Sawing a Woman in Half | The Book

[@EruditeMagic]

📬 My Favorite Magic Letters ▶ kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHqcfYR6rtCInZo

[@tommarquette9706]

Just got Faro Notes by Marlo from Don's. Thanks for highlighting this useful resource.

[@EruditeMagic]

Of course! Don and I have worked together for quite some time now, and I really respect the business he's built. Glad to hear that others are recognizing it as well 👍

[@twatmunro]

Caveney's books are all awesome. There was something I read quite recently about the dispute over the Zig Zag woman that was a pure delight.

[@EruditeMagic]

You're 💯 right about Caveney's books!

[@ScottRSmith1964]

Thank you for this show! See you this week.

[@EruditeMagic]

See you soon, Scott!

[@waynewright2939]

I really like your take on originality. I have had similar thoughts and like the idea that a performance piece is never really finished. I have read the sawing book and think it is a phenomenal book. Though all Mike Caveney books are great and useful for learning the history of our art! Great review 😀

[@EruditeMagic]

Thanks, Wayne! Mike writes some great books. The Classic Correspondence series is one of my favorites to read as I wind down for the day.

[@RobertBallMagician]

Looks like a fantastic history book on this subject. Wonderful review 👍😊👍😊

[@EruditeMagic]

Thanks, Robert!

[@MurshidIslam]

8:28 In Jim Steinmeyer and Peter Lamont's book "The Secret History of Magic", they wrote, "To this day, it’s difficult to understand the wild success of Sawing a Woman in Half. On some level, it was just another illusion, even one that had been described in a book fifty years earlier. But it was not only a unique hit with the public; it also established a specific fashion in magic. The illusion was a thinly disguised act of torture-indeed, an act of murder-presented within a conjuring act. Significantly, the success of this illusion, in 1921, happened to perfectly correspond with a new fashion in popular culture, portraying the woman as the victim. This can be clearly seen in motion picture serials, which presented weekly episodes ending in cliffhangers: the lady tied to railroad tracks or threatened by a buzz saw, only to be saved by her hero in the opening minutes of the next installment. When these sensational scenes were first created, in stage melodramas from the 1860s to the 1890s, there was no set formula; often a man was imperiled and a woman saved him. By the time of film serials, from 1915 to 1920, however, the roles had been firmly established, and the woman was the victim. In Britain and the United States, these years perfectly corresponded to increasingly violent protests by women’s groups, demanding the right to vote."

[@EruditeMagic]

Great perspective - thanks for sharing!

[@magstigman5838]

Excellent again! 👏👏👏

[@EruditeMagic]

Thanks, Mag! Glad you enjoyed the show 👍

[@richardrubin2192]

Another great review! I need this book in my life.

[@EruditeMagic]

Thanks, Richard! Hope you get a copy 👍

[@georgeyounts9391]

Thanks for another great review. Would have loved seeing you pretending to saw a book, or several magic books, in half in a cheeky fashion via a MOS Montage. Then the comical button at the end of you with the hand saw would have had a little more (sorry for the pun) cutting edge to it ;)

[@EruditeMagic]

😆👍 thanks for the comment, George! I like your idea, so it's too bad you weren't in the pre-production meeting of the minds 😉

[@Davlavi]

Interesting I wonder if the trick has lost popularity currently?

[@mathmusicstructure]

I have no doubt that it is well written and interesting, but I find it hard to find gore illusions. I didn't love them before, but after I cut my hand on a table saw for real, the shine is really off the penny for me. (don't worry it was just a graze, and there were no serious lasting effects, although that wasn't obvious right away)

[@EruditeMagic]

Sorry to hear about your history. I don't believe there are any gory illustrations, however 🤷🏻

[@mathmusicstructure]

@@EruditeMagic Hey np thanks for the info didn't mean to make it heavy.

[@EruditeMagic]

No worries! 👍

[@mandrakedas2121]

I want to get this book , How may I get it ? at Kolkata ( WB)India . Who is the publisher? Please help . Online available? For sale.

[@EruditeMagic]

Mike Caveney is the publisher. Vanishing Inc has it in stock 👍

[@shannonsmith297]

Classic