Although the methods of how to do the “dividing a woman in half trick”, which we can call the indispensable part of magic shows, have diversified over the years, there are several methods that are frequently used.
Let’s take a brief look at its history before examining the methods of how this trick, which goes back a century and terrifies those who see it, is done.
The history of the trick to cut a woman in half isn’t entirely innocent.
The center-split trick was first performed by Percy Thomas Tibbles on 17 January 1921 at the Empire in Finsbury Park, north of London. The show attracted a lot of attention because at that time women were fighting for the right to vote.
Performing the trick of slicing a woman in half shortly after they won the suffrage, Tibbles even invited Sylvia Pankhurst, one of the leading women to fight for their rights, to be her victim, but Pankhrust of course turned down the offer.
Imitated by Horace Goldin months after Percy Thomas Tibbles, this show did not attract much attention when the male victim was used, and women continued to be used again. Over time, the number of people who did the trick increased and the methods began to diversify.
There’s another one in the box!
Horace Goldin immediately applied for a patent in 1921, fearing that other magicians would copy him, so he had to reveal the secret of his trick. The first of the systems included in the patents is as follows:
A never-seen assistant hides in half of the box. The assistant, which is supposed to be cut, enters the other half of the box. When the visible assistant enters the box, the hidden assistant protrudes his feet and these feet appear as if they were the feet of the other assistant. In short, the saw passes between two women and does not touch anyone.
So how does this work with a single assistant?
Another common trick is the assistant is alone. As soon as he enters the box, a secret compartment opens below where he can put his legs, or he folds his legs towards himself in a single box, as in the trick with two assistants.
The feet protruding from the other end of the box are shoddy mechanisms that exhibit real foot movements. Therefore, the assistant must be in shoes.
Over time, many new methods have developed.
In the 100 years since the trick, many new tricks and tools have developed with the work of magicians, technicians and engineers. While some of the magicians keep the secrets of their tricks completely secret, it is possible to find out how many of them did.
Now that we have seen that the split-in-the-middle trick, which is diversified with the use of mirrors and similar mechanisms, is not a big deal, can we say that we will no longer be able to watch it with our mouths open?
- Sources: Mental Floss, The Guardian, Wikiwand
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