MidnightZingaro

Karen was a regular visitor at Ian's warehouse unit. Karen had decided that she liked Ian enough that she was willing to rehearse whenever he was available and she did not have a shift at the restaurant where she worked. Mostly it was rehearsing the illusions, some of which used magic, that were already in Ian's repertoire from the days when he had done a show with Becky, his former girlfriend. Once in a while it would be a sexier variation of one of the standard illusions, to try out the concept and push at the boundaries of Karen's comfort zone. The period of rehearsal had also been used to update the contents of the costume rack, to better fit Karen and include some costumes that Ian's previous assistant would have refused to wear, even in private, but Karen had taken to rehearsing in a mid-thigh length satin slip dress with a neckline that showed an amount of cleavage that she would not have been uncomfortable with three months ago. She would occasionally need to change into

Jane and Sharon had been selected to take part in the next illusion. It appeared that the main selection criteria the magicienne had used were they were about the same size and had put their hands up when volunteers were requested. When they got to the stage the pair were also wearing the same outfits; Avenue Patriots T-shirts and black shorts, although Jane's legs were bare down to her black sneakers, while Sharon wore black tights on her legs and red sneakers. After introducing her latest ad-hoc assistants to the rest of the crowd and telling the audience that they were brave, she added. “While I really like your outfits, I am going to need you both to change into something that I will provide; it saves the risk of damaging you clothes and will make the result of the magic we will be performing more easily seen.” The two women readily agreed to change, but were less enthused when the magicienne directed them to screens that had been set up at the back of the stage. Despite their

The things we assistants do to try to keep our magicians happy. My magician loves to sing and dance like Elvis, but had not found an excuse to put such an opportunity into a show, because, as he says, “I am a magician not, song and dance act.” It took us several months to come up with an idea that would allow him to indulge his inner song and dance man; a further two to built the thing to the proof of concept stage, nearly a year to refine it to a state of being performable and another couple of months to come up with a costume that would not be ruined in the performance of the illusion, during which we would rehearse it with me naked, so that I got used to the intense feelings involved and he got to 'refine' his Elvis impression. On stage the performance starts with the main prop being shown to the audience. This is a rectangular frame with what initially appear to be two vertical blades inside. It is hip-width and as tall as my mid-thigh to the base of my neck. This is demonstrated

Being a magician's girlfriend has its ups and downs, but generally there are more ups than downs and some strange and exciting magical adventures. To be clear, Martin does not perform magic shows, except for friends and family, but he is enthusiastic, skilled and very able at improvising with what is to hand or planning devious pranks. This particular evening we were going to the pub for a few drinks and a game of snooker that one of his mates had challenged him to; the winner got to say what magic Martin would be doing. Before we left he brought me a dress he wanted me to wear. This turned out to be little more than a corset with a mid-thigh-length skirt attached at the bottom and a halter that did double duty as support and cover for my breasts as the corset part did not cover them. He volunteered to help me dress, which was really necessary as the lacing at the corset's back was out of my reach. At the pub, after the first round of drinks, the game of snooker began. I stood around

“You say you've seen the photos and want to hear how I got in that predicament. The short answer is I was doing Gwen a favour and was a bit too gullible when she asked me to help out a bit more; if I had said 'No' at that point it could have been Cari-Anne in the photos; sometimes I'm too kind-hearted. “Now you want the long answer; well, I'm not going to tell you without a large glass of good strong wine to sip to keep my voice going.” Someone placed a large glass and poured in the red fluid until the glass was about half full (yes, I'm that kind of person) they began to stop pouring, so I allowed them to stop, then grabbed the bottle from them and placed it beside the glass, daring anyone to remove it and giving the impression that if anybody touched the bottle before I was finished with the tale they would have to imagine the end for themselves. I took a long sip from the glass and while the wine warmed me from inside, I told my tale. ---------- It all began early in December

The magician had been amazing, too a greater than usual extent. He had done the headmover illusion, but instead of transferring the head box from the table where he had rested it having removed from the apparatus where the assistant's body remained to be seen, and then transferring it back, he carried the open head-box up and down the aisles and across the front row before returning it to the apparatus and reconnecting it to her body; it even answered some questions, although I did not hear what, because I was a far distance from the aisles, having booked a central seat to get a better view. Another assistant was sawn in half using a buzzsaw in a frame arrangement. She moved forward on her elbows to open up a gap of a couple of inches in her middle. Keighley beside me was annoying me, by commenting on how she was frustrated by watching 'trick that I know how they're done' except for the 'extra bits that make it impossible.' “If I get a chance to volunteer, I will; I want to know

Why HR had signed off on a Halloween party, nobody knew, but they cared less; a party was a party; free drinks and food and the chance to let your hair down a bit. They probably justified it as corporate team building. When the staff arrived at the mansion that was the party's venue, they were in three large rooms; a room with music to dance to and a floor to dance on, a room with a buffet and a bar, and a room with seating and quieter music. In the room where the seating and quieter music was, there was also a magician performing small tricks for small groups. Later the staff were herded into an auditorium where a few were awarded small trophies that related to how well they had helped the company make its record profits. After that they were told there would be some entertainment. The entertainment turned out to be the magician that had been performing in the quieter room. He collected a small group of volunteers and performed an entertaining hypnotism act. After the volunteers

Jason and I have been friends since before we can remember. We were born on the same day and our fathers bonded in the waiting room. We frequently spent time at the other's home, so that one pair of parents could babysit, while the other pair went out for the evening. Even when Jason's dad got promoted and had to move away, they visited often and spend a week together in neighbouring chalets at a holiday park in the summer. At the holiday park we spent most of our time together at 'Kid's Klub', which allowed our parents the freedom to do what they wanted. This year we were both sixteen and officially too old for the organised activities; the previous year we had done archery and fencing and Jason had been surprised that I was at least as good as him. We did not get to test who was actually the best because the supervisors did not allow the boys and girls to compete directly. We spent the first day on the rides, but were wondering what we could do to stave off boredom for the rest of

“I need a couple of lovely ladies to help me with my next trick.” The magician was stood by a low table, with a rack of stuff behind; none of which made it clear what a couple of volunteers might be volunteering for. This did not stop a sprinkling of hands from being raised. He selected a pair of young women from the middle of the audience, mainly because they were sat next to each other, even if the brunette seemed less enthusiastic to be involved than her blonde friend; the fact that they seemed to be friends would help the dynamic of the illusion ahead. While the girls made there way to the stage, he lifted the table and showed it to the audience. It had a couple of unusual features. First it was octagonal, so that the base that sat on the floor was an octagon of grey steel tubing with uprights rising from each corner to support the top at the middle of each edge, where a bracket attached to the top. The reason for this seemingly excessive number of supporting legs became clear

“Remind me why I'm doing this.” Beth addressed Fred, while looking down at the costume he had supplied. It was a black bikini that covered more than she had expected it would when Fred had told her that she would be wearing a bikini for the event. “There are several answers, the shortest of which is you lost a bet and I get to do whatever I like with you for an evening, as long as it does not involve sex, or harm to you. This is the evening.” “But you cheated! But I should have seen it coming, really.” Fred put on an offended expression, marred by a smile. “I did not cheat; I just used several techniques that you did not realise fell within the rules that you agreed to. Besides, if I had really cheated, you could have not turned up this evening; but here you are.” “OK. I agreed to that bet, but it was loaded against me. And I don't want to be seen to be welching on a bet. But all that is beside the point really. What I want to know is, what will I be doing this evening. And why do