Britney Spears to Get Sawed in Half and Other Circus Tour Secrets

Illusionist Ed Alonzo talks to E! News about Brit's upcoming Circus tour, saying they'll be doing "the classics of magic, but high-tech"

Sort of like a wayward career, Britney Spears is going to disappear into thin air—and then magically reappear, to her fans' ecstatic delight.

"Right away, she got into the boxes and into the magic contraptions to learn the stuff, and she's so excited about this tour and all the elements that are in it," illusionist-comedian Ed Alonzo, "the Misfit of Magic" (and former Saved by the Bell diner owner) who will be doing a number with Spears on her Circus tour, tells E! News.

The pop star will serve as Alonzo's assistant in the bit.

"We're going to be doing the classics of magic but a little high-tech," he said. "We'll be doing a little dissection, transposition, a vanish, an appearance—and if I do a trick, she doesn't just hold the props, she's actually getting inside the big boxes or I am slicing her up."

Sounds a bit risky, which is perhaps why Team Spears decided to leave the tricks to a professional.

I "made [the tricks] really easy for her...but there are some complicated things that she is doing that you would think a contortionist would have to do, or a trained magician's assistant," Alonzo said. "But because...she's a dancer, it really makes sense to put her in the magic, and it works and she's really, really good at it."

"Some of it's pretty scary, but she gets right in there with no reservations," added Alonzo, who also serves as a lead illusionist on the MyNetworkTV show Masters of Illusion.

He wouldn't divulge which Spears tunes would be accompanying his mini magic show, but—news flash—Alonzo did assure us that the overall show will feature "the best music of Britney that people have loved over the years and, of course, brand-new favorites from the new album."

And, like us, Alonzo has only seen Spears in warm-up clothes and sneakers during rehearsals, although she has been testing out different pairs of heels here and there.

The three-ring circus-inspired set is "exactly what you would see in a big giant Vegas production show, but it's going to be on the road," he said, and anywhere from 75 to 100 crew members and performers are usually around at any given time.

"It's going to be an amazing concert for people to watch," he said. "It's like watching a big Cirque du Soleil high-tech circus, but with a really focused star in the middle of all of this."

(Originally published Feb. 24, 2009 at 3:03 p.m. PT)