mannequin-man
the living mannequin /
Human statue

First time as a living mannequin

The first time I did this I was very unsure that it would work, with someone this close. There was a new Saturday boy (the best material), that the staff wanted to play a joke on. They had told him that they wanted a display made with the new mannequin (which had arrived from head office as an advertising promotion - us mannequins do that a lot, always turning up from head office, unexpectedly, at the whim of some new advertising promotion).

I was standing in the stairwell, and the Saturday boy had already seen me, so wasn't suspicious, when he was asked to set up this display.

(This is the best was to do it; the way not to do it, but it is the way it often happens is when half the staff are hanging around suspiciously, or the ‘victim’ is asked to do something that they consider unusual, then their suspicion can be raised. The combination of these two will always fail – "why can’t so and so help me carry the mannequin", or "why are you all just watching" – of course, at this moment, this is the cue to give them the scare of their lives)

After about half and hours wait, through customer distractions, and a bit of preparation in the shop, where I am to be put, he finally comes over to move me.

He puts his arms around me, and tries to lift me, not being exactly light, he fails, and mutters, "God this is bloody heavy", so undeterred, he rocks me forward with my chin on his shoulder, and drags forwards. He makes some progress, and stops half way across the floor, holding me in this embrace.

Now, remember, this is my first time, I don’t yet know the rules, what will work and what won’t, so I stay in character, even though I busting to laugh, in the disbelief that he believes I am a mannequin.

A few more moments pass, and asks his colleagues for a suggestion, as he doesn't believe that he can drag me any further.

"Why not use a sack trolley" someone pipes up (a prop that will be well used in the future),

He pushes me back to a vertical position, but unfortunately he pushes me back too far, and I feel that I’m falling backwards, and he Hasn't noticed.

Behind me are drill bits and hard floor, I’m still falling and he hasn't noticed, so I have to "Come Alive" and step backwards – in this instance no BOO was required, the act of moving was enough to astonish him, he was speechless, mouth wide open, and everyone around laughing.