There are many adjectives that describe my friend Alexander Hansford, and I’ll share two. The first is “neat”—he wears clothes that fit well, speaks with a smooth British accent, and arrives a few minutes before the scheduled meeting time. This exactness also flows through his magic; his card technique is beyond finessed, and since meeting him at a MAGIC Live convention over a decade ago, he’s been one of my favorite card magicians to watch perform.
The second way I’d describe Alexander is, well, “neat.” I’m playing with the polysemy of the word: He has an eye for the unique and it’s evident in all of the work he produces. He and I, along with most Genii readers, would agree that magic is “really bloody neat” (his words), and so it was perhaps inevitable that he founded The Neat Review in 2019. It began as an arts journal that bridged magic with other disciplines—like philosophy and cinematography—and has since expanded into books, playing cards, and live events.