Magicians Mount Search for Woman Behind Decades-Old Deception

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Europe|Magicians Mount Search for Woman Behind Decades-Old Deception

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/world/europe/magic-circle-woman-london-lloyd.html

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A British society of magicians expelled a woman for tricking her way into the club in 1991. Now it wants to invite her back, but the woman seems to have pulled a disappearing act.

The Magic Circle, a society of magicians, expelled a woman who had posed as a man to gain membership. Now the society is trying to track her down.Credit...Neil Munns/PA Images, via Getty Images

Nov. 19, 2024Updated 9:17 a.m. ET

The greatest trick that “Raymond Lloyd” may ever have performed was a complex illusion: Convincing an elite, male-only society of magicians that he existed.

That performance won Mr. Lloyd acceptance into the society, The Magic Circle, in 1991. But after revealing a few months later that he was in fact a she, the performer was ousted from the club.

Now, The Magic Circle wants her back and has embarked on a quest to solve what turned out to be a disappearing act — and make amends.

“I would love to look her in the eyes and say, on behalf of the other magicians that we have, ‘You’re absolutely welcome,’” said Marvin Berglas, the president of the society.

Based in London, the Magic Circle was founded in 1905 and lists celebrity illusionists David Copperfield and Criss Angel among its honorary members. For decades, only male magicians were able to join — until two women set out to call their bluff.

“I always wanted to be first lady in the Magic Circle,” one of them, Jenny Winstanley, told the Canadian broadcaster CBC in 1991. “Really wanted to prove that women are as good as men.”