Thursday, December 13, 2012

Magic Posters #6

9 comments:

Chic Silber said...


1920 by Moody Bros

Ole Whitey said...

Horace Goldin (then Hyman Goldstein) arrived here in Nashville as a boy from the old country unable to speak but a few words of English. He lived with his cousins over their store and later went on the road as a salesman before becoming a magician.

He invented the illusion of sawing a woman in half and had several units out playing vaudeville and presenting the sawing.

Later after many magicians started copying the illusion he developed a version in which the lady was sawed by a buzz saw without being in a box.

He appeared before kings and queens of several countries and advertised himself as "The Royal Illusionist."

Chic Silber said...


In 1978 I worked on "The Incredible

World Of Magic & Illusion" at "The

Village Gate" in Greenwich Village

The featured illusionist was Aldo

Izquierdo the worked as "Richiardi"

& did the most spectaculay buzz saw

routine with his beautiful daughter

Much bovine innards & stage blood

was spewn everywhere (including some

of my black velour masking drapes)

He was truly a master of his craft

Chic Silber said...


Izquierdo's father was from Lima Peru

& was also an illusionist that worked

as "Richiardi The Great"

Bob Momyer said...

Chic,

I saw that buzzsaw illusion when the show played in Philadelphia. The effect was so strong that when he invited people in the audience to come on stage for a closer look, some actually became ill. Tht's real magic.
Bob Momyer

Chic Silber said...


His daughter wore a custom stainless

belly pan that held a plastic bag of

bovine guts soaked in formaldehyde

along with pouches of stage blood

The stench was part of the gimmick

(She must have weighed 90 lbs or so

soaking wet but still looked great)

The overhead swing saw with a large

open blade noisily sliced through it

Chic Silber said...


That show also had a young Dutch

fellow named Ger Copper who was 1 of

the most amazing finger magicians

Ole Whitey said...

It was said that during Goldin's early days he carried a litho of the magician Herbert Albini around with him and would tack it on his hotel room wall to in spire him.

Jay Kirwan said...

Percy Tibbles ( P.T. Selbit) created the first sawing in half illusion in London, almost as quickly, imitators sprung up everywhere.
It was Goldin who separated himself from the pack with his Buzz Saw Illusion.
I recall also that he had an ambulance parked outside the theatres he was showing (just in case!).
Showmanship, some got it, some don't!