Extreme Magic Vignette: Flying High

The camera follows Terry down a nondescript hall and he knocks on a door (the door number is blurred in post-production). A young woman answers and shows signs of recognition. She ushers him in. They pass a table laden with buffet food and various bottles and are led to a large balcony, where a group of young women are gossiping.

The girl who answered the door knocks on the glass of the door to the terrace to gain the attention of the others. The talk subsides and the girl announces that she has taken the liberty of inviting someone along to entertain them. Some of the girls start to chant "OFF! OFF! OFF!" on the assumption that the promised entertainment is a male stripper.

"Not that kind of entertainment!" she shouts. "You know that Penny likes magic, so I hired a magician. Maybe we'll get see more than just table tricks. Who the guy with the camera is, I don't know; maybe Terry will explain."

Terry steps forward, in his usual black t-shirt and jeans combo. "Hi, I'm Terry and I shall be showing you some magic tricks and couple of bigger ones later. My cameraman is Gordon. He'll be recording what I do, so you can have a souvenir video and I can have some 'on the street' footage for the magic show on TV I'm putting together."

One girl asks, "What if we don't want to be seen on tele?"

"Just let Gordon know and he'll arrange for you to not appear or you can be pixelated. So on with the magic."

Terry parks his backpack in a corner and wows the group with various feats of prestidigitation. The trick that gets the best reaction was one where he vanishes a girl's ring, only to have it coughed out by another girl, who finds it in a mouthful of cupcake she has bitten into.

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"To finish the evening, I thought I'd do a couple of larger tricks. Is anyone game? What about you Penny?"

"Erm, What would I have to do?" she asks.

"Nothing much. Just get into a box and enjoy the ride." Terry uses his most assuring tone. At Penny's uncertain nod, he starts issuing instructions in the form of requests. "We'll need a bit of space to do this, so if you all could move back, please. And I spotted a coffee table in the room there, could a couple of you, bring it out here, while I get the rest of what I need from my backpack."

A small area is soon cleared around the coffee table which has been moved from the place where it had been hidden under the buffet table. In that time Terry has pulled three swords from his backpack and handed them to three girls who, once they have got over the surprise of being handed three and half foot swords from a two foot backpack, set about checking that they did not fold or retract.

The final thing that Terry extracts from the bag is a multi-layered plastic square about eighteen inches in each direction and a few inches thick.

He returns to Penny who has been a still point in the activity, wondering what she has let herself in for. Looking at the thick square in Terry hands, she says, "I thought you said this was going to be a box trick. I don't see a box."

Terry gestures with his hands. "This is the box. I've folded it down flat, because I haven't got infinite space in my bag, you know; besides at full-size it would not fit through the opening. Allow me to demonstrate." He flicks his wrist and there is a popping noise and a couple of clicks as the square explodes into and eighteen inch cube."

"Nice, but still can't get into that, coz it's too small and there's no door or opening to get into," Penny observes.

"Did I say it was ready?" asks Terry.

Penny blushes slightly and shakes her head.

Terry turns the box in the manner of someone seeking the stuck down end of a reel of sticky-tape, before placing the correctly oriented on the coffee table near one end. Terry flips the top side of the box over an edge and pulls up some of the flaps that were underneath. He invites Penny to look into the opening.

Penny can not see a lot inside the box, but it seems empty. "You want me to get in there?" Terry nodded. "I may be quite flexible, but no way I'd fit in there."

"We'll see," says Terry. "But for the moment we'll make it easier for you." A pull on the end expands the box to nearly twice the size by doubling the length along the table, then two side flaps are flipped and the end extended further still to nearly three times the original eighteen inches. The erection of some flaps at the top of the side walls increases the height to a little over two feet. "Do you think you could get in there now, Penny?"

"I don't think I would have any difficulty."

"In that case, please take your shoes off and get into the box."

Penny starts taking of her shoes, while questioning why this was necessary. Terry explains that he did not want her shoes damaging his equipment and she also did not want to scratch her coffee table when she steps up on it to get into the box. "At least, you don't want me to strip down completely."

"No, the rest of what you're wearing is just right; comfortable for you and won't damage the box."

Penny steps up on to the coffee table to a place beside the middle of the box and looks inside. Seeing no sharp edges in there, She asks, "How would like me to get in there?"

"However you like. Most people would step in, sit down with their legs straight and then lay their body along their legs and hold onto their feet. But feel free to arrange yourself how you like, so long as you are entirely within the box in a position that you can keep for a minute or two, it'll be fine."

"I think I've seen this one before," Penny comments as she steps into the box and squats in preparation to sit.

"You've never seen it from the inside though; am I right?"

"No. I'm not sure if I've seen it live either, but I feel sure that I've seen videos." Penny sits into the box and finds it more roomy that she expected. She wriggles a bit to get settled. As she lies her body onto her legs she says, "Don't think I didn't notice the swords!"

"Now, wave a temporary goodbye to your friends!" Terry suggests. Penny's arm raises and waves, prompting a chorus of goodbyes from the assembled girls.

Terry steps up to the table and begins to fold down the flaps that extend the side walls of the box upwards. Soon the extended section of the original box is a roof. The magician releases some catches and the panels that had original been flapped out from the side splay slightly. Those that recognise this illusion expect that the extended end of the box would be immediately pushed into the original box, but Terry allowed the side towards Gordon, the cameraman, to swing open. Those on that side get a view of Penny's trim thighs with her torso pressed on top. Terry unhurriedly closes off the view, by folding the flap back to where it had been, then pushes the expanded end of the box forward. When the front edge of the section that had been extended from the box met the back of the original box, the flaps that hid the gap between were folded forwards to the original sides of the box.

Terry pauses and asks, "Penny, How are you doing in there?"

"Ok, I think, but it is getting a bit cramped."

Over a few giggles from the girls close enough to hear Penny's answer, Terry says, "You'll be ok, once the next bit it done, so brace yourself!"

Penny tries to reply. If she succeedd, it is lost in a scraping noise as the extended rear of the box is returned to its former place as the rear face of the original cube. There was also a click heard. From the box comes a protesting squeak, but nothing more articulate. Terry glances into the box and happy with what he sees folds down the parts extending the tops of the front three sides and with a gesture suggesting finality flips the front face back onto to the top, leaving a cube of eighteen inches in each direction sitting on the coffee table and, unless she has escaped, containing Penny.

Terry is not finished. He quickly steps up to one of the girls he handed swords to earlier and takes the blade from her. He swirls round causing the entire audience to flinch backwards and rests the tip in a central slot on one of the side panels. "Shall I?" he asks the watching girls.

Some of the girls answer 'yes' as part of the natural call and response of the situation; the few that tried to analyse the situation added their yesses either because they knew that a magician would not offer harm to their friend or on the assumption that their friend is not in the box, so running swords through it is showmanship with no effect on the eventual outcome.

In response to this chorus of yesses, Terry slides the sword into the cube. He seems almost blasé about it. The tip of the sword comes out the other side and is slid back and forth through the box so that the audience and camera can be satisfied that the tip that came out was connected in a straight line with the handle end where it went in. Inside the box, Penny is coming to terms with being pressed in on all sides by the walls of the box and pieces of her body being in very close contact with other bits that did not usually come near each other. She feels something hard join her in her confinement; she feels it across her thighs, the back of her head and the balls of her feet. Once in place it seems to wriggle to get comfortable and then stays still.

Emboldened by the audiences approval, the next sword is taken and inserted. Penny feels the presence of the new sword as hard metal pressing against an ear, both elbows and between her toes.

Terry almost snatches the last sword from its keeper and steps onto the middle of the coffee table pointed the tip down towards the boxed Penny. There is only one voice of descent, the girl who had let them in. "What about the table?" she asks.

"That'll be alright." Terry places the point into the slot and carefully stands it there, before releasing the handle and allowing the blade to penetrate the box under its own weight. Penny felt another hard edge included into her tightly squeezed environment; this one touches her wrists, bottom, calves and belly.

Outside the box the girl concerned about table has her fears confirmed as she spots the end of the sword under the table, although something inside her also notices a lack of splinters or table stabbing noise.

Terry rotates the box about the sword through the table using the other swords as handles. The cube appears to be in its original cubic configuration; the only observable difference is the swords thrust through it and the implied presence of Penny inside the undersized box.

Quicker than he inserted the swords, the magician removes them and scoots the box back to show the table surface under the box had not sustained so much as a scratch when the sword went through it. "Ok, where do you think Penny is?" he asks.

Most of the responses are 'in the box', with a few others that imply they thought Penny was hiding somewhere having escaped the box at some point. "Well, the answer is inside the box, but I don't expect you to take my word for that. I also intend to convince you by a method other than reopening the box and letting her out, because those of you that think she escaped, will conclude that she got in the way she got out and while you are clueless as to how she could have got out in the first place, you will feel cheated."

He lifts the box from the table and hands it to one of the girls with the instruction to look after it while the next part is readied. He has a couple of the girls remove the coffee table to its previous hiding place and pulls something about five foot tall from his backpack.

Terry retrieves the box containing Penny from the spectator and fits it to the top of thing he has pulled from his pack. This is a stick on wheels with a cradle on the top big enough to fit the box. Still holding the box steady with one hand he sticks a finger of the other hand into the box and pulls out a lock of Penny's light brown hair. In quick succession Terry fishes fingers from the side slots and a toe from the rear slot. "Anyone still sceptical?" he asks. Naturally no one comes out with a concrete objection, but there are mutterings. "Alright, Have it your way."

Some quick adjustments expose some thin plastic tabs sticking out the edges of the cube. "I could have had this cube made in coloured plastic," the magician says, "but I had it made from clear plastic and use interchangeable sheets to give it its colour." He pulls one of the tabs in a side edge and reveals a hand inside the box attached to the finger extending from the box, the rest seems to be occupied by the fabric of Penny's top and trousers pressed against it. The other side is similar when revealed. Terry pulls the sheets from the top and the back without much fuss about what might be revealed there and then pulls away the front sheet. Penny blinks in the sudden light, but apart from being able to see out, her squeezed situation has not changed. The audience sees Penny's face framed above and to the left by squashed up trouser fabric and below and to the right by the cloth her top was made of, possibly a sleeve.

"That's the first piece of magic done," says Terry.

"What about me?" asks Penny from within the cube.

"You'll be alright for the moment, unless of course it hurts. I'll leave instructions with Jean on how to get you out of there and where to send the box back to."

"But, how can I talk with my friends and enjoy the buffet and a drink; or even move around?"

"You seem to be doing a good job of talking at the moment. Food and drink; no problem, there's a small hatch here and I'm sure your friends will be happy to feed you morsels, but you'll probably want to drink with straw, because if any wine gets spilt into the cube, it'll slosh about until your cloths absorb it. Movement is the easiest of the lot you're mounted on a wheely-thing like a Segway, so you just need to lean sideways to turn and lean forward and back to move forward and back; you'll get the hang of it in no time, even though you have very little space to lean in."

The girls cheer as Penny pilots her clear plastic prison in a figure of eight movement.

"Some of you may have noticed I promised you a couple of larger illusions. Well, that was the first one. For the second one, it's your turn, Jean."

Gordon catches a look of slight surprise with the camera; Jean's expression betrays that she had expected to be part of an illusion, but seeing how her friend Penny was stuck until the magician releases her or passes on the instructions on how to do it for her, she is less certain about the prospect."

The tension is obvious in her body as she steps into the area that has been cleared by the coffee table. "You seem a bit nervous," observes Terry.

"Well, you said that you'd perform a little illusion on Penny then another one on me and then I could go and get the surprise guest. You've just performed a very literally 'little' illusion on Penny and, quite naturally I think, I'm a bit worried about what you've got in store for me."

"Maybe, I can help. I can relax you a bit with a little hypnosis and then we can do the illusion which won't involve you being squished or cut into pieces or anything you might think of as nasty like that."

"That sounds like it might help, so long as you can did it quick enough that my friends don't get bored."

"Of course I can," says the magician in a reassuring tone. He takes hold of Jean's elbow and says, "Sleep, but remain standing upright." Jean's eyes close, but here posture changes to standing at attention.

"Now that Jean is ready, I need two volunteers to help me out. Don't worry, it only involves bring a chair up and sitting on it once I have positioned it." Nobody moves. "I shall start picking people if I don't get some willing volunteers," the magician warns.

There is muttering and hissed conversation which results in two girls bringing their chairs to the front and nervously sitting on them once Terry has placed them facing each other a little over four feet apart. With his conscripts sat he places a red cloth across each lap, which he explains is to keep their clothes clean, and is mainly precautionary. He takes the opportunity to position them with their feet flat on the terrace and their knees a little less than shoulder-width apart.

Terry returns to Jean and puts an earphone in her ear and whispers into a microphone that she should be stiff and rigid and remain stiff and rigid until further notice. A little device attached to the microphone relays this hypnotic suggestion to the earphone in Jean's ear and then continues to repeat it. Terry adjusts Jean's pose so that her arms were straight by her sides and her hands make fists. He then picks her up as if she were a manikin; apart from the movement in her clothes and her hair she remains as rigid as if she were moulded plastic. Once Jean has been turned horizontal Terry takes two steps forward and lays the rigid Jean into the laps of the volunteers.

The magician confirms with the girls supporting Jean that they could feel her weight and then starts making hand gestures over the recumbent Jean. One of the supporters comments that she feels that Jean was getting lighter; the other quickly agrees.

"That's good because it means that this is working nicely. Please, lift up the sides of your lap cloths and hold them together by the far corners in one hand. You use your left hand and you use your right. Good. Try to pull up with an even pressure and if the resistance of gravity is less than the force you are applying, reduce the force you apply to match."

Both girls set about creating a cradle for Jean's shoulders and shins with the lap cloths and adjusting the force they apply with the one hand and as Jean appears to get lighter, they are soon accidentally lifting her ends from their laps.

"That's good I think we have an equilibrium. Now I need you to both stand up carefully. Some of the girls in the front row can help by removing your chairs so they don't get in the way. And please try your best to hold her in the place she now is."

This tricky manoeuvre is achieved without incident, but much furrowing of brows.

"Good, we're nearly at the end of your involvement in this. The next thing to do is to raise your arms sideways until they are straight out. This will lift Jean to chest height. Again please try to be coordinated and smooth in doing this, it would be a pity if Jean slipped out of the slings you are holding."

Slowly the two helpers raise their arms sideways. Once their arms are straight out, it seems that they felt more strain from the weight of their own arms than the weight they are supporting.

"Well done," says Terry, "just two more stages to go and you can collect your chairs and return to your places. The first of these is to take several steps sideways towards the balcony rail until you reach it."

Looks of concern flicker between them as they realise that if they follow this instruction they will be holding their helpless friend over the side of the building about sixteen floors up with one outstretched hand each. Then an almost hypnotic level of trust in the powers of the magician kicks in and counting under their combined breath they shuffle sideways until Jean is suspended beyond the balcony's edge by two feet.

"You're doing great. Just one final thing to do. On the count of three release your grip on the cloth you are holding."

As the black clad magician counts to three more looks pass
between Jean's supporters, which look like they have resolved telepathically not to drop her. But on the count of three, their hands open and Jean drops.

Everyone lunges to find a place at the balcony rail to see Jean's fate, but they do so silently. The only sounds are a brief scraping of chairs as they are shoved aside and the buzzing whirr of a drone flying nearby. All eyes searched for Jean's plummeting body down the side of the building. Then the drone lights the scene at the flick of a switch on Gordon's remote control. Jean has only dropped a couple of feet, but drifted away from the building by about ten feet. Some of the onlookers spot the cloths that had been used to carry Jean over the edge fluttering to settle on cars parked below.

Terry whispers some words about being more relaxed without opening her eyes. This being repeated though the earphone causes Jean to move her arms above her head and stretch, before turning on her side resting her head on her arms, as if they are substituting for a pillow.

Jean is moving away into the dark evening, but her friends can follow her by the drone light that follows her. She drifts down about eight floors and towards the next tower block facing the one they watch from. As they watch it becomes obvious that her flightpath is heading for the balcony of a lit apartment in the building opposite. Jean drifts over the rail of that balcony and settles down out of sight.

Terry speaks into the microphone once more. He tells Jean that she should wake on the count of three, lean over the rail of the balcony she is on and wave at the building opposite. Then she should knock on the balcony door and ask to be let out.

The magician counts to three and the girls cheer when they see Jean leaning over the balcony rail she has recently floated over.

"My guess is that she'll take five or ten minutes to get back here, can someone be ready at the door for when she gets back. In the meantime I shall do another small trick and Gordon will get you to sign the releases so that I can use this as part of my show on TV."

Once he has done the promised trick, Terry leaves. He meets Jean and a muscular man as they get out of the lift. Jean pauses for a word and the muscular man waits. Terry places a foot to prevent the lift door from closing.

"How did I end up on that balcony? And how did you know that the stripper I had hired lived there?" she indicates the muscular man.

"Your friends will tell you how you got there. And a magician has his secrets." Terry taps the side of his nose. He lifts his foot and the lift door begins to trundle shut.

"Hey! Wait!" cries Jean. She puts out her hand to prevent the lift from fully closing. "How am I supposed know how to get Penny out of that box you put her in?"

Terry said, "You'll know when you need to know and then you'll forget, it was all part of the hypnotic trance you were in to help you relax. Go! Join the others and enjoy the rest of the party!"