''Gleam''', ''Fanfic/TheVictorsProject''
13
14	The old carnival routine where a person (usually a LovelyAssistant) stands against a board as a target (sometimes a spinning wheel to ramp up the danger). The skilled performer throws razor-sharp knives, and each blade ''just'' misses the assistant's body, leading to a KnifeOutline on the target.
15
16	Usually faked when done in live action, even where the possibility of error is supposed to be realistic. [[DontTryThisAtHome Too many things can go wrong]], and Lovely Assistants in {{Stripperiffic}} outfits aren't easy to come by these days.
17
18	Compare WilliamTelling, another show of ImprobableAimingSkills.
19
20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Advertising]]
26	* A series of Australian television ads for a company called [=iSelect=] has a StageMagician appear in people's homes to demonstrate how he can make their bills smaller. In one of them, he straps a woman's husband to a wheel (that appears out of nowhere), folds her bills into shuriken, and proceeds to fling them at her rotating husband, creating a KnifeOutline. He finishes the act by WilliamTelling an apple off the husband's head.
27	* ''Advertising/WilkinsCoffee'': One commercial has Wilkins perform a knife-throwing act, with Wontkins as his target.
28	-->'''Wontkins''': Watch out where you throw those knives!\
29	'''Wilkins''': Are you drinking Wilkins instant coffee yet?\
30	'''Wontkins''': No!\
31	'''Wilkins''': Okay, let's try it blindfolded!
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
35	* In the ''VideoGame/AliceInTheCountryOfHearts'' movie, Alice suddenly finds herself strapped to a board in the circus. Two demented kids start throwing knives at her, ignoring her protests. One of the knives cuts her cheek. The last two would have landed in her chest if Blood Dupree hadn't blocked them in time. Enraged at them for endangering her, he annihilates the kids with a machine gun.
36	* ''Manga/BlackButler'' had Dagger, a knife thrower in [[CircusOfFear Noah's Circus]]. He was quite skilled at it. Ciel tried to throw knives for his entrance exam to get into the circus so he and Sebastian could investigate a case involving missing children. He only hit the mark because Sebastian flicked pebbles at the knives so they would make it to the wooden target, since Ciel wasn't strong enough to chuck them that far himself.
37	* One is performed in the court of the Kingdom of the Cats in ''Anime/TheCatReturns'', using cuttlefish instead of knives. It doesn't go well and the knife thrower gets tossed out of a window.
38	* The arrested-maturation character Cassian from the ''Manga/CountCain'' manga, who looks like a boy but is really thirty-five, and therefore has a weird sort of two-way paternal relationship with his early-twenties commander Jizabel Disraeli, was sold to the circus and performed in one of these for some time. During the series his main weapon remains throwing knives. (Not a very practical primary weapon in real life.)
39	** He is not seen to throw any knives after having his brain transplanted into the High Priest's body; presumably he didn't bother to train the new muscles and eyes and so on to the correct coordination and habits.
40	* ''{{Manga/Cyborg 009}}'' had this.
41	* This is part of an interrogation technique used on a drug dealer in ''Anime/DominionTankPolice ''. First, they strap the man on a wheel. Then, Leona walks up in a PlayboyBunny outfit and politely asks who his suppliers are. If he doesn't answer, she stuffs a pinless grenade in his mouth and spins the wheel. Then the rest of the squad starts throwing knives at the man. They call this technique the "Wheel of Fortune".
42	* In the anime of ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}'', a hitman posing as a circus performer demonstrates his skill with his weapon of choice by throwing a knife into the bulls-eye of a dartboard, just past his girlfriend's head. She shows her own badass credentials by [[NervesOfSteel not flinching]]. After playing the trope straight on stage, he then uses his skills against Togo, who unfortunately is an unflinching badass himself.
43	* In ''Manga/GunBlazeWest'', Colice Satoh performs a knife throwing act in the circus.
44	* Referenced in ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor''. The marines hear someone listening at the door during a secret meeting with the captain, so they leap outside throwing a couple of knives which hit on either side of Harumi, who's dressed in a [[SpyCatsuit skintight outfit]] (instead of her usual look) as she's trying to assassinate Captain Tylor.
45	* ''Anime/KaleidoStar'' has a guest character doing this.
46	* Being part of a circus as his cover, Trowa of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' performs in this act as the target. [[TheStoic He doesn't even flinch]] when the knife was accidentally thrown close enough to draw blood, highlighting either a stunning lack of fear... or a complete disregard for his own life.
47	* ''Anime/PopeeThePerformer'': Popee and Kedamono are both very skilled at knife throwing in very different ways. Kedamono never hits the person being thrown at, but Popee ''always'' does.
48	* Mousse from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' disguised himself as a circus knife-thrower when he came back (for good) to hunt down Ranma. And he did pin the latter down to the target board, but Ranma escaped the deliberate stabbing.
49	* One of the Student Council meetings in ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' had Touga and Miki doing this with Touga as the knife-thrower with plenty of impossible {{Knife Outline}}s all the while. Heaven knows why they were doing this, but then again, it's ''[[MindScrew Utena]]''.
50	* A filler episode of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' had Kaoru attempt this, only to hit Sanosuke in the arm on her first try.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Arts]]
54	* German artist Timm Ulrichs worked with knife thrower Jonny King to produce the performance video piece ''Messerwurf-Porträt 1978/91''.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Comic Books]]
58	* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': In ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'' #29, John Steele is subjected to one after being captured by the Circus of Crime.
59	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': In one arc where Two-Face takes over a circus, Deadeye Dagger, the circus knife-thrower, was one of his more willing henchmen.
60	* ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'': In ''Savage Sword of Conan'' #119, Conan (in a scene that is undoubtedly a ShoutOut to the movie ''Film/TheVikings'') is forced to play a game where his sister's head is stuck through the middle of a hollow target and he must throw axes to sever her braids while blindfolded. Luckily, he manages not to slay his own sister; and since he ran out of sisterly braids while still having an axe left, he indulges in a manly jest and throws the weapon at Magloclun, cutting the clan leader's own braid.
61	* Used several times in Creator/ECComics stories.
62	** In "Current Attraction" in ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' #41 the main character's daughter is attracted to the circus knife thrower, a married man.
63	** In "One Last Fling!" in ''ComicBook/TheVaultOfHorror'' #21 the main character ''is'' a circus knife thrower and uses his skills to kill his wife onstage after she becomes a vampire.
64	* ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'': One gag has Gaston walk in on Fantasio tossing knives at something. Fantasio sadly informs Gaston that due to the amount of mail Gaston hasn't sorted out and filed, they have no choice but to head into a new career, revealing that he's been tossing knives at Gaston's life-sized latex dummy of himself, with very few misses. Gaston suddenly feels an urge to organize mail.
65	* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Knife throwing was one of the skills mastered by the Gambler, a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] foe in ''ComicBook/GreenLantern1941'', during his time at the carnival.
66	* ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'': Clint Barton developed his skills as part of a knife-throwing act with the Swordsman
67	* ''ComicBook/JonahHex'': In "Sawdust and Slow Death" in issue #15 of the original series, Jonah joins a circus and becomes the unwilling target of an armless knife-thrower (possibly inspired by ''Film/TheUnknown''; see ''{{Film}}'' examples below).
68	* ''ComicBook/KidColt'': Blade Benson was the knife thrower in the [[CircusOfFear Circus of Crime]] who fought Kid Colt in issue #106.
69	* ''ComicBook/DeKiekeboes'': Depicted in “Doorgestoken Kaart”.
70	* ''ComicBook/LadyMechanika'': Gitano is the knife thrower for the ''Cirque du Romani''.
71	* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': The Great and Powerful Trixie does this ''while blindfolded'' in issue #21 with the aid of one of her assistants.
72	* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'': General Alcazar in ''Recap/TintinTheSevenCrystalBalls'' has a Knife Throwing Act. After creating a full KnifeOutline around his Indian target, he asks an audience member to blindfold him. His blind throw hits right in the center of the target held over the Indian's chest.
73	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': In ''ComicBook/SensationComics'' Mimi Mendez's puts on impromptu knife throwing acts for her henchmen when she has prisoners she's angry at. After sinking knives in the walls all around them she'll throw the last few to kill.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
77	* One Creator/CharlesAddams cartoon shows a couple in a hotel room staring at the wall, which has a series of knife-points poking through it, outlining the shape of a woman.
78	* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide:'' A knife-thrower flashes an OhCrapSmile at his enraged audience, when it turns out his "assistent" is actually an inflated dummy, which he has punctured with one of his knives.
79	* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': "El Casador and Conchita", the identities adopted by Willie and Modesty when they appear as a knife thrower and LovelyAssistant in Willie's circus.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Eastern Animation]]
83	* ''Animation/MotoPerpetuo'': The man sees a mostly naked lady in the elevator shaft. He eagerly jumps in, only to jump back out when a bunch of knives from a knife-throwing act fly into the frame and stick in the background behind the woman.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Fan Works]]
87	* A major plot point in Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic '''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6093110/1/Clowning-is-a-Serious-Business Clowning Is A Serious Business]]''' is the Fools' Guild reluctantly accepting girl students, to a Department Of Circus Skills that incorporates learning both how to throw knives and how to stand still in front of the target. The principal tutor in the new school is a [[{{Spexico}} fiery Latin lady]] who has ''excellent'' knife skills. As she demonstrates. Knife-throwing - by Assassins, Thieves and circus practitioners - is a recurring theme.
88	** The ''big'' problem for Assassins required to go undercover in the Fools' Guild is how to unlearn their knife-throwing skills and deliberately ''miss'' the target. Every time.
89	* The vocaloid fanfic ''Fanfic/RottingCamellias'' gives Mayu one of these in a {{Circus of Fear}} setting.
90	* In ''FanFic/TheVictorsProject'', Gleam says his mother used to perform this during their circus act, and these skills help him win his Games. Ahenobarbus demands that Gleam again show off his skills at an after-party. Gleam reluctantly complies and successfully avoids hitting the Avox forced to be a LovelyAssistant. Ahenobarbus then tells Gleam that [[VirtueIsWeakness mercy is for the weak]] and throws a knife directly at the Avox. Thankfully, Orchus [[BarehandedBladeBlock catches the knife in midair]] before it hits the Avox.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
94	* Stabby's main schtick in ''WesternAnimation/AnimalCrackers2017''. Other circus performers in the film do this as well.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
98	* ''Film/TheBarbarians'': One of the Ragnis is shown practicing his during the tribe's travels when they are still entertainers.
99	* ''Film/BernardAndTheGenie'': ccording to the opening (subtitled) dialogue, Josephus attempted this trick for the first time, only for it to go horribly wrong. The man who curses him to eternity in the lamp is the unfortunate LovelyAssistant's (understandably ''very'' pissed-off) father -- who, it turns out, is a sorcerer.
100	* ''Film/Berserk1967'' (1967), in which Creator/JudyGeeson played a target girl in a circus knife act.
101	* ''Film/BlindWomansCurse'': Aiko has one in a carnival, which is pretty neat, since she's blind.
102	* ''Film/BroncoBilly'' features Creator/ClintEastwood as a sharpshooter and knife thrower who runs a travelling circus, which threatens to go out of business when he accidentally hits a target girl during the act. A key plot element involves Sondra Locke as a character who becomes a new target girl.
103	* ''Film/CircusOfFear'' (1966), which features British actress Margaret Lee as an assistant facing danger in a knife act.
104	* ''Film/CircusOfHorrors'' (1960), in which Vanda Hudson plays a target girl called Magda von Meck.
105	* The Scorpion is the AffablyEvil knife-thrower in Lucifer's carnival in ''Film/TheDevilsCarnival''.
106	* One of Germy and Austin's old jobs in ''Film/DriveInMassacre''.
107	* ''Film/EgyptByThree'' (1953) comprises three stories, the first of which is about a knife throwing act. The thrower and his target girl have an affair but the thrower is married to another woman. When the wife finds out about the affair it leads to a potentially deadly situation.
108	* ''Film/FantasyMissionForce'': In Lily's first scene she is shown using throwing knives to undress a bar girl tied to a dart board by [[ImprobableAimingSkills aiming for the straps on her clothing]].
109	* ''Film/TheFightingPrinceOfDonegal'': When Hugh O'Donnell wants to prove his point about DividedWeFall regarding the Irish clans, he takes a dagger and throws it on a shield on the wall, explaining that one clan's struggle against the English occupation by the forces of Queen Elizabeth I is not enough. He then throws other daggers on it, and it starts unhooking. Henry O'Neill (Tom Adams) then provokes him into a fight, loses the fight, takes a dagger and throws it on the shield, which makes it fall, meaning all clans are now united and follow Hugh.
110	* ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' features a confrontation between the main protagonists in which Cameron Diaz's character Jenny Everdeane acts as a target girl in an impromptu [=knifethrowing=] act with the villain (who also uses this ability in combat, and uses an array of differently-sized butcher knives rather than uniform throwing daggers), Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. For extra suspense, he keeps "accidentally" slipping, and constantly on the verge of hitting his partner, both to amuse his audience and to make the protagonist sweat.
111	--> "Whoopsy daisy!"
112	* In the French film ''Film/TheGirlOnTheBridge'' (1999), a knife throwing act is at the centre of the plot. Creator/VanessaParadis stars as Adele, a girl who attempts suicide by jumping from a bridge but is saved by knife thrower Gabor, played by Creator/DanielAuteuil, who persuades her to become his target girl. They soon fall into a complex relationship in which knife-throwing is very overtly and erotically depicted as a sadomasochistic substitute for sex.
113	* ''Film/TheGreatBeauty'': Geronimo masterfully performs the one on Trumeau at the party hosted by Lillo de Gregorio. The knifes land very close to her as they should.
114	* A brief but spectacular knife-throwing act is seen during the opening "The Greatest Show" number in ''Film/TheGreatestShowman''.
115	* The 1987 television movie ''Film/IfItsTuesdayItStillMustBeBelgium'' features Courtney Cox as a character who becomes a target girl in a circus knife throwing act.
116	* The 1951 movie ''Film/TheKnifeThrower'' is based on a short story by Creator/GuyDeMaupassant about a circus knife thrower with an unfaithful wife. The thrower's wife, who is also his target girl, is having an affair with a magician.
117	* In ''Film/TheLovesOfHercules'', Deianera's trial by ordeal consists of tying her to a wall and seeing if Hercules can cut her free using some throwing axes without injuring her.
118	* The spy thriller ''Film/{{Masquerade}}'' (1965) features Marisa Mell as a target girl named Sophie.
119	* A variation in ''Film/TheMasterGunfighter''. The title character earns a living as a carnival shooter, showing his proficiency with GunAndSword. As a demonstration of the latter, a fish is placed across the thighs of the senorita who plays the guitar during his act, and he slices it in half while blindfolded.
120	* In ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'', Wynyard has a knife-throwing act, but also has a terrible case of the shakes. The result is just as bad as you think.
121	* ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' has the Russian twins whose cover is as a knife-throwing act in Octopussy's circus, but actually act as henchmen for the BigBad.
122	* In ''Film/OldShatterhand'', Tujunga's third ordeal to manhood is him enduring getting shot at with arrows and axes.
123	* ''Film/PhantomOfTheRueMorgue'' (1954) has an early scene featuring a knife throwing act. The movie was shot using a 3-D system, which was used to give audiences the impression that knives were flying at them.
124	* The Mexican MindScrew ''Film/SantaSangre'' takes place in a circus: the knife-thrower husband is having an affair with his target. His wife resents this, so the husband sets the wife at the bulls-eye and, with his throwing knives, chops off both her arms.
125	* ''Film/TheSideshow'' (1928) features a knife throwing act in the climactic scene. The knife thrower was played by Steve Clemente and his assistant by Janet Ford.
126	* In ''Film/SkyBandits'', Major Bannock's squadron is based in a circus camp, with many of the performers still there. One of them is seen practicing his knife throwing while chopping up vegetables for dinner.
127	* Film/TheThreeStooges perform one in ''The Three Stooges Go Round the World in a Daze''.
128	* Part of Creator/LonChaney's act as Alonzo the Armless in the classic silent film ''Film/TheUnknown''. All of the throwing stunts were done by RealLife armless knife-thrower Paul "Judge" Desmuke, who threw knives with his feet.
129	* ''Film/UpTheFront'': When DisguisedInDrag to hide from Colonel von Gutz, Lurk ends up in El Puncturio's act as his assistant getting knives thrown at him. To make matters worse, Colonel von Gutz, Donner, and Blitzen find him and begin throwing knives of their own.
130	* In one of the most famous scenes in ''Film/TheVikings'', the Vikings subject a woman accused of adultery to "Odin's test". This consists of using thrown axes to cut the woman's braids while she puts her head through the hollow centre of a large target. All the braids getting cut without she being hurt means she is cleared of the charge. All goes well thanks to Einar.
131	* In ''Film/VivaMaria'', the boy tied to the board is harmed during this routine because Bardot!Maria distracts the man controlling the spotlight, leaving the knife-thrower in the dark and hitting the boy in the arm. This is PlayedForLaughs.
132	* Lynne's specialty in ''Film/TheWarriorsWay''.
133	* In ''Film/{{Wishcraft}}'', the killer has Samantha ChainedToABed and amuses himself by throwing axes at her so that they bury themselves in the bedhead around her: explaining that it is an old Viking pastime.
134	* Completely faked in a German comedy film (sorry, forgot the name, must be from the 60s or so). Two guys are in the Wild West, armed with stage magician gizmos. The "thrower" lets the knifes fall over the back of his shoulder into a water bucket, and his friend pulls on strings behind the target board, "folding out" a knife. The unknowing victim, after going through the act: "I didn't even hear them coming!" Of course, the act is much safer this way...
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
138	* ''Literature/GiveYourselfGoosebumps'':
139	** You can be dragged into this in ''Literature/UnderTheMagiciansSpell'', and the performer will assure your worried relatives that one of the knives is fake and harmless. [[spoiler:"Whoops! Wrong knife!"]]
140	** You can also be forced into this in ''Literature/HocusPocusHorror''. The trick is designed for you to get your hand chopped off in front of the audience, but [[spoiler:you're decapitated when you sneeze and move your head]].
141	** Early on in ''Literature/TrappedInTheCircusOfFear'', partaking in a knife-throwing act is one of your first tasks. Do NOT accept it - the thrower, Morton, will miss the board, and the last thing you see (as you succumb to a knife in the chest) is the circus' ringmistress telling Morton, "You missed! You're fired."
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Literature]]
145	* ''Literature/AlexRider'': Mr. Grin in ''Stormbreaker'' used to be part of a knife-throwing act in which he would catch a knife between his teeth during the act's finale. As a result of the act going horribly wrong, he now sports a GlasgowGrin and [[TongueTrauma has difficulty speaking properly]].
146	* ''Literature/AngelsOfMusic'': In "Guignol", Rollo is a knife-thrower with ''Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol'' who is dismissed by Guignol for collaborating a little too willingly with ''Le Theatre Des Horreurs'' when they take over the theatre. He returns in "Deluge", alongside several other of the Angels' old enemies; now looking to flense the Angels in revenge for his earlier humiliation.
147	* The short story "The Artist" by Creator/GuyDeMaupassant concerns a circus knife thrower who wants to kill his wife. It is hinted that he might do this by feigning an accident while she acts as his target girl. The twist is that he finds this impossible because he has trained himself so well that his reflexes prevent it.
148	* ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' has Coraline used as a target for a single thrown knife. She gets a box of chocolates for helping with the act...
149	* Referenced a couple of times in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', usually with an unimpressed audience complaining that the thrower [[ComicallyMissingThePoint keeps missing]].
150	** ''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook'' has a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheVikings'' in the section on dwarfish ettiquette. It is a bad idea to wear your hair in long braids at a dwarf banquet, because all dwarfs carry axes, and the more they drink, the more unwarrented confidence they have in their throwing skills.
151	* ''Literature/{{Feluda}}'': Jatayu becomes an unwilling participant in one in ''The Mystery of the Elephant God''. Our heroes are captured by Meghraj, and he delights in asking his assistant (who was once a knife thrower) to practice with Jatayu as his target.
152	* The short story "Han's Crime" by Naoya Shiga centers around the murder trial of a knife thrower who killed his target during his act.
153	* ''Literature/InCryptid'':
154	** The Fabulous Fran, before meeting Jonathan Healy.
155	** Studying with The Incredible Christopher is how Verity got so good at throwing knives.
156	** Timpani joins the carnival as a combination Trapeze act and knife throwing act.
157	* The novel ''Knives of Desire'' by Creator/MarionZimmerBradley (writing under the pen name Morgan Ives) is about a woman who becomes involved in a lesbian relationship after joining a circus to be the target girl for a female knife thrower.
158	* Steven Millhauser's short story ''Literature/TheKnifeThrower'' features a thrower who specialises in nicking or marking those who stand at the target board for him. It was published in 1998 as part of a collection that bears the same title.
159	* Falon's act in the player's troupe in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries''.
160	* The relationship between a target girl and a circus knife thrower is the central motif in the poem cycle ''Das Mädchen und der Messerwerfer'' published in 1997 by noted German poet Wolf Wondratschek.
161	* In ''Literature/ANightmareOnClownStreet'', Deana does one, which makes Ray suspect her since someone threw a knife near him earlier.
162	* A knife thrower plays a prominent role in the TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} novel ''Carnival of Fear''.
163	* Simon Templar, alias ''Literature/TheSaint'' is an expert knife thrower in the books by Leslie Charteris.
164	* ''Literature/TheSherlockHolmesStoriesOfEdwardDHoch'': In "The Adventure of Vittoria the Circus Belle", Vittoria is being trained to be the target girl for Diaz the knife-thrower when Diaz is poisoned in what Vittoria is convinced was an attack aimed at her.
165	* Thom practices throwing knives at Nynaeve in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series, when both of them are stuck with the travelling circus.
166	* In ''The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar'' by Creator/RoaldDahl, "the man who could see without his eyes" makes his fortune in part by doing a knife-throwing act while very, very blindfolded.
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
170	* The television play ''The Act'' (1987) revolved around a knife throwing act. It was made for the BBC and was a co-production involving the Royal College of Art. It starred Caroline Embling and Bill Rourke. Real life knife thrower Jay Ruffley provided throwing skills in one scene and also appeared as the owner of a club.
171	* "Conspiracy of Silence", an episode of the television spy series ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'', featured a knife throwing act played by real artists Elizabeth and Collins.
172	* Booth and Series/{{Bones}} went undercover as a knife-throwing act. Bones gets really into it, adding more dangerous stunts to the initial act to Booth's frustration and fear.
173	* In ''Series/CharliesAngels'', Cheryl Ladd's character Kris Munroe goes undercover as a target girl in an episode titled "Circus of Terror".
174	* Knife throwing, with a celebrity acting as target girl, was a regular feature on ''Series/CircusOfTheStars''.
175	* A knife-throwing act featured in the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Metamorphosis" which centred around a murder at a circus. The knife-thrower was the chief suspect for a while.
176	* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': Footballer Phil Simms appears AsHimself in "Just a Regular Irregular". Apparently he is the world's greatest knife thrower and only went into football because there is no money in the impalement arts. He is Sherlock's knife-throwing expert and Sherlock consults with him about how a murder during a knife-throwing act at a circus in the 1930s could have been committed. Simms tells Sherlock that his theory is impossible and then demonstrates his knife-throwing prowess before leaving.
177	* The Spanish game show ''Series/ElGranJuegoDeLaOca'' featured Italian knife thrower Alberti Murroni and his LovelyAssistant Vesna Peracino OncePerEpisode. Each week he would perform a demonstration, after which the contestant would wager on the outcome of a second demonstration.
178	* In ''Series/FatherTed'', a knife throwing act is one of the things that Ted interrupts by phoning Larry Duff's mobile, to Duff's inevitable detriment.
179	* In the ''Series/FrontierCircus'' episode "Karina", a woman, on the run after shooting her vicious husband, stows away in Casey's wagon. Casey agrees to let her join his circus as the target in a knife-throwing act, but local lawmen and her vengeful spouse soon arrive to exact vengeance.
180	* ''Series/GetSmart''. Max is going undercover in a circus when his identity is blown. The circus strongman seizes him while the knife-thrower chucks his knives, but as he's trained himself to just miss the target they miss Max and stick in the arms of the strongman holding him. Max naturally responds with his catchphrase, "Missed me by that much!"
181	* ''Series/TheGoodies Rule - OK?'' has Bill using Graeme for a knife act, and due to RuleOfFunny he escalates from knives to axes, spears and a tommy gun before blowing up Graeme and the target with a bazooka.
182	* A knife throwing act was part of the entertainment troupe Gary tried to press into service to fight off a German invasion in the ''Series/GoodnightSweetheart'' episode "How I Won the War".
183	* An episode of ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' had Amanda and Duncan doing a knife-throwing act at a circus, with Duncan throwing and Amanada as the target girl.
184	* An episode in ''Series/HumanWeapon'' that dealt with Ninjitsu had one of the masters they talked to (and who tried to teach them a bit of his art) specializing in throwing various sharp objects ranging from knives, star-knives, caltrops, and nails.
185	* ''Series/ILoveLucy''. Lucy Ricardo got into a knife throwing act once. [[spoiler: It was faked.]]
186	* One of Murr's punishments on ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'' has him strapped to a rotating wheel while a magician throws knives at the balloons on the wheel -- or so he's told. There are no knives; the balloons are set to explode via remote control. The point (heh heh) is to make Murr ''think'' that there are real knives that might hit him instead.
187	* One of these acts was done on ''Series/JonathanCreek''.
188	* After a critic describes ''Series/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge'' as 'moribund', Alan decides to prove them wrong by having himself strapped to 'Wheel of Death'.
189	* Laverne of ''Series/LaverneAndShirley'' was the throwee once. And Shirley was the thrower.
190	* ''Series/TheLastLeg'': In series 18, ep. 5, the team decide to test whether Prince Andrew's claim that an overdose of adrenaline can destroy your ability to sweat. To do this, Adam has Alex blindfolded and strapped to a board surrounded by balloons. Adam tells Alex that his going throw knives to pop the balloons. He then proceeds to pretend to throw knives while the balloons are popped by Josh who is standing next to the board. Alex's flinches reveal that he has no idea it is being faked.
191	* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersWroteS1E4 Death in Disguise]]", Barnaby is puzzled by how the VictimOfTheWeek was stabbed while all of the suspects were on the other side of the room. After a EurekaMoment while watching a game of darts, he realises the victim was killed with a thrown knife, and then learns that one suspect had been a knife-thrower in a circus.
192	* ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'': Literature/PhryneFisher goes undercover as the target girl in a circus in "Blood and Circuses".
193	* Faked in the first season of the reality television series ''Series/TheMole''. In one of the challenges, one of the contestants was placed in a game where he had to try to convince the others (including TheMole) to take part in situations that they would find terrifying. One of these situations involved the mole being blindfolded and put up against a wall, where a miniature ax would supposedly be thrown at her. Although the mole is normally given information in advance, in this case she was not told what was happening in order to up the drama and she actually briefly passed out. (Though none of the contestants were told exactly what they would be doing, she was able to pick up enough clues to guess.) When she finally agreed to the task, the actual throwing was faked-- somebody simply walked up and stuck an ax in the wall.
194	* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': In "Blood and Circuses", the murderer is ultimately revealed to have been a knife thrower in a previous circus, explaining how a murder was committed in a locked jail cell.
195	* In ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Earl volunteers to be on the target to help win a mother and daughter beauty pageant. The girl doesn't want to spend her life doing pageants though, so Earl encourages her to "accidentally" hit him in the leg during the act. He forgot how much getting stabbed hurt.
196	* Dave Nelson from ''Series/NewsRadio'' was once a knifethrower named The Great Throwgali, Master of the Throwing Knives. He's good enough to enter a talent show, but after he meets an old knifethrowing rival of his, [[TheGreatWhodini Throwdini]], his skills intimidate him so much that Dave can't perform.
197	* In ''Series/{{Nikki}}'', the episode titled "The Jupiter and Mary Chain", first aired in 2001, featured the characters played by Nikki Cox and Susan Egan taking jobs as target girls.
198	* In Season 2, Episode 5, "Knife of the Party" of ''Series/PennAndTellerFoolUs'', the final act has Penn and Teller convincing an audience member that she's performing a gimmicked knife-throwing trick.
199	* In the ''Series/SoldiersOfFortune'' episode "The Danger Sisters", a sister knife-throwing act working in North Africa hire Tim and Toubo as bodyguards.
200	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Luckily for Dean in "Everyone Loves A Clown", the rakshasa seems more interested in pinning Dean to the wall by his clothes, than causing fatal cuts.
201	* This happened at least once on the Johnny Carson incarnation of ''Series/TheTonightShow''. Carson was strapped to the target. One of the biggest laughs Carson ever got was when Ed Ames did an axe-throwing demonstration (on an outline target) and didn't ''quite'' hit where he should've. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QC9ZJkM8 See why.]]
202	* In the final episode of ''Literature/TheTripods'', the protagonists are hiding in a traveling circus. The ringmaster, [[EvilForeigner Al Pasha]], forces two of the children to train for this act, so Will offers to take the girl's place but only when the thrower is good enough to hit the KnifeOutline a hundred times in a row. To Will's apprehension he's able to reach this target before the arrive for a big show in Geneva, and so [[{{Pun}} Will has to do some]] WilliamTelling as the final act involves Will with an apple on his head; he ducks just as the knife splits the apple into two halves that Will catches in each hand.
203	* ''Series/WhodunnitUK'': The CircusEpisode "Final Trumpet" opens with Mad Wolfgang and his LovelyAssistant Nola rehearsing their knife-throwing act. Later, during the questioning, Wolfgang gets so infuriated at Creator/PatrickMower that he hurls a knife at him, which hits the target board behind him.
204	* One of these is featured once on ''Series/WorldsDumbest''. It almost goes flawlessly until the final few seconds when one of the knives grazes the poor girl in the head.
205	[[/folder]]
206
207	[[folder:Manhua]]
208	* One ''Manhua/OldMasterQ'' strip has Big Potato talking to Master Q about the new circus in town, with it's highlight, the knife-throwing performance, being one of the best he had ever seen. Intrigued, Master Q then buys a ticket, watches it - a knife-throwing expert forming a perfect KnifeOutline around his assistant - and when he got back, Big Potato asks Master Q how's the show. Master Q's response?
209	--> "I don't get what's so good or exciting about the knife-throwing act. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint That idiot missed the lady in every shot!]]"
210	[[/folder]]
211
212	[[folder:Music]]
213	* In the music video for Music/{{Coldplay}}'s Magic, this is featured. In the extended edition of the video, Chris Martin's character is stabbed through the heart. Lucky for him, it was AllJustADream.
214	* The circus ringmaster character in the music video for Music/{{Finntroll}}'s ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEzuxkkGyWQ Under Bergets Rot]]'' does this at one point.
215	* "The Devil's Daggers" from the Music/NoxArcana album ''Carnival Of Lost Souls'' is the music playing during the knife throwing act Diablo & The Devil's Daggers. It doesn't go well, and both the assistant ''and'' Diablo himself die.
216	* ''Knife Thrower'' by Charming Disaster.
217	* Music/GretchenPeters uses the target girl as a central metaphor in her song "Woman on the Wheel", which was debuted on her 2010 tour in support of her ''Circus Girl'' album.
218	* The cover of ''Stick It to Ya'', the debut album by heavy metal band Music/{{Slaughter}}, was infamous for a picture by photographer Glen Wexler of former Magazine/{{Playboy}} playmate Laurie Carr wearing a swimsuit, strapped to a target board and surrounded by knives. The cover of a subsequent release, ''Stick It Live'', featured an image apparently from the same shoot as the first but this time showing the target girl walking towards the board hand-in-hand with a knife thrower.
219	* A knife-throwing act appears in the music video for "Midnight Circus" by Sunny Hill, with one of the singers as the target girl.
220	* Music/TomWaits's song "Circus" from his 2004 album ''Real Gone'' features a knife throwing act as part of the eponymous travelling show.
221	* Rock group Music/TheWhiteStripes appeared as a knife throwing act in a photo by Annie Leibovitz in 2003 that was part of a series which appeared in a book and an exhibition, both titled ''Annie Leibovitz: American Music''.
222	[[/folder]]
223
224	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
225	* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'':
226	** TheTeaser for the Creator/PeterSellers episode has Scooter entering Mr. Sellers' dressing room to tell him its "fifteen seconds til' curtain" and catching Gonzo doing a knife-throwing routine with their guest. Sellers, in character as [[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Inspector Clouseau]], mutters "Fifteen seconds? I should live so long!" and ducks before receiving a knife to the head.
227	** The Music/GladysKnight episode had a knife-throwing act with Fozzie as the unwitting target. Unfortunately, the theater roof was away at the repair shop, letting in a thick fog and the knife thrower, who aimed with his hearing, was randomly throwing knifes at the slightest sounds while everyone was ducking quietly for their lives.
228	[[/folder]]
229
230	[[folder:Print Media]]
231	* Singer and musician Music/{{Shakira}} appeared standing against a target with knives around her in a photo in the April 2002 issue of ''FHM'' magazine (UK edition).
232	* Actress Jennifer Ellison appeared strapped to a "wheel of death" target and surrounded by knives in the UK edition of ''Maxim'' magazine in 2005.
233	* Model Karen Elson is seen spinning on a "wheel of death" target in a picture by photographer Steven Meisel that formed part of a series titled "The Greatest Show on Earth" in the April 2007 issue of the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine.
234	* Model Kate Moss appeared on a "wheel of death" target in two of a series of fashion photos by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott in the April 2006 issue of ''W'' magazine.
235	[[/folder]]
236
237	[[folder:Theater]]
238	* The target in question is a painting, not a live person, but Count Carl-Magnus has a knife-throwing scene in ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic''. It's ''almost'' completely irrelevant to the plot. (He's demonstrating his prowess with weapons to a romantic rival.)
239	* Hines in ''Theatre/ThePajamaGame'' does a Knife Throwing Act at the picnic, but Babe wisely ducks because his aim is a bit drunken. Later he goes AxCrazy with his knives in the pajama factory.
240	* The play ''Pin Cushion'', by Clay [=McLeod=] Chapman, is based around a husband and wife knife throwing act and consists of the target girl delivering a monologue while her husband throws knives around her. It was performed as part of Chapman's ''Pumpkin Pie Show'' at The Red Room Theatre, New York, in May and June 2002. The performance involved a genuine knife throwing act, with actress Niabi Caldwell as the target girl and professional knife thrower Dr David Adamovich (aka The Great Throwdini) playing her husband.
241	* ''Queen of Knives'', by American composer Eric Stern, is a full-length opera which tells the story of a brother and sister knife-throwing act in the midst of student protests in the early 1960s.
242	[[/folder]]
243
244	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
245	* Occurred in ''The Carnage Returns'' show at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's]] Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights in 2015. [[VillainousHarlequin Chance]], the assistant of the ringmaster, [[MonsterClown Jack the Clown]], would throw knives at a board (that happens to have a woman strapped to it against her will) as a way of choosing what torturous act they would do next on their victims.
246	[[/folder]]
247
248	[[folder:Toys]]
249	* The well-known Playmobil range of toys, marketed at children aged between six and twelve, once included two different sets featuring figures of a knife thrower and assistant. The Knifethrowing circus act set, which was retailed from 1978 until 1982, consisted of a target girl on a rotating "wheel of death" and a knife thrower, both dressed in "wild west" type costumes. The Circus Performers set, released in June 1982 and discontinued in 1987, also contained a similar knife thrower and assistant with a wheel of death target, but their costumes were different and there were three other figures in the set.
250	[[/folder]]
251
252	[[folder:Video Games]]
253	* The Marionettes in ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' use this as an attack.
254	* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', at the Cabaret, you can see one of these performed. This being ''Grand Theft Auto'', he 'fails' the act and hits her, resulting in a bloody mess. And judging from the way he yelled at her, it wasn't an accident.
255	* The ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'' card Knife Juggler uses this trope. "Put this apple on your head." "Hey, catch!"
256	* In the Amiga game ''VideoGame/{{Heimdall}}'', the protagonist has to prove his worth (in order to recruit a decent crew) by, among other tasks, cut the braids of a barmaid with throwing axes.
257	* Sofia gets thrown into one of these by Indy in ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis''. Indy himself ended up doing one of these in one of the comics.
258	* In ''VideoGame/LostSmileAndStrangeCircus'', Billy's usual circus act consists of this, just with stuffed animals instead of people. At one point he asks Noah if she would like to be the LovelyAssistant in one of his acts, but after seeing her reaction says it's a joke.
259	* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'': There's a chest of blades and a knife wheel in the Twisted Suites. Vacuuming the wheel to spin it will see some blades throwing themselves into it with perfect accuracy, granting Luigi a gem.
260	* In the final level of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', a terrifying [[CircusOfFear circus made of meat]], you must navigate a few deadly obstacle courses including tight ropes, trapezes, and, of course, sword-flinging knife throwers that only aim for you. There's a puzzle where you have to jump in front of a rotating shield at ''just'' the right moment so that a knife thrower tosses a knife that impales the shield and becomes a handle which you can catch to hitch a ride upwards.
261	* The knife act makes a return of the penultimate level of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts 2}}'', though thankfully in a far less terrifying flea circus. This time around, Raz takes Flea Frazie's place throwing knives at Flea Augustus, as Flea Frazie is not quite prepared to accidentally stab their dad again.
262	* Joey Falconetti makes his debut scene doing this in ''VideoGame/{{Ripper}}'', as a way to interrogate Jake Quinlan. It's helped that Falconetti's already experienced with knives. This trope is also played with, as the act takes place in one of his cyberspace wells, although it's never stated if the knives are virtual; granted, he also has real knives outside of cyberspace.
263	* In the ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' episode "Bright Side of the Moon", the BigBad ties Sam to a "spinning wheel of death" -- but Max, instead of getting concerned about Sam, urges the Big Bad to "throw some daggers, no, hatchets!"
264	* Some of your first permanent party members in ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'' are knifethrowers working at a carnival. They use Riou as part of the act and can actually hit him if you move him around. He gets better, though.
265	* In ''[[VideoGame/TelepathRPG Telepath RPG chapter 2]]'' this is Niven's shtick. The problem is he's very good at ''hitting'' the target with his knives, not missing them, forcing him to reimburse you for the damage he deals to you when you volunteer. You can get him to join your party and put those 100%-accurate blades to better use.
266	[[/folder]]
267
268	[[folder:Web Animation]]
269	* ''WebAnimation/TheAmazingDigitalCircus'': Caine puts Pomni through one against her will in the teaser. It ends with Pomni being made into a HumanPincushion.
270	* The old ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' theme song video ("old" as in "replaced 10 years ago") has Strong Bad as the knife thrower and Strong Sad as the (unwilling) target. It's obvious that Strong Bad is trying to hit Strong Sad, but the camera cuts away before the knife hits.
271	[[/folder]]
272
273	[[folder:Webcomics]]
274	* ''Webcomic/{{ErrantStory}}'': Ian's friend Riley had a circus gig doing this some time in the pre-story past.
275	* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': Referenced [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff100/fv00070.htm when]] talking about how Sam DrivesLikeCrazy:
276	--> '''Helix:''' Florence, standing in a burning building while blind circus midgets throw knives at you is safer than driving across town with Sam.
277	[[/folder]]
278
279	[[folder:Web Original]]
280	* One of [[WebVideo/EqualsThree Ray William Johnson]]'s viral videos was a series of videos by a couple named Dakoda and Adam involving various knife-throwing (including a [[IncendiaryExponent on-fire ]] hatchet throwing act) acts done on each other. Warning: Watching video may bring risk of anxiety and heart attack.
281	[[/folder]]
282
283	[[folder:Western Animation]]
284	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': In "Vanishing Act", Jimmy puts on a magic show to impress Betty Quinlan, but when Cindy messes with Jimmy's Metamorphosis Box, she sends his friends to a strange and magical dimension. While Jimmy goes into the dimension to rescue his friends, Libby entertains the audience with a knife-throwing act, with Ms. Fowl as her target. Jimmy and his friends manage to return to their dimension before Libby can throw any actual knives, as she mostly threw harmless things like a cheeseburger and a sneaker.
285	* In ''WesternAnimation/AroundTheWorldWithWillyFog'', while Rigodon and Tico work in a circus while penniless in Yokohama, Rigodon almost gets killed in a knife act thrown by villain and MasterOfDisguise Transfer. Willy steps up and saves him.
286	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' has something along those lines, where Batman is captured and the villain proves to be an amazing knife thrower, first intentionally missing the pinned Batman in the typical circus act manner before going for a killing shot.
287	* In ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', Scoutmaster Lumpus becomes the unwilling target of knife throwing act after being captured by the clowns of Slapstick Mountain.
288	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' episode "Dial S for Suspicion", Wilma's old boyfriend Rodney Whetstone is a knife thrower with the circus. Through a series of coincidences, Fred becomes convinced that Wilma is trying to kill him. Naturally, that night at the circus, Fred is called up onto the stage to act as Rodney's target...
289	* In ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'', Peanut is trapped in a genie's lamp with a woman. He says they're going to go on a "magic carpet ride" and asks her to hand over a roll of nearby rope. Later on, when said genie releases his captives, Peanut appears with the woman tied to a giant target, having apparently been doing such an act the whole time.
290	* ''VideoGame/NightmareCircus'': After defeating the bosses of the big top stage (two serrated-fan wielding goons), Raven can choose one of two stages. The "Maggot-Men Act" begins with him tied to a wooden board and knifes being thrown at him. To escape the trap, the player must rotate the board so that the knifes strike Raven's knots and release him.
291	* ''WesternAnimation/NumbChucks'': In "Couch Potato", Quills performs a blindfolded knife-throwing act using her quills as the knives and an annoying reporter as the target girl. As she has never done this before, it leads to a nasty accident (off-screen).
292	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Krusty does one of these acts with axes. He doesn't miss.
293	* Done in the WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker short "WesternAnimation/TheDizzyAcrobat". Woody walks right past the LovelyAssistant just as the knives come flying in but somehow escapes unscathed.
294	[[/folder]]

Context Main / KnifeThrowingAct