ANNUAL LETTER 2023
Welcome to this new episode of the Monkeys' Journal! And as tradition dictates: Happy New Year 2023 !
Here we are again for a new year and we have quite a few surprises in store for you!
Before revealing some projects that will come to life in 2023, we offer you a little retrospective of the year 2022.
2022 in brief!
In Unlock hides a game, a puzzle to solve for a chance to win exclusive prizes! It took us a long time to create this game. 7 puzzles on the 7 main arts that revealed who Mark Elsdon really is, his inspirations, and how he became the mentalist we all know today. Before publishing this mini-game, we had it tested by some friends. The verdict was clear: a great, fun game but quite challenging. So, imagine our surprise when the first customer solved the puzzle in just a few hours! Kudos to him! We really enjoyed this game creation experience and it’s quite possible that a new game will appear with our next book... Stay tuned!
Between March and June, some really thought that the Monkeys had closed up shop. Not at all! On the contrary, we actively searched for offices to create a true workspace. And between looking for commercial premises, renovations, and furnishing, we still found time to develop the box set La Fabrique by Jordan Victoria and the book Turnover by Geoffrey Cheminot! Here are some photos of our magical bachelor pad! And if you happen to be passing through the most beautiful region of France (yes, we’re a bit biased, but admit that Auvergne is pretty great!), don’t hesitate to stop by!
June arrives. Thomas takes a plane to Minnesota for 3 weeks of vacation while Florian and Victor handle the release of our new book: Turnover. Since we already told you about Florian’s vacation in Peru in our September Newsletter, let’s start with a quick summary of Thomas’s vacation: burgers, bears, boat, hours of driving and a discovery of the great national parks of the state with 12,000 lakes (there, that’s done! At least he can’t say we didn’t talk about him)! Let’s get back on track. In June, the young Geoffrey Cheminot lands on the magic scene . You had never heard of him? That’s normal! Neither had we! Well, before reading his book Turnover which is a true gem! If you love cards, beautiful magic and innovative concepts: go for it! Geoffrey is a young magician full of talent! No doubt he will make a name for himself in the French magic landscape in the coming years!
Victor and Florian also attended the International Create Illusion congress organized by Serge Arial in early June. It was an opportunity to meet Guillaume Botta, Jordan Victoria, the French Twin, Taha Mansour, and many others over a good beer. Between surf sessions, casino games, conferences, and shows, the weekend was well packed. We look forward to seeing you at the second edition of this congress, which will take place in a few months!
The summer was not exactly restful either. We aimed to release two consecutive projects starting in September. So to be honest, we didn’t take a break! Thomas worked on finalizing the layout of the book La Fabrique and Florian handled the layouts for the magazine THE JINX in French. Not to mention Victor, who spent endless hours on a still-secret project that, we hope, will see the light of day in 2023!
In July, another visitor crossed the doors of our bachelor pad (let's say "the Monkeys' office," that sounds more professional!).Tobias Hudson, a young English card magician and longtime friend of Thomas, came to do the photos for his first book which will be published very soon (we can already tell you that this book will be a revolution! So, stay tuned!). For this photo shoot, a new photographer joined the team to help Pauline, who was already quite busy: Claire! We will have the chance to introduce her to you very soon! Welcome to the team, Claire!
September finally arrives! All the print files for La Fabrique were sent to the printer on time. We can finally breathe! Did you believe that? At Monkeys, there’s no time to nap under the banana tree! At the end of September, the longest and most tedious adventure begins: THE JINX EXPERIENCE! In collaboration with the French (Brazilian?) mentalist Julien Losa, we took on the challenge of allowing magicians to more comfortably discover the best magic and mentalism magazine of all time by Theodore Annemann! You should know that THE JINX is still 150 issues, averaging 5 tricks per issue, plus an “extra summer” and an “extra winter” issue per year. Publishing an issue every two weeks, and if we calculate correctly, we’re set for 6 and a half years of JINX! A gigantic project that we fully intend to complete! If you are subscribed, a big thank you! If you’re not yet, don’t worry, the subscription period for the second semester is coming very soon! But you can always subscribe monthly to discover the magazine! [END OF AD]
October was surely the busiest month of the year! It all started with the weekend of Privates Magic Days alongside Woody Aragon, Markobi, Père Alex, Romaric, and Jordan Victoria. An incredible weekend of magic during which we didn’t get much sleep! By the way, we are already deep in thought for the next edition! Promise, we’ll let you know when everything is ready! Right after the PMD, no time to sleep as we were already on the filming set for the trailer of La Fabrique by Jordan Victoria! A fantastic day with top-notch actors! Thanks again Jordan, Jean-Christophe, and Sam! We’re sharing the trailer just below if you’ve never seen it!
And since we love spending time with our production team (thanks team, you’re the best!), we did it again the very next week with an as-yet-secret project. We’re very eager to show you the result. So just a little more patience. In the meantime, here are some photos from the shoot:
And to finish this never-ending month, we went to Futuroscope for the FFAP 2022 congress. Of course, in the meantime, we had received everything needed to finalize the La Fabrique box sets. The "assembly line worker" mode was activated. Entire evenings spent crafting the box sets by hand, one by one! But the result was up to our expectations! Many of you came to see us at our booth and congratulated us on the work accomplished. A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU! We don’t say it enough, but this adventure couldn’t continue without you! So thank you for supporting us in all our projects, no matter how crazy they are!
Early November marks the national release of our La Fabrique box set! But it also marks the launch of our new project which will come to life in early 2023! And since we were afraid of getting bored, Pauline had the great idea to set up an advent calendar, 100% free for all our customers, in which they discovered a surprise every day! So we contacted quite a few of our magician friends around the world to set up an amazing calendar packed with gifts! And since we’re super nice, we decided to keep it available for a few more days! Latecomers, now’s the time to jump on board!
Finally, a Breton cardist, well known to all, visited us at the beginning of December as part of a project that will see the light of day very soon! Between restaurant, climbing, photo shoot, video recording, we didn’t stop! So hoist the mainsail and see you in 2023 to discover the new project of Captain Dumontier!
So, I think we’ve covered everything that happened during this year 2022! A rich and colorful year that really made us sweat!
Welcome 2023!
If everything goes smoothly, 2023 will hold many surprises for you! And we start, right at the beginning of the year, with something a little bit special. At the border between modern and old, this project will delight cardists and magicians of all kinds. So draw your sword and your spyglass and embark on a rollicking adventure! It is even said that the galleon is coming from the west, keep your eyes open!
At the end of 2022, we signed with a world-renowned American artist and we are very proud to publish his brand new exclusive book. This project is just getting started, so a little more patience, but we promise you won’t be disappointed!
At the end of January, Thomas will take off heading to Canada where he will give his first lecture before the magic circle of Montreal! He will talk about his magic, his creations, his two upcoming books (which will soon be released by 3 Monkeys!) and the vision of work at 3 Monkeys. So, needless to say, Thomas is quite stressed and working hard to make sure the lecture lives up to expectations! To be continued...
In February, the 3 Monkeys will return to the exceptional Blackpool magic convention after 3 years of absence (damn Covid!). And they won’t come alone! Camille Cassaigne, their designer, will also be there along with some monkeys already part of the family: Jordan, Mark, Tobias... So, if you’re also in England from February 16 to 19, 2023, don’t hesitate to let us know, we’ll go have a beer together!
2023 will also be the opportunity to start a new collaboration with Guillaume Botta! An exceptional project combining magic, mentalism and the game of kings! Certainly the biggest project we will undertake since the beginning of this adventure!
We will also reunite with Mark Elsdon for a new exclusive mentalism project (for now, we won’t say more but we’re sure you’ll love it!). Finally, 2023 will mark the beginning of new collaborations with world-renowned artists and rising stars of magic! Many other surprises are coming this year, so stay tuned!
The final word!
To conclude this already way too long newsletter (congratulations if you made it this far!), we send you all our wishes for happiness and success for this new year! Thank you for encouraging us, supporting us, and following us on this adventure, as crazy as it may be! Happy New Year 2023!
P.S.: Promise, the next newsletters won’t be this long!
See you soon, friends!
The 3 Monkeys Team
THE TEAM'S RESOLUTIONS!
THOMAS
Get back to sports and more specifically basketball (5 years without playing, I’m a bit rusty...), eat more vegetables and get up earlier in the morning!
FLORIAN
Take a big exotic trip again, drink more water and spend less time in front of screens!
VICTOR
Finally start freediving, furnish my apartment (the credit card is going to heat up!) and finally release our biggest magic project!
Thank you again for your trust and see you soon!
🌟Happy New Year 2023🌟