Women in Magic

While it is true that printing up business cards and investing in a set of linking rings does not make one a magician, there are certainly worse things in life than having a brief fling as a conjurer. So meet Marietta Poole, who can represent all her sisters who never achieved great success in magic.

While Dell O’Dell would be an obvious choice for this installment, I’ve already written about her life and career, so come and meet a magician with Irish heritage and a lively onstage persona (several of them, in fact).

Lupe embodies the diversity of talents those of her gender bring to magic. A skilled close-up artist, a successful business person and a highly accomplished builder—these are but a few of the incredible skills Lupe Nielsen offers the magic community.

It was tough to pick just one. I could feature thousands of performers who have assisted magicians, and each one would have a separate story to tell. But to stand in for them all, I’ve selected Velvet Mandrake, who for nearly forty years worked alongside one of our most celebrated illusionists, Mandrake the Magician.

Women have done quite a bit of fortune-telling, crystal-gazing, and mind-reading, especially during the vaudeville era. Many were flash-in-the-pan acts, but one who lasted for over fifteen years—often as a headliner—was Leona LaMar, “The Girl with 1,000 Eyes.”

Name rings a bell? Many magicians have been part of magical families, and this magician was daughter-in-law to Louis “Pop” Krieger, who famously charmed high-society audiences in New York. Norma’s husband, Willie Krieger, was also a magician and Punch puppeteer, and her brother-in-law was the legendary “Coney Island Fakir,” Al Flosso .

Gloria Jerome was not just a pretty face. She was genuinely talented with cards, billiard balls, cigarettes, ropes, and silk magic. While, of course, she used her appearance to her best advantage, the “Charming Little Faker” flourished on the night club circuit for several years, offering solid and lively entertainment.

Find out how an off-putting first encounter with magic transformed—as if by magic—Maria Ibáñez's long career in magic. After rediscovering magic through her son's interest, almost overnight, Maria the magician was born.

It’s clear that all female magicians who came afterward stand on the shoulders of Madame Herrmann (1853-1932), whose lavish stage show was graceful, elegantly costumed, and mysterious.