Sorry Jonathan, I have to disagree with you..... the hottest assistant is NOT you by a long shot it is Charlotte Pendragon! Saw your show many years ago and it was astounding!
savannamagic

Brandon,

You asked for a specific illusion. I think a 1" hole might be perfect. It has audience involvement, you can even make it yourself and save a few bucks. Not to cut corners at all but, because it is so simple to make. It is a bit similar to the Metamorphosis but, that's sort of my point in steering you towards it. It would be a great challenge to find yourself in it and differentiate it from your Meta. The Mini-cub zag is ok and guys swear by it but, it's limited and limiting. Perhaps you can get that to satisfy that side of you and also still be able to build the 1" to further explore yourself onstage. A friend once gave me great advice on getting your first illusions. Get function illusions he said, simple. Illusions that can be rolled out, performed and rolled or carried back off without too much risk of exposure. Look at the Pendragons staples even; Meta, Suspension, Basket, Interlude, Clearly Impossible, Sands, Himber rings. Of course they had many other more technical effects but, at your stage even a Crystal Cabinet will now limit where you can perform and that's no good as you'll want to perform as much as possible. It's not the most artistic way to think but it is practical and even artistic in the sense that you can only really focus when you have some limits put in place. I'm personally not a huge fan of the Mini-cub zag and so many do it that you might want to challenge yourself to something else although it might help you grow a bit and then move on.

Best,
Jason Bishop