and practice . By providing the same questions to each artist it was engaging to see the differences in responses from different nationalities , but also , that they often mirrored each other in artistic perspective .”
Out of two hundred and forty-five interviews , thirty are devoted to women in magic . Sébastien has not noticed any notable differences regarding their abilities , only the struggle they face to establish themselves in an exclusively male world . What stands out to him are , “ women with strong personalities and presence who have a clear direction where they are going to succeed . Female magicians like Carisa Hendrix , Alexandra Duvivier , Roxanne , Josephine Lee , Julie Eng , Laura London , Sue-Anne Webster , Jeannette Andrews , Caroline Ravn , Alana and you .”
Sébastien believes in order to understand what is happening in the magic field you need to reflect on the representations of women in western society over past centuries . He notes it ’ s evident that social conventions and prejudices hampered female entertainers ’ successes .
To quote Sébastien : “ if we could change our binary mentality , to no longer think in black and white , ugly or beautiful , men or women , but rather , human beings , and creative artists we will see our fellow human beings clearly for their actual worth and not through the distorted lens of percentages and quotas .”
As I read that poetic analogy , it made me hope for better times when labels aren ’ t used or needed and we appreciate quality work and quality performance simply for being great . It is improving and it ’ s thanks to people like Sébastien and Paul Romhany , who are making conscious efforts to change pre-existing stereotypes .
I will close with a quote from Sébastien about magics role in the future ;
“ The great strength of magicians ( for centuries ) is their ability to reinvent themselves , to find new solutions and to innovate in order to surprise and astonish audiences again ; to be fully prepared when social gathering is permitted once more and entertainment returns to the mainstream . More than any other discipline we have a duty to generate mystery , reflection and to help people extricate themselves from their desperate reality , through magic creating illogical logic with impossible acts , generating wonder and awe . It is the duty of all magicians to help repair the physical and psychological damages this global epidemic has caused our fellow human beings ”
48 SPECIAL EDITION | 2021