page_title: The Magic Circle (organisation)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Magic Circle (organisation) / History
caption_attribution_description: Magic Helix
context_page_description: The Magic Circle is a British organisation 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 will be designated Member of the Magic Circle. Further distinctions may earn them the title Associate of the Inner Magic Circle, and Member of The Inner Magic Circle, 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.
context_section_description: 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 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 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.
caption: A staircase at the Magic Circle building
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