The magician is about to stare death in the face in the form of this imposing
guillotine. Once used to behead dangerous killers lawbreakers and the wives of
Kings. The guillotine gained it's gruesome infamy during the French
Revolution. But that's enough of a history lesson tonight.
The magician hopes to survive before he's history.
He examines the execution device with its razor-sharp blade which is designed
to cleanly severe the head from an unfortunate body. To ensure a clean cut
the neck of the victim is held in place by this heavy wooden stock. Anyone who
would get into a device like this voluntarily has to have confidence in
his powers of escape or a death wish.
Let's hope the girls know how to do the rest of his tricks.
If this is going to be a swan song what a way to go.
The magician climbs up onto the table and bends down as the assistants raise
the stock.
He places his head through the hole so that his neck can be trapped between the
wooden planks.
Meanwhile another assistant is securing his legs to the table with thick leather
straps. The straps will hold the magician in place in case he has a last-minute
change of heart.
It will also prevent his body from flying off the table in the event the
blade hits its target. Of course all of these restraints will make his escape
near impossible
and that much more dangerous.
Remember a magician is a world class professional.
Don't try any of his dangerous illusions at home. With the wooden stocks in place
and the leather straps cinched tightly around his body
it's time for the magician to begin his escape. That deadly blade is looming just
a few feet from his neck.
So why isn't he struggling to escape? Maybe he has a death wish after all.
Let's watch. It's now or never.
Oh no he didn't get out! That wasn't supposed to happen!
This is getting more grisly by the second.
The assistants cover his lifeless body with a sheet. One of the girls places his
lifeless head on the table.
Maybe it's not so lifeless after all. And now here are the secrets.
The blade is real and therefore makes this trick very dangerous to perform.
The timing is crucial and means the difference between life and death.
The straps are real too and the magician never leaves the table.
What about the head?
Well that's the magician's real head we see falling into the basket.
How does he keep from losing his head while performing this trick?
Let's start with the blade.
When it drops it stops against these steel blocks. The sharp edge never
touches the magician but if that's really his head falling into the basket
how does he create the illusion of magicians neck and upper body drop down?
Through this rubber collar that is painted to look like wood
it snaps closed again once his neck is passed through. Watch again in slow motion
as his neck passes through the rubber collar and then snaps closed. And that's
not really the blade inside the hole. From behind
we see this small board that is held up by the magician's neck. When he drops
down the board falls down too creating the illusion that the blade is visible
from behind the hole. From the front
it appears as though the blade has separated his head from his body.
The table is rigged with a secret trap door that springs open with the action
of the blade. Behind the blade is a metal rod.
This rod continues to fall after the blade stops, triggering a switch on the
table that releases the trap door. When this trap is released the magician's
torso falls down into the basket
but it appears as though his body is still lying on the bench
that's because hidden inside his jacket is a rigid body cast that simulates his
back and shoulders.
This shell creates the illusion of his body on the bench.
Here's what it looks like without the jacket in place. But with the jacket on
it appears that his body never moves. But if his head isn't severed
what does the assistant take out of the basket? You guessed it! It's a fake head
hidden by a mask an identical to the magician's. Before the trip begins the
fake head and a red scarf or concealed in the basket out of the audience's view.
After the magician drops down into the basket
the assistant simply reaches down around him and picks up the fake head and
scarf and shows them to the audience.
But how does this fake head magically come back to life?
Of course it doesn't. What you don't know is that the magician has an exact double.
Well almost exact.
At least the mask is the same. Not only does the table have a trap door for the
magician it also has another secret.
Beneath the table is a concealed hiding place for the double. She climbs in and
waits patiently for her cue.
She's hidden from the audience by this mirror which reflects the floor beneath the
table.
The table is equipped with flexible slats in the otherwise solid top. The
rubber slats allowed the double to pop her head up through the table.
One assistant carries the fake head and scarf to the back of the table while
another girl is arranging an identical scarf around the rubber slats. While
blocked from view the assistant appears to place the head on the bench.
Actually she's walking away with it.
With the slats disguised by the red scarf all that's left for the double to do is open
her eyes and give the audience the shock of their lives. And that's the secret to
not losing your head.