MC DONALD BIRCH Packing Case Escape
      At the end of the 1950s run of "You Asked For It," Jack Smith stepped in as host, as you'll see here. Bonus: George Boston helps hammer nails into the case.
     The grey, well-groomed Birch climbs into the box and asks an L.A. fireman to axe the wood if he fails to escape in five seconds, although it's not clear what imminent danger Birch risks other than a flat presentation.
     To prove his presence, he slips a finger through a hole in the side. The five seconds tick by, the cabinet is removed, and the fireman splinters the wood only to be interrupted by Birch, magically transported to sidestage with hardly a hair out of place.

AUBREY Cremation
     Aubrey returns, this time credited as an Egyptologist and expert on an ancient fire-worshipping cult's rituals. A maiden is hypnotized and slid into the coffin, then doused with flammable fluid. Watch the assistants scramble when Aubrey lights the pyre and ignites an inferno that drops flaming Egyptian debris onto the floor. After a hasty camera cut (one imagines stagehands rushing out with fire extinguishers), Art Baker has Aubrey return with the intact assistant to reassure the audience she hasn't been incinerated.

AL WHEATLEY Suspension
      The elderly Chop-Chop ventures to the beach and assembles a suspension with the help of two lifeguards. With a swimsuit-clad assistant lying on a surfboard, the supports are removed and she floats in the windy air that keeps trying to blow away the beach towel wrapping her.
     Note Art Baker's early use of ambiguous television language to assure the viewer that nothing tricky happens during the suspension. Maybe not, but as soon as the girl is awakened, the illusion device is removed so in the next shot Wheatley can walk away freely.

AUBREY Disembodied Princess
      With another Egyptian-themed presentation, now featuring ancient sun-worshippers, Aubrey appears without a fez and presents this classic torso removal. The headpiece is removable and the blades are not very threatening, especially when Aubrey wobbles them like plastic toys. The zoom close-up inside the cabinet is good use of the medium but might have been more appealing focusing in on Aubrey and not his male helper.

IRBY Torture Wheel Escape

AUBREY Vanishing Princess

MARVELLO Burned Alive

LEE GRABEL Floating Piano

JOHN FABJANCE Miniature Illusions

KIRK KIRKHAM Spike Cabinet

EDDIE SILVERMAN Bullet Catch

AUBREY Swimsuit Manipulation

KIRK KIRKHAM Guillotine

AUBREY Shooting Through a Woman