Roulette, [5 October] [2003]]
On [October 5], [2003], Brown performed [Russian roulette] live on [Channel 4] (though with a slight delay in case of accidents). The stunt was ostensibly performed at an undisclosed location outside mainland Britain, in Jersey, supposedly because of British laws banning the possession of handguns.  A volunteer, James, chosen from 12,000 who applied for the task, and whittled down to five by the day of the stunt, loaded a single shot into a [revolver] with six numbered chambers, after Brown had said "choose ''one'' of those numbers, keep them to yourself, choose ''one,'' it doesn't matter which ''one'' it is, settle on a number, are you thinking of ''one'' now", James then counted from one to six. Attempting to predict the location of the bullet, Brown pulled the trigger on chambers 3 and 4 with the gun aimed at his head, before appearing to decide on chamber 5 and firing the gun away from himself. When that chamber proved to be empty, he paused for over one minute before aiming at his head again for chamber 6, then immediately firing the round in chamber 1 away from him, striking a sandbag.

The programme was initially condemned by senior British police officers, apparently fearful of [copycat] acts. However, when the filming location was revealed to be [Jersey],<ref name="bbcrussian">{{cite news|title=Roulette gun stunt 'a hoax'|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3169388.stm|date= 7 October, 2003|accessdate=2006-12-03}}</ref> many accused Brown of perpetrating a hoax. Several days later the Jersey police said they had been consulted about the programme in advance, and revealed: "There was no live ammunition involved and at no time was anyone at risk."<ref name="bbcrussian"/>On the other hand, as demonstrated earlier in the programme, firing a [blank (cartridge)|blank cartridge] at [point-blank range] can still be extremely dangerous or even fatal.

Brown himself defended the programme, saying, "It probably sounds odd. But as a magic-related performer to have that even being asked: Was it real? Was it not real? That lifts it to a level that I'm very comfortable with. What's left is the fact that it was a terrific piece of television."<ref>{{cite news|title=Magician defends gun stunt fake|work=cnn.com|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/08/handgun.stunt/|date= October 8, 2003|accessdate=2006-12-03}}</ref>