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As befits any act of magic, its origins are somewhat mysterious.
But, while there are versions that claim the trick is from ancient Egypt, and others that it was first performed before Pope Pius VII in the early 19th century, there is a consensus. general on the fact that they have little basis.
What is documented is that 100 years ago, British magician PT Selbit was the first who brought an assistant into a wooden drawer as part of his act, closed the drawer and proceeded to saw it in half, in front of a stunned audience.
It happened at Finsbury Park Empire Theater in London, January 17, 1921.
The Woman Divided in the Middle Tower became a boom in the 1920s and has become one of the most iconic magic tricks of all time.
A century later, it is still part of the repertoire of many illusionists, even if today’s act is often quite different from the one with which Selbit fascinated his audience.
Sawn woman
The act that Selbit called “Sawing a woman“consisted of bringing an assistant into a wooden box a little larger than a coffin.
The woman entered with her hands and feet tied. Selbit closed the box, keeping the woman out of sight.
Then he would take a saw and start to see the drawer in the middle.
The trick ended when he reopened the drawer, revealing that the assistant was still intact.
In the many imitations that followed, the act became even bolder, with special drawers revealing the head, hands and feet of the attendant who was allegedly mutilated.
Eventually, the drawer was directly shut down and the attendants were “sawed off” for all to see.
But at PT Selbit – whose real name was Percy Thomas Tibbles and used a backwards version of his last name as his stage name – not only is he credited with being the first to perform the sawn woman act in public.
It is also considered that with its fold, it marked a new era of illusionism which, moreover, have important cultural repercussions.
The role of women
According to American magic expert Jim Steinmeyer, who has written extensively on the history of the profession, the huge success of Selbit’s new trick was not only related to his mind, but also to his timing.
Steinmeyer argues that the public, who had been psychologically beaten after World War I (1914-18), was tired of traditional magic tricks and they longed for something new, to surprise them.
In his book Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible, Steinmeyer points out that the Selbit show has also created a new trend: that of attractive and vulnerable assistant assistant.
Until then, it was common for men and women to help wizards in their actions.
But the voluminous dresses of the Victorian era made it difficult for a woman to participate in an illusion that required her to enter a confined space, like a drawer.
The revealing new fashion of the 20s was a game-changer, making it common to include alluring women showing off their legs at shows.
Steinmeyer says that after the success of Selbit’s trick “the image of the woman in danger has become a specific fashion in entertainment“.
Suffragettes
Some argue that there was another reason related to women as to why this new tip became so popular.
One of the hottest topics in the UK in 1921 was the women’s suffrage.
After decades of struggle, the suffragette movement, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, had successfully passed a law in 1918 allowing women over 30 to vote under certain circumstances.
While this was not enough for the suffragists – they continued to demand an unconditional equal vote until they got it in 1928 – a significant part of society opposes women’s suffrage.
According to Noel Britten, president of Magic Circle, one of the oldest magic clubs, the controversy over women’s suffrage played a role in the popularity of the Selbit thing.
“For every person who thought it was cool for women to get the vote, would there be other people who thought it was cool to put a woman in a box and cut her in half?” , He told The Guardian newspaper.
The truth is that the Selbit fuels controversy.
Academic Naomi Paxton, head of the Magic Circle’s Equality and Diversity office, tells how the magician invited Christabel Pankhurst, daughter of Emmeline and another famous suffragist, to be his assistant during the act of the sawn woman.
This happened after Pankhurst ran a newspaper ad seeking “paid, non-political work.”
Unsurprisingly, Pankhurst declined the offer.
Elusive fame
Despite the enormous popularity of Selbit’s novel, the British magician failed to capitalize on his fame.
Mainly because others have taken his idea and even improved it.
One of those emulators was American magician Horace Goldin, who, months after Selbit presented his act in London, created his own version for audiences in his country.
Goldin was the first to show the wizard’s head, hands, and feet during the illusion.
But he also had another genius: patent your act, preventing others from imitating him.
So when Selbit began a tour of the US to present his highly successful show in the UK, he found that he couldn’t even use the original name of the gimmick.
Goldin had patented the title “Sawing a Woman” and several others like it. In the end, the British magician had to be content with calling his famous trick “The Divided Woman”, which had much less impact.
Although he tried to sue Goldin, the court determined that the American thing was different enough to be considered different.
This surely explains why few of us have heard of PT Selbit, even if his magical act is still popular a century later.
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