Guillotine (magic trick)

[1][2] A method for performing a decapitation illusion, where a person's head is apparently severed and displayed on a plate next to their headless body, was described in The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot, published in 1584.

A second person lies flat on the table with their head descending into another hole, and their neck may be dressed with "a little dough kneded with bul/locks bloud" for effect.

Lake's designs included, but were not limited to, the Extended-Blade Chopper (seen in the 1953 film Houdini), Abbott's "Giant Guillotine" and "Disecto" (wrist-cutter illusion).

Lake also designed a guillotine illusion in which the assistant's actual head appeared to drop into a waiting bag when the blade fell.

In some versions of the illusion, the apparatus also has a bench attached to the uprights at the same level as the neck stocks, on which the "victim" lies down - usually in a face-down position.

Magician/Escape Artist Bruce Bunnell performs a full-view guillotine escape in which he is straitjacketed, chained to the bascule, and the lunette padlocked shut.