Female Magician: A Note for Event Planners and Agencies
Female Magician: A Note for Event Planners and Agencies
If you book entertainment professionally, you'll have noticed that your magic options are almost entirely male. That isn't a preference you formed, it's what the market presented, and most planners never examine it because there's rarely a reason to.
Occasionally a client asks, and then it becomes a scramble. I'm Magical Katrina, an award winning magician and mentalist, and I want to write something practical for the trade side rather than for end clients: why rosters look like this, how to fix it properly, and how to handle the request when it arrives.
It's a Supply Problem, Not an Intent Problem
Worth establishing, since nobody built these rosters deliberately. Magic has been overwhelmingly male throughout its history, so the professional field is genuinely smaller on this side, and your roster reflects the pool you drew from.
It's also a search problem. Generic searches return the performers with the strongest marketing and the longest track record, which skews the results further, and a planner working quickly picks from page one. So a roster ends up looking a particular way through ordinary process rather than any decision. Finding a female magician who suits your clients usually requires looking slightly harder rather than looking differently.
Vet on Exactly the Same Criteria
The important principle, and one worth stating plainly for a trade audience. A female magician goes on your roster because she's genuinely excellent, assessed on the criteria you'd apply to anyone: sustained live footage rather than a promotional edit, experience with the kind of events your clients run, references from comparable bookings, professional communication, insurance, and reliability.
Anything else is a disservice to your clients and to the performer. A booking made for any reason other than suitability shows in the room, and it's your reputation attached to it rather than theirs. The bar doesn't move, the search area does.
Where to Actually Look
Practically, since generic searching returns the same names. Magic societies and their member directories, particularly the established ones, which list performers by discipline. Specialist agencies rather than general entertainment listings. Industry awards and competition results, which surface people who are technically excellent but less visible commercially.
Also worth doing: ask performers you already trust, since magicians know who else is good and will tell you honestly. And look beyond your immediate area, because the pool is small enough that geography is a genuine constraint. Many performers travel, with travel factored into the quote, so a female magician two states away may be a better fit than the fifth local option.
When a Client Asks Specifically
The situation this article is really for. A client asks for a woman, usually because of a supplier diversity policy, a women's event, or a personal preference, and you have nobody suitable on file.
Handle it honestly. If you don't have someone excellent, say you'll source rather than offering whoever you can find in an afternoon, and use it as a prompt to build the roster properly rather than solving one booking. Clients notice a scramble, and they notice more when the performer isn't good. Among the reasons to have vetted a female magician before you need one, this is the practical one: the request always arrives with a short deadline.
Diversity as a Tiebreaker, Not a Criterion
Worth being clear, because the alternative serves nobody. Where two performers are genuinely comparable and a client has a supplier commitment, letting that inform the choice is entirely sensible.
Where one is materially better, book them. A performer booked to satisfy a policy despite being weaker produces a worse event, which reflects on you, and it also undermines the policy itself by suggesting the two things are in tension. The version that works is a roster deep enough that the comparable option exists, which is a sourcing task rather than a booking decision and is best done when you're not under pressure.
There's a Commercial Argument Too
Beyond client requests, worth noting for your own positioning. Planners compete partly on being able to offer something the client hasn't already seen, and magic is a category where most proposals look identical.
A female magician on a shortlist reads as a considered suggestion rather than a default one, particularly for client events where the impression matters. Audiences carry a default mental image of what a magician looks like, and a performer who overturns it buys a few seconds of extra attention before the work has to hold it. That's a small edge in a proposal, and small edges are frequently what distinguishes one agency's shortlist from another's.
What to Have on File
Practical roster maintenance. For any performer you list, hold sustained live footage rather than a reel, a certificate of insurance, clear terms including cancellation, references from events comparable to your clients', and a note of what formats they work in.
Also useful: which markets they cover and whether they travel, their typical lead time, and any specialisms such as mentalism, children's work, or trade show experience. Among performers on your roster, the ones you actually use are the ones you can brief a client about in two sentences without checking, and building that file properly once saves considerable time later.
Brief Them Properly and They'll Deliver
A final trade point. Performers are only as good as the information they're given, and agency bookings frequently pass through several hands with the context lost somewhere along the way.
Tell your performer who's in the room, how senior, what the client is trying to achieve, and anything sensitive. That's true for anyone on your roster, and it's the difference between a booking that satisfies the brief and one that impresses the client. A female magician briefed properly delivers exactly what any well briefed professional does, which is a considerably better event than the same booking made blind.
Why Add Magical Katrina to Your Roster
If you're building a file, here's my case. I'm a member of the Magic Circle in London and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, I've earned multiple magic awards, and I've performed for clients including Formula 1, the Olympics, Porsche, Prada, Zapier, and the Ritz Carlton, with appearances on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion, across events in over 20 countries. I blend close up magic with mentalism, I work corporate, wedding, private, and trade show formats, I need no stage or setup, and I'm fully insured with a COI available on request. I'm based in the Los Angeles area and travel, with travel factored into quotes rather than added later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do magic rosters skew male?
Because the professional field genuinely is smaller on this side, magic having been overwhelmingly male throughout its history, and because generic searching returns performers with the strongest marketing and longest track record, which reinforces it. No planner built their roster deliberately this way. Finding a female magician who suits your clients usually means looking slightly harder rather than differently.
How should we vet them?
On exactly the criteria you'd apply to anyone: sustained live footage rather than a promotional edit, experience with the events your clients run, references from comparable bookings, professional communication, insurance, and reliability. The bar doesn't move, the search area does. Anything else is a disservice to your clients, and it's your reputation attached to the booking rather than the performer's.
Where do we find them?
Magic societies and their member directories, specialist agencies rather than general entertainment listings, and awards or competition results, which surface technically excellent performers who are less visible commercially. Also ask performers you already trust, since magicians know who else is good. And look beyond your immediate area, since the pool is small enough that geography is a real constraint and many performers travel.
A client has asked and we have nobody. What now?
Say you'll source rather than offering whoever you can find in an afternoon, and use it as a prompt to build the roster properly rather than solving one booking. Clients notice a scramble and notice more when the performer isn't good. This request always arrives with a short deadline, which is the practical argument for having vetted someone before you need them.
How should diversity factor into the decision?
As a tiebreaker rather than a criterion. Where two performers are genuinely comparable and a client has a supplier commitment, letting that inform the choice is sensible. Where one is materially better, book them, since a performer booked to satisfy a policy despite being weaker produces a worse event and undermines the policy by implying the two things are in tension.
Is there a commercial reason beyond client requests?
Yes. Planners compete partly on offering something a client hasn't already seen, and magic is a category where most proposals look identical. A female magician on a shortlist reads as a considered suggestion rather than a default, and audiences carry a default image that a performer overturning it can use. That's a small edge, and small edges distinguish shortlists.
What should we hold on file for each performer?
Sustained live footage, a certificate of insurance, clear terms including cancellation, references from comparable events, formats they work in, markets covered and whether they travel, typical lead time, and any specialisms. The performers you actually use are the ones you can brief a client about in two sentences without checking, and building that file once saves considerable time later.
Widen the Search, Keep the Bar
Magic rosters look the way they do because of supply and search rather than intent, which means the fix is sourcing rather than standards. Look in societies, specialist agencies, and awards results, ask performers you trust, consider people who travel, and vet everyone on the same criteria you always have.
Do it before a client asks rather than afterwards, and the request becomes a two minute answer rather than an afternoon of scrambling.
Reach out if you'd like my materials for your roster, and I'll send footage, terms, and a COI.