Nice piece on public radio's "Weekend America" about Sophie Evans, who moved up from magician's assistant to the close-up room at the Magic Castle. "She was 18, she was attractive and it turns out she was the perfect size to fit inside a box." the story says. "Magicians would come into the shop and size her up. She says because she's small -- she's about 5'5" in heels -- they were always encouraging her to get on stage with them and climb into one of their contraptions."

Soon, Evans was appearing and disappearing on stages around the world, being cut in half and put back together....

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For girls who love magic, there are more and more female role models, women with their own solo acts. And for Evans, it's her name on the marquee for about half of her bookings these days. She's the main attraction at the Castle's close-up gallery, a small Victorian parlor where the crowd is near enough to get properly wowed by her masterful sleight of hand. She says she's learned magic performance from the best seat in the house, the one that male magicians never get to sit in.

Blaire Baron Larsen, who married into the family that opened the Magic Castle, has done a documentary about the Sophie Evanses of L.A. called Women in Boxes. She's also in the story. Audio.

Related: I was curious if the Magic Castle still gets away with its pretentious dress code. Apparently so:

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