It was the most memorable stage performance in the magician’s career.
His finale was always the woman in the cabinet trick, and that night was no different. Having performed a number of clever illusions to warm the audience up, he called for his assistant. A spot light followed her onto the stage. The music swelled as she took a low bow. He caught her hand and led her to the cabinet. With a drum roll, she entered the cabinet and he closed the door. He then began a series of mystical hand movements and mutterings while walking around the apparatus.
Meanwhile, inside, she was kneeling down and tugging at the lever that opened the trap door. Nothing happened. She tried several times to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. It was at this point, crouching and panting from the effort, that she heard it. It was a soft whooshing sound followed by a pop.
On stage, the magician finally opened the cabinet. Of course, it was empty and the audience broke into enthusiastic applause. That wasn’t what made it memorable. Closing the door, he started up his magical incantations again, swirled around the cabinet several times accompanied by the haunting music before ripping the door open with a flourish and a bow. It was the audience’s reaction, or lack of it, that made him turn around to find the cabinet empty.
Her not reappearing wasn’t what made it memorable. The trick going wrong wasn’t what made it memorable. It was the fact that after a great number of investigations and a great deal of press reports, the woman was never seen again!
That’s what made it memorable.