Zig Zag Girl - Method

Method

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".

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

  1. The black strips down the sides make the box appear narrow. In reality, all that black space is usable. The box accommodates the woman though it's 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; 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.
  3. 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.
  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.

Read more about this topic:  Zig Zag Girl

Famous quotes containing the word method:

    I have a new method of poetry. All you got to do is look over your notebooks ... or lay down on a couch, and think of anything that comes into your head, especially the miseries.... Then arrange in lines of two, three or four words each, don’t bother about sentences, in sections of two, three or four lines each.
    Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)

    ... [a] girl one day flared out and told the principal “the only mission opening before a girl in his school was to marry one of those candidates [for the ministry].” He said he didn’t know but it was. And when at last that same girl announced her desire and intention to go to college it was received with about the same incredulity and dismay as if a brass button on one of those candidate’s coats had propounded a new method for squaring the circle or trisecting the arc.
    Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)

    The method of painting is the natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.... I can control the flow of paint: there is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end.
    Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)