There are a large number of Forgetful Freddy variations:
Forgetful Eddie, Forgetful Frieda, Forgetful Frankenstein,
Airhead Rudy, Forgetful Santa, Forgetful Gorilla, Cub Scout,
Grandma … and the list goes on and on. In MOST of them, the
plot is the same. The Forgetful Whomever loses his/her head. It
vanishes, usually in a Devil’s Hank. A Balloon is placed on
top of the body as a replacement for the head. The balloon
breaks, and the head is back. Cheers! Applesauce!
In trying to come up with my own version, I again chose the
wily coyote character that I had used in my Hippity Hop Whatevers
and Run, Roadrunner, Run (included in earlier articles in this
very book!).
I also wanted to NOT use a Devil’s Hank to vanish the
coyote's head. For one thing, it’s what every other magician
and his brother are doing; for another I wanted to use the
Devil’s Hank for a different effect and I don’t believe
in using the same principles twice in the same show, even if the
hanks are different in appearance. To make a short story shorter,
I invented the “Optical Delusionator.”
The Optical Delusionator is a box into which I can insert the
coyote’s head (or any other character’s head) and cause
it to visibly shrink down to about the size of a silver dollar. I
then remove the tiny (by comparison) head and vanish it, usually
in a flash of flame as befits the wily coyote.
