"Ladies and gentlemen!" The voice comes over the speakers clearly in the small theater. The stage is completely dark, and the small tables arranged around the almost-semi-circular room have small lights on them for the customers to barely see their food and drinks. Each row of round tables is elevated a bit higher than the one in front of it, so that there is not a bad seat in the house.
"For your viewing pleasure, let me introduce you to the couple of Illusion..." the voice continues as the audience still whispers softly, waiting for the show to start. A spotlight is now turned on from the back to illuminate one spot on the stage. "Magico!" but rather than applauding, the audience chuckles, as the spotlight is illuminating a female mannequin on the left-side of the stage. It is wearing a red sequin dress with one strap over each shoulder that perfectly hugs its plastic feminine body. The tight dress sparkles in the brilliant spotlight, turning the room into a starfield of red sparkles due to the powerful spotlight on it. The dress stretches all the way down to her feet, except for the large slit that goes from above her knee to the floor, revealing one of her smooth legs. The shoes are just as sparkly as the dress and red to match. The gloves go to her elbows and seem to be made from the same sparkling material. Her arms and legs have that classic mannequin pose, like you just caught her walking by but she knew you were going to take her picture.
The audience can see the spotlight shake a little, as if the operator is not sure what to do. A different male voice can be heard through the speakers, "Uh, guys...that's not Magico." The spotlight turns off, plunging the stage back into darkness. "And now," the announcer starts again but not as boldly," Magico!" And the spotlight operator tries again, hitting all of their light on another mannequin on the right-side of the stage. This female mannequin is wearing what looks like a doll's dress. It has a pink and white overall-looking top that looks to be made of cotton, with a short skirt that has lots and lots of thick, white fabric layers under it. The socks are white. smooth, and come above her knee, and there are black patent leather thick-soled shoes to really sell the doll's look. The shoes look so shiny that they probably could be used as a mirror. The "doll" has short gloves that are white and have lace trim on the wrists. This "doll" has pink hair pulled into two pigtails to match the outfit and stares blankly at the audience just like the last mannequin, but with arms bent and rotated up to bring their hands near their face.
"Okay, guys," the same male voice from before says," I'm on the stage...the only guy, if that helps." The audience chuckles again, wondering if this is part of the show or not. And once again the spotlight goes out, and the audience hears a whisper over the speakers from the announcer, "Try again but I won't say anything just in case you are wrong...again." And so the audience sees the spotlight operator hit a third figure on center stage this time, and again, it is a mannequin. This one's blonde hair is nearly golden and looks to be long and curly, spilling well down its back, in stark contrast to the short, short black hair of the first mannequin. This outfit does look more like what a magician might wear, even with the traditional top hat. The pants are shiny and skintight, with a lovely sheen of leather. The top is a different kind of shiny, perhaps silk or satin, but the long sleeve button-down shirt has a collar and black tie that goes down to her thin waist. The blazer is very short, not even reaching the waistline, and small enough to not even come close to covering her chest. Like the other two, she has a classic pose, with one arm bent and rotated back like she was just caught pushing her long hair out of her face, while the other is down by her side. Each mannequin's outfit is tasteful, with an obvious feminine and sexy look, but nothing that would be considered risqué for a family event.
With obvious frustration in his voice, the other male voice says, "For Pete's sake, just turn on the stage lights, so everyone can see how easy it is to see me." The spotlight goes out suddenly and the stage lights come up. On the left of the stage is the black-haired, red-sequined mannequin with some boxes behind it. The center stage has the golden-haired, magician-looking mannequin with some large trunks behind it. Lastly, there is the pink-haired doll mannequin on the right with some large tubes and cylinders behind it. The audience is looking around, trying to find the voice that said that they were on the stage. "See? I told you I was in plain sight on stage, right?"
The audience, still craning their necks to find him, start looking to others around the room to see if they see him. Behind the boxes? People to the left of the stage shake their heads and shrug their shoulders. People then turn to those near the right of the stage, who also shake their heads, saying he is not behind the tubes. Maybe he is ducking behind the trunks? As if he could hear their thoughts, he says, "No, I'm not bent down at all. I'm standing straight up...on the stage...you mean you still can't see me?" Finally, someone from the audience says loudly, "NO!" with those around her laughing at that and others perhaps with a touch of exasperation.
"Well, I guess I need to apologize to the spotlight girl." And the audience does a double take as a section of the curtains, that goes completely along the back of the stage, turns around showing a man wearing a cloak made of the same material. As the audience claps softly, he holds out his arms and says, "Here I am, Magico!" His outfit seems to match the mannequin that he is walking past as he moves to the front of center stage. His pants are not as tight, but still made of leather. His shirt is definitely the same material as her's, but he has it unbuttoned most of the way down his chest. And while he may not be a bodybuilder, it is obvious that he is in excellent shape. His smile is broad, and his long brown hair is pulled back in a slick ponytail. His arms spread wide, dropping the cloak to the stage floor, as he strikes the same pose as the "other magician" mannequin.
"Thank you, and I guess I shouldn't have worn my winter cloak tonight," he says in jest, "Who knew it would match those curtains so well, huh?" The audience chuckles as he continues walking around the stage, as if he is setting up for the show. "As the announcer said, I am Magico, half of the Illusion couple, but I'm afraid I cannot introduce my beautiful bride just yet. You see, her illusionary powers are different than mine." He is now sifting through the boxes behind the red-sequin mannequin. "You see, I do the more traditional illusions, like this..." a bouquet of flowers appears in his hand, "and of course, this...", now a deck of cards appears in his other hand. A few people clap, but you can tell they are not impressed yet.
"My wife is usually my assistant through these tricks when she isn't doing her amazing illusions, because, well, I need someone to hold my stuff...like my cards here." He holds up the cards and repositions the mannequin's arm so that her palm is facing up by rotating her arm. He sets the cards in her hand. "Ah, that will work." He gives the mannequin a soft pat on the cheek, then begins his next trick. "Now, while we wait, let's make some magic...that okay with you?" The audience claps, and he moves into his trick that is near the "magician" mannequin. "Now, I suppose you are wondering if I will introduce you to these lovely mannequins up here, but that would be redundant. You see," he says as he repositions the center mannequin's arms and head multiple times, clearly showing it is only a mannequin, "My wife will inhabit each one of them throughout the evening, without you even knowing she has moved, so it would be pointless to give them names, right?" He asks of the doll mannequin to his left, which does not move or react. The audience has not quite caught on yet, but they feel that there is something more to these mannequins than just props for the show.
As he moves around the magician mannequin, he finally repositions her arms, so that one is up and the other down, so when he finishes his next trick (again, the illusion was something anyone could do with a grocery-store purchase), he strikes the same pose as her. And while his illusion was okay, it did not warrant much clapping. As he moves on, he starts to use the scarves that he just pulled out of his pocket and pooled on the floor, and then mentions his previous deck of cards. "Where did I put those?" As he pretends to look for them, one lady says from the audience, "The mannequin has it." He looks at the one nearest him, and when he turns back around not finding them, she points to the black-haired one, where he left them in her hand. "Oh right, thanks," snapping his fingers loudly, "Honey, could you bring those over here?" And to the audience's surprise, the mannequin in the red sequin dress starts walking over to him. Her slow smooth walk is clearly one of grace and poise, as she hands over the cards to him, "You know you always lose these." The audience begins clapping at her mysterious "appearance". You can hear whispers at the tables of, "Wasn't that a mannequin" and "how did she do that?" and "she was probably human the whole time, right?"
"Good evening," she bows slightly, her short hair bouncing slightly, "I'm Magica, which you would have known if my husband had properly introduced me." She makes a mock glare in his direction. He laughs nervously, and then with a flourish, all the scarves and the deck of cards disappear completely, to be replaced with the flowers he had earlier. Wait, where did those come from? Same ones or different ones? So, the audience claps more, seeing that he can seemingly produce anything from anywhere at any time.
She takes the offered flowers. "Thank you, dear...you're forgiven." He smiles broadly and says, "Thank you, and since you are in a better mood, you want to move to your next illusion?" She nods and bows deeply again, "Of course, my love, allow me to prepare." She turns and walks slowly back to where she was standing previously as a "mannequin". He says, "And so will I," drawing the audience's attention, as he pulls a "magic wand" out of the ear of the doll mannequin, who obviously does not react at all. He turns and walks back towards his wife, who is pretending to straighten her dress while still holding the flowers. He bonks her on the head with his wand, and she begins to move stiffly into her original position. Her hands extend back out to their original orientation which cannot grasp anything, so the flowers begin to fall to the ground, which he catches quickly, giving everyone time to see that she dropped them uncontrollably at her "transformation".
Before the audience can really see anything, he snaps the flowers and they become a relatively large bed sheet that he flourishes briefly. "Thanks, babe," he says with a kiss on her cheek. He makes a slight face, "Oh, plastic...not my favorite." As he moves to the other side of the stage, the audience sees that his wife looks different, like she is not real anymore. Or, is she just standing real still again, like she did before? The audience is learning to be more suspicious of the mannequins as they look to the stage, but they have not caught her in the act yet.
On his way to the doll mannequin, he easily turns the center mannequin around. With a mock whisper, he adds, "She doesn't like this part of the show...makes her jealous. Oh, and there's my hat, been looking for that." Arriving at the doll mannequin, he repositions her while folding the bed sheet. Within a few seconds, her arms are out like she is trying to hug someone and the bed sheet is folded neatly by him. He begins to tell a story of his childhood, while moving the tubes around, taking them apart, then putting them back together in rapid succession. Each time he does, it becomes larger and larger, until an obvious bedroom scene is set behind the doll. The "walls" of the room are fabric painted to look like a little girl's room, which rolled out of the tubes with ease at his quick, skilled touch.
He pulls various things presumably out of his sleeves, filling the fake table and bed and chair with a hairbrush, a hairbow, and a teddy bear. His hands move so quickly, no one can keep up with all the objects that just keep showing up out of "thin air". Surely, they were down in the tubes, but he simply seems to make them appear without looking as if he reached into any of the tubes. The tubes and mannequin have been rotated and moved and turned so much throughout this part, it is hard to tell if he really didn't do some "magic". As he slows down and stops, he strikes a pose to show he has done his part. The audience claps, as this was genuinely impressive to watch his hand speed and skill, clearly a master of misdirection and distraction.
"Alright, I'll need a hand with this next part, so perhaps I should grab a volunteer," with a loud snap of his fingers, he looks out into the audience. Before anyone could say anything, the mannequin stretches out its arms and gives him a hug from behind. "Or," he says with a smile, "A volunteer could grab me." His wife steps out from behind him, holding his hand as he "presents" her by holding up her hand and helping her take a bow. This time, there are audible gasps from members of the audience. As they clap louder, you can hear whispers at the tables, "There is no way she was there earlier" and "I'm sure that was a mannequin 10 seconds ago" and on and on. They knew she would be "moving" but how did she do that? I mean, there were people over on the other side of the stage still staring at the red-sequin mannequin, expecting it to move as well. How could she leave the stage, put the other mannequin back, change clothes, get to the other side of the stage, remove the other mannequin, and take its place without any of us knowing?
Without waiting for any visible prompt, they move into the next set of illusions, that involve rings and bowling pins and the teddy bear. The audience is not overly impressed with them, but they cannot take their eyes off the stage. This guy might or might not be a real magician, but his wife may be some kind of sorceress. But magic isn't real, right? Without having time to process that, the magician couple continue doing their illusions that are genuinely good, and he has a wonderful sense of humor, making jokes and puns that make people laugh loudly.
As the clapping dies down, he begins to move back to center stage taking his new cape that appeared from one of the tubes (maybe). She opens her mouth to say something, but he bonks her on the head, sending her into a stiff moving activity that returns her to her original pose. He snaps his fingers again and says, "Oops forgot something." She comes back to life to hand him the rings that were hooked on her arms. He nods his thank you, dons his full-length cape with a flourish, and bonks her again as he leans in for a kiss. The rings fall to the ground, making a loud klanging sound, causing the audience watching to jump, as they figured they were light, flimsy plastic and not hard, stiff metal.
He turns back to the audience and says, "Ugh, plastic...I have got to get my kiss in earlier." The audience, who was following him to center stage, looks back to the doll mannequin. Wait, plastic? His wife is standing right there, and she is alive...wait, is that a mannequin again? As the audience squints to see if they can see her move or breathe, he starts moving the trunks around to the front of the stage, with the magician mannequin still with her back to the audience. Her leather covered butt is very visible with the lighting, so several of the men make a mental note to not take their eyes off of it, just to catch her in the act of changing places with it (obviously). He opens the trunks so that the lids fold out towards the audience, concealing what is inside of them.
"And, now," he says while rummaging through them, "Our final series of illusions. I hope you are really paying attention now." As he moves around the golden-haired mannequin, things fall out of the trunks, like a unicycle, a frisbee, a random bird (plush not real), and other "just odd" things. "I'm gonna need some help, but I'm a little worried." He says while standing behind one of the trunks, "My wife really likes popcorn, so she is probably getting herself a bag before the last number. I keep telling her if the line isn't really short, she is gonna end up in an embarrassing situation on stage." He rotates the mannequin easily in a complete spin, assuring the audience it is still inanimate. He slams one of the trunk lids closed as he says, "Sorry, honey, but I'm ready to finish this up." And with a snap of his fingers and final bang of another trunk lid, the audience sees a bag of popcorn fall from the hand of the mannequin's upward raised hand. Wait, that bag of popcorn couldn't have been there before...we would have seen it.
The center mannequin makes a face as it turns around and says with a full mouth of popcorn, "Mmph, fria xifg." The husband shrugs his shoulders and replies, "I told you to wait until after the show. The club owner said he would save you a complementary bag." She swallows noticeably and replies, "Yeah, but you have gone on so long...talk talk talk...that I was getting hangry." The audience cheers now, unable to figure it out, but not caring at this point. There is no way she did that without using "real" magic, nor could he have helped her that much even with all his distractions. We were watching the stage the whole time. We knew what she was going to do, yet she still did it without us seeing it. The audience, who know that magic is not real, are beginning to doubt their eyes that maybe, just maybe, there is more to this couple than physically possible. But, magic isn't real, right?!
She smiles and bows, "Well, I'm not sure I would clap for being hangry." Obviously making a joke, the husband comes back forward to hold her hand up and "present" her. Now, they stand next to each other, both dressed very similarly. If the men had not noticed her beautiful curves before, she has them on display with her tight pants and short coat that makes her chest look larger than any of the other mannequins. As the clapping dies down, he bends down to grab the popcorn bag, which has the club's logo displayed prominently on the front. Looking around the room, each table that has one gets stares from others in the audience, verifying that it really was from the concessions in the back of the theater.
"Honey, I feel bad," she says with obvious sadness.
"For eating popcorn without me," he asks while holding out the bag and the audience snickers.
"No, I couldn't wait on that," she adds with a wink, "I meant that we have left such a mess on stage."
He displays mock surprise, "This? It doesn't look that bad," as he sweeps his hand around the stage which is littered with random items of all sizes and shapes.
"Yes, I know, but we should clean up before we close out tonight." He shrugs his shoulders at her, and turns to the audience with an "okay, let's do it" smile.
She starts with the mannequins while he starts with the stuff on the floor. To show they are actually mannequins this time, she easily pops off their heads and arms. A few people still thought there were 4 people on the stage, but that changes in a few minutes, as the items on the stage begin to disappear into the extra large trunks. Pulling carefully, she is able to get the mannequins into the trunks in pieces without showing off their upper torsos, trying to maintain a somewhat family atmosphere. The underwear of the red-sequin mannequin gives the man a pause, "ooo, are those new?" She elbows him, "Not here, but yes, I bought those today when I went shopping." The audience chuckles at that, as if she had them on when she was that mannequin and left them behind. She finishes her job and he finishes his in just a few moments, making quick work of the objects and mannequins.
The stage only has four large trunks now, with the couple standing in front of them. "Well, everyone," she addresses the audience, "We want to thank you for coming tonight." He adds, "Yes, this is no fun unless you are here to enjoy it and express your gratitude for our illusions. So to our final trick..." She turns to him in surprise, "Uh, what do you mean? We already did the 'big number', I'm in the 'magician's assistant' mannequin." He has an uneasy look on his face. "Uh, well, about that," he starts, "There was a complication with the plane ticket." "Ticket...you mean, tickets, right?" She asks, emphasizing the 's'. "Ah," he replies with a shrug, "You figured out the problem." She raises her hands in irritation. "What?!" she screams, "You expect to shove me in one of the trunks while we travel to the next town...again?!" She turns to him, and he takes off running. His slick bottomed shoes slide out from under him as he rounds the trunks. Her short-short boots have thick soles, so she makes those turns easier, catching up to him with each lap. The audience is laughing as he ducks under her and backtracks the other way. They soon stop at either end of the trunks. He has a wand in his hand now, the same one from earlier. "Oh no, you don't", she says, "You aren't putting me in this trunk." She reaches into a nearby trunk and pulls out a large, plastic bucket. As he throws his wand at her, she throws a bucket of confetti at him.
When the contents of the bucket hit him, the stage seems to "explode" with multi-colored confetti. The audience is somewhat surprised by this series from the couple, as it seems like a little "low brow" for this show. Magico dusts himself off, confetti still floating around the stage, and walks over to the mannequin standing there with a bucket hooked on her arm, swinging slightly. Wait, a mannequin? How did she? There's no way she changed that fast, right? How is this possible...we were all watching the stage?!!
Before the audience can react, he pops her head off and drops it into the trunk. The gasps from the audience are very noticeable this time. Within a few seconds, he has her taken apart and in the trunk. As he closes the lids he says with great interest, "ooo, she must have bought a new bra today, too." With four loud slams that cover any chuckles or laughs of his last joke, the show ends with him pushing each trunk away from the center, showing no place to hide. And with a final flourish, he bows to a standing ovation. After a few more bows and hand waving to the audience, he turns around, wearing the same "curtain-looking" cloak and blends back into the background curtains. People are still clapping and milling about, figuring he wants another bow or encore. However, the curtains are raised to reveal an empty backstage and two stagehands coming out to move the trunks. Entertained by all of this, the audience cheers again, and makes their way to the exits. Questions that go through their heads as they converse amongst themselves: how did he get off stage without us seeing him, and how did she get on and off stage multiple times without us seeing her?
Minutes later, there is a knock at the dressing door that has the label on it: Featured Performers. The man on the inside beckons the door to open, and the club owner steps inside with two white envelopes. His suit is crisp and well cut to fit his slightly overweight stature. His thinning hair up top is not as noticeable with his slight attempt of a comb-over. He smiles at the male performer, who sits in his t-shirt and blue jeans eating a sandwich from the club's kitchen. "Ah, Mr Illusion, so good to finally meet you." They both shake hands and exchange pleasantries. The club owner looks around the room and asks, "I was hoping to meet your wife and express my gratitude to her as well."
Mr Illusion nods with his mouth full, "Sorry about that."
The club owner finally notices the four trunks stacked in the corner. "Uh, is she, uh, in the room?"
Mr Illusion chuckles at that and asks instead, "Is there something you needed, sir?"
The club owner shakes his head and then nods it and replies, "Well, yes, I wanted to personally give you your pay for tonight, as this was by far the best show we have had here. I have not seen so many people laugh and gasp and clap...and the standing ovation at the end? Very rare!"
Mr Illusion leans back and says after washing his sandwich down with some coffee, "I'm glad to hear that. We have worked really hard to make this show something special...unique. We appreciate you booking us for the night."
The club owner nods again, and then takes a more serious tone, "I know you cannot reveal your secrets, and I'm not asking you to. But, I would like to know how she did the third one." Mr Illusion looks at him innocently, as if he has no idea what he is asking. "Come, come now...the others seem simple, right? Dark stage, hit the spotlight on a mannequin and establish it as such, then swap it out while the stage is dark and everyone is focused on the next spotlight location...very simple." Mr Illusion nods with a full mouth as if that was true. "And then you and that bed sheet could easily have covered our view while she swapped out the red-sequin mannequin again with help from the boxes, changed on her way over to the other side, and then with your tube-moving distraction, swapped with the doll, am I right?" This time with the coffee cup to his mouth, Mr Illusion shrugs his shoulders and tilts his head to the right slightly. "And the last one, with all the confetti...classic and perfectly executed! I've seen lots of magic acts over the years, and you two are the best at the distraction and swapping of people that I have ever seen."
Mr Illusion replies, "Thank you again...we have worked really hard to be the best."
"Yes, yes," the club owner is talking faster now, "But, how in the world did she get from the doll to the magician so quickly without any trace of her moving? That seemed...well, to put it bluntly...magical." There is a long pause, as if both men were sitting over a used car contract, wondering who would blink first. The club owner knows there is no such thing as magic, as he is fine with dispelling his disbelief when it seems like a plausible method is out there, but this? This seems beyond plausible.
The silence is broken by Mrs Illusion walking in the room from the bathroom located in the back of the dressing room. Her bald head shiny from being wet and her bathrobe fuzzy and over-sized. "You know we cannot reveal our secrets, sir," she states as if she was part of the conversation all along. Her smooth, graceful walk was something both men could watch all day. The club owner stands and bows slightly, "I meant no disrespect...I'm just amazed at how amazing you are...you both are." She smiles while toweling off her head, "Thank you...like my husband said, we have worked really hard to become this way."
The club owner then replies, "Uh, I don't suppose I could see if there are three mannequins in the trunks, could I?" He knew that if there were 3 of them, then this couple is just the best quick-change artists of all time, but if there are just 2 mannequins, then maybe magic is real, and Mrs Illusion is an actual mannequin. As impossible as that sounds, he could not come up with another option. She chuckles as she walks to her husband, taking a bite of some popcorn off the plate. "Hmm, that is an interesting question, isn't it, dear?" Her husband hugs her around the waist and agrees, "Yes, it is." The silence returns to the room, as the club owner waits patiently.
Finally, he realizes he is not going to know this way. He wonders, maybe one of the stage hands counted them? Moving on, he says, "Oh, the other thing I came to give you." He holds up the other envelope, "This is a bonus from tonight's show. If an entertainer gets our revenue to a certain threshold, I share the profits of the extra amount. Congratulations!"
The couple seem genuinely surprised, as this has never happened before. "Thank you...I'm speechless!" Mr Illusions says, as his wife adds, "And that is saying something...seriously. Thank you for this," as she takes the offered envelope, "No one has ever offered us a bonus before."
As he returns the smiles with his own, he begins to turn and leave, happy to have known these people, even if he did not get his answers. Although, he thinks to himself, he really did not expect it...none of the magicians who have come through here have ever revealed anything. Putting the envelopes on the table with the food, Mrs Illusion walks back to the trunks and opens one of the lids. She quietly beckons the club owner over to look inside. He walks over nervously, like a boy on Christmas morning approaching the tree of gifts. He peers inside and smiles broadly as he looks at her and then over at her husband. The husband shrugs his shoulders and smiles sheepishly. The club owner says thanks again and leaves the room without another word, realizing he was given a glimpse "behind the curtain", and he will never tell anyone what he just learned. She closes the trunk lid and comes over to sit in her husband's lap. As they enjoy their meal, he tries to peek inside her robe, "You wearing that new bra I spied earlier?" She smiles at him coyly, "Now why would I put that on knowing you are about to take it off?" And with a knowing smile, they kiss tenderly, forgetting their dinner for a while.