Stunt goes wrong at NJ Criss Angel show: Stunning moments of 2015

We certainly weren't expecting this one.

Back in September, the New Jersey 101.5 prize team was on hand as Criss Angel and escape artist Spencer Horsman prepared to show excited fans outside New Brunswick's State Theatre a little bit of what was in store for their upcoming “Supernaturalists”  show.

Horsman, a Las Vegas resident, bills himself as a “comedy magician and escape artist.” As part of the act, Horsman was chained and submerged inside a 30-by-30-inch Plexiglas tank filled with 100 gallons of water. The thank, hoisted several feet in the air by a crane, was locked with metal bars.

The idea was that Horsman was supposed to make it out, using a rubber band and a bent piece of wire. New Jersey 101.5 promotions director Ray Handel was pretty shocked by what happened next.

Horsman began to struggle. At about a two-and-a-half-minute mark, the announcer told the crowd that it was usually at about that point when a person submerged could begin having difficulty. Horsman had already managed to escape the chains and cuffs and was working to unlock the padlocks on the grate on top of the box — but couldn't get them undune.

“They gave signal to lower the crane and undo the last bar and he kinda collapsed coming out of the box. At that point the paramedics came over,” Handel said.

Hosman was brought to New Brunswick's Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he underwent tests.

There was rampant speculation online the stunt failure was faked — the same stunt had infamously gone wrong just a few months earlier, and Horsman referenced that failure when promoting the New Brunswick appearance — but if so, hospital and police officials say they knew nothing about it.

Horsman's doing just fine these days. And according to several reports, has successfully performed "Submerged" at several recent shows.

Louis C. Hochman is digital managing editor for NJ1015.com. Reach him at louis.hochman@townsquaremedia.com or on Twitter @LouisCHochman.