The lower part, however, is a collection of riggings and secret compartments. The upper part of the apparatus is virtually identical to those used in actual beheadings - including the blade.
Like the buzz saw, the guillotine holds our attention because it employs a real, deadly blade. Once again, “magic” has more to do with contortionism and the ability to squeeze into small spaces than it does extraordinary powers. The blade passes harmlessly through the space between the two people, and then the halves of the table are separated to show the division. The Masked Magician demonstrated the buzz saw trick, revealing that the other halves of two people could indeed be hidden in the legs or platform of a relatively spare table, and the separation between them concealed by a steel band purporting to secure the “victim” to the table. That’s a little less clear - and the tension is certainly greater - when the box is removed and we’re watching a giant rotating blade descend toward a body strapped to what appears to be a bare table. Most of us have long since figured out that when the girl goes into the box, half of her body is being concealed somewhere and another girl is providing the legs and feet. It’s a dramatic trick and one that actually includes an element of real danger, because of the sharp blades employed. Magicians have been sawing their assistants in half for nearly 100 years. Just as David Copperfield drew on an age-old trick to create something more spectacular when he vanished a national landmark, the modern buzz saw trick is a variation on an old standard. After the unveiling, the pillars were draped again and the process reversed to “restore” the Statue of Liberty. Throw in a duplicate set of lights and some showmanship, and the statue “disappears”. The draped pillars remained in front of the audience but were slowly shifted so that the statue of liberty was no longer visible between them. The movement was slow and occurred after dark in an area without visual landmarks.
The pillars were draped so that the statue was not visible during the process. Rather than moving the object, as magicians vanishing small items do, Copperfield apparently moved the audience. Copperfield’s audience, along with the pillars between which the statue could be viewed, stood on a rotating platform. Soon after the giant statue disappeared before our eyes on television (and in front of a live audience), a simple explanation was revealed. Sleight of hand might be employed to make a rabbit disappear, but when the vanishing object is a 225-ton national landmark, it’s not quite so simple. Here are some of the great tricks that have dazzled us, caught us off guard, perhaps even made us wonder for a moment-and then turned out to have a simple, usually mechanical explanation. Perhaps the greatest remaining mystery surrounding the magician’s trade is why it continues to fascinate when so much has been revealed. Then, the proliferation of Internet forums made it even easier to learn magicians’ secrets. When the “Masked Magician” came on the scene decades ago, the hype said that he’d destroy magic forever. Eventually, the truth comes out, and it’s almost always disappointing. After each new trick - and they are tricks - some people speculate about how it was done, while others poke holes in their theories and try to hold on to the illusion. We know it couldn’t really have happened… don’t we? But when that magician appears to make the Statue of Liberty disappear, turns a Bentley into a Lamborghini, or rises into the air before our eyes, it’s a bit more difficult. When the magician pulls an endless scarf out of his closed fist or a bird flies out of an apparently empty hat, it’s easy to accept that it’s a simple trick, a sleight of hand.
When a performer like Criss Angel, David Copperfield or David Blaine wows us with “magic”, most of us know that there’s a logical explanation.
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