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how can that be a shout out?
Deleted line(s) 82 (click to see context) :
* ShoutOut: It's unintentional, but Kraygen's voice, at certain points, unmistakably sounds like [[Franchise/DespicableMe Gru]] with a German accent.
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Brought to you by The Department of the Redundancy Department.
Changed line(s) 48 (click to see context) from:
* GayParee: The Crypt Keeper introduces the episode telling the viewers that he's learning French in preparation for a trip to Paris. He's wearing a shirt with blue stripes, a beret and a mustache to enforce some Hollywoodian clichés pertaining to France (mostly Paris).
to:
* GayParee: The Crypt Keeper introduces the episode telling the viewers that he's learning French (with his usual [[PungeonMaster puns]], of course) in preparation for a trip to Paris. He's wearing a shirt with blue stripes, a beret and a mustache to enforce some Hollywoodian clichés pertaining to France (mostly Paris).
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Brought to you by The Department of the Redundancy Department.
Changed line(s) 68 (click to see context) from:
* MementoMacGuffin: Zorbin's treasured family medallion, which clues Greta in on the fact that Miles had (or at the very least tried) killed Zorbin. The end of the episode has Zorbin reclaiming it from the dead Miles. The episode ends with Zorbin collecting it from Miles' body and putting it around his neck once again.
to:
* MementoMacGuffin: Zorbin's treasured family medallion, which clues Greta in on the fact that Miles had (or at the very least tried) killed Zorbin. The end of the episode has Zorbin reclaiming it from the dead Miles. The episode ends with Zorbin collecting it from Miles' body and putting it around his neck once again.
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Just my usual again. I will allow anyone who feels like it to correct my French in the intro, since I know it's wrong.
Changed line(s) 7,10 (click to see context) from:
->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(revealed to be wearing a beret, a mustache, an ascot, and a striped shirt, seated in front of a bottle of wine, and a plate of cheese, grapes, and crackers; the tape recorder he's practicing with sits next to him)'' ''Boo,'' e la fanette. ''(cackles; speaking in a French accent)'' Bon soir, kiddies! I was just in the middle of my French lesson. Your pal, ze Crypt Keeper, has decided to see Le Mans! ''(in his normal voice)'' Imagine me in gay ''Scaree'', sitting in a nice little café on the ''rot'' bank, sipping a glass of Cha-''bleed'' while I write ''ghost''-cards home to all my ''fiends.'' ''(cackles)'' Or I could stay home and tell you tonight's tale. It concerns an ambitious young magician who wants to expand his ''gore''-izons, too, in a tasteless trick called: '''Well Cooked Hams.'''
Miles Federman (Creator/BillyZane), protégé of stage magician Zorbin the Magnificent (Creator/MartinSheen), has been trying to make it as a magician in his own right, three months after Zorbin mysteriously disappeared. Miles, however, is an incompetent hack who blames everyone else for his own incompetence, including his assistant Greta Kreutzel (Creator/MaryamDabo), who formerly worked with Zorbin, who he fires. She notices that Miles is wearing a medallion that had belonged to Zorbin and accuses him of killing the performer, which he jokingly confirms. He laughs off her promise that she's going to call the police, since there's no body to prove her claims. As Greta leaves, a mysterious stranger approaches her and addresses her by name.
Miles Federman (Creator/BillyZane), protégé of stage magician Zorbin the Magnificent (Creator/MartinSheen), has been trying to make it as a magician in his own right, three months after Zorbin mysteriously disappeared. Miles, however, is an incompetent hack who blames everyone else for his own incompetence, including his assistant Greta Kreutzel (Creator/MaryamDabo), who formerly worked with Zorbin, who he fires. She notices that Miles is wearing a medallion that had belonged to Zorbin and accuses him of killing the performer, which he jokingly confirms. He laughs off her promise that she's going to call the police, since there's no body to prove her claims. As Greta leaves, a mysterious stranger approaches her and addresses her by name.
to:
->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(revealed to be wearing a beret, a mustache, an ascot, and a striped shirt, seated in front of a bottle of wine, and a plate of cheese, grapes, and crackers; the tape recorder he's practicing with sits next to him)'' ''Boo,'' e la fanette. ''(cackles; speaking in a French accent)'' Bon soir, kiddies! I was just in the middle of my French lesson. Your pal, ze Crypt Keeper, has decided to see Le Mans! ''(in his normal voice)'' Imagine me in gay ''Scaree'', sitting in a nice little café on the ''rot'' bank, sipping a glass of Cha-''bleed'' while I write ''ghost''-cards home to all my ''fiends.'' ''(cackles)'' Or I could stay home and tell you tonight's tale. It concerns an ambitious young magician who wants to expand his ''gore''-izons, too, in a tasteless trick called: '''Well Cooked Hams.'''
Miles Federman (Creator/BillyZane), protégé of stage magician Zorbin the Magnificent (Creator/MartinSheen), has been trying to make it as a magician in his own right, three months after Zorbin mysteriously disappeared. Miles, however, is an incompetent hack who blames everyone else for his own incompetence, including his assistant Greta Kreutzel (Creator/MaryamDabo), who formerly worked with Zorbin, who he fires. She notices that Miles is wearing a medallion that had belonged to Zorbin and accuses him of killing the performer, which he jokingly confirms. He laughs off her promise that she's going to call the police, since there's no body to prove her claims. As Greta leaves, a mysterious stranger approaches her and addresses her by name.
Miles Federman (Creator/BillyZane), protégé of stage magician Zorbin the Magnificent (Creator/MartinSheen), has been trying to make it as a magician in his own right, three months after Zorbin mysteriously disappeared. Miles, however, is an incompetent hack who blames everyone else for his own incompetence, including his assistant Greta Kreutzel (Creator/MaryamDabo), who formerly worked with Zorbin, who he fires. She notices that Miles is wearing a medallion that had belonged to Zorbin and accuses him of killing the performer, which he jokingly confirms. He laughs off her promise that she's going to call the police, since there's no body to prove her claims. As Greta leaves, a mysterious stranger approaches her and addresses her by name.
Deleted line(s) 45 (click to see context) :
** As Kraygen/Zorbin tells the dying Miles at the end of the episode, he should've checked that he was actually dead when he moved the body.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Just my usual again. I will allow anyone who feels like it to correct my French in the intro, since I know it's wrong.
Changed line(s) 2,11 (click to see context) from:
[[caption-width-right:350:Remember, leave this to the professionals.]]
In the three months since the disappearance of the great stage magician Zorbin the Magnificent (Creator/MartinSheen), his protege Miles Federman (Creator/BillyZane) has tried to uphold his legacy. Miles is an incompetent hack, though, and his assistant Greta Kreutzel (Creator/MaryamDabo), who had formerly worked with Zorbin, quits in disgust. She notices that Miles is wearing a medallion that had belonged to Zorbin and accuses him of killing the performer, but he laughs her off. As Greta leaves, a shadowy stranger approaches and addresses her by name.
After yet another of Miles' failed shows, the stranger introduces himself to Miles as Franz Kraygen, a fellow magician. Kraygen invites Miles to see his show, which ends with his greatest trick: the Box of Death. Kraygen is chained and locked inside a box, with swords set to pierce the sides and a bowl of sulfuric acid rigged to pour in through the top. After the deadly devices are tripped, Kraygen falls out bloodied and screaming, only to stand up alive and well a moment later. Afterward, Kraygen starts to tell Miles the secret of the trick, but stops when he realizes that Miles wants to steal it for his own act. Miles stabs Kraygen through the heart and dumps his body in a river.
Miles starts using the Box of Death in his own act and drawing sold-out crowds. A man introduces himself as Thomas Miller and offers to film the show for exhibition in theaters across the country. Miles accepts the deal, enticed by the promise of royalties.
As the finale begins, Greta slips backstage and sabotages a trick panel in the Box of Death, needed for the occupant to escape safely. Trapped inside, Miles is cut by the swords and burned by the acid. As he falls out and collapses before the panicking crowd, Miller reveals himself as both Kraygen and Zorbin; he had planned this scheme with Greta to get revenge on Miles for trying to kill him. Zorbin takes back his medallion, and he and Greta receive a standing ovation as Miles dies.
----
In the three months since the disappearance of the great stage magician Zorbin the Magnificent (Creator/MartinSheen), his protege Miles Federman (Creator/BillyZane) has tried to uphold his legacy. Miles is an incompetent hack, though, and his assistant Greta Kreutzel (Creator/MaryamDabo), who had formerly worked with Zorbin, quits in disgust. She notices that Miles is wearing a medallion that had belonged to Zorbin and accuses him of killing the performer, but he laughs her off. As Greta leaves, a shadowy stranger approaches and addresses her by name.
After yet another of Miles' failed shows, the stranger introduces himself to Miles as Franz Kraygen, a fellow magician. Kraygen invites Miles to see his show, which ends with his greatest trick: the Box of Death. Kraygen is chained and locked inside a box, with swords set to pierce the sides and a bowl of sulfuric acid rigged to pour in through the top. After the deadly devices are tripped, Kraygen falls out bloodied and screaming, only to stand up alive and well a moment later. Afterward, Kraygen starts to tell Miles the secret of the trick, but stops when he realizes that Miles wants to steal it for his own act. Miles stabs Kraygen through the heart and dumps his body in a river.
Miles starts using the Box of Death in his own act and drawing sold-out crowds. A man introduces himself as Thomas Miller and offers to film the show for exhibition in theaters across the country. Miles accepts the deal, enticed by the promise of royalties.
As the finale begins, Greta slips backstage and sabotages a trick panel in the Box of Death, needed for the occupant to escape safely. Trapped inside, Miles is cut by the swords and burned by the acid. As he falls out and collapses before the panicking crowd, Miller reveals himself as both Kraygen and Zorbin; he had planned this scheme with Greta to get revenge on Miles for trying to kill him. Zorbin takes back his medallion, and he and Greta receive a standing ovation as Miles dies.
----
to:
In
->'''Recording:''' Colour e teal.
->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''Killer'' e teal.
->'''Recording:''' Ooh, e la fanette.
->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(revealed to be wearing a beret, a mustache, an ascot, and a striped shirt, seated in front of a bottle of wine, and a plate of cheese, grapes, and crackers; the
Miles Federman (Creator/BillyZane), protégé of stage magician Zorbin the Magnificent (Creator/MartinSheen), has been trying to make it as a magician in his
After yet another
Miles starts using the Box of Death in his own
----
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Changed line(s) 13,37 (click to see context) from:
* AssholeVictim: Miles' death brings joy to every face whether it be InUniverse or for the viewer.
* BeleagueredAssistant: Greta can't stand Miles and his incompetence on stage and it's very clearly expressed in her BodyLanguage, but she has to keep smiling to the public.
* ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: Zorbin goes from disguise to disguise with remarkable speed when revealing himself to a dying Miles, changing from his Thomas Miller clothes to those of Kraygen (makeup included) then to his Zorbin stage magician outfit.
* TheDogBitesBack: Greta, the LovelyAssistant who was mistreated by Miles, gets revenge on him (and does so for Zorbin too) by sabotaging the Box of Death.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Greta gets her happy ending, serving as assistant to Zorbin the Magnificent once again.
* FunetikAksent: Greta and Franz Kraygen (Zorbin in disguise) speak this way. Kraygen's is particularly over-the-top.
* GayParee: The Crypt Keeper introduces the episode telling the viewers that he's learning French. He's wearing a shirt with blue stripes, a beret and a mustache to enforce some Hollywoodian clichés pertaining to France (mostly to Paris).
* GoneHorriblyWrong: Miles' last attempt to use the Box of Death trick backfires horribly for him due to Greta sabotaging it.
* GratuitousGerman: Zorbin mixes some genuine German ("Kommen Sie!") with his FunetikAksent English phrases when passing as Kraygen.
* TheGrotesque: Kraygen (a disguised Zorbin) is a hunchback with a SinisterSchnoz.
* IneptMage: Miles is a terrible StageMagician.
* LargeHam: Both Miles and Zorbin the Magnificent (as Kraygen). It is kind of required to perform their tricks on stage, after all.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: InUniverse. A disguised Zorbin leaves the camera he was operating running as Miles agonizes on stage, and Greta takes turn to keep it running.
* LovelyAssistant: Greta, played by Maryam d'Abo (the Bond Girl of ''Film/TheLivingDaylights''). After she quits, Miles hires two other attractive girls to assist him.
* MagicMisfire: Greta sabotages the Box of Death so the magic trick will turn into a literal death trap for Miles.
* TheMagnificent: Zorbin's moniker.
* MasterOfDisguise: Zorbin very convincingly disguises himself as Kraygen (complete with a ham-tastic FunetikAksent) and as Thomas Miller. It's all enough to fool Miles.
* NeverMyFault: When it comes to magic, Miles thinks of himself as an expert, when he's actually a talentless hack who blames everyone else when something goes wrong. The opening scene has him reprimanding and ultimately firing Greta for a failed trick, ignoring the fact that the trick failed because he threw his wand, which was on fire, into her unprotected hands, burning them.
* NotQuiteDead: It turns out both Zorbin and Kraygen survived, and they are both the same person.
* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: Billy Zane is 26 years younger than Martin Sheen, even though Zorbin veers on AntiHero since he deliberately causes Miles' death.
* SmugSnake: Miles thinks he can kill two magicians in a row and steal their tricks and get away with it. It turns out he sucks at stage magic, and his murder attempts end up causing his downfall.
* StageMagician: Zorbin the Magnificent is really good at stage magic. Miles Federman, not so much. Zorbin also passes as another, German-ish stage magician with an over-the-top FunetikAksent, Franz Kraygen, in order to trick Miles.
* VillainProtagonist: Miles.
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to:
* ActingForTwo: Or rather, three. Creator/MartinSheen plays Zorbin, Kraygen, and Thomas Miller. It's justified because the last two are disguises worn by Zorbin.
* AllPartOfTheShow: The audience at Miles' final show burst into applause when he dies onstage, and celebrate the triumphant come back of Zorbin the Magnificent.
* AssholeVictim:
* BatmanGambit: Zorbin faked his murder by Miles and disguised himself as two completely different people to get Miles stuck in the Box of Death, rehire Greta so she could sabotage it, and taunt Miles in front of his audience as he dies as part of his grand comeback, as well as revenge on his treacherous student.
* BeleagueredAssistant: Greta can't stand Miles and his incompetence
** Rachel and Cassandra, the two other assistants who act as Greta's replacements aren't treated any better by Miles, either.
* CardCarryingVillain: Miles, who shamelessly reveals that he (possibly) murdered his mentor three months ago, and hasn't been arrested because there was no body, flaunting how wicked he is to the
* ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: Zorbin
* CoolOldGuy: Zorbin, who survived Miles' attempts on his life and proves himself to be one step ahead of his former student. It's clear at this point just ''why'' he's called "the Magnificent".
* DastardlyWhiplash: Miles can be considered one of these, since he's got the requisite moustache and style, and the appropriate musical cues are played on a honky-tonk piano when he's performing.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Kraygen will ''never'' tell Miles how he pulls of the Box of Death, even when Miles kills him.
* TheDogBitesBack: Greta, the LovelyAssistant who
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Greta gets her happy
** Zorbin himself gets a happy ending by killing his treacherous student and making his grand return to the stage before an adoring crowd.
* TheEdwardianEra: The episode is hinted to be set in this time period, seeing as how Thomas Miller presents his "moving picture camera" and his idea to film Miles' show so it can be copied and screened in theaters worldwide to be "the future of entertainment".
* EscapeArtist: Kraygen, and later Miles, escape from the Box of Death as the grand finale to their acts.
* ExactWords: Miles' reveal to Greta that he killed Zorbin mentions that the body was never found. Kraygen (Zorbin in disguise) later tells him that while he hid the body, he never bothered to check if he was actually dead.
* FacialHorror: Kraygen, and later Miles, get hit with a heavy dose of this when they're doused with the sulfuric acid. At first, it's revealed to be makeup, but the end has Miles getting hit with genuine horror.
* FailedASpotCheck: As Kraygen (Zorbin) tells the dying Miles, he should've checked to make sure he was actually dead before he got rid of his body.
* FakingTheDead: Zorbin fakes his death by Miles' hand twice, disguising himself as both Kraygen and Miller to screw over his former student for trying to kill him.
** The Box of Death is meant to allow a magician to cheat death for their audience.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Related to the above trope, Miles tells Greta that Zorbin's body wasn't found near the sight of his death. This turns out to be because Zorbin survived the murder attempt, and disguised himself as both Kraygen and Miller to get back at Miles for his treachery.
** Kraygen is even first seen peeking on Miles as he gazes at a poster of Zorbin, hinting at his true identity.
** Kraygen also specializes in tricks involving fire, which Miles seems to have learned from Zorbin and performs in the opening scene.
** Kraygen's own assistant gives a glare at Miles, hinting that she's actually Greta, whom Kraygen hired earlier, and that she's got plans for the bastard.
** The Box of Death is shaped like a coffin, and it's what kills Miles in the end.
* ForWantOfANail: When Greta storms out of Miles' dressing room, she returns to grab her headdress, where she sees Zorbin's medallion being worn by Miles and learns that Miles attempted to kill Zorbin himself, this insignificant action setting off the plot.
** As Kraygen/Zorbin tells the dying Miles at the end of the episode, he should've checked that he was actually dead when he moved the body.
* FunetikAksent: Greta and
* FunnyForeigner: Kraygen, the magician who originally owns the Box of Death.
* {{Gasp}}: Greta releases an rather hilarious and over-the-top gasp when Miles' flaming wand comes into contact with her barely shielded hands.
* GayParee: The Crypt Keeper introduces the episode telling the viewers that he's learning
* GoneHorriblyWrong: Miles' last attempt to use the Box of Death
* GratuitousGerman: Zorbin mixes some genuine German ("Kommen Sie!") with his FunetikAksent English phrases when
* TheGrotesque: Kraygen
* HatedByAll: Greta and Zorbin, belittled and almost killed by Miles, respectively, absolutely loathe him. And that's nothing to say of his bored audience in the first scene.
* HateSink: Miles is an absolute bastard who treats everyone who isn't him like shit, and kills both his mentor and another magician to steal their illusions to gain fame. His death actually has the InUniverse audience applauding as he dies.
* HollywoodAcid: The Box of Death has a bowl of sulfuric acid that is dumped on whomever is inside, to increase the spectacle when the trick is performed. Kraygen demonstrates how strong it is by completely dissolving a flower in the stuff.
* {{Homage}}: The episode is one to the early hey-days of stage magic, and illusionary artists such as Creator/HarryHoudini.
* ImpossiblyAwesomeMagicTrick: The Box of Death, which appears to kill Kraygen onstage, but he survives being stabbed with several swords and dunked with sulfuric acid. When Miles tries the trick himself, it's sabotaged and actually kills him.
* IneptMage: Miles is a
*
* ItsAllAboutMe: Miles only wants to be the best magician who ever lived, and
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: InUniverse.
* LoserProtagonist: Miles is a horrible stage magician who blames everyone else for his own lack of talent. He only gets huge audiences when he kills two other magicians and steals their tricks. He's outdone and ultimately done in by his mentor, as revenge for trying to kill him.
* LovelyAssistant: Greta, played by Maryam d'Abo
* MagicMisfire: Greta sabotages the Box of Death
* MagicWand: Miles uses one in the opening scene, which catches fire to show how lousy he is at stage magic.
* TheMagnificent: Zorbin's
* MasterOfDisguise: Zorbin very convincingly disguises himself as fellow magician Franz Kraygen
* MeaningfulName: Miles is an literal MilesGloriosus who thinks of himself as the greatest magician alive.
* MementoMacGuffin: Zorbin's treasured family medallion, which clues Greta in on the fact that Miles had (or at the very least tried) killed Zorbin. The end of the episode has Zorbin reclaiming it from the dead Miles. The episode ends with Zorbin collecting it from Miles' body and putting it around his neck once again.
* MilesGloriosus: True to the MeaningfulName mentioned above, Miles, a talentless loser, thinks himself to be an astounding magician.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Miles admits that Zorbin's body was never found after revealing to Greta that he killed him, and he uses the fact that there's no proof to escape being arrested for doing so.
* NeverMyFault: When it comes to magic, Miles thinks of himself as an
* NotQuiteDead: It turns out
* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: Billy Zane (Miles) is 26 years younger than Martin
* PlayingWithFire: One of Miles' tricks, which he performs twice, has him trying to summon flames from his hat. It goes awry rather quickly when his wand catches fire the first time, and both times the flowers he summons from the hat catch fire as well.
** Kraygen also appears to fire a burst a flame from his hand when inviting Miles to see his own show. His hat is seen smoldering when he's onstage, hinting that he shares a similarity (or a connection) to Miles' act.
* PostMortemOneLiner: Miles utters a sarcastic "Ta-da!" when he kills Kraygen.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Zorbin tears into Miles, the apprentice who tried to kill him, with an awesome one just before he dies.
-->'''Zorbin:''' Oh, Miles. Once a student, always a student. ''You're dismissed.''
* PullARabbitOutOfMyHat: Miles does a variation of the trick in the opening scene, summoning fire from his hat. He then pulls out a bouquet of flowers out of the same hat, which then catch fire.
* RasputinianDeath: If what Miles says is true, he initially killed Zorbin by poisoning his brandy, shooting him in the brain, and then having ''an elephant step on his head.''
** The Box of Death is supposed to create the illusion of one of these, given that it stabs its user several times and dumps sulfuric acid on their head.
* ShoutOut: It's unintentional, but Kraygen's voice, at certain points, unmistakably sounds like [[Franchise/DespicableMe Gru]] with a German accent.
* SilentMovie: Thomas Miller tells Miles that he intends to film his show with a "moving picture camera", which he describes as "the future of entertainment" while Miles calls it a toy, so it can be distributed in theaters. This gradually hints that the episode is set when silent films were just beginning to break the mold.
* SmugSnake: Miles thinks he can kill
* SpeakInUnison: Miles' replacement assistants after he fires Greta do this near the end of the episode.
* StageMagician: Zorbin
* StealthPun: Miles is a literal MilesGloriosus.
* StepfordSmiler: Greta has to keep this attitude as long as she's onstage, no matter how much Miles pisses her off, to the point where she walks off in disgust. The two assistants who Miles replaces her with, Rachel and Cassandra, do better at hiding their disgust, but they similarly tear into him offstage.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: Greta tells Miles that she's quitting as his assistant when he fires her after their failed magic show.
* [[ThoseTwoGuys Those Two Girls]]: Rachel and Cassandra, Miles' replacements for Greta, who are never seen apart.
* VillainProtagonist:
----
* WorldOfHam: Miles and Zorbin (as Kraygen, Miller, and himself) are incredibly hammy, which is sort of required to perform their onstage, after all. With a title like "Well Cooked Hams", this trope is pretty much a given for this episode.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Zorbin taught Miles about the world of stage magic in the hopes that he'd go on to be a great magician. Miles thanked his mentor by trying to kill him so he could become more famous than him.
-----
->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(having removed his mustache and beret)'' Poor Miles! Just when he's ready to take the ''hacked'' on the road, he ends up on the silver ''scream!'' Still, I think he deserves another chance to get it right. You know what they say: If at first you don't succeed, ''die, die'' again! ''(cackles)'' As for me, kiddies, I'm just about ready to go. ''(holds up his documentation)'' Got my passport, my ''die''-tinerary, and my ticket for the Con-''gored''. All I need now are my shots. ''(whips out a handgun and shoots himself in the mouth, the bullet exits through the back of his head and ricochets around the room)'' Ain't travel a ''blast?'' ''(cackles)''
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/well_cooked_hams.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Remember, leave this to the professionals.]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Remember, leave this to the professionals.]]
