Ed Alonzo, magician discusses Dirty Diana for This Is It, 2009
For a splashy version of dirty diana, Jackson wanted a flaming bed
with a pole-dancing aerialist “playing the part of the fire,” alonzo
said. For the elaborately plotted stunt, jackson intended to be pursued
around the bed by the “fire woman,” and each time she touched the stage,
flames in the form of fluttering crimson fabric would shoot skyward.
After she caught him, she would lash him to the bed’s tall posts
with gold rope and a sheet of red fabric would billow before him,
illuminating his struggling silhouette. When the sheet fell, the magic
trick would be triggered – the woman would be revealed as the one
ensnared, and jackson would materialise on a stage in the centre of
the arena.