Sawing A Woman in Half - Famous Performances and Depictions

Famous Performances and Depictions

A number of performances or depictions of sawing illusions have achieved particular fame or notoriety.

• P.T. Selbit's original performances in London in January 1921 were special because the effect was new and shocking to audiences of the time. Such was the impact of Selbit's creation that, for decades afterwards, other magicians would try to emulate and improve on what he had done, thus affecting the course of stage magic history.
• In 1956, Indian illusionist P. C. Sorcar used a buzzsaw to cut his wife in two during a televised performance. Just when he had divided her the host quickly signed off and the show ended. This caused horrified viewers to believe she had accidentally been killed. In reality, it was a live television broadcast and time had run out.
• Live performances by Peruvian magician Richiardi Jr are often cited as the most horrific presentations of a sawing illusion. Richiardi used a buzzsaw prop similar to that employed by Sorcar but he greatly added to the shock value by incorporating fake blood and entrails, which were sprayed over the stage (and sometimes beyond it) as the saw went to work.
• As a teenager Dorothy Dietrich became "distinguished as the first woman to saw a man in half" as reported in The New York Times, and in an article in the Weekly World News entitled Dorothy Dietrich, The First Lady of Magic. Dietrich continues to do this routine with jigsaws, bowsaws, swords, chainsaws on TV (Tomorrow With Tom Snyder) and with celebrities such as Robert Klein, and in live performances, including at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which she founded.
• The 1962 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' depicted sawing a woman in half. The NBC Television Network and sponsor Revlon determined the episode was too gory and chose not to air it.