Magic Short 8: Standing on her head

Maurice stood centre stage. "Now for another piece of audience participation. For this particular piece I would like to invite an athletic lady to join me; someone who can stand on her head."

There was some murmuring in the hall and three women raised hands to indicate their willingness to take part. Maurice invited all three to come up, and the audience were introduced to Heather, Hayley and Victoria. All three looked fit enough to give the magician a run for his money. He told them that this would be a levitation and he would select one of them to be floated on air while the other two would get a close up view of the proceedings, but would also be asked to help in minor capacities. He then announced that Victoria, as the least athletically attired, had been selected to be the person at the centre of the magic and that Hayley and Heather would be helping the magic along.

A crew person brought out a stool, about nine inches high, and placed it on the stage. Victoria was asked to remove her shoes and lift her skirts to step up onto the stool from behind so that she was facing the audience. "The gist of this illusion is that you will stand on this stool and when I say you will step forward a pace or two onto fresh air, but to not distract you, because levitation is quite difficult if the person being levitated is distracted, you will be wearing this blindfold. The small problem is that you will need to be patient, while we prepare the air for you to step onto. To make things easier we have these poles so that you remain steady."

The stage hand passed the poles to Heather and Hayley. The magician asked them to stand either side of Victoria and place the poles vertically so that she could hold them. He passed Victoria a sleep mask and asked her to put it on and requested that if she was feeling unsteady or felt any discomfort to speak up so that something could be done about it, because while a fall from nine inches is unlikely to be fatal, the trouble caused by a twisted ankle could be painful and long lasting.

Victoria made a sour face, but put the blindfold on, then reached out for the poles, which Heather and Hayley rushed to erect at her side. With her hands steadying her Victoria gave a nervous smile.

Maurice put a finger to his lips; requesting that the audience and helpers did not give away what happened next. He leaned down and carefully pulled the stool forward. Once it was no longer under Victoria's feet he lifted and placed it to the side. "I know I'll need that later," he commented.

The stage hand returned with something under his arm and waited while Maurice grabbed the stool and placed it behind Victoria. He stood on it and accepted a board with various attachments. "At the moment the greatest danger to you, Victoria, is falling backwards. To counter that hazard, I shall be fitting a safety device to the poles. To do that I need to ask you to let go of one of the poles so I can attach my thing to that pole, then when it's in place on that pole, you can have that back and I can deal with the other one."

With a frown, Victoria let go of the pole that Hayley was supporting and gripped the one on her other side harder. The magician fitted the board to the top of the pole and adjusted the bracket so that the board crossed behind the base of Victoria's neck. With some help from Hayley and supporting the loose end of the board, got the pole back into position and told Victoria to hold on to it. Victoria took a firm grasp on Hayley's pole before tentatively releasing her hold on Heather's; she still seemed unaware that there was nothing supporting her feet.

Maurice soon fitted the bracket attaching the board to the pole and passed the pole to allow Victoria to touch the pole once more; this seemed to reduce the tension in the volunteer's shoulders. The magician set up a pair of stands on the board, each reached up and forward to points a little above and to either side of Victoria's head.

The stage hand passed the magician a plain wooden box with a couple of clips on the side. He showed the audience that this box had an open base and nothing inside. Maurice carefully lowered the box over the volunteer's head until it was suspended by the clips which he attached to the stands. This entirely hid Victoria's head from view, but did not touch her shoulders.

The stage hand was back from another trip into the wings. This time he was wheeling a small platform on which sat a small glass tank filled nearly to the brim with water. Maurice took hold of pole that Heather was supporting and had her check that the tank contained nothing but water.

More poles were brought on by the stage hand, who helped the magician's helpers from the audience position them beside the water tank.

"Victoria, I want you to reach forward with one hand at a time and find some new support poles. Heather and Hayley will help you by putting your hands on the new poles."

First with the hand on Hayley's pole, she reached forward and with a helping hand from Hayley put her hand on the new pole. This was repeated with Heather taking Victoria's hand from one pole to the next.

The magician said, "In a moment I shall count to three. On three, you will take a step forward to be between the poles you are now holding." He picked up a square blade from the board that was the foundation of the stands supporting the box over Victoria's head. He positioned it into tracks at the bottom of the box and quietly slid it to make a base of the box that still contained Victoria's head.

Maurice counted, "One, Two, Three." And lifted the box from the supporting structure, as Victoria stepped forward to a new position over the water tank.

There was much applause, but most could not say if they were clapping for the volunteer stepping from mid-air to standing on the surface of a tank of water or her beheading.

The magician passed the box to the stage hand who placed the box on a small table, he then detached the supporting structure from the poles and handed then to his audience helpers. The board with its stands he passed to the stage hand, before stepping down from the stool.

Maurice picked up a microphone and held it near the box on the table. "How are you feeling, Victoria?"

The voice muffled by the box was recognisably Victoria's. "I'm feeling a little disorientated, but I'm not used to moving about blindfolded, so, I guess that what it is. And also my feet feel slightly damp, like I was standing on a wet patch on the bathroom floor."

The magician went to Heather and asked her recheck that the tank still contained nothing more than water. The helper stated that other than water there was nothing in the glass box.

Returning to the box on the table, Maurice asked, "Are you ready to take the next step into the unknown?"

While he asked, the stage hand brought on a miniature bed of nails and placed it in front of the water tank, then repositioned the poles that had been beside the stool, to beside the small bed of spikes, then handed over the duty of supporting these to Heather and Hayley.

"Ok, Victoria, there are poles for you to hold on to for the next step ahead; let Hayley and Heather guide you to holding those." The headless Victoria allowed first Hayley and then Heather to help transfer her hands to the new poles. "It's time to take another step into the unknown, or, if you like you could make it a leap; I don't think that you will be as dizzy this time."

Victoria took the suggestion and jumped forward from the water's surface onto the bed of nails. As she landed she fought to maintain her balance, but was steadied by the two girls either side of her body.

"How does that feel, Victoria?"

"I not sure that I've felt anything like that before, the nearest I can think of is a foot massage."

"That's good," comment the magician, noting that Victoria was pressing her feet down on the tips of the upward pointing nails.

The stage hand retrieved the water tank and returned to help the next moving of the poles to facilitate the next step.

"How do you feel about taking another step, Victoria?" asked the magician.

"Ok, I guess. I hope it feels as nice as the last one." said the voice in the box.

"Good," encouraged the magician. "This may make you feel a bit dizzy, but hold on and you'll be alright." He lifted the box from the table. Carrying it as smoothly as he could manage, transferred it to the floor between the feet of the poles in front of the bed of nails. He slid the blade from the bottom of the box and lifted the box from Victoria's blindfolded head.

The audience made a hushed murmur of surprise and wonder.

"Heather, Hayley, please help Victoria find the next poles to hold, then she can step forward when she is ready."

Not long after Victoria stepped onto the curls of hair on her head. "This one feels like standing on a soft carpet," said the volunteer from under her body.

Helped by the magician and the stage hand, Heather and Hayley moved the poles from beside the bed of nails forward for the next step, then the stage hand lugged away the bed of nails.

"The time I want you to step down to the stage floor," the magician. "There are poles to hold if you feel you need them."

One hand at a time Victoria felt for the next poles and then stepped down the nine inches to the wooden boards of the stage.

The stage hand came forward to collect the poles from beside Victoria's head.

Maurice stepped behind the head resting by its neck on the stage and, after a word of warning about potential giddiness, lifted it in both hands. He held it up like a trophy drawing loud cheers from the crowd, then he placed the head in its rightful place and invited Victoria to remove her blindfold.