I read an interesting article this morning speculating about why there are so few female magicians. I'm not a magician, but I often find myself in magic discussions with my friend Kendall Scot - a truly gifted magician and expert on magical lore. (Apparently, that whole "pledge, turn, prestige" explanation in the movie The Prestige? Total crap.)
According to the article, women only make up about 5 percent of membership in magic clubs and performance, even though women outnumber men in most other realms of performance such as dancing, singing, and acting. Is it because women just aren't as interested in magic? Is it because magic is still an old boys' club? Read the article. It's interesting.
By the way, here's a link to Kendall Scot's website.
1 comment:
Thanks for the plug Brady!
I've often wondered the same thing myself. There are a few posts in the “Magic Café” forums regarding this very subject:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=248902&forum=220&start=0
Honestly though, I really believe it is all upbringing and perception. When we were growing up, boys would most likely try out magic stuff as a hobby. Girls rarely did so. From the hobby, the spark of interest was kindled. (In my case, it was obsession.) You would hardly ever think of getting something like a "Magic Set" or "Kit" for a young girl. Yet every boy who has ever lived has received one in some fashion.
However, the tides are changing. More and more women and young girls are finding the art of magic and they are WONDERFUL!! There is one Brazilian girl magician who had a video on YouTube who did the most incredible coin magic I have ever seen! She fooled be completely. She has since removed the videos because she says they were not good enough to show... Bullpucky!!! She removed them because so many idiots and troglodytes posted extremely sexist and downright disgusting things about her because she was a "girl doing a man's job".
It sickened me.
Another thing about this puzzles me... People always talk about female magicians needing male assistants. There is nothing sexual in 99% of magic acts. Why can't a female magician use female assistants? David Copperfield uses both male and female assistants throughout his entire act. As does Lance Burton in Las Vegas… And many others.
My idea of a fantastic comedy act would be to have a woman magician on stage doing illusions while her assistants were male models wearing Speedos and "pasties"... It would be a hoot!
Thanks again for having a post about the red-headed step-child of the Theater industry! It always seems to me that Magic is to Theater what accordions are to classical music…
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