Designer: Robert Harbin

Take It Away was created by Robert Harbin and detailed in the “Magic of Robert Harbin. Owners of this book are authorized to build and perform the illusion.

Take It Away was an important step in between the development of Little By Little and Zig Zag Girl. Harbin confessed it didn’t have a great impact when he debuted the illusion for a crowd of magicians, but considered it important in the development process leading up to Zig Zag Girl.

The assistant steps into a small box and pulls it up around her midsection. The front door of the box is opened showing her midsection. The magician shows a frame with a hole in the back with a ribbon running through it. The assistant places herself (and box) into the frame. The magician then uses two blades to cut the lady into 3 pieces. The midsection box is then completely removed and set on a side shelf. The frame is shown empty and the ribbon can be seen. The magician reaches into the frame and pulls the ribbon through. The assistant’s real head and legs are still visible although her midsection is on the shelf to her side (the front door having been opened to prove it). The box is replaced into the frame, the blades removed, and the assistant emerges unharmed.