We arrived back at the warehouse and unloaded the equipment, the girls having put on light dresses to cover their swimsuits.
Once everything was inside, Mike put the black disk into which Jana had disappeared onto a low table. He reached "into" the hole, and quickly pulled Jana back out, to applause from the rest of us. They both took a bow.
"What's the plan now?" I asked Mike.
"We've got a club booked for a 40 minute show in 5 days, so we're just working on the act, tidying it up and practicing. In fact, we need to practice some illusions now - why don't you be the audience?"
I agreed, eager to see more magic, and sat down while they bustled around getting ready.
The stage area was dark. Soft, slightly eerie music started to play. There was a sudden flash and Mike stood in the centre of the stage, dressed in black trousers and a black shirt.
Without pausing, Mike ran off stage to my left, returning with a large metal frame, about 6' tall. He turned it to face me, then ran off again, returning this time with an abstract drawing of a naked dark-haired woman, which he placed within the frame. Once again he ran off, returning with a metallic blue gown, which he quickly pinned over the drawing.
He turned the frame side-on, and gestured. There was a flash, and suddenly Heather stepped out of the frame, wearing the gown. She smiled at Mike, and together they spun the frame around, showing first a blank side, then another drawing, this one of a naked blond woman.
Heather ran off stage this time, returning with a black bikini, which she and Mike pinned to the outline.
Once again they turned the frame side-on. There was a second flash, and Jana jumped out of the frame, wearing the black string bikini.
The two girls stood on either side as Mike turned the frame to show it to be blank on both sides. I applauded.
Heather quickly pushed the frame off stage to the right while Mike and Jana pushed in a simple flat table on wheels. Heather returned to the centre of the stage and sat on the table.
Mike moved to stand on the far side of the table and gestured at her face. Heather's eyes closed. He then stepped back and lifted his hands slowly upward. Heather's body slowly rose off the table. Once she was about half a meter off the table, Jana pulled the table off stage and returned.
Heather continued to rise until she was only a few meters below the ceiling. The music, which had been fairly soft, suddenly built to a crescendo and Heather vanished, leaving her gown to fall softly to the floor.
I applauded again, as Jana picked up the gown and left the stage again, while Mike bowed.
"Welcome to the show." Mike said, speaking for the first time, in the sudden pause in the music. "For my next illusion, I'm going to need two assistants. Since I just got rid of one, it's time to introduce the lovely Jackie!"
Jana returned to the stage, still in her little black string-bikini, with Jackie, who was dressed in a blue halter-top and skirt. Each of them pushed a table with low cabinets, Jana's was black and Jackie's blue, matching the girls' costumes.
"I'm going to need a volunteer from the audience for this one." Mike pretended to look around the "audience". He pointed at me. "You sir?".
As I joined him, Jana and Jackie each opened their boxes, which consisted of two parts.
"Now, we're going to be performing what's called a 'double sawing in half' illusion."
"First, chose an assistant." Mike told me. I chose Jackie, who smiled at me.
"Now, do what I do.". I watched as Mike helped Jana into her box and secured her, first her head, then her feet. I did likewise with Jackie.
"Now, the sawing." Mike handed me a handsaw. I watched him place it in the slot in the centre of Jana's box (and Jana) and I did likewise. I watched Jackie's face as I slid the saw down until I felt resistance. She bit her lip anxiously.
"Mike, has Jackie practiced much before?" I asked.
"This is her audition!" he replied, as he started to saw through Jana.
I slowly slid the saw back across Jackie's belly, watching as a shocked expression crossed her face. I continued sawing, her eyes growing wider and her breathing becoming more ragged as the saw progressed through the box, until she finally gasped suddenly and the saw dropped through the bottom.
Mike was watching, and he handed me two steel dividers, demonstrating how to place them using Jana's box. I did likewise, watching as Jackie shivered as the cold steel dividers were pushed into place between her halves.
Mike undid clips on the side of Jana's table and I undid those on the sides of Jackie's.
"Normally, the magician pretends to get his assistant's halves confused." Mike said to the 'audience'. As he spoke, he pushed the two halves of Jana apart and stood between them. I pushed Jackie apart and stood between her wide-eyed head and wriggling hand and her moving feet.
"I'm not pretending - I like to mix up my assistants." So saying, he wheeled Jana's lower half over to Jackie's top half. I wheeled Jackie's feet over to Jana's head. As we did so, both girls protested, shouting that they didn't want to be mixed up. Jackie sounded slightly scared as though her protestations weren't all for the show.
Mike returned to Jana and did up the clips as I did the same with Jackie's top half and Jana's legs. "Ready?" he asked?
"No!" shouted both girls, as I nodded. Simultaneously we removed the blades.
We opened the tops of the boxes and helped the girls out. Jackie now wore her blue halter top and a small black string bikini; Jana wore her bikini top and a blue skirt. The girls took our hands and we bowed.
"OK girls, this is the intermission. Take a break." Jackie and Jana smiled and started talking together as they left "back stage".
"What do you think so far?" Mike asked me.
"It seems very short." I replied.
"Yes, we've only got a short performance period for the first booking - when we need a longer act we can add some illusions and some small staff - cards, ropes, rings and the like.".
Mike reentered. "Now, for a change of pace, I'm going to perform a card trick." Heather also entered wearing the same red gown and carrying a 2' by 1' wooden box. Jackie followed, still dressed in her blue halter and black bikini pants, pushing what appeared to be a standard mis-made cabinet. She positioned it in the centre of the stage.
Mike opened the small box Heather was holding, and took out a stack of 1' square drawings. "Here are my cards for this trick. If you look at them, you'll see that they go together to make up drawings of 4 lovely ladies." In turn, Jackie held up two cards as Mike spoke.
"First, a French maid." Jackie held up a drawing of a woman's face with a lacy cap, and her upper torso in a frilly, low-cut apron.
"Second, a lifeguard." The face this time was bare, and the torso had a red one-piece swimsuit.
"Third, a formal magician's assistant." This time the head had a top had, and the torso a black tuxedo jacket.
"And finally, a playboy bunny." The final head had rabbit ears, and the torso a low-cut strapless one-piece swimsuit.
Mike opened the front of the cabinet, and gestured Heather to climb inside. She did so and stood facing me. Mike quickly knelt and removed her high-heel shoes, leaving her barefoot.
Heather smiled as Mike closed doors over her lower legs, then her torso, then closed the final door over Heather's smiling face.
"This is a costume trick, so the first part is to remove Heather's current costume. Heather?"
There was a brief pause, then a piece of blue fabric appeared out a hole in the side of the case. Mike pulled it quickly, and held up Heather's gown!
Heather poked her hands through a pair of openings on either side of the front. Mike quickly closed a cuff around each hand,
"Now, I'll need the help of a volunteer from the audience." Mike, unsurprisingly, chose me. I joined him on the "stage".
"Now, sir, here we have the different costume cards. Your job is to take one card of the appropriate type, face in the face box and so on, and place it in the holder on the front of the cabinet which contains the lovely, and now very naked, Heather. Whatever cards you chose will determine what she will be wearing!"
I looked through the cards, then chose them. In the face I chose the assistant card (with top hat), in the upper torso, I chose the lifeguard swimsuit, in the lower torso/legs I placed the French maid card and I finished them off with the playboy bunny's high-heeled-white shoes.
"Thank you, and now, let's see what's happened." He went to the cabinet, and opened the lower leg box. "Playboy bunny" he said as he revealed a pair of feet in high-heeled white shoes.
He opened the next box. "French maid" Heather's lower torso was dressed in a sheer white apron over a black lace g-string and the lower half of a black top that split above her navel to for a sort of open-fronted skirt.
He opened the chest box. "Lifeguard". Heather's ample breasts were covered in a low-cut Baywatch-style swimsuit.
"And finally," said Mike, opening the Head box, "Magician's assistant." Heather wore a black top hat and a black choker. She smiled cheerfully out of the box.
Mike undid the cuffs on her hands and they took a bow, Heather spinning to show off her odd costume.