Since first discovering the first journal in 2019, I’ve been a supporter of the work of Alexander Hansford and his Neat Review. In the past seven years, Neat has published five journals and over a dozen books. All lovingly written, designed, and published. They’re wonderful books to read, reread, and simply look at the photos and illustrations.
Founded in 2019, THE NEAT REVIEW began as an irregular art journal exploring the crossovers between magic, sleight-of-hand and art. Alongside the journal, our studio has branched out into a dedicated imprint. Each year, we publish a careful, playful offering of essay & photo books on magic techniques and theory.
I don’t know if this was intentional but there seems to be a philosophy of magic throughout the publications. I didn’t notice it until I reread many of them. I think they need a light shined on them as they’re strikingly different from the usual. I suppose occasional posts with my usual take will be a series. We’ll see.
Let’s start with: pursue challenging magic. Simply, don’t just learn material that is “easy-to-do and no skill required” as there really isn’t any such thing. The joy of learning is in the pursuit of the skills and technique. This takes practice, dedication, frustration, and especially time. However, there’s a payoff at the end – growth and understanding in magic and ourselves that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.
