History Main / SawAWomanInHalf

The reasons for its notoriety are explained in detail by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawing_a_woman_in_half The Other Wiki]].

* In ''{{Series/CSI NY}}'', a serial murderer magician, played by Criss Angel, commits his crimes in mockery of magic tricks. He kills one of his victims by sawing her in half for real.

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* The first ''Literature/RedDwarf'' novel had Kryten do this to himself for the crew of the Nova 5 every week after the crash. Subverted in that he really does saw himself in half and takes forty five minutes to reconnect all his circuitry afterwards.

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* In one of the rooms in the Twisted Suites in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'', you can find a box with a saw sticking out of it. Using the Poltergust to move the saw down will cause two Gold Goobs to come out- though there was no indication of there ever being a Gold Goob inside before, it’s still an easy way to get some money.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', where Bender tries to become a magician, he saws Zoidberg in half with human feet sticking out of the opposite end where upon he opens the case, and reveals that he has not been really sawn in half, much to Bender's detriment, and to the disapointment of the rest of the crew.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{ThePowerpuffGirls}}'' episode Abracadaver, the titular villain traps some people in saw-in-half boxes complete with saws hovering over the boxes, cutting them. He soon uses this on Buttercup in retaliation for punching him to a wall.

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Sometimes, the second rectangular blade can get stuck and the magician will pull on the head of the assistant, causing the blade to fall. This is used as a joke on several occasions. A few magicians who love their BlackComedy may have some 'unusual' embellishments to the act: The assistant may fake falling unconscious, shriek when the blades go through her, and on some rare occassions the blades they use have fake "bloodstains" on them when they are withdrawn from the boxes during the restoration. A few might even add fake blood fountains gushing out dramatically as part of the act. Sometimes the dividers get stuck, and the magician has to either take hold of her head or feet and pull, although this gimmick is usually considered tired and is often parodied instead of played straight (at least one version of this black comedy element has the girl able to force the dividers to rise in their slots by straining really hard out of indignation at the magician's rudeness).

Sometimes, the second rectangular blade can get stuck and the magician will pull on the head of the assistant, causing the blade to fall. This is used as a joke on several occasions. A few magicians who love their BlackComedy may have some 'unusual' embellishments to the act: The assistant may fake falling unconscious, shriek when the blades go through her, and on some rare occassions the blades they use have fake "bloodstains" on them when they are withdrawn from the boxes during the restoration. A few might even add fake blood fountains gushing out dramatically as part of the act.

Other stage magician tricks closely related to this classic include the Zig-Zag Lady (Where the girl in the box is divided by having the box slide apart along several pre-determined division points, producing a signature zig-zag shape) and Mis-made Girl (Where the Girl goes into a box that is divided into four parts and the magician initially "accidentally" scrambles her during the first attempt at restoration).

* Music/WarrenZevon's ''For my Next Trick I'll Need a Volunteer'' compares the singer's UnluckyInLove romantic history with that of a stage magician, including a centrally placed Saw A Woman In Half reference:

* In, ''WesternAnimation/{{ThePowerpuffGirls}}''episode Abracadaver, the titular villain entrails some people in saw-in-half boxes complete with saws hovering over the boxes, cutting them. He soon uses this on Buttercup in retaliation for punching him to a wall.

* ''Anime/CaseClosed'': DiscussedTrope, where the setup for the "insert blades into a vertical box from the side" version is explained as "it's actually three lovely assistants pretending to be one", and theorized as the solution for the mystery of the week.

Sometimes, the second rectangular blade can get stuck and the magician will pull on the head of the assistant, causing the blade to fall. This is used as a joke on several occasions. A few magicians who love their BlackComedy may have some 'unusual' embellishments to the act: The assistant may fake falling unconcious, shriek when the blades go through her, and on some rare occassions the blades they use have fake "bloodstains" on them when they are withdrawn from the boxes during the restoration. A few might even add fake blood fountains gushing out dramatically as part of the act.

** This particular trick was discussed on an episode of the ''Radio/MartinMalloy'' radio show, with the hosts noting how David Copperfield's lower half seemed much shorter than it should have bee. This was followed by a discussion of the poor man scrunched up in the bottom of the box, and what a terrible job being David Copperfield's arse would be.

** This particular trick was discussed on an episode of the ''Radio/MatinMalloy'' radio show, with the hosts noting how David Copperfield's lower half seemed much shorter than it should have bee. This was followed by a discussion of the poor man scrunched up in the bottom of the box, and what a terrible job being David Copperfield's arse would be.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In the ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail198.html magic trick]], Strong Bad is asked to create a magic show, including putting Homestar himself in a box and taking a saw to him. As enthusiastic as he is about it, however, he doesn't ''quite'' seem to recognize the reference to the classic trick; when he finally attempts to take a saw to Homestar, he's got him standing upright, wearing a cardboard box with a pair of unconvincing fake arms attached to it. The arms fall off prematurely, interrupting whatever he had in mind, but it's enough to convince Coach Z that he's "a Level 3 Dark Wizard" all the same.
-->'''Coach Z:''' That saw didn't even touch him! He's pure evil!!

* Creator/AliceCooper has a variant of this trick involving his own head and a guillotine. When he performed this on stage in Britain in 1974, incorporating a variant of the "getting it tragically wrong" gambit, excitable UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers ran with the story that he'd killed himself on stage.

Sometimes, the second rectangular blade can get stuck and the magician will pull on the head of the assistant, causing the blade to fall. This is used as a joke on several occasions. A few magicians who love their BlackComedy may have some 'unusual' embellishments to the act: The assistant may fake falling unconcious, shriek when the blades go through her, and on some rare occassions the blades they use have fake "bloodstains" on them when they are withdrawn from the boxes during the restoration.

* Webcomic/{{Precocious}}: Tiffany does the single [[http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/comic/2017/03/24 most unconvincing version]] in history.

* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'' "Scared A Lot In Camelot,", Shaggy and Scooby volunteered for one of these tricks after the magician offered them two free dinners.
** It was done earlier, in the Creator/PhyllisDiller episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies''. Shaggy and Scooby were hiding in one of these boxes when the magician did this trick. When Shaggy's head comes out, so do Scooby's feet. Then they switch ends.
** "Hassle In The Castle" has Velma freaking out as she sees Shaggy in a crate being sawed in half with the lower half walking out. But she then sees the head is a dummy and Shaggy himself was scrunched down in the other half.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'', Shaggy and Scooby volunteered for one of these tricks after the magician offered them two free dinners.

* Played for laughs at Sullah's Sideshow in ''WorldOfWarcraft''. Two [=NPCs=] are practicing the trick with a box containing two pygmies. When the first saws too slowly, the other attacks with a flashy blow, shattering the box and killing both pygmies.

* In the [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad Email]] [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail198.html magic trick]], Strong Bad is asked to create a magic show, including putting Homestar himself in a box and taking a saw to him. As enthusiastic as he is about it, however, he doesn't ''quite'' seem to recognize the reference to the classic trick, as when he finally attempts to take a saw to Homestar, he's got him standing upright, wearing a cardboard box with a pair of unconvincing fake arms attached to it. The arms fall off prematurely, interrupting whatever he had in mind, but it's enough to convince Coach Z that he's "a Level 3 Dark Wizard" all the same.