About Magic Reviewed

The Magic Reviewed mission is to review magic products with an eye toward advertisement honesty and method practicality, not feelings about the effect or creator. -Jeff Stone

My Name is Jeff Stone, and I've spent the past several years writing reviews for My Lovely Assistant as well as my self-published e-zine, Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

In that time and over the course of a few hundred reviews, I've developed a reputation for not pulling any punches when it comes to magic products. My reviews may even come across as cranky to some.

While it's not my intention to be cranky, it is to inform the magic community as a whole what's good and what's bad - in my opinion. My hope is to save my readers a few painful purchases and to help keep that magic junk drawer from filling up.

Of course, I don't point out just the crap. I also point out what's good, again in my opinion. However, keep in mind that I'm not judging the products soley on whether I like them or not. I understand that not everyone has the same taste.

I have a few things I consider when I judge a product. In no particular order these are my main criteria:

  • How well put together the product is (packaging, DVD lighting, sound, book quality, etc.)
  • How much you get for the price (bang for your buck)
  • How closely the product lives up to the advertisement hype
  • How practical the method is (is it realistic or does it only work straight on for a YouTube clip)
  • How good the teaching is
  • How original the effect is

There are other things, but those are the main criteria. I've moved all of my reviews from Stone Cold Magic Magazine to this site. However, you'll find my reviews posted both here at Magic Reviewed and at My Lovely Assistant. The bottom line is this: if you want more hype and drum bangin' of your favorite product, go somewhere else. But if you want the truth - at least from my perspective - you've come to the right place. Let me be your guide through the field of magic products.

To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. -Edward R. Murrow