My Story
I have been in the magic entertainment industry for 35+ years.
I have performed, invented, designed, and manufactured magic illusions and effects throughout the span of my career.
How did I End Up in the Magic World?
As a kid, I fell in love with magic when I saw Doug Henning's first TV special. WOW! I was amazed! Doug had a magical quality about him that drew me into this fun and intriguing world of prestidigitation, right then I knew I was hooked for life!
Santa gave me my first magic kit: Marshall Brodien's TV Magic Show - 12 Magic Tricks as seen on TV.
I practiced the tricks over and over again and then performed them for my family and friends. I LOVED MAGIC! And I knew I wanted to do magic forever.
My Early Years Performing Magic
Like every young hopeful who moves to Hollywood, I had dreams and aspirations of being an entertainer. I loved performing magic, I loved acting, and more importantly, I loved entertaining people. Ed and I started our own magic show, where we created our own illusions and toured around the world.
We performed on television and in many of the greatest theaters around the world; the Palladium in England, the Apollo in New York, the Pantages in Los Angeles, and so many more. We performed for celebrities and dignitaries the world over. At one point, we were even flown to India to perform for a well-known guru! ("Eat, Pray, Love") At this point, I was completely entrenched in the magic world, and I knew I never wanted to leave it.
As a teenager, I was given an aptitude test, and my scores were through the roof for engineering. Because of my scores, I was incessantly contacted by the US Military until my parents eventually asked them to leave me alone. All this to say, I understood how to make things work, and this proved to be a highly valuable skill that helped me to design and build large illusions for our stage show.
I discovered that as much as I loved performing magic, I loved designing and creating magic tricks and illusions as much, if not more.
I was a girl with power tools and knew how to use them.
The Birth of the Twister Illusion
Like I said, I was a girl with power tools and I knew how to use them. I created many of the illusions Ed and I used in our show. But, one illusion I am particularly proud of, and one that doesn't lack controversy, is the Twister Illusion.
The Twister's history is complicated. Lou Lancaster had the idea in the early 80's. He told several magicians about his idea, but nothing ever came of it. Then, in the mid-80's, Ed and Franz Harary met for lunch where Franz mentioned the idea for the Twister. He said the idea was based on the old head twister illusion being put on top of the old trade show gag with hands." After lunch, they came to me with the idea.
My head was spinning! (Pun intended) I ran with the idea and started building the now famous Twister Illusion. Yes, there has been some backlash as to whose idea it really was, but to me, Lou Lancaster came up with the idea, and along with help from Ed, I was the first to design and build it. I made it work. Ed and I performed it and eventually, this controversial illusion took off! Soon enough, magicians worldwide were performing it.
Ahh... the irony of it all is not lost on me. Remember, not so long ago I turned down performing in a magic show because I didn't want a guy to take all the credit. Well, as you now know, that's exactly what happened to me with the Twister and it certainly wasn't the last time it happened to me.
After several years of performing magic with Ed, our show ended as well as our personal relationship. I was now on my own.
Building Magic Was My True Love!
After my relationship with Ed ended, I was on my own and I knew that performing magic was fun, but building illusions and making original magic tricks was my passion! I put the word out (ads) in some magic magazines that I was available for magic creations.
I had a small apartment in North Hollywood with a detached garage. In that garage, I had every kind of tool I needed to build magic effects and illusions! I loved it.
Back then, when you put an ad in a magic magazine, the phone would instantly ring. It seemed so simple. Because of those ads, I met so many wonderful people and professional magicians that I never dreamed of knowing.
The start of my creation period had begun, and the magic world was starting to know who I really was: An inventor and creator of magic.
Fabric Manipulation Was Born
It wasn't long after I was creating magical effects and illusions that I realized there was a lack of quality fabric related magic on the market. There were some cheap items coming out of China, and some companies had a few fabric items. Unfortunately for magicians who spent hours working on their art, these items were not crafted with the highest quality fabrics and the craftsmanship was often sub-par. Many of the designs were also lacking and needed improvements. The fabric based magic props did not match the quality of the professional magician's performance.
I wanted to fill that void and that is why I started Fabric Manipulation. The tagline was 'Quality Products for Professional Magicians'. After all, top magicians were already contacting me because they needed magic props that presented well and would last. Starting a quality product line that was accessible to all magicians seemed like the perfect fit for me.
My knowledge of magic is what separated me from a tailor or seamstress. I had experience performing magic and I had years of experience designing and creating magic. Plus, there was my never-ending love of magic!
I created original magic products and perfected old standards.
Consult, Design, Create Magic Effects
With my Fabric Manipulation product line well established, and along with presenting my lecture "The History Of Fabric In Magic", I now offer up my expertise to the magic and theatrical communities for consulting, designing, inventing, and creating the highest quality magic effects, specializing in fabric.
There is not one day that goes by that I don't think about magic. It's my life. It always has been and I'm proud to be a part of this wonderful world of intrigue with all of you.
Thank you for stopping by my website. If you ever find yourself in need of a consultant, designer, inventor, and/or creator of magic, I hope you will feel confident in contacting me.
Magic has been my life for over 35 years