The Vanishing Act is a short story lesson plan designed for upper-intermediate English learners (around B2 to C1 level).
The story features natural, colloquial American English, making it ideal for students who want to improve their understanding of informal language, tone, and dialogue.
This complete lesson plan includes:
Vocabulary matching and sentence writing
Reading comprehension questions
True or false exercises
Discussion and role play activities
Creative writing extension
It’s perfect for classroom use or online English classes and helps students build reading, speaking, and critical thinking skills.
Download the full and complete lesson plan by clicking the link below!
Have you ever seen a magic show or watched a magician perform a trick?
What was the most impressive or confusing trick you saw?
Do you think it was all real or just an illusion?
What would you do if someone you knew suddenly disappeared with no explanation?
Would you go to the police right away?
Do you think people should always tell the truth during an investigation, even if it gets them into trouble? Why or why not?
Have you ever been in a situation where you were blamed for something you didn’t do?
What happened, and how did you prove you were innocent?
The Vanishing Act
It was a great routine. The crowd loved it.
But now The Great Majesto—real name Al Fenicci—was slumped in a chair, drenched in sweat.
What happened to all these broads?
Where the hell did they go?
Across from him sat two detectives.
He’d already figured out who was playing good cop and bad cop.
The smaller one—Ed—sat directly in front of him. Nice face.
Smiling, but there was doubt in his eyes.
The bigger one, Jackie, looked like he’d drag The Great Majesto to Coney Island pen without blinking.
Ed leaned in.
“Okay, let’s go through this one more time. You get on stage, do a few warm-up tricks—rabbits out of hats, pigeons from your pockets. Then comes the finale.”
“Yeah, like I told ya,” The Great Majesto muttered, wiping sweat from his brow again.
“Then what?” Ed asked, his face the picture of naïve curiosity.
An act, Majesto knew. He’d seen plenty of acts in his time.
He’d worked in theaters and sideshows his whole life. This was his life. It was all he knew.
“Then I do the vanishing act,” he said.
Jackie lit a cigarette, eyes narrowed.
“Well, ya sure made this broad disappear. Along with five other dames.”
He exhaled sharply, shaking his head.
“What happened, Al?” Ed asked.
“The girl—Tina—she walks around the box. I show the crowd it’s empty. She gets in. I say the magic words, the old abracadabra, open the door—it’s empty.”
He wrung his hands, then stopped, noticing it looked like he was praying.
“Then I call the stagehand. He sees there’s a problem. Curtain comes down.”
Jackie scoffed.
“Cept this time, she don’t come out. She just—what?—vanishes?”
He barked a laugh, looked at Ed, and thumbed at The Great Majesto.
“Jeez, this guy.”
Ed shot Jackie a look that said, Let me handle this.
“So she don’t reappear,” Ed said. “But she usually does, right?”
Majesto nodded too fast. “Yeah, that’s the whole thing. She reappears and that’s the end of the show.”
“So, when she don’t come out… what did you do?”
Ed’s eyes scrutinized The Great Majesto’s face. Al could feel his eyes on him. Watching every little tic, every little tiny movement.
“I called the stagehand. We brought the curtain down.”
Ed continues staring at him. Into him.
“Then what?”
The Great Majesto shakes his head, holds both hands out, palms up.
“We go looking for her,” he says.
Jackie leaned in again.
“Maybe she went down Macy’s. Buy some pantyhose or something.”
He smiled, and for a second it looked real. Then it turned into a glare.
“Or maybe, maybe you killed her. Maybe her body’s some place we need to find out.”
“I didn’t— I didn’t do anything!” Majesto cried. “I don’t know what happened to her.”
Ed gives him a look that is a cross between sympathy and great doubt.
“Thing is, Al, it’s not just her, is it?”
His eyes stayed locked on Majesto’s.
“Six other girls. All showgirls. Come to the city, wanna join the theater. Six of them, Al.”
That look.
Like he’s saying: I’m trying to help you here, pal. But you’re not making it easy for me.
Jackie flicked his cigarette to the floor and crushed it under a boot that looked the size of a mailbox.
“Hey, I got a great idea,” he said. “Why don’t you tell us where you buried ‘em all? Then we can go home and get a good night’s sleep. Whaddya say?”
The Great Majesto looked from Jackie to Ed, hoping for a glimmer of mercy. An opening. But Ed just stared back with a blank poker face.
“I swear to God,” Majesto said. “On my mother’s life—God rest her soul—I didn’t touch those girls. I didn’t do nothing.”
Jackie eased back against a table cluttered with costumes and props.
“Maybe they all just went back home, huh? Maybe they went to Penn Street, got train tickets, and headed back to Idaho. Or maybe…”
He leaned in.
“Maybe you killed them.”
“No!”
It came out too fast. Too loud. Too much. He should’ve kept them guessing. That gave too much away.
“Al,” Ed said gently, “just start from the beginning. Tell us what happened.”
It was too much now. Majesto mopped his forehead again. The handkerchief was soaked.
“Okay. So the first one, her name was Betty. I think. Or maybe Betsy. Something like that. She was in the city all alone. I just—I don’t know—I just wondered what it would be like to…”
And the words began to fall from his mouth like water through a hole in a bucket.
Essential Vocabulary
routine | slumped | drenched |
detectives | good cop | bad cop |
leaned in | warm-up | muttered |
naïve | sideshows | vanishing act |
lit a cigarette | narrowed | exhaled |
wrung | stagehand | curtain |
scoffed | barked | scrutinized |
tic | palms | glare |
sympathy | flicked | crushed |
glimmer | poker face | props |
mercy | soaked | handkerchief |
confession |
Exercise
Write down all the words and phrases in your vocabulary notebook. Look in your dictionary and find the meaning of each word. Write the definition next to each word.
Then make up your own sentences using each word or phrase.
For example:
Routine – a regular way of doing things in a particular order.
Slumped – sitting or standing with your shoulders and head bent forward, usually because you are tired or unhappy.
Then write a sentence of your own that uses the new word or phrase correctly.
I try to follow a healthy morning routine to start the day well.
He slumped in his chair after the long meeting.
Do this with all your vocabulary and, over time, it will help improve all your English skills – reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Reading Comprehension Questions
This is a list of only the reading comprehension questions.
You can find all the right answers at the end of the lesson plan.
What is The Great Majesto’s real name?
How does the story describe his emotional or physical state at the beginning?
How does The Great Majesto describe the two detectives?
What role does Ed appear to play in the interrogation?
What role does Jackie play?
What types of tricks does The Great Majesto perform before the final act?
What phrase shows that Majesto is feeling pressured?
How does Ed pretend to act during the questioning?
What does The Great Majesto reveal about his life?
What is the final trick in his performance?
How many women does Jackie imply are missing?
What is the name of the woman involved in the current trick?
What steps does The Great Majesto describe in the vanishing trick?
What does he do after noticing Tina has vanished?
What detail shows Majesto is nervous or worried?
What is Jackie’s attitude toward Majesto’s explanation?
What does Ed ask about the typical outcome of the trick?
How does Majesto respond when asked about Tina’s disappearance?
What action does Majesto take immediately after she fails to reappear?
What does Majesto’s fast nodding suggest?
What does Jackie suggest Tina might have done?
What does his fake smile turn into?
How does Jackie escalate the accusation?
How does The Great Majesto respond to this accusation?
What new detail does Ed reveal about the case?
What does Ed look at Majesto?
Are Jackie’s feet big or small?
What does Jackie suggest Majesto should do?
How does Ed react while Jackie speaks?
What does Majesto hope to see in Ed’s face?
What does the phrase “you’re making it real hard” suggest about Ed’s attitude?
What phrase does Majesto use to swear his innocence?
Where does Jackie sarcastically suggest the girls might have gone?
What is Jackie’s final accusation in this section?
Why does Majesto’s loud “No!” seem like a mistake?
What does “keep them guessing” suggest about Majesto’s usual behaviour?
What does Ed ask Al to do?
What physical detail shows Majesto is under pressure?
What does Majesto begin to say about the first missing girl?
What might his hesitation about her name suggest?
What does the final sentence suggest about his emotional state?
Discussion Questions
This is a list of discussion questions to be used in the classroom.
Each student should ask one of the questions and the other students answer with their own opinions, thoughts or ideas.
There are no correct answers to these questions as they are mostly based on people’s own ideas.
What kind of person do you think The Great Majesto is? Do you trust him? Why or why not?
What do you think really happened to Tina and the other girls?
Why do you think The Great Majesto was sweating and nervous during the interview?
What role does Ed play in the interrogation? How is he different from Jackie?
Do you think the detectives are using a fair approach to question Al? Why or why not?
Why does Al keep saying he didn’t do anything? Do you believe him?
Why might someone confess to something they didn’t do in a situation like this?
What would you do if you were falsely accused of a serious crime?
What is the effect of Jackie using humor or sarcasm during the questioning?
Do you think Tina’s disappearance was part of a trick gone wrong, or something more serious?
Why do you think the writer included the detail about Jackie’s big boots?
How does the story build suspense? Which parts made you feel tense?
What do you think Majesto was about to say at the end of the story?
Would you like to watch a magic show like Majesto’s? Why or why not?
If you could ask The Great Majesto one question, what would it be?
If you were a detective on this case, what would you do next?
Why do you think so many girls went missing after working with Majesto?
What kind of ending would you write for this story?
What clues in the dialogue or descriptions suggest Majesto might be guilty—or innocent?
If you were writing this as a film, how would you show the final scene?
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