Let’s turn back the clock to 1941. When sexism was rife and women were expected to know their place.
Steven's Magic have reprinted a classic book that allows us all a glance back in time. Geraldine Larsen was the mother of Milt and Bill Larsen - the founders of The Magic Castle. Geraldine was a puppeteer, a writer of magic and the only female editor of a magic magazine - Genii.
She was both a magician and an entertainer. Something of a rarity at the time. And in this book “The Diary of A Magician’s Wife” she shares a year of a life living with a male magician for a husband.
Ahead of her time, Geraldine was really The First Lady of Magic in the 40s. In this book, she shares what it was really like behind the scenes. It’s about how women had to “suffer” being married to a magician - a role that was predominantly male. Sadly, as it still is today. How much things change, still they stay the same. Mrs Larsen complains about being repeatedly asked to watch under rehearsed routines, how she was embarrassed by her husband doing too many card tricks during a dinner party and so on. Maybe embarrassed because she was better!
The book will be amusing as an insight into the past, and possibly a word of warning about how not to take advantage of your partner’s willingness to let you practise on them.
Today, with so many great female magicians out there, it may seem strange to republish such an outdated gender relationship, but the book still has meaning today. It was a classic book in the 40s and people will find the glimpse back into the past interesting and amusing.
Note: There are no tricks explained in this book, it is a diary.