I'm wondering if the speil at the end is needed or should he just walk off.....
VICTORIAN MAN NAMED FILQUIN DRASKO IS DRESSED MUCH LIKE THE MAD HATTER AND IS TRYING TO ATTRACT PEOPLE TO HIS SHOW. HE STANDS IN FRONT OF A BUILDING WITH A LARGE CURTAIN DRAPED IN FRONT OF IT.
FILQUIN:
Roll up, roll up, and roll up folks. Come see our amazing and wondrous show. Behind these very curtains you will enter a world nothing like your own. Roll up, roll up!
A FEW PEOPLE BEGIN TO GATHER AROUND.
FILQUIN:
I said roll up not walk up. If I wanted you to walk up I would have said 'Step right up'. Go back now and roll over to me...much better.
Roll up folks and be astounded for beyond this curtain lie feats and wonders beyond your wildest dreams. Get your palm read by the Ostrich of the Future, he tells it like it is in his shiny silver suit. You may have seen a ghost, you may have been in a haunted house but have you ever come across a Haunted Ghost? See it all here people.
We have acrobats like you have never seen. We blindfold some bats and they perform flying trapeze acts without the aid of a trapeze.
Roll up now. For a limited time only, I have an appointment at two. See our conjurer make items appear from thin air. Expensive silver and gold as if from nowhere. Step up here Ma'am. I see you like your jewellery.
Wouldn't you like more beautiful adornments to match your beautiful face (she smiles bashfully). May I see your neck lace? Oh God we wouldn't have anything that expensive now. You're better off to go to Appleby's down the street.
Gaze in wonder at Aquabadger. Are you sick of the same old amazing magic tricks? Then we present to you Peter the Possible. Guess which hand the coin is in, you have over a 50 per cent chance of getting it right. In 52 attempts or less he will pick the mysterious Ace of Spades out of just one pack of cards. See him pick a name out of a hat. That's Peter the Possible folks.
Beyond the curtain lie many more amazing wonders. Who wants to be first? Just five shillings....Test your strength. All you manly men out there test your strength by doing loads of arduous manual labour for us.
Be the first to lay eyes on strange and unusual animals never before seen by human eyes. Obviously then we can't tell you what they look like yet but the lads that are going to catch them assure me that they will be the height of unusualness. See a glass bellied horse and a calf with the mind of a ghost.
We have a clown.
The Swedish Bubble. Straight off the ship, direct from the Scandinavian home world we have two crates of the freshest Swedish bubbles. Developed and grown in the Fairy Liquid Gardens high in the Kaka... Kasapa.... Kap...Kaskaspakte..te..ke..pa Mountains.
Guess the number of bubbles in the crates and win a romantic dinner for five.
See our resident freak Fleaboy - a 12 year old boy who is riddled with fleas. Watch him itch with his nails of fury.
We also have Pocket Dad, he is a father and he has over seven pockets.
Melburn the Magician can escape any shackles, no cage can hold him, no jacket is straight enough; his cousin is behind the curtain, a steal at five shillings folks.
A LARGE CROWD HAS NOW GATHERED AND THEY ALL HAND OVER THEIR FIVE SHILLINGS.
You sir, with the fear in your eye and the five shillings in your hand. Walk right in beyond the curtain to a world you cannot even imagine.
THE MAN WALKS IN AND EMERGES FIVE SECONDS LATER.
MAN:
I didn't see nothin'.
FILQUIN:
That means you saw something, two negatives make a positive my friend and even if you didn't see it's because you failed to imagine it. Thank you sir, who's next?
MAN:
This man is a fraud! There's nothing behind the curtain but darkness!
A GROUP OF PEOPLE JUMP THROUGH THE CURTAIN AND EMERGE A FEW SECONDS LATER ANNOYED.
CROWD:
We want our money back! There is nothing behind the curtain!
FILQUIN STEPS TOWARDS THE CURTAIN.
FILQUIN:
Open your minds people and my world will reveal itself. You have learned your lesson today. I will return and next time you too will marvel at my world of wonder. I have just opened your eyes today. The next day you will see.
HE DOFFS HIS HAT, PULLS THE CURTAIN OPEN AND STEPS THROUGH. AS HE DOES SO WE CATCH A QUICK GLIMPSE OF ALL MANNER OF AMAZING ANTICS ACCOMPANIED BY STRANGE MUSIC. FROGS ON STILTS, A PRIEST JUGGLING WATER, THE SECOND HAND OF A CLOCK RUNS ANTI-CLOCKWISE, AN OWL READS THE NEWS, A MAN SWIMS IN THE AIR. THE CURTAIN CLOSES.
END.
