Perhaps a repost, but I came across this wiki entry: http://celebrity.wikia.com/wiki/The_Holly_Box
This sounds like quite a spectalucar version of Copperfields Blade (sawing lenghtwise). As to the Criss Angel interpretation I am not sure he would hesitate to manipulate with the camera. As for the interpretation of Harary, this was supposedly done during a British TV broadcast of a live on stage gala performance in 2007. Could only be done I think with twin assistants.
As this is a quite innovative illusion yet I have found no footage of it, I 'm starting to think the author made the whole thing up. Anyone seen it?

Scouring the net for video- I'd very much like to see this one.

I think this is a hoax made up by the author; there's no other references outside the site you linked; the site provides no sources, and an illusion like that, broadcast on TV (and performed by someone with as dedicated a following as Criss Angel), would be all over YouTube by now.

A little more fact checking- Harary didn't even perform in the Royal Variety Performance 2007. This story is definitely not true.

On a side note, I think I figured out a method to actually do this that doesn't involve twins; I'm just not sure how convincing it would be.

I think you're right about this being a hoax. Because of the nature of the illusion and the well-known performers, and you can hardly call British national tv a local network. But someone has done a lot of effort to try and convince us otherwise. Look at this website for instance: http://www.tv.com/holly-willoughby/person/263373/trivia.html (containing a bio of Holly Willoughby, the supposed 'assistant'). It states that Franz Harary was indeed performing the illusion during the Royal Variety Performance 2007 and Criss Angel appeared in the edition of The Morning on 14 november 2006. Or did he? The page even contains a quote from Willoughby:
"Holly: (On being sawed in half lengthways by Criss Angel) While I'd been sawed in half the usual way, through my waist, plenty of times before, being sawed lengthways was definitely a first for me. And when I watched the footage back and saw myself there in two pieces with the huge saw going right through me, even I couldn't believe it. But that's what you expect with Criss - You know he's going to push the limits. It's just a little unsettling when you know you're going to be his victim and he first tells you what it is he's got planned for you!!"

Though Harary is listed on the cast of the RVP 2007 in the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067085/ ), there is no trace of him on the official site of this show. Perhaps because this is the only site without user generated content??

So, unless there is any footage or other convincing evidence from British television (and there must be a lot of British members on this forum), we can conclude it was all made up (and so we may even see this as a illusion by itself). Surprisingly a lot of other wiki-like websites have copied the story one way or another.

So that might leave you as the first performer to come up with a convincing interpretation. I still find it hard to believe that it can be done at all, because of the distinct halves you end up with, but I'm always interested to be amazed.

I delved into this too and here's why I think it's a hoax:

The author first described the costume. Why? There's no need to describe a costume when explaining a performance unless the costume is part of the trick.

Second, he describes the saw blade as being 5 feet long, then says that the blade goes from below her head to her crotch. If this is true, then based on the blade, she must be close to seven feet tall.


As far as calling it the Holly Box, Franz did that with his slicer calling it his Janet box because he used it in the Janet Jackson tour, I don't believe Franz would name it after someone who is going to be a one time assistant (According to the story, Criss Angel is going to use it on his new girlfriend Holly Madison, the box name came in prior to January of 2009 {first edit of the story}, Crissand Holly broke up in February of 2009. I don't think Criss would be willing to show a girlfriend of only three months an elaborate illusion like this one.

My two sense,
VJ

Yes, sounds fishy... Joe Labero has performed a sawing very similar to this, though the box was not translucent, but it was a big circular blade that went between his legs. Maybe that's where the writer got his inspiration from.

Yet another side note- if you search the related link "Celebrities who've been sawed in half", you'll find a bunch of additional fiction. Sounds like someone's desperately following Stephen Colbert's axiom and attempting to bring their various sordid fantasies to life... but no, you can not actually change reality by making stuff up on the internet. (Zoe Salmon's "Please Saw Zoe In Half" campaign indeed...)

Yep- best policy: source it or it never happened.

What you call" Copperfield 's Blade" is basically the Ovette 's Idea on this effect