The Magic Circle is a British

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

dedicated to promoting and advancing the art of magic. Applicants must qualify for membership, either through a performance exam or by a written thesis on a branch of magic, after which they are designated Members of The Magic Circle (M.M.C.). Further distinctions may earn them the titles Associate of the Inner Magic Circle (A.I.M.C.); and Member of The Inner Magic Circle (M.I.M.C), a select group limited to 300 members. The Circle was founded in 1905, and was male-only until 1991. There is a junior branch, the Young Magicians Club.

History

The Magic Circle was founded in 1905 after a meeting of 23 amateur and professional magicians at London's

Pinoli's Restaurant Pinoli's Italian Restaurant was an Italian restaurant owned by Carlo Pinoli at 17 Wardour Street in what was then the Little Italy area of London's Soho district, with another frontage on Rupert Street. It was founded in the 1890s. Pinoli's ...

. At this founders meeting, chaired by

Servais Le Roy Servais Le Roy (4 May 1865 – 2 June 1953 ) was a Belgian magician, illusion designer and businessman. He is known for the act ''Le Roy, Talma and Bosco'' and as the inventor of the classic levitation illusion '' Asrah the Floating Princess''. Le ...

, 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 performer and founding member who had recently died at the age of 25. However, it was finally agreed that the name "Magic Circle", which shares the same initials as those of Martin Chapender, would be more appropriate. The first official meeting was at the Green Man

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

, but meetings were later in a room at St George's Hall in Langham Place, where

David Devant David Devant (22 February 1868 – 13 October 1941) was an English magician, shadowgraphist and film exhibitor. He was born David Wighton in Holloway, London Holloway is an inner-city district of the London Borough of Islington, north of C ...

and John Nevil Maskelyne were regularly seen performing. Devant became the first president of The Magic Circle, and in 1906, Maskelyne edited the first issue of ''The Magic Circular'' magazine, a regular feature for members ever since. ''The Magic Circular'' claims to be the longest-running regular magic magazine in conjuring history. The club was male-only until 1991, when more than 75% of members voted to admit women. As of 2010 there were around eighty female members of The Magic Circle, including Paul Daniels' wife, Debbie McGee. In 2014, Megan Knowles-Bacon became the first female officer in The Magic Circle, as well as the youngest person to be elected as an officer; she was elected as secretary. In September 2021 she was elected as The Magic Circle's first female, and youngest ever, president, using her working name Megan Swann.

Motto

The motto of the society is the Latin ''indocilis privata loqui'', which roughly translated means "not apt to disclose secrets". Members give their word not to wilfully disclose magic secrets other than to bona fide students of magic. Anyone breaking this or any other rule may be expelled.

Headquarters

Since 1998, The Magic Circle building in central London near

Euston Station Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city ra ...

in Camden has been available for meetings and corporate entertainment. It was voted the UK's Number One Venue in the hospitality industry's Top 20 UK Venues poll 2008. The Magic Circle's headquarters houses a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

, library, museum, a dining room, a clubroom and bars. The museum features magic tricks, props, posters, programmes, toys, photographs and artefacts related to conjuring history. Items of interest include, Robert Harbin's original

Zig Zag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

illusion,

Chung Ling Soo William Ellsworth Robinson (April 2, 1861 – March 24, 1918) was an American magician who went by the stage name Chung Ling Soo (). He is mostly remembered today for his accidental death due to a failed bullet catch trick. Early years Robinso ...

's robes, an original

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

with associated

Harry Corbett Harry Corbett OBE (28 January 1918 – 17 August 1989) was an English magician, puppeteer and television presenter. He was best known as the creator of the glove puppet character Sooty in 1952. Biography Corbett was born in Bradford, Wes ...

apparatus, sets of props used by television magicians David Nixon and

Tommy Cooper Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and Magic (illusion), magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red Fez (hat), fez when performing. He ...

, a sound recording of

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American Escapology, escape artist, Magic (illusion), magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his Escapology, escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to ...

taken from an Edison cylinder, and a set of cups and balls used by Charles, the then Prince of Wales when he took his Magic Circle exam in 1975. Visits are by arranged tour.

Membership

Magicians who wish to join may spend up to two years as an Apprentice before applying for full membership. They need to have known two current members for at least one year and must be at least 18 years old. These two members are then asked to act as sponsors, or referees, on the candidate's application form and propose them as a suitable candidate for membership. Following the receipt and processing of the application, the candidate is invited to an interview with the examinations secretary, usually at the London headquarters. If the candidate proves suitable and sufficiently knowledgeable a performance exam is scheduled or a thesis may be written. The exam takes place in front of a panel of judges, and candidates must demonstrate their skills to members in a rehearsed act. If a thesis is chosen, it is read by two examiners and a copy is made available in The Magic Circle library. The final stage is by vote by members of the Council, who will approve the candidate as a member. Once the applicant is successful, they are free to call themselves "Members of the Society" and use the letters ''M.M.C.'' after their name. Members of The Magic Circle include: King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person ...

, Luis de Matos, Michael Vincent,

Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...

, , and Stephen Fry. Members may take a further examination to achieve the degree of ''Associate of the Inner Magic Circle''. The designation A.I.M.C. shows this higher membership. The A.I.M.C. degree can also be attained through thesis, and in rare cases – that is when a candidate gains 18 or higher out of a possible 20 marks in the written exam – examinees taking the M.M.C. exam are awarded the A.I.M.C. degree. Those who attain an A.I.M.C. degree as a result of a performance examination are awarded the A.I.M.C. with silver star. Within the society, there are a number of members never exceeding 300 known as the "Inner Magic Circle". Full membership of the Inner Magic Circle is denoted by the letters M.I.M.C. after the member's name. Membership of the Inner Magic Circle is by call of The Society's President. The M.I.M.C. degree may be awarded with a gold star, to signify that the recipient is a performer of magic (as opposed to e.g. an inventor, historian or noteworthy volunteer for the Society). Members must undertake not to reveal magic secrets to anyone except bona fide magicians; anyone breaking this rule may be expelled.

The Young Magicians Club

''The Young Magicians Club'' is part of the ''Youth Initiative of The Magic Circle'' (the other major part being the prestigious ''Young Magician of the Year Competition'') and is a club for magicians between the inclusive ages of 10 and 18 which was founded in 1996. Sponsored by The Magic Circle, members of the Young Magicians Club meet for monthly workshops at The Magic Circle Headquarters, the 'Centre for the Magic Arts' in London. The Young Magicians Club has a current membership of around 200 members. The Young Magicians Club's principal means of communication among its members is its bi-monthly magazine ''Secrets''. The worldwide membership also communicates through a members-only on-line forum on the Young Magicians Club website. Membership in The Young Magicians Club requires no interview or exam and is open to all young people interested in magic. There are monthly all-day workshops for members who come from all over the country to take part. Adult members of The Magic Circle take on the responsibility of instructing the members of the Young Magicians Club. Local adult magic clubs will often have a junior magicians club attached to them but The Young Magicians Club is the only such club associated with The Magic Circle. Members of the Young Magicians Club are eligible to join The Magic Circle at a reduced rate when they reach 18, but then they must complete the examination procedure for full membership. The Young Magicians Club holds their annual one-day convention every October called 'J-Day'. The convention includes lectures and the finals of two competitions with awards, which include the ''Home Counties Trophy'' for stage magic, ''The Mark Leveridge Cup'' for close-up magic, ''Kaymar Komedy Cup'' and the ''Peter McCahon Award for Originality''. In recent years, the celebrity guest lectures have been presented by Derren Brown in 2010,

in 2011, John Archer in 2012,

Marvin Berglas Marvin's Magic is a producer and creator of magic products in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1987 by award-winning magician and entrepreneur Marvin Berglas, son of David Berglas, and is the world's largest magic company. The company is ...

in 2013, Luis De Matos in 2014 and Dave Loosley and

Andi Gladwin Andi Gladwin (May 10, 1983) is a British magician, speaker, and publisher. He has appeared on television (ITV's Next Great Magician, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, The Big Breakfast, Lance Burton's Young Magician Showcase, Masters of Illusion, and mor ...

in 2015. The popularity of the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...

franchise was one of the key reasons for the organisation's growth this century with membership doubling after the announcement of the first film in 2001.

References

External links

*
The Young Magicians Club website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Circle, The Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden Clubs and societies in London Magic museums Magic organizations Arts organizations established in 1905 Performing arts museums Museums in the London Borough of Camden Theatres in the London Borough of Camden 1905 establishments in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden