Long before seeing a woman headline a major magic performance became more common, Dorothy Dietrich was already challenging expectations about what a magician was supposed to look like—and who was supposed to be inside the box.
A classic television clip featuring Dietrich alongside comedian Robert Klein offers a great look back at that groundbreaking period in her career.
Appearing on Robert Klein Time, Dietrich takes one of magic's most recognizable illusions and turns the traditional roles upside down. Instead of appearing as the magician's glamorous assistant waiting to be divided into pieces, Dietrich takes command of the illusion while Klein becomes the one placed in jeopardy.
She saws Robert Klein in half.
It's funny television, but there's also something historically significant happening beneath the comedy.
Turning a Magic Tradition Upside Down
For generations, the "Sawing a Woman in Half" illusion had been one of the defining images of stage magic. The magician was typically a man, while a woman served as the assistant placed inside the apparatus.
Dietrich intentionally reversed that image.
She became known for putting men into the box instead, including celebrity volunteers such as Klein. It was part of a career in which Dietrich repeatedly refused to accept that women in magic belonged exclusively in the assistant's role.
Her appearance with Klein demonstrates how effectively she could make that point without turning the performance into a lecture. The audience simply sees a confident magician controlling the stage while the male television host suddenly finds himself playing the role traditionally given to a woman.
And Dietrich clearly has fun with it.
At one point she jokes to Klein:
"Just think how famous I'll become if this doesn't work."
It's exactly the kind of line that makes the routine work on television—the danger is played for laughs while Dietrich remains firmly in control.
Dorothy Dietrich's Place in Magic History
The Robert Klein appearance represents only one chapter in a remarkable career.
Dietrich became one of the most prominent female magicians and escape artists of her generation, appearing on numerous television programs and specials. She developed an act incorporating stage magic, illusions, escapes and animals, while establishing herself as the star rather than someone's assistant.
Her accomplishments eventually went far beyond sawing men in half.
Dietrich became famous for performing dangerous escapes and was the first woman to successfully perform the Bullet Catch, one of magic's most notorious and dangerous feats.
She also performed an upside-down straitjacket escape while suspended high in the air from a burning rope—continuing a tradition associated with Harry Houdini while establishing an identity entirely her own.
Her connection to Houdini eventually became another major part of her life's work. Along with fellow magician Dick Brookz, Dietrich became closely involved with preserving Houdini's history and operates the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
More Than Just a Funny Television Clip
Watching vintage magic performances can sometimes reveal much more than the trick itself.
This Dorothy Dietrich appearance is a perfect example.
On the surface, it's an entertaining segment featuring a magician, a comedian and a classic illusion.
But viewed decades later, it also captures a magician quietly breaking one of the longstanding stereotypes of the profession.
Dietrich didn't walk onto the stage as Robert Klein's assistant.
Robert Klein became hers.
That simple reversal helped make an important statement: a woman didn't have to be the person getting into the box.
She could be the magician running the show.
And Dorothy Dietrich certainly was.
Watch Dorothy Dietrich and Robert Klein
Check out the vintage clip below to see Dorothy Dietrich turn the tables on Robert Klein and perform this classic piece of television magic.
Watch: “Dorothy Dietrich on Klein and Out”
For students of magic history, clips like this are worth preserving. They don't just show us how magic was performed on television—they remind us of the performers who helped change what audiences expected a magician to be.
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