Ask a spectator to step inside a beautifully decorated cabinet. The front of the cabinet stays open so that our spectator is always visible. Stick a metal sheet into the cabinet, doing this from the side; this doesn't work as the spectator is in the way. Ask your assistant to take the spectator's place. Close the front and the assistant sticks her arms and legs through the holes in the front panel. Her arms and legs remain visible throughout the performance. Now stick seven, large metal plates right through the cabinet. They clearly emerge on the opposite side of the cabinet. Finally, two long spears are stuck in the top of the cabinet. The audience are clearly mystified as to how someone can come out of the cabinet, still in one piece. And yet ... the spears and the plates are again removed and your assistant emerges alive and kicking from the cabinet and, undoubtedly, gets a standing ovation.