"Hey there everyone! It's me! Brittany! Your favourite WebCam Magician, who is very dependent on my donations to keep things going! Although," she pouted, "it's really hard to get enough money to buy new clothes some days. Why, half my videos don't even have them, that's how strapped for cash I am!"

"But," she said as the camera focused on her face, "today I'm not going to respond to a request. Well, I mean, I am, but not really. You see, one of my more consistent commentators has wanted me to lose my head for a video. And today, I'm going to talk about that exact thing!"

She shifted before the camera, with the implication that she was lying down on something. "Now, beheading or decapitation is where the lovely assistant has her neck cut through and through, and her head removed from her body. I've done this lots of times, even on this very show! Now, there are a lot of ways to do it, and it's more than just that really."

Brittany paused as though to gather her thoughts, or to look at her notes behind the camera. "In terms of how to do it, there's a few ways. First is probably the most famous, the guillotine. Invented or made famous by the French Revolution, in this manner, a helpless assistant is strapped down with her neck locked into a stock. Above the stock is a large and heavy blade, which is dropped, cutting the neck and the head drops into a waiting basket below. It's got a lot of tension and buildup to it, and has a good setup because everyone can see it coming, they just don't know when. And for those more practiced in slight of hand than natural magic, it provides an excellent means to hide their assistant and put a prop through the hole instead." She paused for a moment to check her notes. "Of course, I do it for real," she winked.

"Second is the headsman's axe. This is another execution method repurposed to entertainment for all you out there. The lovely assistant is bent over a block of wood, and an axe is swung down onto her bare neck, separating her from her lithe body in the process. Unlike the guillotine, there is no hiding this, and it's often portrayed as more primal, more violent and more visceral. Expect to see it around Halloween more often than not, or at specialty events."

"Then there's the bare blade. This is where you skip all the fancy prep work or set up and you just go whooosh! with a sharp blade through the neck, sending her head spinning through the air! This is sometimes common in Arabian Nights themed shows, as a shamshir or other curved sword like that is a very common choice as they're designed to be swung. Not to say more traditional European swords won't do the trick either. Here, you can expect the head to stay on right after the blow, and for the assistant or the magician to lift it off afterwards. Sometimes, the assistant will lean over and you'll get a block-less version of the headsman block too."

"And there's a new version as well, something very modern. The collar. This is where the lovely lady puts a metal collar around her neck, and it is a controlled device, remotely or not. When it is triggered, the collar closes, either by snapping a blade or sharp string across, or by closing up like a metal iris, severing the head. It's a very subtle trick as the prop can fade into or be disguised as something more normal. Or can be combined with multiple such collars placed around the body for many such slices. It's a very personal and intimate means of losing your head as you can be wearing the collar for who knows how long before SNIP! and there you have it. Of course, this makes its use in larger performances not that well received."

"But losing ones head isn't the be-all and end all," she said. "In fact, it's part and parcel of a few other tricks as well!" She shifted again. "So, when you see other divisions, like the Mismade, a head removal is often a part of it. Part of this is because the normal people with good skills at deception can sell that as happening thanks to well designed boxes and cabinets. There's also the Head-mover illusion, where the assistant's head is slid back and forth along a track, seemingly disconnected. Done those too," she added.

"Of course afterwards is a different matter entirely. Once the head is removed, what is the next step? Well, fakes will use a prop head, pull that out of a basket or something like that. In my reality, we can do that too, with the addition of, you know, still being alive. And thus able to react more naturally than a glorified puppet. But when the division is part of a larger trick, like the mismade, then the head moves with one of the boxes, allowing for some more deception about what is real and what is a twin."

"And from there, we get the head on display! Lots of people like to hold a head up to show me off, but a head can be pretty heavy. It's where we keep our brains, you know. Not to mention hair. A large amount of hair weighs quite a bit. Then there's the grip. You want to hold me by a ponytail? Sure, but you're also swinging me around like that. Grab by the scalp? That's an awkward grip. Or if you want to use both hands to cup under the neck? That's an option too. Of course, we can split the difference between them, and put the head on a plate! Fun for parties as you can better bear the load, and depending on the size of the platter, put more on!"

She paused again. "And then there's the pike, in more intense or, again specialty performances, just mount the head on a sharp object to hold it up! Do be careful you do it right as the choking feeling can be quite aggravating. No, seriously, it is," she mimed gagging. "It's fun if it's done right, and you can be paraded around, but not all the time. Unless of course, you're getting mounted on something far more manly," she grinned.

"And what does it feel like? Well, I've had sharp pains in the back of my neck, a crushing sensation in my throat, no feeling at all because the blade was magical and completely sharp. It really depends on the performance in question, and the effect the magician wants to get across. Although you have to train yourself to stop trying to breathe, as unless you're still magically connected with your body, there's no where for the air to go when you breathe. It also makes talking hard. Like, really hard," she repeated for emphasis.

"So with that in mind, what is my favourite? Well, it's hard to say. I've done a lot of variations over time, and some are interesting in the moment, but lose their touch on repeats. Halloween is always fun because you get to go all out on things without freaking people out too much. And there's always the classics. And if I've been really naughty, Janet will sometimes tie me down, cut my head off and hold me between her legs, juuuust out of reach. As you can imagine."

"Now, I've kinda run out of notes here, and I didn't do any magic for you guys, so this one is going to be a freebie video. As for you, mister 'remove your head'," she looked into the camera, "I was thinking about doing something for you as an extra, but in the end decided that it would be too hard to pull off. What was it, you wonder? Sorry, I'm going to have to leave that to your imagination. So by for now, and see you all next time!"