The 1920's were one of the most incredible times for performers in the history of America. Vaudeville was at its zenith and had started the careers of such as Bob Hope, Charlie Chaplin, Harry Houdini, and so many others. One particular performer, whom I'm sure you've never heard of, performed a feat of illusion so realistic and disturbing that it is still remembered today.
"Sawing a Woman in Half" was a very recent invention, having been invented by British magician and illusion creator, P.T Tibbles. Tibbles, who performed under the non-de-plume, Selbit, had first exhibited his creation in England in 1921. In 1923, a little known illusionist and hypnotist, Raja Raboid, created what is still considered to be one of the best versions. Raboid would request the assistance of some man from the audience to come to the stage whereupon he would enter a large wooden box. The general idea was that, once inside, the box and the man would be sawn in two somewhere around the man's waist, the two halves of the box separated to show them separately, then they would be placed back together and the man leaving the box completely restored.
Raboid's version went awry. The young man came to the front and entered the box. The sawing ensued and the two halves of the box were separated for the denouement. That was when things began to go wrong. The box with the bottom half of the body opened and the legs jumped out and began to run away. The top half of the box opened and out jumped the top half of the young man who ran (very quickly one might say) on his hands in order to catch the torso. The bottom half was finally captured and placed into the box, all while the top half, screaming threats of a lawsuit, were place into the other half. The boxes were closed, the "magic" performed, and the young man stepped from the box completely whole and reassured that there would be no after affects from the event.
Raboid had intended this to be light and playful, but instead the site was greeted by shrieks, screams and fainting from the audience. Though many have forgotten the name of Raboid, the young men...yes, men...who performed with Raboid have not been forgotten. I will not divulge the secrets to Raboids methods, but the more clever of you might be able to figure this out from the photograph below of Robert Eck (the taller) and his brother Johnny Eck (taken when they were children)...forever known in magic as "The Eck Brothers".
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