Anson Chen’s Reality Is Magic is one of the year’s end releases from the UK-based publisher, Ultra Neat Ltd.
Ultra Neat appeared on the magic scene in the spring of 2019 with the publication of The Neat Review: London. It was followed up with New York City in the summer of 2019 and Tokyo in the spring of 2020. It was a great start for an effort that intended to be “a long-form print-only art journal exploring the crossovers between art and magic.” Then the pandemic hit and the fourth issue didn’t arrive until 2022 located Everywhere and Nowhere. The fifth was released earlier this year located in Paris. Contributors include Guy Hollingworth, Derren Brown, Asi Wind, Cyril Takayama, Helder Guimarães, Tony Chang, Rory Adams, Kez Dearmer, and Shawn DeSouza-Coelho to name but a few. Ultra Neat team is lead by Alexander Hansford. I intend to discuss the issues in the future however if your interest is piqued, I recommend seeking the remaining volumes as the first three are out of print.
Anson Chen is a Hong Kong based magician, mentalist, hypnotherapist, and podcaster. The latter is how I first learned of him. Unconsciously Speaking started in 2019 and has featured guests as Luke Jermay, Jared Kopf, Armando Lucero, and Teller. It’s now called Magic Talk and should be available on your favorite podcast app. Definitely recommended.
Reality Is Magic is a wonderful and inspiring book both in design and content. It’s printed in black, white and gray with black and white photographs and linocuts. The cloth covers are black with white print. The pages are edged in black. Trust me, this is a work of art.
However you may ask – is the content worthy of the design? Yes, definitely. There’s 13 magic and mentalism routines ranging from close-up to platform, from low skill to intermediate sleight of hand. There’s a few that I will be adapting for my repertoire. Wishbone, Thought Crime, and Phoenix come to mind. One – Cactus- uses a surprisingly expensive dealer item but a work-around could be found if it appeals to you. Cost aside, I’m not sure if it’s for me. Chen also includes 7 thought provoking essays that will encourage you to think about magic and its potential.
I’m a big fan of Ultra Neat and their work. I’m now a fan of Anson Chen. It’s available through Ultra Neat and US based dealers like Tannen’s.
