Zig Zag Girl

The Zig-Zag Girl illusion is a stage illusion akin to the more famous sawing a woman in half illusion. In the Zig-Zag illusion, a magician divides an assistant into thirds, only to have them emerge from the illusion at the end of the performance completely unharmed.

Since its invention in the mid-1960s by magician Robert Harbin, it has been hailed as one of the greatest illusions ever invented due to both the apparent impossibility of the trick, and the fact that unlike many illusions it can be performed surrounded by spectators and withstand the scrutiny of audience members.

Harbin was frustrated by his illusion being pirated by other magicians and this inspired him to publish the method in his book The Magic of Robert Harbin in 1970. The book was limited to 500 copies and owners of the book were granted permission to build or have built the Zig Zag Girl (or indeed any other of the items in the book). The rights to the book and the Zig Zag illusion were then in time passed to The Magic Circle in the wake of Harbin's death. The concept of dividing a lady assistant in two or three parts was something that Harbin experimented with throughout his career before creating his ultimate divide, the Zig Zag Girl. Evidence of his fascination with this concept of dividing an assistant can be found in his earlier publications and the closest relative to the Zig Zag is the "Little by Little" which was also explained in The Magic of Robert Harbin.

Harbin's original Zig Zag Girl illusion is currently on display in The Magic Circle museum.

The effect

The assistant (usually a woman) is placed in an upright cabinet, her face, hands, and left foot visible through openings in the front of the cabinet. Large metal blades are inserted horizontally in the cabinet's midsection, dividing it—and presumably the assistant inside—into thirds. The magician then slides the cabinet's midsection apart from the top and bottom thirds, giving the appearance that the assistant's midsection has been pulled away from the rest of her, giving her a "zig-zag" shape. While divided, a small door on the cabinet's midsection can be opened to examine—even touch—the assistant's body inside, a duty frequently performed by an audience member brought up on stage to help perform the illusion. At the completion of the illusion, the assistant's midsection is slid back into place, the two blades removed, and she steps out of the cabinet unscathed.

Further developments

In recent years, following exposure of the basic illusion by the Masked Magician, a number of magicians have begun performing variations on the basic illusion. In some, rather than the assistant's face being visible through a hole in the front of the cabinet, their entire head projects out of the cabinet through a hole in its upper surface. In another variation, rather than being divided into three pieces, the assistant is instead divided into five - This variation is commonly referred to as the "Five-Way Zig-Zag".

Method

The design of the box creates a usable space (shown in pink) larger than the audience would expect. Black stripes down the front of the cabinet make this space appear narrower, and the blades (shown in red) do not extend all the way across. Apparent ornamenation on the box (shown in green) is hollow inside, providing the performer with more space.

The method of this trick was explained by the Masked Magician, Valentino, as part of a Fox TV series called Breaking the Magicians' Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.[1] The trick hinges on two things: that people will not suspect the woman is actually responsible for the trick, and that the box is larger than it appears. Details are as follows:

  1. Unlike more conventional magic tricks, this illusion relies heavily on the skill of the woman inside, while the magician outside is just a demonstrator. The role reversal helps the illusion, because most people assume the woman is an unskilled assistant of the magician, few will suspect that she is actually in charge of the trick. The success of the illusion rests on the woman's ability to fit into the smallest possible space.
  2. The black strips down the sides make the box appear narrow. In reality, all that black space is usable. The box accommodates the woman (although it is a very tight fit).
  3. The blades are inserted into the right side of the box. It appears as if the blades take up more space; when inserted, the handle fills up the width of the box on the outside: but the blade inside only slices a portion of the box.
  4. The sliding contraption is not as narrow as it seems. Black paint hides a column that gives extra space for the girl. The designer of the box must give the most space to the woman while making it appear as small as possible.

Cultural references

See also

References

  1. ↑ Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, Fox Television, Original broadcast date: November 24, 1997.

External links

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