In two 900 times.. it any other way
She has been sawn in half more than 900 times but magician Mandy Fletcher said she has never felt a thing.
The 26-year- old third-generation illusionist has also lost count of the number of times her body has become detached from her limbs.
Mandy, who has toured all over the world, is a member of the exclusive Magic Circle, which is celebrating 100 years of the death- defying trick that is loved by audiences.
Mandy, whose grandfather Duncan was also a magician, said: “There is just something mesmerising and intriguing about this illusion. Audiences know it will probably turn out for the best but there is still a fear it might not.
“I spent three seasons in Salou, Spain, as a magician and a magician’s assistant and ended up getting cut in two and dismembered more than 900 times.
“I loved watching the audience as their jaws hit the floor. Me being cut into lots of little pieces was the highlight of every show. All the other illusions could be swapped out but never that one.
“Lucki ly, nothing ever went wrong and I still have all my bits and pieces but that’s down to intense rehearsals and a team of people being involved. It’s such a theatrical trick.”
The illusion – first performed on January 17, 1921, by English magician Percy Thomas Tibbles – became one of her grandfather’s favourite tricks and he’d regularly try it out on al l the family.
Mandy, who joined the Magic Circle at 18, still has the magic box used by her grandad and mum Moira – who is also a magician – in their version of the trick.
The illusionist, from Cardonald, Glasgow, said: “My grandad used to saw his glamorous assistant – my gran Olive – in two and we still have the original trick box.
“I think everyone in my family has been sawn in half at some point in their lives.
“My older brother Graham, who is also a magician, took it into school in first year and cut his head teacher in half in the school talent show, which impressed all the pupils.
“The trick has evolved a lot since Percy first performed it. A huge variety of cutting implements have been used throughout the ages, everything f rom BLAZE OF chainsaws and lasers to GLORY sabres and axes. It won’t date.” Showing Mandy was just 12 months off her old when her grandfather fire-eating passed away but it was old skills photos and footage of him performing that made her fall in love with magic.
She said: “Older-generation magicians will come up to me at the end of shows and tell me how proud he would be of me and that makes me very happy. “My grandpa was also a doctor. He always used to say magic is the best medicine and he did more good as a magician than he did as a doctor.
“He said making them smile rather than just making them better was so important. I have adopted his mantra. I just want to make people smile.
“When I was much younger, I rebelled against the family tradition and trained as a dancer but, to be honest, there was no way I was ever going to escape the magic.
“When I was growing up, my mum had an all-female illusion act called MYSC. When I was 17, I took over where she left off as part of magical trio Ianthe. We toured all over the UK. “Over the years I have done lots of different acts as both a magician and an assistant, performing in Finland and Estonia to name but a few countries. I’ve worked with lots of great illusionists, including High Jinx and Taylor Morgan.
“I’m also a stilt walker and a fire eater. I do a lot of corporate events and every summer I work on a cruise ship in the Baltics. Life is never dull.”
Mandy, who did her first trick aged four, said Covid-19 and lockdown ha taken its toll on her and the rest of the magic community.
The conjuror, who attended her first magic convention in Southport when she was just four months old, said: “I’ve not been working for 10 months. It is awful not being able to entertain folk but, like lots of magicians, I have been busy learning new illusions so, when lockdown is over
,magic fans across the world are in for a treat when all the magicians showcase their new looks.
“It has been a strange and tough year for magicians and performers. Although it has given folk time to perfect skills, there has been no work or money coming in.”
This weekend, to mark the centenary of the sawing-inhalf trick, the Magic Circle is hosting a series of events which will be streamed on Facebook. Debbie McGee will talk about being cut up by her late husband Paul
Daniels, whi le David
Copperf ield wi l l show viewers around his magic museum in Las Vegas.
But Mandy, who like all magicians will never reveal the secret to the trick, said: “I’m not surprised the illusion has stuck around for 100 years and I’m sure it will be here in some form 100 years from now. It’s timeless and so is the thrill it gives.
“I will be watching online with my Magic Circle friends as magicians round the world share their stories about the much-loved illusion and historians delve into its past.
“It’s great to be able to bring a little magic into everyone’s lives at the minute and I am looking forward to the day when I can get back to doing the job I love – making others smile.”
I think in everyone has my family n in been saw half at some their point in lives
SHOWTIME McGee and Copperfield