There have been many contributions, but magicians must realize who is recording and writing the history of magic. Even at the biggest magic conventions there are many entrenched 'old boy' attitudes in place. At these conventions, the women hired to do 'magic' are usually lovely hoop twirlers, acrobats, unique dancers, etc., in tiny outfits. Few, if any, of the performers are working magic professionals. This is certainly not due to a lack of working women magicians!

Change must come from within, from the ranks of male magicians who speak on our behalf. There are just too few female voices. We need our brothers to speak up and make requests that a door be opened and kept open. We have so much to contribute! While conventions don't define women as magicians, the lack of a female presence speaks to the stubborn resistance against our inclusion.

I don't think conventions cater to anyone but hobbyists really. Sure you have the professional ones but then it's the good ol' boy thing you spoke of before. They hire their friends and people they want to see it seems. They seem to aim for the over 40 male. The youth and female demographic tends to be ignored. (One exception is WMS' teen stuff)

Another problem I have seen is many of the female magicians are trying so very hard to prove themselves they blend into the the rank and file of the men. magic is a weird place sometimes.

I think that quite often, women are not good at tooting their own horns, so their achievements and contributions in magic often go unnoticed and they don't receive the credit they deserve. Women also often work behind the scenes in magic and their contributions are then credited to the person who is headlining the act. That being said, I am going to toot my own horn. First of all, an ad for my company, Fabric Manipulation, is at the top of this page. I built the first Twister Illusion and most of the Fabric Manipulation products are my own creations, or what I feel are improved versions of existing effects. I also hand make practically ever product in my line. And it's not just me, there are other women who are also currently contributing new creations to the world of magic... Randi Rain is continually putting out original products and Rachel Wild Columbini has created many original effects. As far as contributing outside of the product realm, Joanie Spina is contributing by directing and improving magic acts all the time. In the past, how can Marian Chavez be overlooked for her massive contributions to dove magic. I don't have time to list all of the performing female magicians I know, but if you look around, you will see many women contributing in wonderful ways to the performance side of magic.

The women that I have mentioned are just a few that I thought of off the top of my head. I'm sure if I sat and thought about it, along with the women that have already been mentioned, the list would be quite long. So, I guess the answer to your original question is YES, many women have contributed and are currently contributing in great ways to the art of magic.

A wonderful short-list, thank you!

People, particularly younger ones today, forget that it hs only been in the last generation or two that women didn't have to hide behind men to have their creations appreciated. The great science fiction writers "Andre Norton" and "James Tiptree Junior" were actually women hiding behind mens names to get their books accepted in the general market.

The fact that women needed to hide behind men, real or made up, in the past has unfortunately hidden their contributions as women to society in general.

Wiz Kid Wilhelmina continues to grow and amaze me with her magic thinking. I am getting ready to release her "Easter Egg Jelly Bean" Surprise trick to close off The Wizards' Journal #20 on my site. Most recently she has decided she wants to write a book of "Magic For Girls" so she can get some of her friends to think about joining the Wiz Kids and playing around with magic. While her cousin Qua-Fiki was coming up with creative ideas for his Sponge Fish, she has been doing the same thing but with a set of colorful rubber jacks. She showed me some of the moves she has been entertaining her friends with on the school playground at recess and I agreed to take a chance that she has a whole bunch of ideas to fill her "Magic For Girls" book. The "Magic Jacks" will be the first chapter in the book which has a holding spot on my site.

She went with the Wiz Kids to the Jersey Magic Jam this past Sunday and charmed Tony Karpinski so much that he gave her two free magic wands AND her own personal Die Box trick (the other fancy walnut with inlayed decorations box she has to share with other Wiz Kids). You can see the photos of the kids at the Jam Here: http://www.wizkidzinc.com/WK2011/JerseyJ......cJam.htm

The Delphian Oracle - One of the Founders of the Q&A and related mentalism acts.

The Witch of Endor - big enough to make the Big Book of Judeo-Christianity (if you take the Big Book to have a historical bent versus allegory)

... not sure if Morgana La Fey truly existed... I'll go see...

Follow-up on my previous post: "Magic Jacks" is turning out to be an entire new field of magic (like sponge balls was a new field back in my youth). I am overwhelmed by the cans of worms (or snakes) that Wilhelmina has unleashed in this one e-Book. There are new sleights, unthinkable with anything but Jacks, a new vanishing principle that applies to any small object covered with an ordinary silk (she calls it "Yankee Hanky"), and it's turning into a textbook on the subject of "Magic with Jacks." I haven't yet even gotten into what she has done with magic for superballs included with the Jacks these days.

In the meantime, I decided it was easier to finish up and release her "Teddy Bear Houdini" effect, once again filled with wonderful new stuff plus another new principle she calls her "Back Loading Cape." Trust me, if you do kid shows, you will be using this one principle from "Hairy Houdini", if not the entire routine. Back to work. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Kitchen Magician?

Wanda my partner, she improved mind reading system. This is a non visible work but verry important and difficult.

Cold reading is created by a woman, I think.

Woman are famous for forecasting future...

Woman are famous as a witch doctor .... (Most being burned because they are thought to be real but infact they just a great magician.

Woman are famous for talking to the dead...(Psychic)

Why is there no record for woman in magic? Because most woman are not taught to write. And most woman don't share their secret with men.

Really??? I would respond to this, but I was never taught to write.

Now, I know better Lynetta. I met you way back in 2002, at the S.A.M. Convention in The Rio.
You are quite the writer and the silky smooth articulator as well.

Please don't hold that barbarian's comment, against the rest of the men, who know better
than to say something so foolish and ignorant.
Dev/

Don't worry Dev, I know that most men don't think like that and if they do, they would never be idiotic enough to say it. Truthfully, I found his comment quite comical, although shocking and a bit scary. What's really sad is that I think he meant it.

At the Magic History Conference Margret Steele gave a wonderful talk on how she recovered Adelaide Herrmann's memoirs. West and I bought a copy of the book, a must for anyone who cares about the history of magic. Her contributions shaped the art of magic as we know it.

I have always credited Charlotte for her very significant work as my partner in "The Pendragons" and remember how important Lynette was in developing illusions and performing with Ed. Her fabric work is the without peer. A personal favorite is her Egg Bag. Your the best Lynette!

Suzy wandas was admired by male and females for her considerable skills , manipulations and sleights.

Char pendragon's grace and beauty combined with her physical strength and control aded incredible drama to their routines.
Her improved handling of the metamorphosis cloth provided the truly instant , nearly visible exchange at the finale'

that on its own merits is a huge contribution to our art.
K.

I never seen a female magician I did not like. Sadly, most all of them performed standard magic, and when I had an opportunity to speak with them, they know very little about magic props.

The one woman that stands out in my mind is Juliana Chen, she was the 1st person and woman to shoot cards in her style and included multiple cards at one time. She also produced a DVD that, for the 1st time explained and showed the proper fingers to use in the production. So this simple technique went from struggling to mastered in a very short time.

I think her contribution is revolutionary to the art.

If there had been as many female magicians over the years as male magicians, there'd be as many female innovators in magic as there have been male innovators.

The real question is why there aren't more female magicians. I assume it's because females in general are not as attracted to magic as males in general...but I have no idea why that is. I'm sure it's been discussed to death before.

Looking at the English skills of the poster I would say that this probably isn't a too far off comment, for him. Remember, there are some cultures out there where woman are not allowed to be educated, and I would say that is reflected in the post.

In the field of kid's magic: I think the 'Popsy-topsy' wand was invented by Trixie Bond.


I'd tell my version of how & why a woman invented the rising wand.....but I don't want to get the piranha-treatment from all the people with hyper-sensetive psyches.

As for the 'barbarian's' post of "Woman are not taught to write", I think he was talking about female magicians in ancient / classical times ( the Delphic oracle etc.) and back then the vast majority of people in general were illiterate.

Finally, regarding why there arent more female magicicans---the sexual barriers set up by Western civilization have only fallen about 65 years ago. When the barriers are up, you only see the occasioanal oddity of a female mage. Now they number in the hundereds, but I think it will still be about 1/2 a generation before they start appearing at an equal rate as males.

Has any woman contributed anything groundbreaking to magic?

Yes, they have to put up with husbands and boy friends that think tricks are more interesting than they are.
(Speaking as a former psychologist, marriage and family counselor)