Fetish Magician: First gig: Tom

By profession I am a magician. Yes, I pull a rabbit out of a hat and cause silk squares to knot and unknot at my command; the usual stuff you see at children's parties. That's my bread and butter.

By nature I am a magician. I can really saw a person in half and put them back together as good as new. I don't do it at kid's parties, because I never found an assistant that would willingly let me near them with a saw; at least not twice.

It finally occurred to me that I was probably looking for an assistant in the wrong places; what I needed was a genuinely submissive woman who would do what I told her and be grateful she was not injured at the end. So I placed two ads in fetish magazines and on-line. The first ad was for my services as a magician for private shows and parties. The second ad was for a woman willing to be my assistant mentioning that there would be some humiliation and nudity in front of a small private audiences.

The first few responses were from out of work actresses who quickly lost interest when I told them I planned to do unrehearsed magical illusions on them.

After a week or so, I finally got a response from a potential employer. He was organising a private birthday party for a friend of his, who was into magic and bondage and liked the sight of female flesh. We made it a date and agreed a price. Now all I had to worry about was what magic to perform and finding an assistant to perform it on.

As it happened the latter worry resolved itself the next day. A man rang.

"Are you still looking for a magician's assistant?"

"Yes," I answered, "but..." I did not get to finish that I was looking for a female assistant.

He cut me off. "I have got one for you, but there are several conditions."

Not wanting to appear impolite, I said, "Uh huh?"

"You can have my Annie for your assistant provided she is returned to me unharmed, It doesn't take too much of her time and I get to watch the performance," he said.

"That all sounds OK to me," which it did, as I continued to explain. "I would never harm an assistant; it would be against my principles, besides being bad for business. As to time, it would only be the performances and the immediate preparation time beforehand. I don't want to rehearse, because I want my assistant to be fresh to it and probably as awed and surprised as the audience. As to seeing the performance, I could ask the client or you could come along as a stage hand and sit at the back and press a few buttons for me."

"Hmm," muttered my mystery caller, "That all sounds fine to me. So you'll let us know when you've got a show for Annie to take part in?"

I wondered what made him think he could volunteer Annie, but I needed an assistant, so I put the question to the back of my mind. "Well, actually I already have a gig," I gave him the date, which he said they could do it. "In that case, may I speak to Annie; I need to know she is prepared to participate in the performance." What I really wanted to know was that Annie was willing and would not harm the show; a reluctant assistant can be offputting to the audience.

"OK," he said grudgingly and then I heard him call, "Annie! Pick up the extension in the den and tell this man that you are willing to help him out with a performance!"

Shortly the clatter of an extension being picked up was heard and a quiet female voice said, "Annie here."

"Good!" he said. "Annie, speak to this man and telling him you'd like to be a part of his magic show. I'm going to hang up so you may speak freely and don't forget to give him our contact details when you are finished."

She said, "Yes, Master." There was a rattle and the line noise dipped.

"Hello, Sir?"

"Hello. Annie is it?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm Annie. And you are ...?"

"My name is Tom and I'm a magician. Your, err, Master just volunteered you to be my assistant. Are you OK with that?" I did not have a name for the man who had phoned; this worried me slightly.

"Master said that he would be organising an interesting experience for me. I guess this is what he meant."

"And you're ok with that?"

"Yes, of course, Master wants me to have interesting experiences."

"Does your definition of interesting include being victim in various magic illusions, bondage and nudity in front of a group of men. You may end up being touched by those men, but they won't be having sex with you."

"I don't think He or I would mind that so long as it was in interesting circumstances."

"I don't think it'll happen this time, but maybe if there is another time, but it'll depend on so many things." I was trying to give the impression that I could adapt this to suit her preferences; I wanted to make a good impression and perhaps get an assistant for more than one performance.

"You sound like this might not be a one-off event."

"Well, I'm hoping for some more bookings, but I am quite prepared, if you don't like it, to find another assistant. But then again, if you do like it I might find another assistant to allow for more flexibility." I was still trying to convey that she did not have to commit to more than once, but more would be appreciated.

"That sounds like you have ideas that could be fun. So, I'm up for it. Do you want any information about me?"

I asked for details such as height, dress size and shoe size and I got them along with their contact details. Finally, he asked, "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?"

"What are you actually going to do to me?"

"I assume you mean besides tying you up and exposing your body to a group of total strangers."

"Yes, what kind of magic did you have planned?"

Truth be told, I had not worked out a plan and I felt honesty was the best policy, at the moment. "I haven't yet worked out the details, but I expect I'll do an appearance, a division of some sort, a penetration of some sort, maybe a levitation and probable a disappearance."

"And you don't need me to rehearse any of that?"

"No, I want it to be a new experience for you. That way you'll react naturally to the magic and enhance the show."

"OK, if you need to ask more questions or let us know something, you've got the number. Otherwise, we'll see you there. Thank you for trusting us." The line went dead.

I realised that I was trusting them, but then again they were trusting me not to be an axe murderer or the like.

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The day of the gig arrived. It had been a busy week getting together the things for the show, and doing 5 kid's parties. My adventure into fetish magic was about to begin; I was excited by the prospect, but worried that something might go wrong an stall me on the path of doing the kind of magic I really wanted to do.

I arrived at the venue to meet Mike, the guy who was in charge of this evening's festivities. With a little help I moved my stuff into the room where the show was going to take place. Within half an hour the backdrop (basically a blue curtain) was set up and my kit stowed behind it. The organiser had also made his preparations, which consisted of setting up a table loaded with snacks and a chiller full of beer. I told him not to let anyone behind the curtain and I could start any time after my assistant arrived. I'd let him know. Then I went out to my van to wait for Annie to arrive.

The party soon arrived and did not take any notice of the man in the van. I went into back of the van and changed into my costume for the evening of black trousers, shirt and jacket with a white tie. As I was emerging from the rear of the van, a car pulled up and the passenger window wound down.

A familiar voice called out, "Are you Tom?"

"Yes, Annie," I replied.

"Been waiting long?"

"No, I've only just changed. You're bang on time."

The car was soon parked next to my van and Annie and Master got out; I still did not know his name, but then again I had not made any effort to find out either.

Annie was more beautiful than I had dared hope. Even in a T-shirt and a short skirt, you could tell she had a wonderful figure with a narrow waist, broad hips and slim legs. Above were a large chest, a pretty face and straight blond shoulder length hair. The thing that drew my attention was the smile that curled on her lip and shone in her eyes. That smile mingled excitement and trepidation in an intoxicating cocktail that made me feel I want to protect her, but also give her the most bizarre night of her thirty-something years.

Annie's master was a muscular man, like a retired rugby player after several years at a desk job. He wore a dark suit and a smile that said, 'I am excited by the prospect of my Annie being a magician's assistant.'

He held up a camcorder and asked, "Do you mind if I video Annie's performance?" I must have looked doubtful, because he added, "Purely for private use, of course."

I had not considered the possibility, but quickly decided, "Ok, but I want a copy too; for marketing purposes." He nodded, so I added, "If the clients want a copy we halve the profit." I paused. "I'll let them know we can start when they're ready."

I walked into the building and down the corridor. When I got to the door, I put my head round and gave a thumbs up. The host nodded and raised five fingers, which gave me five minutes to prepare the last minute stuff. I went back outside and told Annie that the show would start in five minutes but she wouldn't be needed for at least ten minutes after that.

"Is there something I should do before then, to prepare?" she asked.

"The first trick would be a lot easier if you stripped down to your underwear."

Annie barely blinked before she put her hands to the hem of her T-shirt and lifted straight up and over her head. As her shirt was pulled off her arms and tossed to her master, I began to appreciate what a truly good looking woman Annie was. Her stomach was flat and her C-cup breasts were constrained by a white lacy bra. Just as quickly her skirt was handed over revealing a matching thong. She turned on the spot so I could look at her over from every side. She had a pert pair of buttocks and there was not a spare ounce of fat, but she also was not skinny either. And she had the 'do what I say when I say' thing too.

I almost said that she could have taken her clothes off in the van, but I did not want to give away how new I was at the dominance/submission stuff (a complete virgin).

"I seem to have landed on my feet here. I can't imagine a better assistant." I quickly looked at my watch. "It's time we got moving. Annie, would you wait in the van; I don't want them seeing you before I'm ready."

"OK, but how will I know it's time to come in?"

"You'll know. Trust me, you'll know."

Annie climbed into the van. As I shut the door, I said, "I'll see you soon."

I headed back to the venue and He followed camcorder in hand. I hoped this would go well, because I wanted my sexier magic to grow by word of mouth.

We stood outside the door and shortly were invited in. We stood at the back, while the host went and stood in front of the curtain. He cleared his throat and announced, "We all know Derek is a fan of magic and illusions, so to make this a memorable night for his big five-oh, I hired a magician, who will be catering to those tastes and a few of his other foibles. I would like to introduce Tom the magician."

I instantly realised that was all the introduction I was getting and trotted onto the performance area I had set up. "Good evening, Gentlemen. I'm Tom the magician, so if you will grab a beer and pull up a chair, I shall be performing some magic and illusion. Some will be familiar and some will be unique to this evening. By the way this performance is being videoed so if you want a reminder of the feats I achieve tonight, see my colleague at the end."

Once the audience had settled, I began with torn and restored paper using a Playboy centrefold. After that I did a trick with three pieces of rope. At this point I could tell who in the audience appreciated the magic and who would rather go back to drinking and shooting the breeze if things did not get more interesting.

"Ok, you want to see something else; something more interesting than some guy fiddling with bits of string. I shall now present sawing a woman in two."

I went behind the screen and quickly returned with a low platform on wheels about four feet by two feet. Standing upright on this at the front and the back were two 'T'-shaped frames. Between the uprights of the two 'T's had been slotted a board which divided the left- and right-hand sides of the equipment. Also on the base, either side of the central board were a pair of tubes about two feet long.

I looked at the audience, "Do I have a volunteer for the sawing a woman in half?" At least one audience member giggled. "So, no volunteers." I sounded disappointed. "Is there a woman here who might be unwillingly sawn in half?" I asked the obviously all male audience. "We can't saw a woman in half without a woman. I'd better find one."

I bustled behind the curtain and instantly came back with a long pale green evening gown. "I've found a dress; the woman can't be far away." I tossed the gown to one of the more attentive members of the audience. He immediately began to examine it. I went a fetched a pair of long gloves that matched the dress, which I also tossed to an audience member. The next trip behind the curtain I grabbed a thin metal arch on a small wheeled base with some clips attached to the metal. "Here it is; my lady trap. May I have my lady bait back?" I retrieved the gown and held it up. I looked at the man that had been checking the dress, "No ladies in here?" he shook his head sadly. I took the dress and clipped it by its shoulders to the highest clips in the frame and clipped the hem to the lowest clips so that the dress hung in the vague shape of a woman. I took back the gloves and clipped them in the appropriate positions, using a clip at the top and another at the wrist of each glove. I looked at the dress appraising my work, "What woman wouldn't be tempted? But it does seem a bit high up" Once more, I disappeared behind the curtain; coming back with a low stool and a pair of green fabric peep toed shoes with 3 inch heels that also matched the dress.

I placed the stool and stood the shoes on it. "You know how sensitive women can get when they are trying on a new dress? So I brought something for her to get into the dress unseen." I put my hand in my breast pocket and withdrew a large square of green fabric about three feet square. "I hope it's big enough." More laughter from my audience. I took the corners of the square and raised it in front of the stool and up to about knee level, then I dropped the corner. Inside the shoes was a pair of feet and ankles and shins. I cautiously touched the toes peeping from the shoes and they twitched. I rotated the whole set up and prodded the dress above the knee, showing it to be empty. "Well, it's a start, but hardly enough to cut in two." I had a moment to worry that the illusion was, perhaps, progressing too slowly for the less interested members of this small audience; too late now, press on!

I made another pass with my silk square and the dress seemed a bit fuller. I unclipped the hem and the skirt of the dress hung around the outline of a pair of trim legs. I caressed down the legs though the skirt showing my audience their outline, before lifting the hem up to show that legs now continued from shin to mid-thigh and dropping it again. I then turned the whole lot round and demonstrated the outline of a pair of buttocks under the fabric, and then faced it forward again.

Another pass, produced the shape of a torso in the upper part of the dress, which I outlined by moving my hands down the sides, before turning it at an angle and passing my hand from the waist, over the flatness of the belly and over the curve of the breasts, but not quite touching; I did not want to alienate my assistant before I had finished making her appear.

The following pass produced a fullness in the gloves and as I rotated the frame the gloves gripped the frame as if trying to be sure of their balance and then the hips gave a sensual wiggle. Once it was facing forward again, I patted a firm buttock and the right glove pulled itself from its clips and made a swat at me. Had I gone too far with Annie? I hoped not; the swat seemed more playful than angry.

The final pass revealed Annie's neck and head. Her face showed a mix of expressions, including wonder at appearing in a room when she had been in the back of my van and something of a smile that said she had enjoyed the way I had caressed her body during her appearance. I was glad she seemed to be taking it so well, but also wondered if maybe I could have touched her more, which would have been a pleasure. Enough speculation; I have a show to put on.

I undid the remaining clips and offered my hand to steady her as she stepped down from the stool. As she stepped down she turned and hugged me. "That was very sensual and you've got good hands, I hope I'll be feeling more of them," she whispered; 'Yes! She like the caresses I gave her,' I thought. Out loud for the benefit of the audience she said, "This is a lovely dress. Can I keep it?" before turning a couple of times on the spot, showing the men how remarkably well the dress fitted.

"Now that we've caught our woman, gents, its time to cut her in two," I said. I took Annie's hand and guided her towards the apparatus I had brought out before she appeared. She looked at it as I removed the tubes that were sat on the base either side of the vertical board.

"That doesn't look like a sawing in half," she observed. "Isn't there supposed to be a box I lie down in, or something?"

Glad of an excuse to talk without appearing to be explaining the obvious for the sake of explaining, I began, "That is so last century; besides everyone knows how it's done." There was some nods and murmurs of agreement from the audience. "So someone came up with a different way and this is my version of that." They did not need to know that someone was Jim Steinmeyer, so I turned to Annie and said, "So, first, young lady pick a side!"

Annie looked confused.

"Sorry, I can't be calling you 'young lady' all evening. What would you like me to call you?" My intent was to allow her to introduce herself by whatever name she chose, in case she wanted to be anonymous and also give the effect that I did not know her; which was nearly true.

"Err, I think I like 'young lady', but my name is Annie."

"Ok, Annie would you stand on one side of the apparatus; It doesn't matter which, it is ambidextrous." She stood with the equipment to her right. "Good. Now take a couple of steps forward." I picked up one of the tubes and slid it between horizontal bars of the 'T's on the same side she stood near, locating it in the uppermost grooves on the inside. "Now please stand so that you upper body is inside the tube," I instructed.

Annie turned to face the illusion. She bent down and smoothed the dress over her buttocks. The men evidently liked what they saw; they all smiled and some let out hoots and there was a whistle too. This demonstration of their appreciation brought a smile to Annie's lips. I was glad she liked being looked at, because they would be seeing more of her later. She stepped forward onto the base and a little awkwardly rose from a half squat to standing again, then turned, once more, to face the audience.

This was when I realised that I had built the illusion too tall. Annie was visible from her green high heels up to the top of her flat stomach and the next bit that could be seen was her blond hair, which peeked out through the dip in the top of the tube where her face was supposed to show. "Sorry, Annie, would you mind coming out again. I need to make an adjustment?"

I scurried behind the curtain, while Annie extracted herself from the illusion. By the sounds I could hear, she was putting on a bit of a show. I quickly returned with an eight inch cube, which I placed on the base centrally under the tube. Annie was standing easily smiling and I was close enough the spot the first signs of the fact she was enjoying the experience so far; despite the presence of her bra there was a slight unevenness in the smooth fabric at her bust; the first evidence that her nipples were responding to situation. Was this the result of the caresses I had given her during her appearance, the audience's appreciation or excitement at the prospect of being divided in two; I hoped it was all three.

"Ok, Annie. Please re-enter the tube and stand on the block! That should make you just the right height."

She seemed to be getting into the role of sexy magician's assistant. The display she put on was sensual, without being too blatant. I looked at the man with the video camera and saw he was smiling broadly too. Once Annie was in place, we could see her lovely legs to just above her hips and in the dip, where her hair had appeared last time, was her face. She seemed to be concentrating and a little worried, but smiling through it.

"There's Annie's face," I pointed out. "And here is a place to put a steadying hand." I gestured at a second smaller dip in the upper edge of the tube to the right of her face. Her left hand soon showed itself and took a firm grip which seemed to relieve some of Annie's tension. At that point I noticed that the block was barely big enough for her to stand on in her heels. I asked her to put her right hand through another hole, low on the right of the tube. Now that she was stabilised, she gave a sensual wriggle as if getting herself comfortable for a pleasant experience.

I picked up the second tube and released a latch, allowing it to open about a lengthwise hinge. This I manoeuvred around Annie's hips and upper legs, where I re-latched it and hooked it to the vertical board. Now all we could see of Annie was her face, her hands and her legs below the knee. I remedied this situation by opening doors in the fronts of the tubes. While the party were enjoying the sight of Annie, I was taking the two blades from the base.

First I took the blade from the side not under Annie and slid it between the rails in the lower groove on that arm of the 'T'-shaped frame. The handle was stopped by the end of the rail just as the leading edge reached the middle of the rail just above the upright board. I flipped a catch so this blade was held in place.

Then I withdrew the second blade from its hiding place within the base under Annie's feet. Annie noticed and asked the perfect question. "What's that, you've got there?"

"This?" I waved the sheet of metal by its wooden handle one-handed and tapped it with the other hand; it sounded just like anyone would expect. "It's the blade I'm going to use to cut you in half." I soon had it located in the lower groove of the rails passing in front and behind Annie. Gently I pushed it in until the business end rested again Annie. As she felt the blade touch just below her waist her eyes widened. I think this was the point where she realised that I planned to really cut her in half and was frightened by the idea.

Her concern came out in the question, "Will it hurt?"

That put me on the spot, because I did not know whether it hurt, added to the fact I had never used this equipment before. I decided a bit of honesty might help. "Quite honestly, Annie, I don't know. The only two people I ever cut in half never spoke to me again; but then I didn't let them know I was going to. On the other hand, neither of them screamed while it was happening so I don't suppose it's that bad." Annie did not look particularly reassured, so I added, "They did both survived the experience. In one piece."

The men of the audience laughed, taking this for a rehearsed line and some good acting by Annie. She seemed slightly less nervous.

"Fast or slow?" I asked.

Annie's expression instantly switched from trepidation to puzzlement.

"Do you want me to cut you in half quickly or do it slowly?"

Her puzzlement vanished and she replied, "I don't suppose not at all is an option?" I shook my head. "In that case, slow, I guess. But if it hurts I'll ask you to speed up." I nodded.

I busied myself by closing the doors in the tubes. I went back to the blade handle. "Well, here goes."

I began to apply pressure to the handle. For a few seconds I gradually increased the pressure. Suddenly the resistance reduced, Annie winced and the blade moved and inch forward. I tried to keep the forward movement of the blade steady, while she was biting her lip, not from pain, but seeming to be trying to identify what the feeling was like. Six seconds later, when about half the blade had been inserted, I noticed the hem of Annie's dress was sagging down to her ankle. I continued to push the blade along the track and through Annie; the dress hem sagged further.

Finally the blade's handle reached the end of the rail and its cutting edge met the edge of the other blade. As I flipped the clip to hold the handle in place, I saw the bottom half of Annie's dress slipped down her legs and gather in a heap around the block she was standing on. Some of the audience sniggered, which alerted Annie further to the fact that something happened that she had not seen.

"Did that hurt, Annie?"

"No, not really, apart from the prick when you started," she answered. "It just tingled in a weird way, like sexy pin and needles. It just feels odd."

"Shall we see what I've done?" Without waiting for a response from anyone I opened the doors on the fronts of the tubes, exposing first her dress-clad torso, her chest seemed to be rising and falling as if she was breathing deeply to keep calm. Secondly, I showed Annie's bare legs from calf to hip and her lacy panties. A shiver went through her as if she now knew what had slipped down her legs by the freeness of the air on her thighs. Some polite applause came from the audience.

"Now that Annie is in two pieces, it's time to prove it." So saying, I placed my hands against the lower part of the upper tube and pushed it. The upper tube, including the upper half of Annie, slid smoothly until it was entirely above the other blade. The audience seemed stunned as they saw on their right of the vertical central support a pair of legs topped by a blade and on their left sitting on another blade Annie's torso.

I turned the apparatus around and opened the rear door of the lower tube; displaying to my audience Annie's legs and buttocks. She must felt some movement of air, because she asked, "What are you doing back there?"

"Just showing the gentlemen your legs from behind and your lovely bottom," at which point I patted her left buttock and she squealed as if I'd spanked her. I suspect that this was the moment when the realisation dawned on her that she was in two pieces, because I was too far away to have touched her if her legs had been below her body.

"Now that I've done the lady cut in two, I'd better put her back together again, so that I can do more." So saying, I closed the doors in the tubes and faced the apparatus and Annie towards the audience again. I pushed her torso back into alignment with her lower half. I extracted the blade that her upper part had rested on and stowed back in its slot in the base, before returning to the side of the illusion that held Annie and whipping out the other blade. From the look on her face the feelings of rejoining were both a surprise and a sensual pleasure. While she held onto the hand holds in the upper tube and recovered from the weakening of her knees, I unhooked and removed the lower tube; giving our watchers an unobstructed view of her hips and legs.

Annie, rather than wait for instruction, stepped down from the block and nudged it to the side with her foot, before turning and extricating herself from the upper tube with much swishing of her pert behind. The men showed their appreciation and admiration and Annie smiled as she absorbed it.

For a moment, I wondered if I had peaked too early; doing a big illusion, possibly my biggest, second in the running order. I could only hope that I maintained the group's interest with what I had planned by way of illusions and for Annie.

Once the applause and whistling had peaked, I said, "I'm going to need your gloves, Annie. Besides, they don't go with the short dress you're wearing."

Annie looked down and did a superb double take, as if she had not noticed that the lower half of her dress was missing. She did a great job of sensuously removing the gloves before throwing them to me.

"While I entertain the men, please put all the equipment behind the curtain and bring back everything marked with a 'B'."

I balled up the gloves and tossed them into the air and caught the four silk squares they transformed into.

I spent the next several minutes causing the knotting and unknotting of the silks and demonstrating that the red pair followed what the yellow pair did. Meanwhile, Annie pushed the cut-in-half illusion away and brought out a frame, then put away the appearance frame and returned with a stand. She waited for me to finish with my exhibition with the silk squares.

I looked round and in a tone that said I did not really mean it I said, "Stupid girl, you need to get the last item, the box on a stick with tripod feet." She turned to comply, but I continued, "But as you're here, I want your help with a small demonstration." She turned back with a puzzled expression.

I handed the two yellow silks to Derek, the birthday boy, and handed the red ones to Annie, showing that they were not connected. "Now, Annie, I want you to insert a corner of each handkerchief into an armhole of your dress and then hold the opposite corner out from your body." As she did as instructed the red contrasted well with the green of what was left of her dress.

"Derek, what do you suppose will happen if you knot the corners of the two yellow silks together?"

"Maybe, the corners of the red ones will knot together too." He said, obviously playing along and knowing what to expect.

"But, Derek, the ends are too far apart to knot, so perhaps for the sake of the experiment you should tie your two squares together."

Derek held the yellow squares up for his mates to see and carefully tied the corners to each other, but his gaze remained on the red silks and Annie's intervening bust. Nothing seemed to happen.

"That didn't seem to work. Oh, well. Thank you, Annie, carry on!" As she turned to go fetch the last item for the next illusion, I grabbed the end of the red silk and soon had in my hands both red silks tie to either end of Annie's bra; the same lacy one I had seen when she removed her outer clothes in the car park.

Annie looked round to see what the whistling and applause were about. When she caught sight of her bra she was amazing and then shocked when she realised it was really her bra and then she shrugged and carried on. Annie seemed un-phasable and I blessed her for that.

In the time it took me to vanish the silks, Annie returned with the box on its stand.

"Good Annie." As I said this, she smiled a smile that said she was glad to have pleased me. "It's time to get you involved again. Kneel on the base of the stand with your back to the pole, facing the gentlemen!"

While she followed my instructions, I went behind the stand and adjusted the height of the pole so that the semi-circular notch in the front of the board on top of the pole was aligned with base of her neck. "OK, that's good, now shuffle back a bit so that your back is touching the pole and you neck touches the top!"

While she wriggled back on her knees, I picked a piece of wood with a semi-circular cut-out from the box and use it to guide her neck into place. Once Annie was in place, I fitted the two catches that would hold the wood and thus her neck in place. Her expression seemed to be a mix of worry and excitement; I could not tell which would win out. "Alright, hands behind the pole, please, Annie." She was still trying to find her balance, but she put her hands behind so that they crossed behind her back. I quickly snapped the handcuffs onto her wrists and then leaned down to snap a similar, but slightly larger, set of cuffs on her ankles. I think that at this point her tension released a little as if being restrained did something for her that not knowing what I planned could not suppress.

Next, I got out a strap and fastened it around her mid-torso, just above where her dress ran out.

"You ok?" I whispered.

"Tighter might be nice," she replied.

I adjusted the strap another notch; forcing her arms tighter to her sides and enhancing the curve of her breasts. She winced and immediately smiled. I decided the final notch would probably be too much.

I turned Annie on her stand sideways to the audience. "Now for a final adjustment," I announced. I bent down and took hold of the short chain between her ankles. Lifting her feet until her heels nearly touched her pert bottom, I made an oops-face. "Maybe I should have waited before chaining Annie's ankles." I paused. "Oh never mind." In one swift motion I passed the connection of the ankle cuffs through the pole; so now her legs were bent tight at her knees, which were supporting most of her weight.

I turned Annie back to face our audience; saying, "Doesn't she look beautiful; trussed up like that?" Noise of general agreement came back. I put on a puzzled expression. "There's something not quite right here." I pondered for a few seconds before miming a light bulb moment. "V P L! No lady likes a visible panty line. Well I can do something about that."

I fished a purple square of fabric from my pocket and passed it in front of Annie's underwear, except by the end of the pass there was no underwear. With her knickers gone we could all see the delicate folds in her cleanly shaved groin. "I guess we'll never know if Annie here is a natural blonde," I commented, while the men made their appreciation of Annie's new level of exposure felt. I draped the purple square over my shoulder.

"Now for the trick." I picked a box frame from the box and placed it over Annie's head. Some of her hair was under the edge of the frame, so I got a couple of elastic bands and after some fiddling formed a pair of blonde ponytails.

"What are you doing back there?" she asked.

"Just tying your hair into ponytails, so it doesn't get caught in anything. You can undo it when I finish, if you like."

"OK."

Once Annie's hair was tied up, I began slotting panels into the frame; making the back, both sides and then the top of a box containing her head with very little extra space. She was beginning to look worried; I guess she had seen the dagger head box illusion before and was thinking there is not enough space to avoid the blades. She was right, because the back of her head was pressed the back of the box and the tip of her cute nose was only just inside the front.

I reached into the prop box and took out three large knives and showed them to everyone. The men seemed fascinated by the six inch blades with the sharp point and serrations on the leading couple of inches of blade. Annie seemed more terrified and was struggling against her bonds.

I laid the three knives on top of the head box and draped the cloth I had used to vanish her panties over the front of the box; some small magnets in the hem of the cloth and the frame of the box held it in place. I picked up a knife in each hand and located the tips in slots in the centre of the box sides. "Are you ready?" A few of the audience replied 'yes', but the noise from the box was a muffled squeak. I replaced the knives and flipped up the cloth up the reveal Annie's face with a scrap of lacy fabric sticking out of her lips. I pulled on the fabric to show the men Annie's vanished panties. "I always wondered where they went," I commented and tucked the panties in my jacket pocket.

I resumed my position behind Annie with a knife in each hand ready to plunge into the box. I waited a moment to let the tension rise, then I blew the cloth back over the front of the box. Almost before the cloth had settled, I jammed the blades into the sides of the box until the hilts stopped them. I then just as quickly stabbed the final knife through the roof of the box. Moments later, I whipped the cloth from the front of the box to reveal the box now empty except for three blades; no head capped Annie's lovely half-naked body. The audience response was mixed, some were amazed by the disappearance of Annie's head, others were disappointed; fortunately Derek, the honoured guest, and the organiser were both in the amazed camp.

I picked a small sheet of wood from the box on the tripod stand and slid it between the empty head box and the stump of Annie's neck. I then picked up the head box by the dagger handles and transferred it to the other stand, where I removed the blades and flipped the cloth in front of the box, causing Annie's head to reappear within the box.

While the men applauded me bringing Annie's head back, Annie asked, "What happened? One minute I'm on the right and now I'm on the left." I rotated the stand supporting her head until she could see her body bound to the other frame. "That can't be my body." In answer to her question, I crossed to where her body was and began to caress her starting at her shoulders, then down to her breasts, where I could feel her nipples standing rigid through the soft fabric of what remained of her dress, then further down to her partially bare belly and finally to her pussy, where I stroked her outer lips before slipping my middle finger between those lips and into her wet vagina.

I returned to Annie's disembodied head and pushed my middle finger between her lips into her mouth, where she tasted the flavours I had picked up. "Is that your body, Annie?" I asked.

"Well, I could feel every move you were making and your finger certain tastes of me, so I guess it must be me." She looked fascinated, bemused, a little horrified and quite a bit excited. "This is certainly turning out to be an interesting experience."

"Time for a little audience participation," I announced. "I need a volunteer to check that Annie's body stays put." Of course all the men volunteered, but I chose the 50 year-old Derek. I asked him to kneel behind Annie's body and have a quick feel so that he knew what Annie's body felt like. As expected he took longer than necessary, but Annie was not objecting, in fact as I drew a large cloth from the prop box, Annie whispered, "He knows how to feel a woman, but you're better."

I returned to frame to which Annie's body was strapped and told Derek to stop feeling Annie up for a moment. When his hands were out of the way, draped the large pale blue cloth over the frame and asked Derek to confirm that Annie was still under the cloth and still strapped to the frame. After more groping, Derek confirmed that Annie was still under the cloth so I asked him to take a firm grip on Annie; naturally, he took a firm grip on her tits. I stooped and pulled the cloth away, so that it was dragged down the front of the frame and soon was a pale blue pile on the floor. Derek was surprised to find the frame in front of him empty and the only thing in his hands was the top half of the dress Annie had been wearing.

Of course, everybody was disappointed, most of all Derek, who had obviously been hoping I was going to vanish the dress not the body within it. I sent Derek back to the audience and stuffed the dress into my pocket.

I went back to the remnant of Annie and dismantled the box I had built round her head. "Am I going to get my body back?" she asked as I draped the purple cloth over her head.

"In due course, Annie; I wouldn't send you home without it. Just bear with me."

"But my body is bare, I can't bare any further can I?" she punned. I was getting to respect Annie's resilience in the face of unusual, or as she kept calling them, 'interesting', situations.

I took hold of the two rear corners of the cloth and raised them and Annie's head floated up too, maintaining the hump under the cloth. For a while, I just wafted Annie's detached head about under the cloth. Soon the element of the gathering that were not fans of magic were growing restive. Fortunately, Annie wanted to see what was going on and said so. I did a spin on the spot and when cloth came back into view it was no longer draped over Annie's head, but it was hanging down with her head balanced on the top edge, which was under her chin and hiding the stump of her neck.

A little more wafting and I decided it was about time to move on to the next stage. I drifted the cloth down until the bottom edge touched the floor and then slowly raised it to waist level. As the lower hem of the cloth rose, it revealed first a pair of bare feet, then ankles, shins and calves. At this point I whipped the cloth away to reveal Annie's head mounted on her legs. She stumbled a bit, so I put my hands on her hips to steady her while the audience processed what they were seeing. When the sounds of wonder and appreciation could be heard, I tucked the cloth back under Annie's chin and raised her head to its usual height. I dropped the cloth, which she neatly caught and held aside, giving the men their first sight of the complete Annie completely naked.

"I think it is time for a short rest from the magic. So gentlemen, there is a table full of food and a chiller of beers. Have a good time and I'll be back with some more feats later." I patted Annie's left buttock and said to her, "Go and get a snack. I'll see you later."

"Don't I get some clothes?" she protested.

"Have you got any?" I asked.  She considered; the skirt and top she had arrived in were with her 'Master' and the ruined dress and her underwear were in my jacket pockets. She shrugged and went to join the group at the food table, where her presence pleased and distracted in equal measure.