Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Alexander Hansford
£60.00

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Written by
Alexander Hansford
Photography by
Alexander Hansford
Supplemental Photography by
Kez Dearmer
Design by
Alexander Hansford
Illustration by
Kez Dearmer
Isbn
978-7394499-2-6
Pages
224 Pages
Weight
0.62 kg

Often Rarely That Simple is a 224-page photo book teaching unpublished card material from Alex Hansford. After selling out in 2021, this 2nd Edition printing is offered alongside Alex's new book, our newest release: MISSING ALMOST EVERY THING.

Often Rarely That Simple is a collection of rare card sleights and multiple controls, visual colour changes and new palms. 8 routines are taught, with a series of additional variations for certain effects. Inspired by the early work of Dan & Dave, Guy Hollingworth and Ernest Earick, Often Rarely That Simple is a celebration of aesthetic, neat, fooling card magic.

Often Rarely That Simple
Often Rarely That Simple
Alexander Hansford
£60.00

Everything inside is accomplished by sleight of hand and a single deck of cards. There are no gimmicks or duplicates, no need for stooges or accomplices. The material progresses from intermediate level upwards with a mix of hands-off, relaxed effects alongside other visual and technically complex routines.

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All the routines are fun to practice and perform, with most being in-the-hands, without the need for a table. You can easily tailor these plots to any situation.

The production is unparalleled. Often Rarely That Simple is an art object as much as an instructional manuscript on card chicanery.

Details

Burnt yellow highlight stitching with page-edge print.

224 pages
Contents
  • 01 Control the first
  • 02 Control the Second
  • 03 Limestone Yearbook
  • 04 Faro Multiple Shift
  • 05 Two card to pocket methods
  • 06 Alternate Handlings
  • 07 Travelling as you please
  • 08 Beige change & back
A staggering take on the multiple card control plot. Four Aces are placed one by one inside the pack at four explicitly different places. With a single shuffle, the four Aces are controlled to the top. The layering of methods combined with a new false shuffle (explained for the first time here) means no one is following this. Utterly fooling.
An in-the-hands multiple card control. Can be done with any number of cards. The four Jacks, or a royal flush, or six selections, are placed throughout the deck, left out jogged for all to see. The cards are fairly squared into the deck and the entire deck is dribbled from hand to hand. No breaks, crimps, etc. With just one riffle shuffle, the four / five / six / ten cards have been controlled to the top of the deck.
Alexander’s take on spectator cuts to the Aces. The cards are ribbon spread face up on the table, and the Aces are seen widely displaced throughout the deck. The deck is gathered up, placed face down, and from this moment on the spectator proceeds to find the four Aces. No second or bottom deals, no palms. Largely self-working.
Does what it says on the tin. Four Aces are placed openly into the deck, squared in, the cards are dribbled from hand to hand to show no breaks or crimps etc, and under the guise of a Faro shuffle, the four Aces are controlled to the top of the deck.
Brand new takes on very old, very rare, magician-fooling methods for card-to-pocket.
Suggestions and alterations made by Justin Higham, Andrew Frost and Bradley Hodgins after rigorous, months-long discussions with them surrounding the included methods for the above effect.
An amalgam of the Hofzinser plot from the 1890s and a Paul Harris effect from the 70s. The Aces are set on the table. A chosen card (no force) is lost back in the deck. The Aces come nowhere near the deck, and yet one of the Aces visually vanishes, leaving—cleanly—three Aces in-hand. The deck is immediately spread and the Ace of Hearts (Oh! My! The Chosen Card was also a Heart!) is seen face up in the deck. The Ace of Hearts then changes—while reversed in the centre of the deck—into the 7 of Hearts, the chosen card. As if that weren’t enough, the other three Aces have now changed into the other 7’s.
Two invisible colour changes back to back. First in your hands, second in the spectator’s hands. The double lift is the strongest colour change in magic because it happens in their hands. Well, the Beige Change happens there too.
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Contributor(s)

Alexander Hansford

Alexander Hansford founded THE NEAT REVIEW in 2019, after printing a string of limited-run artist books to accompany talks he was giving to magicians worldwide. Across a 14-country lecture tour, from Vienna & Sydney to Beirut & Los Angeles, his books were met with a unique reverence by the magic community. Alexander's long-running collaboration with Derren Brown spans Derren's live theatre shows, including Olivier Award-winning “Underground,” “Secret” and “Showman,” to consulting on the card magic pieces for Derren's “Only Human,” which comes to London’s West-End in late-2026.

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Kez Dearmer

Kez Dearmer is a painter, illustrator and 3D visualisation artist living and working in London. His writing, photography and illustrations feature heavily throughout the REVIEW and our books, and he co-created the DEARMERS playing cards with Alexander Hansford. Kez has been chief illustrator at THE NEAT REVIEW since its inception, and he is to thank for why any of the publications even exist.

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Andrew Frost

Andrew Frost has spent two decades studying, practising, performing and creating his own original card magic, designed specifically for close-up environments. Andrew is renowned as one of the best card magicians in the world, celebrated for his seamless sleight of hand and sharp sense of humour. His contemporary approach to card magic captivates audiences worldwide. He has performed his card magic stage show “Cards on the Table” globally from cosy New York venues to grand London theatres. Andrew's book DOUBLE LIFT was an immediate success and he has contributed immeasurably to many of the publications available through THE NEAT REVIEW. He is formidable.

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Bradley Hodgins

Bradley Hodgins is a gigging magician in London. His magic is very fooling, employing a blend of old and rare methods with modern sleights, that when combined with his unassuming way of handling cards, make for unforgettable performances. Along with renowned mentalist Chris Rawlins, he has founded the highly sought after magic publication 'Card Games'.

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