They tour the UK and overseas, performing their award-winning act and many exciting and daring stunts. "The first lady to be sawn in half was the wife of another magician."ĭanny and Stephanie, who have worked together for the past eight years, got engaged on Christmas Eve during their show at Cromer Pier when the area was still under Tier 2 restrictions. "He offered women £5 to be locked in his wooden box and be sawed in half but he had no takers. "Audiences were used to seeing rabbits pulled out of hats and coins pulled from people's ears, but nothing like this. But when he performed it to the public it caused a sensation. Tibbles had previously demonstrated it to promoters and theatrical agents at St George's Hall in December 1920, who were pretty underwhelmed and sceptical about it being a hit.ĭanny said: "It did not go down too well. Selbit, at the Finsbury Park Empire in north London in 1921.Ī woman was locked inside his coffin-like box as he laboriously sawed through the wood with a big saw.
The illusion was first performed by Percy Tibbles, whose stage name was P. "It's probably the biggest request I get!" "One second out and you'll be in trouble."ĭanny, who is originally from County Durham, explained that getting it wrong could mean injury or the illusion simply not working.Īnd while he would not reveal its secrets, he did say: "It's a complex illusion which depends on everyone and everything working together."ĭanny added: "When I tell people I'm an illusionist the first thing they jokingly say to me is if I could saw their wife or husband in half. "I'm a dancer and the timing involved in being sawed in half is similar to that of ballet. "It's one of the only illusions I do when my head's not inside a box. Stephanie said: "There's always an amazing reaction from audiences. Stephanie says it remains one of the most exciting illusions audiences can see - and that's coming from someone whose shows involve a real helicopter on stage. It is hundred years on Sunday, January 17 that illusionist Percy Thomas Tibbles first sawed through a box containing a woman in front of a public audience.Ī century on, Stephanie and Danny are carrying on the tradition with her in the box as Danny does the sawing.
Would you be willing to be 'sawed in half'? Have your say on this story in the comments here The duo, who make up Amethyst Magic and Illusion, based in the town, also use different shapes and styles of boxes, including clear acrylic boxes, in their shows. Stephanie Clarke, 31, from Boston, and her fiance Danny Hunt, 43, recreate the stunt using hand saws, buzz saws, chainsaws and electric jigsaws. A woman who is regularly 'sawn in half' in a spectacular stage illusion says that it is all about the timing.
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