Christen Gerhart

Back in 1999/early 2000, there was a show TV called The World's Greatest Magic. One night I just happened to be watching TV when a marathon of World's Greatest Magic came on and I was so immediately enamored, I was glued to my TV all night. The was the initial exposure that sparked my interest in magic but it wasn’t until a few years later when I found Volume One of Tarbell’s Course in Magic in a bookstore that I really started to learn and perform.

I don’t believe I have favorite magicians. Especially after being able to watch some of the amazing magicians on Wizard Wars, there are just so many talented magicians out there that I couldn’t possible pick favorites. I will say, however, a few magicians that I’ve had the distinct pleasure of watching perform recently are Rob Zabrecky and Misty Lee. Every time I get to see them perform I’m floored by their imagination, creativity, and talent as magicians and as performers.

Well, I’m Telescope Operator at Mt. Wilson Observatory and Astronomy is a huge passion of mine. I also like to play roller derby, I’m a very proud Trekkie (and Whovian!), and I’m rather fond of reading Tolkien. Does hanging with my cat Loki count? If so, then that too.

There are probably a lot of factors contributing to the gender gap in magic. I will say though that there are quite a few women in magic today. It could be that we haven’t yet seen a woman achieve the same mainstream status in magic that we’ve seen from male magicians. That could be a reason more women aren’t becoming interested in magic, they haven’t seen a female role model to which they can relate and it can tough to envision oneself in a pioneering role without a role model.

Also, I think the magician persona is still associated with men so when most people think of a magician they automatically picture a man and that can cause them to view magic narrow-mindedly as a male only field. I think the more the women in magic today can work toward opening minds to incorporate women into the staring magician role, the more people will incorporate that fact into their perception and hopefully it will allow them to see not only how many women there are already in magic but also open more doors and opportunities for women in magic.

There were two tricks on the last season of Wizard Wars that really got me. One was Ekaterina’s signed card trick with Penn & Teller and the other was Leon Etienne and Billy Kidd’s signed leaf to maple syrup trick. The tricks were not only simply gorgeous but they were also performed spectacularly well.

Penn & Teller are truly amazing. To say it was an honor to sit on a panel with them is putting it lightly. Getting a change to hear their insights and tap into, albeit only slightly, into their vast magic knowledge was invaluable and humbling. They’re both brilliant and remarkable individuals.

I have a rather boring answer to this, sadly. I call him Blakey. I don’t think he knows I call him Blakey which makes this especially awkward.