CHAPTER TEN
The Life And Times Of B. Bizarre
by
Dale A. Hildebrandt
Copyright 2004-2006
CHAPTER TEN: WINDOW
The next time I heard from B. Bizarre, he was in a few towns over from where I reside. He invited me to come visit that night. B. said he had something really spectacular to show some privileged guests. I was to be among one of those to have the honor to see his latest creation.
When I arrived, I noted that the building was quite spooky looking in and of itself. It had three floors. I rang the doorbell, and B. answered. He led me up to the second floor, where the other 11 guests were waiting. I immediately made a mental note that B. had arranged for thirteen people to show up to this get-together.
“I’ve invited you to witness a demonstration,” said B., and with that he led us to one of the rooms facing a street.
“Stand here,” motioned B. Bizarre.
Then the most incredible thing began to happen. B. looked as if he was summoning up all of his energy, and he pointed at the window. Suddenly, everyone gathered heard three distinct raps.
Some of those gathered immediately went to the window. They opened the curtain and looked out. One of them later admitted to me, that he expected to see a kid throwing rocks, or a tree branch positioned in such a way as for B. to get lucky in such a demonstration. However, there was no kid, and no tree.
B. Bizarre then asked everyone if they would join him for tea and cookies. Everyone agreed. The talk of the night centered around B. and his apparent powers. B. booked a couple of engagements from those present.
As the night came to an end, people began to leave. As I was beginning to head home, B. took me aside. “Wait until the other guests have left, and I’ll let you in on the secret.”
I impatiently waited for the other two guests to leave. One of the guests asked B. if he could demonstrate some more of his powers. B. Bizarre hesitated for a little bit, looked around the room, and then, with a sigh, said
“Most of my energy was used up with the demonstration I gave tonight. It’s not easy to do such things. But I’ll try.”
B. Bizarre then told the guest to hold his fists one on top of the other. B. swiped his own index fingers across the fists of the volunteer, and the fists went flying apart. B. then turned around and started moving his shoulders up and down as if gathering energy. He turned back to face the volunteer, and now had his own fists positioned the same way that the volunteer had positioned their fists. B.’s left fist was resting on top of this right fist. He looked into the volunteer’s eyes with a hypnotic stare, and commanded “You will be unable to move my fists in the same manner.” The man took his two index fingers and was unable to even budge B.’s fists. He looked quite impressed, and booked B. for an engagement later in the year.
The two final guests finally left, and B. went into the kitchen. When he came out, he had a couple of sodas. He handed me one, and offered me another cookie. He got relaxed, and didn’t look as if he were really as wore out as he had pretended during the demonstrations.
Then, another man came out from the kitchen, one who I hadn’t seen at the gathering. He bid B. farewell, as B. handed him some cash.
“By now, you’ve probably started to figure things out,” B. began, “I cheated. I used a hidden assistant to accomplish the tapping on the window. I supplied him with a telescoping rod, much like fake mediums used in their heyday, and had him positioned on the roof. Most people aren’t going to look through a window and look up. And even if they did, he was long gone by that time. You do have to make sure that your watches are synchronized so that the guy taps the window after you point to it and not before.”
“Did you have any problems in setting this up?” I asked out of curiosity, thinking maybe a hidden assistant would cause problems.
“You’d think the hidden assistant might cause some problems, but he’s a fellow entertainer who I’ve secretly assisted before. We have a mutual respect for each other. We did have one problem during a rehearsal though.”
“What kind of problem?” I asked.
“Well, the fifth time we rehearsed, we had one major problem. The glass had been worn out from being tapped in the same spot so many times. So the fifth time we rehearsed, the window shattered.”
“You’d think that would be an even more spectacular effect than having just taps come from the window,” I replied.
“The clean-up is horrible. Windows can be expensive. And it’s a danger to all those involved, with the broken glass everywhere. Especially when they want to go examine the window right away,” pointed out B. Bizarre.
“Well, the tapping was impressive by itself,” I mentioned.
“That was the point,” said B.
We parted company that night, as I drove back to where I was residing. I thought about how many seance performers ended their show by having a glass fall and break. Then I thought about B. talking about clean-up and dangers to the audience.
by
Dale A. Hildebrandt
Copyright 2004-2006
CHAPTER TEN: WINDOW
The next time I heard from B. Bizarre, he was in a few towns over from where I reside. He invited me to come visit that night. B. said he had something really spectacular to show some privileged guests. I was to be among one of those to have the honor to see his latest creation.
When I arrived, I noted that the building was quite spooky looking in and of itself. It had three floors. I rang the doorbell, and B. answered. He led me up to the second floor, where the other 11 guests were waiting. I immediately made a mental note that B. had arranged for thirteen people to show up to this get-together.
“I’ve invited you to witness a demonstration,” said B., and with that he led us to one of the rooms facing a street.
“Stand here,” motioned B. Bizarre.
Then the most incredible thing began to happen. B. looked as if he was summoning up all of his energy, and he pointed at the window. Suddenly, everyone gathered heard three distinct raps.
Some of those gathered immediately went to the window. They opened the curtain and looked out. One of them later admitted to me, that he expected to see a kid throwing rocks, or a tree branch positioned in such a way as for B. to get lucky in such a demonstration. However, there was no kid, and no tree.
B. Bizarre then asked everyone if they would join him for tea and cookies. Everyone agreed. The talk of the night centered around B. and his apparent powers. B. booked a couple of engagements from those present.
As the night came to an end, people began to leave. As I was beginning to head home, B. took me aside. “Wait until the other guests have left, and I’ll let you in on the secret.”
I impatiently waited for the other two guests to leave. One of the guests asked B. if he could demonstrate some more of his powers. B. Bizarre hesitated for a little bit, looked around the room, and then, with a sigh, said
“Most of my energy was used up with the demonstration I gave tonight. It’s not easy to do such things. But I’ll try.”
B. Bizarre then told the guest to hold his fists one on top of the other. B. swiped his own index fingers across the fists of the volunteer, and the fists went flying apart. B. then turned around and started moving his shoulders up and down as if gathering energy. He turned back to face the volunteer, and now had his own fists positioned the same way that the volunteer had positioned their fists. B.’s left fist was resting on top of this right fist. He looked into the volunteer’s eyes with a hypnotic stare, and commanded “You will be unable to move my fists in the same manner.” The man took his two index fingers and was unable to even budge B.’s fists. He looked quite impressed, and booked B. for an engagement later in the year.
The two final guests finally left, and B. went into the kitchen. When he came out, he had a couple of sodas. He handed me one, and offered me another cookie. He got relaxed, and didn’t look as if he were really as wore out as he had pretended during the demonstrations.
Then, another man came out from the kitchen, one who I hadn’t seen at the gathering. He bid B. farewell, as B. handed him some cash.
“By now, you’ve probably started to figure things out,” B. began, “I cheated. I used a hidden assistant to accomplish the tapping on the window. I supplied him with a telescoping rod, much like fake mediums used in their heyday, and had him positioned on the roof. Most people aren’t going to look through a window and look up. And even if they did, he was long gone by that time. You do have to make sure that your watches are synchronized so that the guy taps the window after you point to it and not before.”
“Did you have any problems in setting this up?” I asked out of curiosity, thinking maybe a hidden assistant would cause problems.
“You’d think the hidden assistant might cause some problems, but he’s a fellow entertainer who I’ve secretly assisted before. We have a mutual respect for each other. We did have one problem during a rehearsal though.”
“What kind of problem?” I asked.
“Well, the fifth time we rehearsed, we had one major problem. The glass had been worn out from being tapped in the same spot so many times. So the fifth time we rehearsed, the window shattered.”
“You’d think that would be an even more spectacular effect than having just taps come from the window,” I replied.
“The clean-up is horrible. Windows can be expensive. And it’s a danger to all those involved, with the broken glass everywhere. Especially when they want to go examine the window right away,” pointed out B. Bizarre.
“Well, the tapping was impressive by itself,” I mentioned.
“That was the point,” said B.
We parted company that night, as I drove back to where I was residing. I thought about how many seance performers ended their show by having a glass fall and break. Then I thought about B. talking about clean-up and dangers to the audience.
posted by Dale A. Hildebrandt at 1:12 PM
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