Female magician who pretended to be a man to get into Magic Circle finally let back in, 34 years later

24 April 2025, 07:13

A female magician who pretended to be a man to get into the Magic Circle has been let back in 34 years later.

Sophie Lloyd said she was a man to be let into the elite group of magicians before they began admitting women.

She revealed her reception after the Magic Circle started allowing female members - at which point they kicked her out.

Recently the Magic Circle and its first female leader launched a hunt to find Ms Lloyd to let her back into the organisation.

Ms Lloyd had moved to Spain by this time and had taken early retirement.

She only found out about the appeal when her sister sent her a link to an interview.

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She was initially reluctant to come forward but decided to do so to honour another female magician friend who inspired her to join the Magic Circle, and who had since died.

Laura London, the Magic Circle's first female chairperson, said: "I felt it important that the Magic Circle should be able to recognise Sophie as the role model for women magicians, as well as show that we are now a completely open society".

The Magic Circle remains heavily male-dominated, with women making up around 5% of its 1,700 members.

Ms Lloyd launched her deception after becoming friends with Jenny Winstanley, another magician, in the late 1980s.

Ms Winstanley was frustrated that women could not join the Magic Circle, and the two hatched the plot together.

"She came up with an idea to infiltrate the society by having me dress as a man," Ms Lloyd said. "She couldn't do it herself as she was too recognisable."

Ms Lloyd, who is 5ft 2, decided that she would act as a young-looking 18-year-old with some facial "fluff".

She also gave herself a "croaky" voice to sound more traditionally masculine.

There was also the small matter of learning how to perform as a magician on her own, as she had only previously worked as Ms Winstanley's assistant.

In March 1991, she was ready to audition for the Magic Circle, inviting the examiners to a performance at a working men's club rather than going to the society's headquarters - which she deemed too risky.

Ms Lloyd was given membership a week later under her pseudonym of Raymond Lloyd.

Then, just seven months later, when they heard the Magic Circle was admitting female members, Ms Lloyd and Ms Winstanley decided to come clean. But society bosses were upset and expelled them.

"The Magic Circle was furious," Miss Winstanley told Canadian broadcaster CBC at the time. "They say it's because she deceived them. But that's exactly what magicians do, isn't it?

She added: "We had proved that women were equal to men in magic. It looked ridiculous that they were offended by what we did and that we were thrown out of a magic club for deception."

Ms Lloyd continued working in magic in the UK for the next ten years, while Ms Winstanley died in a car crash in 2004.

Ms Lloyd will get her new membership at a ceremony on Thursday evening.

Remembering her friend Ms Winstanley who helped started her on this path, she said: "Jenny was a wonderful, passionate person.

"She would have loved to be here. It's for her really."