Heather left the stage area with the cabinet, leaving Mike standing alone on the bare floor. "You all saw how I like to mix up my assistants. Now I'm going to attempt an illusion that will mix them up even more, and one that nobody has ever performed before."
With that, Mike gestured and from the left entered Jana wearing a white catsuit and pushing a white cabinet; from the right entered Heather, dressed in a black catsuit and pushing a black cabinet.
The girls placed the cabinets about 4 feet apart and stood beside them. Mike went to Jana's cabinet. "As you can see, this cabinet is designed to cover Jana's torso and head, leaving her arms and legs in full view." Mike opened three doors on the front, one on either side of the larger torso box, and one over the smaller head box.
Jana stood in front of the box and moved backward into it. Her legs fit neatly into cut-outs on the bottom of the box, and once inside she placed her arms through openings in the sides. Mike closed the doors over her torso and latched them shut. He then moved to the other box and Heather and repeated the procedure.
"Now, as you can see, my assistants are confined in their cabinets." Mike walked off stage and returned with two more racks the same hight as the cabinets. In them were a T-shaped arrangement of shining metal blades, the top of the T at neck level, and the down-stroke down the centre of the rack. On the side of each rack was a single lever. He positioned the two racks in front of the two girls' cabinets so the blades were just touching the matching slots in the cabinets.
Both girls looked very nervous as Mike positioned the blade racks.
"Who's first?" he asked.
"Jana!" shouted Heather. Jana poked her tongue out at Heather.
"Say goodbye Jana," said Mike.
"Goodbye!" said Jana as Mike closed the final door over her face. All that was visible of Jana now were her legs and arms. Mike quickly attached short chains to her arms, securing them to the side of the cabinet, and cuffs around her ankles. Mike grinned as he walked around to stand beside the lever.
"Ready?" he asked. There was a muffled reply from Jana's cabinet. "Sorry? I didn't hear that!" Mike shouted, then shrugged and grinning pulled the lever.
The blades slid smoothly into the front of the white cabinet, and Jana gave a short scream. Mike smiled again at his "audience" and wheeled the rack away, leaving Jana's cabinet (and presumably Jana) divided with blades through the neck and down the middle.
Mike spun the cabinet around ,showing that the blades had emerged a few inches through the back.
"Now, it's Heather's turn." Heather protested, but Mike quickly shut her head door and pulled the lever, dividing her cabinet as Jana's had been. He grinned once more and walked behind Heather's cabinet. There was a click as he undid a catch, and then Heather's torso boxes, arms and legs began to move - in opposite directions!
Once her two parts, with still wriggling fingers and toes, were about 3 feet apart, Mike walked to Jana's box and repeated the procedure. He then stood between the two remaining pieces (the head boxes) and flicked open their doors.
The stage now presented an amazing sight. Heather's disembodied head was now visible in a black box; Jana's in a white. Both were supported only by a slim metal frame. On both sides of the girls' heads were two more boxes, out of which emerged their catsuit clad arms and legs.
"Like I said, I like to mix up my assistants. so now..." With that, Mike moved Jana's left hand side under Heather's slightly startled-looking head, and returned to Jana's head with Heather's left-hand-side. He also returned their right hand sides to their original positions and closed the doors over the girl's protesting heads.
Mike removed the blades, throwing them on the ground with a steely ring. Mike undid the latches on Jana's box first, and she stepped out - now dressed in half a white and half a black catsuit. She was quickly joined by Heather who was dressed in the other halves. The girls looked at each other with expressions of amazaement, then shrugged. All three joined hands and bowed.