Cutting a cigarette in Half

A cigarette is placed in the tube and the cap placed on it. The tube is only just long enough to hold the cigarette. When the magician takes a razor blade and pushes it right into the slit which is half way along the tube, it is clear that the cigarette must be cut in half. To prove this, the magician swivels the two ends of the tube apart, as shown in one of the illustrations here, and the spectators are able to look inside and see one half of the cut cigarette. When the two halves of the tube are put together and the cap removed, the cigarette is tipped out unharmed and the tube may be examined.