jupitersterrain four

Torrini may have performed the first version in front of Pope Pius VII in 1809

It was suggested during a court case in 1922 that the trick can be traced back to ancient Egypt

Wherever the idea originated, until the 1920s it remained just that, an idea for an effect rather than a practical application of a method

Selbit's assistant was locked inside a closed wooden crate and could not be seen

The impression that she could not evade the saw was created by the confined space in the box and by ropes tied to her hands, feet, and neck, which were held throughout the illusion by spectators from the audience

The question of who was the first woman to be sawn in half has received much less publicity than the question of which magician first presented the illusion

Horace Goldin 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

he later developed a sawing illusion that dispensed with boxes and used a large buzzsaw

The success of Selbit and then Goldin led to more and more magicians trying to imitate them with copies or improved versions of sawing illusions. By November 1921 the Thayer magic company in America was advertising a version for sale. A complete prop from Thayer would cost $175 or they would sell plans for $5

In some, the illusion is merely of a blade passing through an assistant's body, while in others it appears that the assistant is severed into two pieces that are moved apart

11.21

my tendrils 

curling round a pod 

like little hands