Headbox Gallery 2

The most popular headbox? Of course, that will depend on who you ask, but the Fishbowl is generally popular among new volunteers; Ian, our magician, calls it the Globe, but I think that is just being pretentious.

Why is it popular? Why don't I describe it? And all should become obvious.

The volunteer sits in the chair with headbox support projection either side of their neck and a round tube is placed over their head, so that the open ends are above and below the volunteer's head; one of the few without a neck stock.

Ian then brings out a spherical bubble of glass with a small hole in. It is like a goldfish bowl or what people thought a space helmet should look like until the practicalities of space became apparent in the design produced by NASA. Ian shows this to the audience and gets one of them to sign it. He says that it is to assure them that it is the same glass sphere that they see later, but speculation among us volunteers is that it is really an excuse to get the volunteer to polish the glass before he puts it away (so saving himself a job).

Once signed, the globe is rested in the top of the tube so that it rests on the volunteers head, then Ian rotates it until the mouth of the bowl is facing down, when the bowl sinks into the tube. The tube is lifted off the volunteer's head to reveal that their head is entirely inside the glass bubble, with their neck through the hole, which is too small to get their head through. Then the audience get to inspect the globe and check that the signature that was put on the bowl is still there.

What's happening inside the tube while the bowl is going from on top of one's head to around it? In short, I don't know; this is one of those headboxes that stops you knowing what is going on while the magic happens. It's a bit like having a four second nap; one moment things are one way, the next they are different.

Why is it so popular? The newbies like this one, because they get to join the tour and see some of the other headboxes. Myself, I don't do it very often these days, partly because I've seen all the headboxes in Ian's collection from the inside and out, partly because it quite quickly gets stuffy in there, with only the neck hole to allow air in, but mainly because I get a bit irritated when the audience members will keep tapping on the glass, as if, somehow, it got substituted for a plastic one or some mechanism for getting it over a person's head might become apparent. I don't volunteer for it unless I am feeling full of the milk of human kindness. A lot of volunteers also fall foul of the fact your naturally tend to speak up when talking through a barrier, which causes Ian to send the volunteer back to their cubicle, because they are distracting the punters.

For the fishbowl (or globe, whatever) I put my hair into a ponytail, because before I had got used to it, actually the second time, I left my hair loose and someone decide to try out what would happen if the bowl got rotated. What happened was nothing except it wrapped my long hair around my head so I could not see; a bad experience.

A lot of volunteers who experience the Fishbowl, enjoy it, but forget what Ian calls it and end up volunteering for the Fish-tank instead. That is quite a different headbox.

The Fish-tank starts off, like most headboxes, with the fitting of a neck stock, but this one is a little unusual as there is an inflatable collar inside the neck hole. On top of this is fitted a square glass box; this is held in placed with clips to make sure that the glass at the bottom is snug against the rubber seal on the neck stock. Then Ian tips a bucket of water into the box, which, because of the precautions, does not leak. The bucket holds enough water to cover the volunteers head and usually in the case of us girls with long loose hair Ian will keep filling the tank until there is a foot of water above our heads (all from the one bucket).

Yes, there is a horrible moment when you feel like you're drowning, but that passes, and then it feels like breathing normally (don't ask me how that works!).

Ian then puts a standard fish tank air pump into the water and, once that is chugging away, he will add some fish 'to keep you company.' Somehow, there are currents inside the tank which move your hair about; long hair tends to swirl like you had pond weed growing from your head.

The fish are a goldfish, a dozen neon tetras (they are the ones with the fluorescent stripe down each side) and a couple gara rufa (Ian tells me they are the fish they use in 'fish pedicures'). I don't volunteer for this one often, but if I am feeling that I have a bit of dry skin, I will offer to be the model.

The main downside to the Fish-tank, apart from feeling like you are drowning for a few seconds, is that it takes quite a while to undo; first the fish have to be caught and transferred to their holding tanks, then the water drained (through a tap in the neck stock) and then you have to dry your hair to be ready for the next round of customers (not easy with long hair like mine).