I first read Alex Hansford’s Mainspring in 2022 along with its companion book, Shawn DeSouza-Coelho‘s Magic As Medium. On the Neat Review website, it states that “One (book) for the mind, one (book) for the body.” I would be hard pressed to say which is which as both have given me a great deal to think about. However I suppose Magic As Medium is headier.
After the title page, Hansford states that there’s no chronological order to the book and chapters can be read in any order. I disagree as if one reads some of the essays ahead of others, statements could be taken out of context and the book could be dismissed as writings of someone who doesn’t perform professionally. Hansford has and currently makes his living as a magic creator.
Mainspring is a treatise on why and how magicians should learn sleight of hand – not just any sleight of hand but challenging, difficult moves. He feels that by learning heavy sleight of hand, we will become better magicians with better practice discipline. Hansford goes so far as to recommend learning cardistry.
Within the pages of Mainspring, we’re treated to Hansford’s thoughts on practice, flow, and sprezzatura – an Italian word that loosely translates to studied carelessness or diligent negligence. He discusses tension, nervousness, conversational magic, and scripting your magic. One essay promotes one of my favorite movies, Whiplash.
I found Mainspring immensely enjoyable with ideas and techniques to use and build on. In fact, I am actually learning my first cardistry technique: a Sybil-like cut created by the Buck Twins. Unfortunately, the book is currently out of print but it may be available on the secondary market.
