Headbox Gallery 4

You are thinking that there can't be that many variants on the theme of a head box. Take the sub-theme of crushing a person's head in a box; Ian has five that he regularly has on display and couple that may come out some day; which means he has some ideas, but hasn't build them yet.

How can there be that many different head-crushers? The first three are easy to explain; crushing front-to-back, in-from-the-sides and top-to-bottom. They all feel much the same once the magic has kicked in. The set-up for each is pretty much the same; the model is in the neck-stock and the device is placed over their head. Each device looks different, based on the mechanics of squeezing a person's head from different directions.

The simplest is the downward head-crusher; this a vertical tube over the volunteer's head and a tightly fitting plunger which fits down the tube to the bottom. This is the most pleasant of the three, because it presses on the relatively insensitive top of your skull before the magic gets going. Ian removes the tube, leaving the plunger in place covering the hole in the neck-stock.

The sideways crusher resembles a vice. Ian winds a handle which operates a screw attached to the sides of the box. The box sides are pushed in until the meet and the front, back and top are removed to show that the head that was in the box is no longer there; presumably it has to be crushed between the box sides that now are in contact. This one is  a bit uncomfortable before the magic starts up, because of the pressure applied by the sides to your ears.

The worst of the three is the front-to-back head-crusher which has a solid front and back joined by a couple of long screws down outside of the side walls, which are pleated fabric. As that gets started there is a huge amount of pressure on your nose, once you cannot move your head back any more, because the back of the box is in the way. I don't know if Ian does it deliberately or not, but it seems to me that he could get the magic started before the pressure on the volunteer's nose becomes so bad that you are afraid that your nose will be squashed flat before the magic starts.

You're wondering what it feels like once the magic is working. Well, it's quite peaceful, although it feels initially as if you have less space to think until you can't think at all. I find this relaxing, but not something to do when I have something on my mind, because when the process is reversed between shows, any troubles you have feel like they are the first to return when you have space in your skull to think.

The fourth head-crusher is possibly the weirdest and the variant on that Ian tricked me into one Halloween is even weirder. I'm not sure if it is technically a head-crusher, but your head ends up flat, so I'm counting it. This one looks like a standard cubic head-box, but the panel Ian slides into the front has a pair of rollers horizontally across at nose level. Yes, you've guessed it; he winds the handle that turns the rollers and out comes a flat version of your face. This he fits into a picture frame and stands on top of the box once he has pulled the front panel back out to show the box to be empty. After the first pinch on the tip of your nose, it's quite pleasant, but don't ask me how it starts with a pinch on the tip of your nose, but the flattened head emerges chin first; it seems that magic has a logic of its own, which does not seem to me to be all that logical.

The head-wringer combines the internal peace of the other crushers with the option to see what is happening; which is not much once the audience have moved to the next cubicle.

The weirder version that Ian did one Halloween? He had decided to do the tour wearing a 'Scream' mask; this was a good quality one, which covered his head in black stretchy fabric and had the plastic face attached to that. When he got to me in the head-wringer, instead of putting my flattened head into the picture frame, he pulled of the plastic mask, showing the audience a featureless face, just skin, nothing else, then he applied my face to his head in place of the mask and attached to the head-covering. While it was interesting to see the rest of the tour though the cubicles from his point-of-view, it was very odd to feel my mouth move, without having anything to say, and his voice coming out.

The last head-crusher variant, was only introduced about eighteen months ago, but I like it, except for the minor peril/downside. I don't think Ian has thought of a name for it, but that hasn't stopped him before. It starts off as usual; with your head in a stock and a box placed over your head. This box is a bit different, because it is shaped like a quarter circle on each side, so you are looking out of a flat side with a curve going from above your face down to the back behind your neck. Ian locks down the open frame to the stocks and then slides a panel into the front. This panel has a hole for your nose to poke out of and a couple of clear sections that you can see out of, which means that the audience can see your eyes too. The next thing he does is pull down a handle that pivots at the base of the front; this covers your head with pleated material at the sides and a cloth blind over the curved top and back of the headbox. He then inserts a blade into the base of the box, which connects to the handle which he raises back to the top of the front, which squeezes your head against the front cover. While mostly peaceful like the other head-crushers, but you can see out if you want, there is the minor hazard, which can be more than usually distracting; the fact that your nose has not been crushed and is sticking out the front panel of the box, which appears to be empty of your head, except for the small parts visible on the front, makes people seem to feel that it is perfectly ok to touch and tweak your nose, when it would not be in any other circumstance.