Other dub names: The Magic Trick (4Kids)
Carlin performs sawing a woman in half trick with Rosa. All the spectators are happy and are showering him with flowers, while his assistant Wally is congratulating him. Carlin himself, however, is tired of doing simple tricks and aims for something bigger. He tells Wally a story of Harry Houdini, a master magician who was tied up, placed into a box, wrapped with chains, and thrown on the burning stakes. Despite this, he came out alive. Carlin wants to repeat this trick.
Wally and Carlin have prepared a scene, and the audience is packed full. Carlin is sure that he was able to solve Houdini's secret, but Wally is worried that they might never see him again. Despite his worries, the trick plays out as intended, and Carlin comes out unscratched. However, instead of applause, he receives a lot of reproaching from his friends, who were very scared for him. Carlin decides to explain the trick to calm them down.
Back in the dressing room, Wally doesn't understand why Carlin told everyone that he wasn't even inside the box when he saw that Carlin was there. The magician replies that now he has something to be proud of, but no victories are worth causing worry to their nearest and dearest. Rosa looks into the dressing room and asks Carlin to perform the saw trick again. Carlin agrees and happily returns on the stage.
Tropes:
- Escape Artist: Carlin wants to repeat such a trick from Harry Houdini. He has to escape from the box wraped with chains before the ropes holding it are cut off and the box falls into flaiming spikes.
- Impossibly Awesome Magic Trick: Carlin somehow frees himself from the box that fell on the burning stakes. Note that the real life Harry Houdini, who Carlin was trying to replicate, has never performed this exact trick; a box containing him was thrown into the water. This means that Carlin has put himself in a much bigger danger.
- Happy Circus Music: Plays at the beginning and end of the episode, fitting for an episode about magic tricks.
- Saw a Woman in Half: Carlin performs this trick on Rosa. It is shown that a box she was in twice as big as Rosa, and he put some to make the trick look convincing.
- Shout-Out: The title and plot of the series are a reference to Harry Houdini’s magic tricks.
- Stage Magician: Carlin wears a characteristic top hat and a black raincoat over the couse of the episode.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After Carlin escapes the box and appears in front of the audience, they immediately criticize him for pulling such a dangerous trick and frightening them so much.
