Psyched

It’s quite obvious that a magic convention would attract the attention of twin illusionists Ethan and Timothy Potvin. The twins were known for their Houdini-like escapist tricks and mind-bending illusions that aim to provoke the deepest and purest emotions of their spectators.

It should serve as no surprise that for that one particular convention, the twins had a sinister trick in mind they wanted to demonstrate to the attendees, colleagues and magic enthusiasts alike. The twins set about a ten-foot guillotine on the stage they were set to perform on at the first day of the convention. Pretending to prepare for their demonstration, they had waited for audiences to arrive. Once a group of ten people gathered at the foot of their stage, they greeted the spectators; all of whom were magic enthusiasts.

Ethan introduced himself and his brother and asked the small crowd if they’re interested in an early demonstration. Fueled by morbid curiosity at the sight of a live guillotine the people complied and Timothy placed a watermelon at the Lunette and yanked on a lever exclaiming, “This one is the dangerous mode.”

The blade dropped down producing a grinding sound before hitting the watermelon with a great thud splitting it in half.

“But we also have a safe mode.” Ethan exclaimed, “Here, look.” He went on to say as his brother took out the two chunks of watermelon and sat down behind the lunette placing his head where the watermelon used to be.

The small crowd watched in silence as one the twins placed his head under the lunette while the other placed his hand on another lever before yanking it down.

All those in attendance watched in awe as the blade came down with a grinding sound before halting a couple of inches above Timothy’s head.

“See? I’m totally fine.” the restrained twin proclaimed to the elation of the crowd.

Ethan released his brother from the contraption and pulled the blade up once more before saying, “That is not what you came here to see, is it?”

One spectator called out, “A bit underwhelming coming from you two!”

Timothy jumped off the stage and walked towards the spectator telling her, “Ah yes, that’s not the whole thing! Are you brave?” he asked her.

“Not brave enough to put my head in there, pal,” she admitted.

“Oh, no need, I need you to pull one of the levers, while someone else pulls the other… I want you to help us with the performance when more people arrive.”

“Seems simple enough.” the woman responded.

“Well then, you’re in?” he asked.

“Yeah… sure… I’ll do it…” the woman replied.

Timothy then picked another man from the crowd and asked him to come closer, once the man stood next to the woman and Timothy, the illusionist instructed them; “once I count to three, you clap your hands simultaneously, alright?”

They both nodded.

“Okay then; one… two… three!”

The duo clapped in perfect unison.

Timothy then instructed them to climb up the stage, wherein the meantime, Ethan set himself in the contraption. The duo was then instructed to come within arm's reach from a lever. The woman got the safe mode lever while the man got the other one.

They were then told, “Once I call three you pull the levers together, that should almost cut my brother’s head off… Don’t you dare mess this up, though! I’ll feel his pain!” the illusionist joked.

“Okay get a firm grip of the levers” Timothy instructed as Ethan joked from inside the contraption, “I need my head… Spare my life…”

Both grabbed their respective levers and held onto them tightly.

“Okay! One… Two… Three!” Timothy Potvin called out and both members of the crowd pulled on their respective levers.

The other spectators watched in terror as the blade slid down with a grinding sound before halting with a weak thud in Ethan’s neck causing him to spew blood from his mouth.

The woman stared in shock at the broken lever in her hand as Timothy yelled various profanities into the air. He used every curse under the sun before kneeling next to his brother asking him to stay alert.

The watchers climbed up the stage, some were shaken, others began screaming.

Timothy grabbed his brothers’ hand and began to sob quietly. By then the woman came to her senses and began profusely apologizing to Timothy.

Amidst the panicking, Ethan gurgled out something unintelligible at first.

“What is, buddy? Talk to us… What is it?” Timothy asked his brother between his sobs.

“I… Ugh… Ugh… I… I… Psyched you all!” he leaped out of the contraption all safe and sound spitting out a small bag of fake blood from his mouth.

The spectators took a moment to realize they had all been fooled before letting out a collective sigh of relief. The woman had stared in shock at the mischievous twins before she lightly began hitting Timothy for almost giving her a heart attack.

He embraced the woman affectionately, apologizing for making her worry as if he was a little child scolded by his mother.

When the atmosphere lightened up moments later, Ethan asked if the two spectators would like to assist in the exhibition of the twins when a larger crowd would come to watch them perform. The duo accepted the offer on the spot and then the whole group was invited into a group hug during which they were sworn to keep the secret from the rest of the spectators at the convention.

An hour later, a large crowd formed at the foot of the Potvin twins’ stage and introduced their exhibition, displaying the authenticity of their guillotine by slicing yet another watermelon; this time, however, both brothers stood behind the guillotine appearing to pull two levers to drop the blade. It fell onto the watermelon with a grinding noise followed by a loud thud. After that, the brothers explained to the crowd that they could stop the blade from dropping onto a person’s head from afar. They then picked three people from the crowd, two of which were the duo from before and another unassuming spectator.

The brothers pretended to explain to the duo how their guillotine works before getting off the stage and going behind it.

Once obscured from their audience’s sight, Ethan called out, “One… Two… Three!”

The levers were pulled simultaneously, and the blade dropped with a grinding sound.

Everyone in attendance went silent after a collective gasp.