Woman who tricked her way into men-only Magic Circle allowed in

Summary

Woman who tricked her way into men-only Magic Circle finally allowed inCourtesy of Sophie Lloyd"Raymond Lloyd" was granted membership of the Magic Circle in 1991A magician who tricked her way into the Magic Circle is finally being granted membership - 34 years after she was kicked out.Sophie Lloyd says she disguised herself as a man to fool examiners into letting her join the elite society in 1991, at a time female magicians were not allowed to be members.When the Circle announced it was permitting women to join later that year, Ms Lloyd revealed her deception, prompting the society to expel her at the very same meeting it admitted its first female magicians.Following a public search to find her, the Circle has now apologised to Ms Lloyd and is presenting her with a membership certificate on Thursday evening."I'm beyond thrilled," Ms Lloyd told Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday.In the late 1980s, Ms Lloyd was studying at a school of mime in London where she befriended magician Jenny Winstanley."Jenny was increasingly frustrated that women, including herself, could not join the Magic Circle," Ms Lloyd said. "So she came up with an idea to infiltrate the society by having me dress as a man. She couldn't do it herself as she was too recognisable."It was a colossal undertaking. Ms Lloyd had worked as Miss Winstanley's assistant at gigs but hadn't performed magic on her own, so had to learn.She invented a new identity - Raymond Lloyd - and spent about two years studying the character. She disguised herself with a wig, body suit and "croaky" voice. She wore gloves to hide her feminine hands.There was nothing she could do about her height - 5ft 2in (1.57m) - so instead she styled Raymond as a "young-looking, 18-year-old," with some facial "fluff", she told Canadian broadcaster CBC in 1991.Ms Lloyd told the Today programme that her character was "totally believed." She had no problems wearing the body suit, but the gloves made it "very hard" to do sleight of hand tricks...