Magicians mark a century of sawing people in half

LONDON: He came, he sawed, he conquered. 100 years ago yesterday, illusionist P.T. Selbit put a woman in a box on the stage of London’s Finsbury Park Empire and sawed right through the wood, creating a magical classic.

Magicians from around the world got together online to celebrate the centenary of that landmark performance.

‘‘This took off and became the most influential and the most famous illusion, in my opinion, that there’s ever been,’’ said magician and historian Mike

Caveney who is writing a book on the illusion.

‘‘The magician wasn’t doing this trick to an inanimate object. He was doing it to a human being, which raised it up to a whole new level.’’

In the original version, the saw went through, the box was opened and the person emerged unharmed.

Down the years, magicians developed refinements, with the two halves pulled apart. Celebrity magician David Copperfield came up with his own version, ‘‘the death saw’’, where he was the one tied down to a platform as a giant rotary blade sliced him in two.

Sometimes he actually got injured, Copperfield said in an interview filmed for yesterday’s online event.

‘‘I got cut a few times by the blade because the blade was a little bit off, you know, stages are different every theatre you have,’’ Copperfield said.

The Londonbased Magic Circle organisation will hosted the celebrations with a livestreamed event. — Reuters