The Magic Circle
The Magic Circle is a British organization, dedicated to promoting and advancing the art of magic. Members must undertake not to reveal magic secrets to anyone except bona fide magicians, on pain of expulsion.
Applicants must qualify for membership, either through a performance exam or by a written thesis on a branch of magic, after which they will be designated Member of the Magic Circle (M.M.C.) Further distinctions may earn them the title Associate of the Inner Magic Circle (A.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, which gained popularity through the success of the Harry Potter franchise.
History
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, and founding member, who had recently died at the age of twenty-five. However, it was then agreed that the 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 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
Motto
The motto of the society is the Latin "indocilis privata loqui", roughly translated as "not apt to disclose secrets" (lit. "incapable [of] speaking [of] private [things]") ; members give their word not to willfully disclose magic secrets other than to bonafide 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 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, library, museum, dining room, clubroom, and bars.
The Magic Circle Museum
The museum features magic tricks, props, posters, programs, toys, photographs, and artifacts related to conjuring history. Items of interest include Robert Harbin’s original Zig-Zag illusion, Chung Ling Soo's robes, an original Sooty with associated Harry Corbett apparatus, sets of props used by television magicians David Nixon and Tommy Cooper, items and a sound recording of Harry Houdini taken from an Edison cylinder, and a set of cups and balls used by HRH The Prince of Wales when he took his Magic Circle exam in 1975. Visits are by arranged tour only.
External links
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:The_Magic_Circle ]
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