Assistant's Revenge
Encyclopedia
The Assistant's Revenge is a transposition illusion
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...

 in which two performers change places. It was created by magician and inventor Robert Harbin
Robert Harbin
Robert Harbin was a British magician and writer. He is noted as the inventor of a number of classic illusions, including the Zig Zag Girl...

.

Description

One of the two performers, the restrainee, is placed in a standing position in a large frame and restrained there with various straps, manacles, chains and locks. The second performer, the restrainer, circles the frame, drawing a curtain first across the front, and then around one side and the back. Almost as soon as the restrainer disappears behind the frame, the restrainee appears from the other side of the apparatus, drawing back the curtain as he or she comes. This reveals the restrainer now restrained in the frame; the two seem to have changed places by magic.

In practice, the roles of restrainer and restrainee have been interchangeable between magician and assistant
Magician's assistant
A magician's assistant is a performer in a magic act who is not billed as the magician or principal name in the act. The role of an assistant can include holding the props that are used by a magician, shifting props onto and off the stage, and serving as a living prop in illusions that involve...

. Sometimes it begins with the assistant restraining the magician, with the implication that in this way the assistant is gaining "revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...

" for all the other tricks they do where the assistant is put in a box. However it is also performed with the assistant being restrained at the beginning and emerging at the end to with the magician restrained as "revenge" for the opening part.

External links

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