The Magic Circle was founded in 1905 after a meeting of 23 amateur and professional magicians at London's Pinoli's Restaurant. At this founders meeting, chaired by Servais Le Roy, those present decided upon the name of the Society - it was initially felt that the name of the Society should be the Martin Chapender Club, in memory of the noted performer who had recently died. However, it was then agreed that name "Magic Circle" would be more appropriate and that this name shared the same initials as those of Martin Chapender. The first official meeting was at the Green Man public house in Soho, but meetings were later in a room at St George's Hall in Langham Place, where David Devant and John Nevil Maskelyne were regularly seen.
Devant became the first president of the Magic Circle, and in 1906, Maskelyne edited the first issue of The Magic Circular, a regular feature for members ever since. The Magic Circular is now hailed as the longest running regular magic magazine in conjuring history.
The club was men-only until 1991, when a large majority voted to admit women.
No comments:
Post a Comment