Magic Short 26 - How Brave Are You?

"Welcome back to 'How Brave Are You?'; the show where we put members of the public into situations that will take a little courage to resolve and see how they react.

"Before the break we saw what happened when girls used a changing room and the clothes they entered the store wearing disappeared along with any means to pay for new clothes."

A quick compilation of girls with worried and shocked faces and girls in various degrees undress trying to retain a small amount of modesty by holding the hands and arms in front of their bodies. This ended with the girls wreathed in smiles (some very fake) as the hidden cameras were pointed out.

"Then we left some people in charge of a magic shop, where things got a little crazy."

Another compilation of people reacting to various tricked items in the shop being triggered, culminating in a guillotine triggering and beheading a mannequin.

"Usually, we'd move on from there to see what other trouble we could cause, but we had one guy whose reaction was so unusual that we decided to devote the second part of the show to what happened."

A young man in white T-shirt and jeans enters the shop trying to smooth his blond hair with a hand. He points at a sign in the window. An inset helpfully shows the sign in the corner of the screen; it says "Help Wanted".

"This is Kevin. We decided that he looked like the kind of guy who we would trust to look after the shop while our shopkeeper went out on urgent business."

There is a montage of Kevin talking to the man behind the counter and being persuaded that he should wear the black jacket and the top hat; nothing much different from what was shown for the beginnings of the section in the previous part. Reminding the viewers that one of the pranks was that the hat suddenly enlarged and drop over the wearer's head and if taken off and placed on the counter would be occupied by a white rabbit.

The shopkeeper leaves. "We gave Kevin a few minutes to become comfortable and get familiar with the shop. We were about to trigger the shower of playing cards when his phone rang."

"Becky, Hi. ... I don't know if I've got a job or am just being paid to mind the shop 'coz he had to go somewhere urgently, but I'm here alone. Why don't you come over?  ...  I'll see you in a few, but make it quick because he didn't say how long he would be; just 'I'll be back as soon as I can.'" A swipe of the phone and it is returned to his pocket.

Kevin starts to move around the shop, seeming to note the presence of the guillotine and the zigzag lady cabinet along with the many smaller props; he seems particularly interested in the handcuffs, blindfolds and gags that are hidden out of plain sight in a corner.

After a few minutes of exploration, he looks up and greets a lithe woman about his age, late-teens or early twenties; she is wearing a yellow T-shirt and a not quite knee-length skirt in dark blue. "Anything interesting?" she asks.

"I found a couple of illusions on display, the cut the lady in three thing and a guillotine. There might be other stuff out the back, but I haven't been to take a look."

"So, how long have we got?" the young woman asks. She is eyeing the guillotine with a mix of curiosity and fear.

"Like I said, I don't know. He said he'd be back to lock up, but no indication of whether that meant another ten minutes, or until closing time."

The narrator chimes in, "We were liking the boldness of Kevin and Becky, so we thought it might be time to supply plenty of rope and see what they did with it."

The couple jump when the telephone behind the counter rings. Kevin sprints across the shop to answer it. "Hello! ... Yes sir, sorry it took so long to answer; um, I was looking around to familiarise myself about where stuff was, in case a customer came in. ... No, there haven't been any customers. ... Yes, it looks a bit quiet out there. ... I'm sorry to hear that, what should I do? ... Ok, if you're sure? ... I'll do that, thank you."

Becky is evidently curious to find out what the call was about, but cautious enough not to say anything that would have given away her presence to the caller.

The handset was barely replaced when Becky asks, "What was that about?"

"Mr Jackson, said that he would not be back in time to lock up after all, so he wants me to lock up with the key by the till, but he also said, that I could have a twenty from the till, for my time and come back tomorrow for a proper interview."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"I think he expects me to take the money and lock up straight away, but he didn't actual say so. What would you like to do? How about I lock the door and we try out some of this stuff?" Kevin presses a button on the till and the money-drawer is heard to slide out.  "Oh my God, there's a lot of money in here! You don't think he's watching us, to see how honest I am, do you?"

"I don't see any cameras and if he can see, why was he talking like I was not here? But don't take more than he said you can, because if there is the chance of a real job, you don't want to spoil your chances by stealing from the guy."

Under the watchful eye of the camera, Kevin removes two tens from the till and closes it up. He then picks up a key from beside the till and takes it to the door to lock up. He returns the key to its place by the till.

"What should we do now?" Kevin asks. "There's that cabinet there and the guillotine and I think I spotted a head box that makes your head disappear when it is poked fill of daggers. I guess there's some of the smaller stuff we could try out, if you're chicken."

Becky responds, "I'm not chicken, but we've got at least an hour before we need to get out of here, so there's no point in rushing things. I do think that you should take that costume off; you're not wearing the hat right and the jacket is way too big for you."

Kevin places the hat on the counter and goes to hang the jacket on the hook where the shopkeeper got it from. "Hey, where did that come from?" he asks as he turns back to face the shop.

"Where did what come from?" asked Becky in return.

"That rabbit. In the hat." The shot cuts to a white rabbit sitting in the top hat, that Kevin had been wearing, with its paws on the upturned brim and twitching its nose.

Becky crosses the shop to pet it, cooing, "It's cute."

"Yes, it's cute, but what are we going to about it. We can't just leave it there; it might damage something, or set off the alarms, or escape and get hurt."

"Call the owner and ask. Use the dial-back number. It can't hurt and it might help you get the job in the morning."

Kevin went to the telephone and dialled. "Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I was just locking up when I found a rabbit loose in the shop. What would you like me to do with it?" After listening for a few moments, Kevin hung up. "He said to put it back in its cage and make sure it has enough food and water." Kevin finds the cage and Becky brings the rabbit in the hat, gently tipping it into the cage. Becky makes more cooing noises at the doves in their cages.

"Do you think we should go now, or do you still want to try out the gear?" asked Kevin.

"Now who's chicken," replied Becky. "Besides what's the worst that could happen?" She eyed the guillotine.

"Ok, what do you want to try first?"

"I'll let you give that cabinet a go with me inside, if you let me try the guillotine on you, then you can have a go with that headbox thing with the daggers you mentioned," suggested Becky.

Kevin looked shocked by the suggestion; it was apparent that being in an illusion had not been part of his plan, if there had been a plan in the first place. "Alright, let's get that cabinet somewhere where I can move around it." Either he was hoping to persuade Becky that she was better guillotine material, or he was resigned to it and hoping something would come up, so that he did have to make good on his end of the bargain.

It did not take the twosome long to shift the cabinet to a more open area of the shop, which happened to have better camera coverage. The three section door was opened to allow Becky to step in and have it closed again. With Becky's face, hands and a foot visible through holes on the corresponding female silhouette painted on the front of the cabinet, she asked, "You do know what you're doing, don't you?"

"No, it's no like I've had the chance to practice, or anything. From what I've seen on TV, my end of the trick is easy, shove in the blades, pull the drawer section out and then put stuff back as you found and then let the assistant out. I thought you had some idea what you needed to do; after all, you did volunteer. Besides, you're in there now, we might as well give it a go. If it hurts or something like that, just yell and we'll give up and try something that comes with instructions."

"Ok, I guess. But maybe you ought to get on with before I lose my nerve."

Kevin went to where the cabinet had been on display. "Um, which set of blades do you want?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Well," explained Kevin, "There seem to be two pairs of blades here. Two of them have black handles and the other two have red handles."

"Are there any other differences?" enquired Becky.

"Let's see." He held up two blades to compare them. "The black ones seem narrower, and thinner, but they look sharper. The red handled ones look wider, thicker and blunter."

"In that case, I think the red ones have got to be better, because I don't like the sound of sharp blades, especially if I'm on the receiving end."

Kevin took the blades in one hand, then used the other hand to erect the shelf, on which he then placed the blades. With both hands he flipped open a small door in the mid-section through which showed the yellow of Becky's T-shirt. He placed a finger against her mid-riff and tickled.

"Hey! Cut that out!" demanded Becky, between wheezes of suppressed laughter.

Kevin grabbed a blade and had it lined up with the lower slot. He had the first inch in moments later. He could evidently feel some significant resistance, but kept up the pressure, waiting for Becky to tell him to stop.

She did not, but face showed a fixed smile as if she could feel the pressure being applied, but was waiting for Kevin to stop. Suddenly there was a noise on the other side of the shop (an inset showed that it was a clockwork monkey smashing together a pair of cymbals). While the two were distracted the blade slid through the cabinet. Becky was the first to notice.

"How did you do that? It doesn't feel all that bad; it might even feel nice."

"I thought you'd taken the chance while I was distracted to do whatever it is that you need to do to get out of the way of the blade. I didn't do anything except not stop pushing."

Becky's lower hand vanished into the hole it had been poking through and the sound of a knuckle thudding on the blade was heard. The hand reappeared, "It feels like you've pushed that blade through me for reals. I don't know how, but it feels ok. I guess we should do the other one." The theory that the blade was through the cabinet was confirmed by a shoot of the back of the cabinet showing the edge of the blade protruding an inch from the rear of the box.

Kevin seemed a little uncertain, but picked up the second blade and lined it up with the chest height slot in the cabinet about three inches below Becky's chin. As the young man applied the pressure, it was obvious that Becky was finding it less comfortable that the pressure than had been used on her middle.

"Boo!" shouted Becky, to Kevin's evident surprise. He stumbled against the cabinet as the blade travelled through and emerged from the rear. He stood against the cabinet almost nose to nose with Becky.

"Are you ok?" asked Kevin. On seeing her nod. "But you're stuck in a box with what look like a couple of blades that are doing a convincing impression of being through you and the box."

She made a noise that could easily be read as, 'Yes, you are right, but it is not the worse position I have even been in.'

"So, you're not in a position to do anything if I did this?" He turned head sideways a little and kissed her.

Becky did not seem to object, because her face remained in the face-hole of the cabinet. After more than thirty seconds the hand that had been visible through the hand-hole beside her face extended and tapped Kevin lightly on the side of his head.

Kevin bolted back two steps, then began apologising. He stopped once he had noticed that Becky had an amused smile. "Wasn't I any good, or what?"

"You were fine, but you've got to give a girl a chance to breathe," Kevin seemed relieved that he was not being screamed at for taking liberties. "What brought that on?" Becky asked.

Kevin mumbled something while blushing deeply, then more audibly, he said, "I like you. I like you a lot. Is that ok?"

"I like you a lot, too," replied Becky. "That's why we're friends. But with me in a box with a couple of blades through me is not the ideal time to discuss it. We can talk more when we get home. In the meantime you've got some magic to finish."

Kevin went to the side of the cabinet with the shelf, and grumbled something about there not being anything to pull the middle section from the cabinet. He went round the cabinet and pushed the middle out onto the shelf. He stood back. "Wow! That looks amazing! How are you doing that?"

The voice-over says, "We thought it was amazing too, especially as this was not one of our pranks, but something left in the shop as set-dressing. We just kept watching."

"I don't think I'm doing anything, although does feel a bit peculiar having my belly pushed to the side. Can you get me out of here, please."

Kevin pushed Becky's middle back into place, pulled out the blades and opened the doors to let her out.

"So, how DID you do that?" he asked.

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you. But if that's what being a magician's assistant feels like, it makes sense that magicians don't have to hire for every show. So, what's next?"

"I don't know. I think I saw a dagger headbox over there."

The voice-over commented, "We thought it was time to remind Kevin of his bargain with Becky."

There was a sudden thump as the blade of the guillotine smashed down in the stock and sent the head of the mannequin rolling across the floor. By chance it ended up against Becky's feet.

"I remember now! We were going to try you out on the guillotine, weren't we? That's why I allowed you to put me in that box."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course, I'm sure," Becky assured him. "Let's get that dummy out of the way. We'll see if we can fix it after." She stooped to pick up the head. "I think this head was held on by a peg and the bang of the wood thing at the back of the blade hitting the stock must have shaken it loose."

With evident reluctance Kevin moved the dummy to lean in a corner and Becky perched the head, she had retrieved from by her feet, on its neck.

Kevin hung back while Becky found the end of the rope attached to the blade. "That's even heavier than I expected. I could use some help here."

"How does it hold in place?" he asked. "I wouldn't want it dropping unexpectedly." His tone suggested that he did not want it to drop at all.

"I think this is it, you feed the rope through here and it stays put until this lever releases it."

"Then how come it dropped to knock the head of that dummy?"

"Don't know, but I'll hang on to the rope while you get yourself into place, in case it slips."

"Thank you!" he said, meaning the opposite.

"All you have to do is lie on that bench, lift the stock and lower it again once your neck is in place."

Kevin lay on his back and slid the stock's upper part upward and then wriggled his shoulders, while pushing with his heels, to move himself further up the bench. His head soon emerged on the other side of the stock. With his neck located in the cut-out in the lower part of the stock, he seemed to lose his grip on the upper part which slipped down and landed with an ominous click. His upturned face took on an expression of panic as his hands tried and failed to lift the stock again.

"Becky, I just decided I don't want to do this this way up. Could you release the stock, so I can turn over?"

"So, you want me to let go of this rope so you can turn over? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Then maybe you could find me a blindfold; I think I saw some in the back corner. I don't to end up screaming too loud; it'll attract attention."

In a move that looked deliberate, Becky released the rope, which held for the moment before her knee knocked the lever. Kevin screamed, but not loudly, because he was between breathes, and not long, because the blade dropped swiftly and the wooden weight smashed into the top of stocks.

Becky made a lunge to catch Kevin's falling head, but this was mis-timed and nearly toppled the wicker basket where it landed. She reached into basket and lifted Kevin's head while it whimpered. With one hand at the base of his skull and the other hand gripping his hair, pulled it to her face and kissed him.

When she release the lip-lock, he drew a quick breath, then asked, "What was that for?"

"Boys don't have the monopoly on kissing people they like. So, shuffle down that bench a bit and sit up, so we can put your head back. Then I reckon we should tidy up and go home. You've got a job interview tomorrow."

Over the images of Becky replacing Kevin's head and the two returning things in the shop back to how it had been as best they could, the voice-over narrated, "The following day, Kevin returned and the owner of the shop offered him a job, having seen the video we had recorded; he also took on Becky. Kevin used his first pay-packet to buy an engagement ring for Becky. This was filmed about three months ago and they plan to get married next year."