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Sawing a Person in Half:


Many of us remember seeing the classic “sawing a person in half” magic trick growing up.


First publicly displayed in 1921 by P. T. Selbit in England, this illusion has become a popular staple in almost any magician’s arsenal. The illusionist brings someone out on stage and has them get into a long narrow box. The audience sees the person’s head and presumably their legs or feet sticking out of respective ends of the box. A saw is lowered, “blades” are inserted at each end of the box, and the box is pulled apart by the magician, displaying for the audience a person that has been “sawed in half”… TA-DAA!


14 | COMMON INTEREST®


Thanks to television shows that reveal magicians’ tricks and the limitless information brought to us by the internet, most of us now have learned that the secret to the trick is usually that there are two people, one in each box; or that the person’s midsection sits outside of the boxes hidden by a part of the table, safely away from the saw and blades. But the first time we saw the trick performed, we’re awestruck by how the person is seemingly cut in half, then put back together again to exit the stage with a wave and a smile.


• Spring 2019 • A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter


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