Split Image is a standing sawing in half illusion devised in the mid-1980s by magician Mark O'Brien.
It is considered to be the direct predecessor to the more famous Modern Art standing sawing illusion devised in 1995 by Jim Steinmeyer. It includes many of the features later included in Modern Art, but has the disadvantage that for part of the performance, the assistant is completely concealed from view. This is unlike Modern Art, where their face, hand and feet are continuously visible throughout the performance.
For many years, it was performed exclusively by O'Brien. In 2019, he offered copies of the illusion for sale for the very first time.
Performance[]
The magician introduces a tall vertical box, the front of which is made up of three doors. The upper and lower doors are equally sized, being tall but narrow, while the middle one is vertically narrow, but extends the full width of the box. The doors are opened, and a female assistant enters the box and stands facing forwards. The magician then closes the doors and latches them shut, locking the assistant inside. With the doors closed, the assistant is completely hidden from view.
A large metal blade is then driven through the side of the box, in line with the middle of the centre door, cutting the assistant in half through her waist. The upper half of the box, comprising the upper door and the upper half of the centre door, is then slid sideways onto an adjacent table, completely separating the two halves of the assistant. The upper and lower doors are then opened to show the assistant still standing within the box, but clearly divided in two. Matching doors on the rear of the box are then opened, allowing the audience to see right the way through the box.
With the doors closed, the box halves are then slid back together, the blade removed, and the doors opened to allow the now restored assistant to exit the box.
Notable Performances[]
As this is a very rare illusion, not many performances have been recorded.
Mark O'Brien performs Split Image on actress Brandy Fox.
The 2011 movie Walking Through Fires was based on Mark O'Brien's own story of how he had recovered from two devastating and mysterious fires that destroyed most of his illusions shortly before the opening of his headline show in 1999. In this movie, O'Brien played himself and performed a number of illusions. This included a performance of his original Split Image sawing (which had survived the 1999 fires) on actress Brandy Fox, who had been cast to play his wife and principal assistant Clarissa.
On April 1 1989, O'Brien appeared on kids TV channel Nickelodeon on the premiere episode of Total Panic, performing Split Image and other illusions.[1]
In 2000, while appearing at the Miami Dade County Fair and Expostion, O'Brien performed his Split Image sawing on singer Gloria Estefan.
Kristy Swanson sawed in half in Grapevine.
Also in 2000, O'Brien acted as magic consultant for episode 5 of the TV show Grapevine, during which actress Kristy Swanson was sawed in half in a performance of Split Image. The magician in this episode was played by actor Michael Weatherly, who later went on to star in NCIS and Bull.
