Frances Willard (magician)

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Frances Willard (born 1940) is an American magician, famous for her performances at The Magic Castle and in Las Vegas. Willard and her husband Glenn Falkenstein (born 1932) are a popular mentalist team.

Willard, the daughter of the magician Willard the Wizard (1896–1970), began performing as a teenager although she had assisted with her father's shows as early as age 6. Her first illusion was reminiscent of the Davenport Brothers' box illusion, a trademark illusion that she and Falkenstein continue to perform. Willard is apparently secured to a chair inside a curtained cabinet. When the curtain is closed, objects inside the cabinet fly about, but when the curtain is opened again, she continues to be restrained to the chair. To conclude the illusion, a male spectator joins her in the box. When the curtain opens, Willard is wearing the spectator's jacket and he has a bucket over his head, yet she remains tied to the chair.

The mentalism routine that Willard and Falkenstein perform has been compared to the classic routines of Julius and Agnes Zancig and the Piddingtons.

In 1991, Willard and Falkenstein received the Dunninger Award for their "outstanding professionalism and proficiency in the performance of mentalism". At the end of each of their shows, Willard and Falkenstein are always careful to assure the audience that they do not support any belief in spiritualism or the supernatural.