The video started up, and standing in the center of the shot was a short, very excitable looking woman. She had long, frizzy, brown hair; a mouselike face; and glasses that caused her eyes to appear much larger than they actually were. She was wearing a green shirt, and blue overalls.
“Ahh!” She screamed, she was practically shaking with excitement. “Sorry!” she smiled nervously, “It’s just I’m so excited to audition again, because I’m the biggest ANGA fan in the world!”
The woman was talking so quickly in her mousey voice, it was a little difficult to understand exactly what she was saying. “Well, I guess you could call me the biggest magic fan in the world, but it’s not like Guinness has a category for that kind of thing, so I don’t really have a great frame of reference for that. Not that it’s really a competition,” she held up her hands defensively, ‘after all there are many different types of magic and to quantify-“
The woman stopped herself mid-sentence, taking a deep breath in order to recenter herself. “Sorry, I got a little sidetracked. I’m just so hyped.” She was getting bouncy again, “I mean, they just announced that Martin Horn is going to be the magician for Season 3 yesterday, and while he wasn’t my number one pick, which was the amazing Raymond Graves,” she looked saddened for the briefest moment, before her bubbly energy caught back up to her, “But he was in my top 5! So I’m so happy that all of his hard work is finally paying off!”
“Anyways, that’s enough of my gushing though” she giggled, “Sorry if I get a little carried away or sidetracked. Again, super excited for this opportunity!” She took another deep breath before continuing, “So, my name is Natalie. And obviously, I'm a bit of a super fan.” She gestured at the big bookcases that helped frame her shot.
For the most part, the shelves were absolutely packed with VHS tapes and DVD cases. Across the spine, names, locations, and dates were scrawled across in sharpie, indicating what was most likely the content of each piece of media. The topmost shelves were used to display some rather expensive looking items in see through cases, each with a little certificate to prove their authenticity. Things like ‘Glove worn by Gregory Pines when he Performed Live at the Super Bowl’, ‘Fragment from the First Series of Commercially Available Mis-Made Cabinets’, ‘Infinite Box of Tissues from The Rio’s Green Room’.
Along the outer edges of each shelf were various tchotchkes and knickknacks of a significantly lower value. For instance, there were the complete Funko Pop Collections of both Season 1 and 2 of ANGA (organized by vote order of course), several Harry Potter figurines, a flower in a glass bottle, and multiple fantasy themed miniatures that seemed to be chilling around a campfire.
“I probably have the biggest collection of magic show bootlegs in the world! I mean, you can find a lot of these on YouTube for free, but most of my copies are only second or third generation reprints, so they’re not perfect, but it does mean I can enjoy them at 240p instead of 144p-“ She paused only for a moment to catch her breath.
“Anyways, yeah! I actually was one of the few people of the public who auditioned for the first season of ANGA two years ago. That was back before they had this convenient online portal so anyone could audition, but apparently Channel 17 had put out a casting call, which thanks to the magic insider websites I followed was leaked and posted online with the address to send your audition tapes to. So obviously I immediately filmed an audition and sent it in. Well, I actually sent in three audition tapes, because I wasn’t sure if they got the first two. They probably still have it though saved in a vault somewhere. Who knows, if I get picked maybe they’ll release that one too!” She shrugged.
“But yeah! I was kind of bummed out when I didn’t get picked last year, but I absolutely loved the cast, so I really can’t complain! Plus you know, third time’s the charm!” she clapped excitedly, “Anyways! So, the reason I think I should be on ANGA is because I am the expert on classic magic performances,” Natalie smiled intensified, “Like, I know that ANGA is always looking for the opportunity to show off cool and diverse branches of magic, but I feel like they’ve never really given the old big-box stuff a chance. I mean, Holli from Season 1 seemed like she would have done a really good job at that sort of stuff, but then she got voted out almost immediately,” Natalie seemed genuinely distraught, “I mean, personally I think that they should have done something like given the contestants the chance to fight back for another chance like in Survivor, especially with how long a career Holli had before being on the show. To just get thrown out in the first round-”
Natalie shook her head, “Sorry. Focus,” she took another deep breath, “Anyways, I know everything there is to know about big box magic, from the tricks themselves to every person that’s ever performed it, mainly because I’ve done my best to help preserve the history of stage performance,” She once again gestured to her massive bookshelves of bootlegged performances, “Plus, I’ve always wanted to be a magician’s assistant! I mean, think about it! The chance to put your own name in the history books as the assistant who helped Martin Horn reach World Class Status? It’s sounds like every magic historian’s dream,” Natalie looked practically ready to explode she was so giddy.
“But anyways, I really, really, really, really hope you’ll pick me this year!” She had the biggest set of puppy dog eyes aimed at the camera, “I promise that if you pick me, I’ll give it 100%, no 200%! A million percent!”
A little alarm went off on her watch. Natalie looked down at it. “Oops! Got to go! Everyday Magic’s about to release their video on Martin Horn’s career. I mean, I already know it, but Elise does such a good job going over everything. Remember, please pick me-“ The video cut abruptly.