Zig Zag Girl

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The Zig-Zag Girl illusion is a magic trick akin to the more famous sawing a woman in half illusion. In the Zig-Zag illusion, a magician divides his or her assistant into thirds, only to have the assistant 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 close scrutiny of audience members.

Because of the manner in which the illusion is achieved, it is generally performed with a female assistant, and there are limitations on her height and weight. Some of these issues are overcome in Modern Art, an illusion created by Jim Steinmeyer.

[edit] The Effect

Magician Robert Harbin and assistant (inside cabinet) demonstrate his Zig-Zag Girl illusion publicly for the first time, with the aid of an astonished audience member.

The illusion has been performed by countless magicians over the years.

The assistant (usually a woman) is placed in an upright cabinet, her face, hands, and left foot visible through openings in the cabinet's front. Large, metallic blades are inserted horizontally in the cabinet's mid-section, dividing it--and presumably the assistant inside--into thirds. The magician then slides the cabinet's mid-section apart from the cabinet's top and bottom thirds, giving the appearance that the assistant's mid-section has been pulled away from the rest of her, giving her a "zig-zag" shape. While divided, a small door on the cabinet's mid-section 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 mid-section is slid back into place, the two blades removed, and she steps out of the cabinet unscathed.

The method of this trick was exposed by the Masked Magician, Valentino, as part of a Fox TV series called "Breaking the Magicians' Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed". Valentino was assisted by Michelle Berube.

How the trick is performed.

The trick hinges on two things: 1) People will not suspect the woman is actually responsible for the trick, and 2) The box is larger than it appears.

1. The black strips down the sides make the box appear more narrow. In reality, all that black space is empty and usable. The box accommodates the woman better than it appears to (though not by much - it's still a very tight fit).
2. The blades are inserted into the right side of the box. It looks like the blades take up more space because the handle is much wider than the blade; 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. To hide this, the blades are filmed going into the box from the side, not from the front or back.
3. The sliding contraption is not as narrow as it seems. Black paint hides a large column that gives space for the girl to squeeze into. The designer of the box must give the most space to the woman while making it appear as small as possible.
4. 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 just a helpless tool for the magician, few will suspect that she is actually in charge of this trick. The success of the illusion rests on the woman's ability to fit into the smallest possible space.