Acts of Violet
Margarita Montimore
For Terry Montimore, who fills my life with magic (stop rolling your eyes, it’s true) With love and fhqwhgads
I didn’t disappear, I was present for all of it.
—BRIT MARLING AND ZAL BATMANGLIJ, THE OA
Don’t be the real you.
Be the better you.
Be the astonishing you.
Be the you no one can ignore.
—VIOLET VOLK, YOU ARE MAGIC
Strange Exits Podcast
Season 1: “Vanishing Violet” Extended Trailer
[MALE VOICE 1]: Anyone who tells you they knew Violet Volk is a liar. I was married to her, and I still couldn’t tell you who the “real” VV was. Because nothing was real with her. Her life, her career, it was all a series of illusions.
[FEMALE VOICE 1]: Violet was a strange one. Part gutter punk, part diva. She was unpredictable, whip-smart, charismatic as hell. Not conventionally beautiful but alluring, in the way that self-assurance gives people a special magnetism.
[MALE VOICE 1]: There was this … malleable quality to her. Sometimes Violet could be the most gorgeous woman you’ve ever seen and other times she was utterly hideous. Either way, it was impossible to take your eyes off of her.
[FEMALE VOICE 2]: I worshipped her. I think a lot of girls in the nineties did.
[MALE VOICE 2]: She was a phony, and she made millions off people buying her lies.
CAMERON FRANK: Violet Volk was the greatest magician of our generation, arguably of all time. Her act was jaw-dropping, with illusions that defied explanation—some even believed she was gifted with special abilities that extended beyond those of a skilled magician.
[MALE VOICE 3]: Nobody could do what she did. I don’t know what you’d even call it … it was more than magic. There are tricks she performed that nobody’s figured out to this day. All that stuff with fire and blood and levitation—it was mind-blowing. Deep down, you knew these things had a logical explanation, but sometimes you still felt like you were watching something … miraculous. Violet Volk didn’t perform magic—she was magic.
[MALE VOICE 2]: You know how many guys can do what she did? Pfft. If Violet wasn’t a sexy chick, we wouldn’t even be talking about her.
[FEMALE VOICE 1]: Stage magic has always been a boys’ club—even today, over ninety percent of professional magicians are male. History has forgotten greats like Adelaide Herrmann, Dell O’Dell, Celeste Evans, and Dorothy Dietrich, and relegated women to serving as little more than pretty props. Violet made a name for herself in this boys’ club and showed us we can be more than pretty props, onstage and off. History will not forget Violet Volk.
[FEMALE VOICE 3]: A feminist icon? Gimme a break. Less performance artist, more con artist, if you ask me.
CAMERON FRANK: Whether you loved or hated her, whether she inspired you or pushed your buttons, you have to give her credit for how provocative she was. Being neutral about Volk was not an option—you were bound to have a strong opinion.
[FEMALE VOICE 4]: Violet’s biggest talent was knowing how to provoke attention. Some find that admirable. I think it’s cheap and disgusting. She’s not worth the spotlight … Sorry if I sound bitter, but that bitch broke my heart.
[MALE VOICE 3]: She was a visionary. And like all visionaries, she faced her share of being misunderstood, judged, and criticized. That doesn’t make her any less brilliant.
CAMERON FRANK: From her meteoric rise in stage magic and pivot to self-help guru, to her salacious romantic entanglements, to a muddy personal history filled with contradictions and obfuscations, VV was perennially complex and enigmatic. If there was one thing you could rely on her to deliver, it was the unexpected.
[FEMALE VOICE 2]: How could this have happened? There were so many witnesses … hundreds, thousands of us. And nobody saw a thing?
[FEMALE VOICE 3]: We all thought it was a giant publicity stunt at first … but as weeks passed, then months … Now it’s been almost ten years. You gotta start to wonder if … maybe we’ll never see her again. Maybe she’s not with us anymore.
[MALE VOICE 4]: I heard she was hiding out somewhere in the Amazon.
CAMERON FRANK: In the years since her mysterious disappearance, she continues to capture public curiosity and spark speculation. There have been various unconfirmed sightings of Volk and countless theories persist around her vanishing.
[FEMALE VOICE 3]: I don’t think she’s dead. There were some … unpleasant realities VV was about to face … and she was getting tired of her fame and notoriety. She had plenty of reasons to want to start a new life. Staging her disappearance would be the perfect way to do it.
[MALE VOICE 1]: Violet once told me, “When you’re rich and famous, you can get away with anything. You have no idea what I’ve gotten away with.” The thing is, she looked scared when she said that.
[DISGUISED VOICE]: There were people who had grown tired of her antics and felt threatened by her. I don’t know how much more I can say. I wouldn’t want those people coming after me …
[MALE VOICE 2]: We’re never gonna know what really happened. Someone as clever as Violet? If she doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be.
[FEMALE VOICE 2]: I miss her every day. And I’ll never stop looking for her.
[FEMALE VOICE 3]: She loves being a puzzle—she prides herself on it. Violet reveals different pieces of herself to different people, and nobody ever gets to see the full picture.