MidnightZingaro

How the rest of the guests found out I was a professional magician, I don't know; if I could curse people I would curse whoever let the cat out of the bag. The cry went up, “So you're a magician? Do a trick for us!” Not even a 'Please.' If I didn't enjoy practising my magical art I would have fled; it would be nice to have an evening off in pleasant company not demanding that I perform. In a triumph of experience over hope, I had a small supply of tricks about my person, so was able to supply some entertainment; unpaid. I was soon encircled by interested onlookers, some of whom were happy to pick a card and express a suitable amount of surprise when they found the card they had signed in their shoe. One thing led to another, as they usually do, and someone asked about bigger tricks. I explained that I had not expected to be asked to perform anything more elaborate than tricks with cards and ropes and other small items. I resisted the calls for a larger illusion until I was

My little sister, Clare, has always been adventurous, but her latest escapade frightened me. While being at a magic show seemed to be an innocuous place to be, my sister found some trouble to be in and then waved it down. I knew that what she did, or had done to her, had to be completely safe or the magician would not have called for a volunteer, instead of doing it with one of his six assistants and dancers, but it still did not stop me worrying. The first part of the show had been about what I expected; a couple of big illusions (this time a sawing in half and an assistant impaled on a sword), some bloke from the audience put into a guillotine and screaming when the blade was dropped, all padded out with some humorous chat and sleight of hand. The magician announced that he would need a volunteer to demonstrate his next illusion. Dotted around the theatre several women, had stood to be noticed; Clare was one of them, and, even with my brother-spectacles on, probably the prettiest.

I sat in the audience of the magic show at the Gala Ballroom and I knew I was going to be invited to take part in some more magic. What troubled me was I did not know how I knew. I had not been phoned or texted an offer of participation and I don't think I had visited the room where Rod-erick prepared his volunteers; but he could have wiped that from my memory, maybe, except I had no feeling of missing time. I had known I was going to be a volunteer before I left home, with no evidence at all, and had arrived dressed for the occasion. I was sitting on one of the chairs in the maid outfit I had been given at the end of the Halloween show; neither it nor me showed any signs that we had been sawn in half with a chainsaw on that occasion. I was feeling very naughty, because I was wearing as much underwear I had been wearing when I received it; which is none. I was also sitting with the back of the short skirt pulled up so my naked buttocks where on the seat. I was not concentrating on

Natalie said, “That's got to be fake,” for the third time since to show began. I was getting tired of her not believing the evidence of her own eyes, or, perhaps more accurately, that she kept telling me. This time I had an answer; “If it's fake, how is it done?” “How am I meant to know? I'm not a magician; but I'm sure it can't be real.” “Why don't you offer to go up when they ask for another volunteer. You'll find out how real or otherwise it is; and if it isn't real, you'll probably learn how it was done too.” “I'll do that,” her voice conveyed a determination I rarely heard. “Don't come running to me if they cut your legs off.” She thumped me, but when I took a look at her I could see a steely resolve to find out what was actually happening on stage; or at least some of it. Later, after having volunteered and been passed over for a leggy blonde nearer the front of the audience, her resolve hardened, especially when the blonde was sat on a stool and a headbox placed over her

A few months after having seen a magic show hosted by Carlos the magician and his assistant Carmina, Quinn had the chance to go again; she jumped at the chance. It was not because the show had been particularly surprising until the end, when her friend Ann had been an audience volunteer for the finale and ended up strapped into a fibreglass sarcophagus and fed through a wood chipper. Quinn was determined that she would get the chance to feature in such a finale. The show up to the finale was pretty much as she remembered it, although it also appeared that it had been abbreviated in places to avoid the overrun of the show that had lead to Ann being used in a deadly escape that it was intended Carmina perform. During the first act, Quinn sized up her potential competition for audience volunteer to the finale escape and used a few of the pictures she had taken of Ann being tied, shredded and returned to the world of the living naked, to sew doubt in the minds of the greatest threats to

The audience had enjoyed the magic show, but it appeared that the magician’s assistant had not. She had been put through the wringer, literally as well as metaphorically; she had also been cut into two pieces, several times, three pieces and four pieces, burnt to a crispy skeleton, vanished several times, beheaded and run through with a lot of swords. This could have been horrifying, if it were not for the banter between magician and assistant, and throughout neither the assistant, nor her pale blue Lycra bodysuit with its knee-length skirt, seemed harmed by the tortures inflicted on her. But towards the end of the show it appeared that the assistant's patience was running thin. The magician was chatting with the audience, waiting for the assistant to return with the props for the next trick, with poorly concealed impatience. The assistant pushed on a small cage about three feet in each direction. The audience had seen this cage before, when the assistant had been locked inside, then

Before the pandemic rocked the world to its foundations, we in the local drama group would run a haunted house attraction to help raise funds for the year and support some local charities. This year it seems that people want to see that things are returning to normal and a lot of loyal attendees have be enquiring whether we were going to restart the tradition of the last twenty seven years. Unfortunately, the effects of Covid have reduced the number of members in the group and still further their willingness to get more directly involved with the public. Initially we were minded to postpone the resumption of hauntings, at least until next year, but one of our members, who is also a local councillor, informed us that events such as ours would attract a small grant, in an effort to promote the area. It took some time to work out that with the few people we had, we could put on an attraction, with the council grant covering the costs and the funds raised from ticket sales being split

“I felt some movement. Am I in two pieces?” I was cut off from asking more by the telephone repeater sounding. “Yes.” he answered my question then added, “I'd better go and answer that.” He stepped through the space between my two halves and headed for the door that led to his office. “What about me?” I was concerned that I could get myself into trouble in current unfamiliar situation. “You'll be alright.” There was reassurance in his tone, although it could have been taken as dismissiveness. “I'll only be a couple of minutes. In the meantime you can enjoy being in two boxes at once and the boxes not being inside each other.” Not a point of view that I would have thought of. After about thirty seconds, I was beginning to get a bit of a buzz from being in boxes. I moved my hand down my body towards where my crotch should have been, but almost stubbed my finger on the blade through my waist. I remembered Tom mentioning side-doors to the sawing box, but quickly discovered that these

“I felt some movement. Am I in two pieces?” “Yes.” I did not get to say more, because the telephone in the office rang. “I'd better go and answer that.” I said as I stepped through the space between Hannah's two halves. “What about me?” “You'll be alright. I'll only be a couple of minutes. In the meantime you can enjoy being in two boxes at once and the boxes not being inside each other.” When I got to the phone, it was somebody wanting to make a booking. I took their number and arranged a good time to return their call under the excuse that I was in the middle of rehearsing someone and needed to get back to them. This took about three minutes. “Sorry that took so long, but I have another booking, and have arranged to call them back to arrange the details, so I could get back to release you. ...”. At that point I noticed that we were not alone, it was Milly, my new assistant. To her I said, “Oh, Hi, Milly. I wasn't expecting you quite so early. If you could visit with the animals

Mum has been stressed at work recently; I barely got an 'Oh, that's nice, dear,' from her when I told her that I was going to be getting an after-school job and she signed the permission slip that the school required with hardly a glance. My new job is magician's assistant to a guy called Tom, but he uses the stage-name Mr Wonder; we have yet to decide if I will have a stage-name too, be Milly or use my second name Anthea. My preference is Anthea, I think it sounds more exotic. My little experience of magic at Marie's sleep-over, both helping and being victim/volunteer, almost made me think that Tom could do real magic; except real magic does not exist. I don't know how he did what he did, but I am determined to find out. It was weird being divided into three and weirder still being chopped into lots of little pieces by a fan blade, but both weird feelings were also pleasant and I particularly liked them. Most of the other girls at the sleepover took it all at face value; just a magic