Velma Queen of Illusion

 

Episode 110 of the Magic Detective Podcast features the lady above, Velma Nahum. What a charming story she has. And what a wonderful career she had. She was a fearless innovator. The only female magician in her area (NYC) at the time. And she made the most of it. She was on To Tell the Truth, What's My Line, The Merv Griffin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, Conan' Obrien, David Letterman and many other talk shows in the United States and in Canada.

I encourage you to listen to the podcast, because you can hear Velma tell many of the stories herself. She had quite a few stories, some of which I couldn't repeat, lol. Not because they were bad, but just, well, might ruffle some feathers. One I did let slip through was her opinion of Kuda Bux, who she thought was full of it. What a faker! lol. Clearly she was not fooled by him in any way shape or form. 

She was doing trade show work in the late 1960s and 70s. And she was very popular. Plus, as she said, she was the only one. I don't want to give away here whole story here. I just wanted you to see some photos of her in action.

She's a good example of adapting to the times. She developed several acts in order to stay busy. And she was in demand during her time. She certainly deserves a place among the pioneering females in magic!