The impression that she could not evade the saw was created by the confined space in the box and by ropes tied to her hands, feet, and neck, which were held throughout the illusion by spectators from the audience. Selbit's assistant was locked inside a closed wooden crate and could not be seen. His trick, which he billed as 'Sawing Through A Woman', was significantly different from what a modern audience would expect. George's Hall, London, to try to persuade one of them to book his new act for public shows. In fact Selbit had previously performed the illusion in December 1920 before a select audience of promoters and theatrical agents at the St. Selbit on 17 January 1921 at the Finsbury Park Empire theatre in London. It is generally accepted that the first public performance of a sawing illusion was achieved by British magician P. Wherever the idea originated, until the 1920s it remained just an idea for an effect, rather than a practical application of a method. It was suggested during a court case in 1922 that the trick can be traced back to ancient Egypt however, this claim has not been substantiated. Modern magic inventor and historian Jim Steinmeyer has concluded that there was probably no real Torrini and the story was merely a way for Robert-Houdin to play with ideas. In his Memoirs, written in 1858, Robert-Houdin described a sawing illusion performed by a magician named Torrini. However, it is more likely that the story is a fiction which has its roots in the writings of the famous French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. There remains a debate about the origin of sawing illusions, with some sources saying a magician named Torrini may have performed the first version in front of Pope Pius VII in 1809.

Sawing a woman in half is a generic name for a number of stage magic tricks in which a person (traditionally a female assistant) is apparently cut or divided into two or more pieces.

Selbit performing a version of the trick in 1937

Criss angle magic trick