Magician Ben Murphy tackled during Royal Caribbean Cruise performance on Quantum of the Seas

Footage has captured the horrifying moment an Australian magician was tackled on stage while performing a show on a cruise ship.

Ben Murphy was performing on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas on March 1 when he invited a female passenger on stage. 

A member of the audience was recording the show when Murphy kicked off his latest trick with the woman.

In the video, Murphy leans towards the woman, sitting on the stage, and uses his mouth to touch a folded card wedged between her lips.

He leaned in gently to tap their cards together as part of the cheeky performance before a man then rushed at him. 

Murphy’s face lit up in panic as he was tackled by the man.

The woman was seen pushing the man away, visibly upset with him, before he walked away.

A stunned Murphy later posted the footage to Instagram.

‘Entertainment, comedy and magic are NOT contact sports,’ he wrote.

‘This guest should not have been allowed to enjoy the rest of his cruise.’

Murphy said it took a week for someone to approach him and get a statement and claimed he was told the delay was because there were ‘no witnesses’.

Royal Cruises told Daily Mail Australia it could not comment on an ongoing investigation.

Social media users quickly swooped in to defend Murphy, sharing their shock at the footage.

‘We were in the audience for this and my jaw nearly hit the floor…. Feel sorry for not only you, but the poor wife and kids who saw the whole thing,’ one wrote.

Another added: ‘We were in the audience and it was absolutely nuts! 

‘We assumed he would have been locked in his cabin for the rest of the cruise and I’m fuming if he wasn’t! 

‘You did an amazing job continuing on with the rest of the show. Hope you’re doing ok.’

Murphy is a comedy magician and illusionist who has toured around the globe to perform his acts. 

Ben Murphy had been performing a magic trick with a female volunteer on a Royal Caribbean cruise on March 1