Esme Levante Annie Bert & Marcalbert Celeste Evans

In the 1920s and 1930s performances by female magicians are documented with Geri Larsen , Dell O ' Dell , Koringa , Joan Brandon ( 1914-1979 ), Lady Francis ( Frances R . Francis ), Rita Del Gardi and Mystic Mora .

Geri Larsen ( Geraldine Larsen Baker Jaffe , 1906-1998 ) was the first woman to present magic on television in the United States in 1939 . She founded the first organization of female magicians in 1936 and in the same year created the Genii Magazine with her husband William W . Larsen , Sr .

Dell O ' Dell ( Odella Newton , 1897-1962 ) is considered as a pioneer who serves as a model for future modern magicians . She was one of the first magicians to have her own television show , The Dell O ' Dell Show ( 1951 ), long before Mark Wilson . She was the only female member of the Magician Guild established in 1938 . She took magic very seriously and when a magician told her that a girl cannot learn magic Dell O ' Dell broke the magic-code and asserted herself into the male profession . She did not hesitate to play on the clichés of the housewife who turns into a magician , as is noted on her book ’ s cover On both sides of the footlights ( 1946 ).

Koringa ( Renée Bernard , 1913-1976 ) was one of the very few fakir women magicians in the world performing on stage . A dancer by training , she learned the trade from the sulphureous fakir and hypnotist Blacaman ( Pietro Aversa , 1902-1949 ). She took the form of a child magician raised by Hindustani fakirs and became Koringa in 1938 . Dressed in a vahine loincloth , she danced half-naked on broken glass , climbed barefoot up a ladder made of tapered sword blades and performed levitation . She also hypnotized reptiles and crocodiles .

In the 1940s and 1950s , we find more women embedded in the magical landscape , like Yolande Cartis ( Sébastianna Casini , 1920-2017 ) Cleopatra or Janet Heath .

Esme Levante ( 1921-1989 ) was the Levante ’ s daughter , she performed , at the age of five in her father ' s shows and became their co-star in 1942 . She developed her own solo general magic act and specialized in escapology from 1954 until her retirement in 1968 .

June Merlin ( June Elizabeth Cochrane , June McComb , 1920-2007 ) began magic when she met Billy McComb in 1942 who created a number for her that included ropes , billiard balls and popular accessories of the time . Together they won an IBM competition in 1949 . June helped Robert Harbin develop and create his Zig Zag Girl Illusion , as an assistant and with the illusions functional design .

Celeste Evans ( 1931-2017 ) performed in public from the age of 10 . She was one of the first women to practice dove magic . She worked in night clubs and traveled the United States in traveling shows .

Annie Bert ( Lady Masking , Huguette de Lysiole ) won the first prize for female magicians at the FISM in 1951 with a manipulations act . She worked at the Musée Grévin ’ s Cabinet Fantastique in Paris between 1958 and 1969 .

Elizabeth Warlock , Peter Warlock ’ s daughter , was the youngest magician and the first woman to win the IBM ' s British Ring Shield in 1953 .

30 SPECIAL EDITION | 2021