She Can Do Magic

Women have traditionally been seen as beautiful distractions on a magician’s stage. But now, they’re creating their own brand of illusions.

Magic Mano cuts an unusual figure as a magician. Not just because she prefers to perform in a simple sari rather than in the normal enchantress’ garb of a flowing cape and glittering gown. She’s unusual because she is part of a small tribe of women magicians who are trying to carve out an identity for themselves in a profession where the only acceptable roles they have had so far are that of ‘lovely female assistants’ of the male magician. Mano, too, had started off assisting her husband Palladam Yona. But after  decades of accompanying him on stage, she recently decided to start giving solo performances herself.  But while she’s been successfully bedazzling her audiences, Magic Mano is still looked upon as a novelty in this field.

This struggle is not unique to India alone. According to American author and humourist Dennis Regling,  of the 7,000 members of the Society of American Magicians, the largest magic association in the US, only 479 are women. Similarly, in the UK, only 70 of the 1,500 members of the prestigious Magic Circle, a society established in 1905 for the advancement of the art, are women. 

“It is time that women occupy a significant position in magic, rather than being an embellishment in male-dominated magic shows,” says veteran Indian illusionist Gopinath Muthukad.  In pursuance of that goal, his organisation, Magic Academy, recently organised the first All-India Confluence of Women Magicians in Thiruvananthapuram. Maya 2010, as the festival was called, saw performances by more than 50 women magicians from across the country. Muthukad claims there are nearly 300 female magicians in the country today, both amateur and professional. “It was high time they got a platform to showcase their skills,” he adds.

So, why is it that while the world knows of Houdini, David Blaine and David Copperfield, even the few women who created magic on stage have been forgotten? Can anyone, for instance, recall the name of Adelaide Herrmann (1853-1932), who came to be known as the Queen of Magic for her elaborate illusions and is one of the few magicians, male or female, who could face a firing squad and ‘catch’ the bullets coming her way? What is it that has held women back from coming into their own as conjurers, illusionists and stage magicians? 

Peter M Nardi, a professor of sociology who presented a paper titled ‘Social World of Magicians: Gender and Conjuring’ at the American Sociological Association in the 1980s, has an interesting theory. ‘Historically, women have been persecuted for participating in magic and women who practised magic were historically identified with witchcraft,’ he writes, adding that as a result, ‘not many women wanted to be associated with the negative image of witches.’ Also, Nardi firmly believes, magic has always been something of a fraternity, into which, for the longest time, women weren’t allowed entry. And when they were, like in most performing arts, women were only required to create a beautiful distraction.  

Today, even though Maria Carnesky, Jade and Becky Blaney and our very own Maneka Sorcar are acquiring fame for their acts, women magicians complain that the lack of mentorship, with very few women magicians to look up to, has severely impacted the training of amateur magicians.  There is also the very basic problem that most magic books have been written by men, for men. Tricks are designed for suits, jackets, wallets and pant pockets; so women wearing a gown or a skirt and not carrying a wallet just need to think of something else!   

And innovate the Coimbatore-based Magic Mano certainly has done. Her act, conceptualised by her husband, has been receiving rave reviews from audiences. She starts off by roasting pieces of chicken on fire, which within seconds transforms into a live chicken. As the spectacle is greeted by gasps of disbelief from the audience, Magic Mano goes about her act with cheerful ease. A member from the audience is called on stage after the chicken lays an egg. People watch enraptured while Mano lights a fire on its head and cracks the egg, which turns into colourful vegetables in a matter of minutes. “I have never seen something like this before. There usually is a method to most tricks, but what she does simply defies logic. It truly is magic!” says T Raju, who saw her perform at Maya 2010. 

While Mano is still taking baby steps in the industry, the absence of female magicians in the country is a bit surprising. For, says Muthukad, unlike in other countries where the history of magic has been dominated by men, in India, women have played a significant role in the art of illusions. This is corroborated by Maneka Sorcar, who is also the daughter of legendary magician PC Sorcar Junior. “Indrajaal vidya, as we call magic in Bengal, is ruled by a Devi called Maya, who is believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Durga,” she says, “There have also been queens like Bhanumati who were believed to be in possession of certain magical powers.” But she is quick to dismiss notions about magic that equate it with hocus pocus or the supernatural. “Maybe Bhanumati possessed scientific knowledge that wasn’t available to the common man at that time. If I were to go back in time and give Akbar a mobile phone, he would surely dismiss it as magic, but it is a reality for us today. One must remember that what was magic yesterday is science today, and what is magic today will be science tomorrow,” Sorcar adds. 

However, it is the mysterious aspects of magic that has brought many youngsters, like Indushree, into the field. As a five-year-old, she believed she could pass her exams with the help of magic. “Sadly, later on, I realised I was wrong. But by then, I was hooked to the art and wanted to pursue it further,” says Indushree, who claims to be the first female ventriloquist in the country. Though not formally trained, Indushree’s skills have been honed by illustrious magicians like AK Das and Keshav Jadugar. In the last 16 years that she’s been giving solo performances, she sits with three dummies, with two in the hand and one on the leg. Each dummy essays four to five characters during a show.  

Unlike Indushree and Mano, though, most women are wary of making it a full-time profession, relying instead on the security of a regular job. Take Mumbai-based Pearl Bhumgara, who is currently pursuing a B Com degree and at one point wanted to be a pilot. Or, Kerala-based illusionist Ammu, who wants to be a freelance journalist. 

But all said and done, none of them can keep away from magic for long. For them, magic is as integral to their lives as eating or breathing. When she turned 15, Pearl had taken a break from magic to focus on her studies. But the separation from her art made her miserable.

Pearl’s interest in magic started when she was just four. “My father used to perform at my birthday parties when I was a kid. I was so impressed with his tricks that I wanted to start learning right away,” says Pearl. However, her hands were too tiny at that point to perform most of the tricks. Over the years, as Pearl’s proficiency with magic grew, she began to be invited to conventions across the world. “My most popular act is making doves appear out of nowhere. I have performed this in Japan, China, Africa, New York and Buffalo. When I went to Africa, I performed in old age homes and cancer wards. The appreciation that I got there meant the most to me,” she says. 

Magicians around the world believe that women in India must erase all boundaries and establish themselves as proficient conjurers. “Indian women are too shy; they must really claim their own as magicians,” says Luna Shimada, a veteran in this field who flew all the way down from the US to attend Maya 2010 and express solidarity with her Indian counterparts. She believes that the women here have a lot of potential and need to express it better. 

Luna was literally born into magic, with her father, Shimada, being a legendary magician of his time. When she started performing solo, she says she 

was one of only five women magicians across the world. “For years now, women have not been given the same respect and the same opportunities in this field. We have had to fight real hard for this right,” she says. 

In her experience, if there is a big convention in the US, the organisers will invite only one woman magician as a novelty factor. “When I perform on stage, people still assume that the men who assist me are the main magicians and that I am assisting them. But times are changing, this paradigm is changing. We will no longer be viewed as secondary characters, and I am glad to see this already happening in India,” she smiles.

About The Author

Avantika Bhuyan