Sawing a woman in half

Sawing a woman in half is a generic name for a number of different stage magic tricks in which a person is apparently either sawn in half or sawn through without being divided.

The basic effect

An assistant (usually a woman) lies down in a large, horizontal box, from which her feet and head protrude. The magician appears to saw her in two, and the two halves are separated. Sometimes the sides of the box are opened, revealing the assistant's arms and legs. Eventually, the two halves are rejoined, and the assistant exits the box unharmed.

Origin

The first modern version of this effect was "Sawing Through A Woman", designed and first performed by P.T. Selbit in 1921, but this illusion (known today as the Selbit Sawing) was significantly different from what a modern audience would expect. Selbit's assistant was locked inside a closed wood crate, and could not be seen, although ropes tied to her hands, feet, and neck were held throughout the illusion by spectators from the audience. Selbit began by sliding glass plates through the crate (and apparently through his assistant) before sawing through the crate. The two halves of the crate were then seperated, but this simply revealed his assistant, showing she had not be sawn with the box.

Later the same year, Horace Goldin, a magician working in the United States, presented the first version which modern audiences would recognise. Goldin's assistant lay in a box, from which her feet, head and hands protruded. Goldin simply sawed through the middle of the box, inserting metal sheets to cover the cut ends, and then pushed the two halves a little way apart. This process was then reversed, and the assistant released unharmed.

Variations

In the 'double sawing illusion', the magician saws two people in half (usually in different colored costumes, of different skin colors, or of different genders) and restores them with the other's lower half.

Famous Performances

There have been many famous performances of this illusion in some of the many different forms the illusion takes.

In 1956, Indian illusionist P. C. Sorcar used a buzzsaw to cut his wife in two during a televised performance. Just when he had divided her the host quickly signed off and the show ended. This caused horrified viewers to believe the poor woman had accidentally been killed. In reality, it was a live broadcast and time had run out.

The Pendragons perform a variation called "Clearly Impossible", which was conceived by Jonathan Pendragon. The box used appears to be both particularly slim, but also largely transparent.

By far the most famous of the modern performances is David Copperfield's Death Saw, which is presented as an escape gone wrong. This illusion has topped polls for "Greatest Illusion" and similar, but is actually performed using a tried and tested method, which has been particularly well staged. This version is famous due to the fact that - once the saw comes into 'contact' with the magician/assistant - the concealing boxes are removed or otherwise knocked away, showing off what appears to be the magician being clearly visually cut in half. Nowadays, newer magicians choose to omit the concealing boxes, or sometimes even removing their shirt, when performing the illusion, to give the impression that trickery is impossible.

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How it works

One version of Goldin's illusion

The audience will see the front of the box (A). Expecting the box is the size of an ordinary chest, they may assume that the "victim" is arranged as in B, crossing the path of the saw. In reality, the box may be deeper (which the audience cannot see from their perspective), and the "victim" curled up as in C to clear the blade.

Another variant has a false table on which the box rests. This allows the carved out table to be used as a place for the woman to crawl up in and avoid the saw. Her feet are replaced with fakes that are moved with electric motors.

A third variant hides another person in the carved out table space and has her insert her feet. The magician then saws through empty space.

The Jig Saw

This effect is contraption-based. The woman does not need to contort herself. A magician places a brace around a girl lying on a table. He then passes a jigsaw through her body. The brace actually detaches the jigsaw's blade when it enters the body on one end. As the saw exits on the other side, the brace reattaches a new blade onto the jigsaw.