I have already briefly mentioned Franz Harary “Split Girl In Half” illusion in “Franz Harary Walking Through A Woman Illusion Secret Revealed” post.
In that post, I have already exposed and explained the trick secret, how to make another girl appeared.
I touched on this pulling the girl in half illusion, is because Franz Harary uses the similar method which I called it the deceptive move for both acts.
Without this ruse, both this stage illusions are not possible.
Those who want to know how this stage trick works, then welcome to another post from the Info Ruckus Magic Trick Secrets Revealed series.
Watch the “Split A Girl In Half” illusion performance.
Franz Harary Split Girl In Half Illusion Secret
This performance uses two confederates or stooges to hold up a large piece of cloth to produce another girl.
The two guys are confederates in the act, and not total strangers.
They are planted audience members, who are part of the trick.
From 0:43, Franz Harary pretends having difficulty straightening the cloth.
Actually he is allowing time for the second girl to get up from the trapdoor, near where the first girl is standing.
The second girl sneaks up most likely from a trapdoor to the girl on stage just after Harary properly lifts up the cloth.
She is waiting to use her left arm to simulate as the first girl’s left hand.
Why I think it is probably a trapdoor, is when Harary gingerly steps down away from the step ladder, and he keeps looking at the stage floor.
Deceptive Move
The switching of the girl’s hand is when the confederate or stooge on the right pretends to lift up the cloth at the wrong spot at 0:50 to 0:55.
That brief moment both the confederate’s hand and the first girl’s left hand are completely hidden away by the cloth.
This is when he let go of the first girl’s left hand and quickly holds the second girl’s left hand.
When he drops the cloth down to reveal his hand, he is actually holding the left hand of the second girl.
Then it is all set to perform the splitting the girl in half act.
The intended effect is splitting a girl in half, but the actual trick is making another girl appears.
Psychology Of Split Girl In Half Illusion
Now let’s talk about the psychology of this magical illusion.
Most of the audience would overlook the fleeting moment, when both the male assistant and the girl’s hand are totally blocked off by the cloth.
It is because they are focusing on the performance, and furthermore the deceptive move is casual and swift.
It is called inattentional blindness.
inattentional blindness is a psychological phenomenon, that occurs when one fails to notice fully-visible unexpected object or event.
It’s a result of the brain’s selective attention, which means it can only focus on what it expects to see or happen.