Preview of Rough & Smooth Possibilities

ROUGH 6 SMOOT POSSIBILITIES I TAN

HOCK

CHUAN

With an Introduction by W I L F R I D A R C A S

J O N S O N

P U B L I C A T I O N S

ROUGH 6 SMOOTH POSSIBILITIES 7 TAN

HOCK

CHU AN

With an Introduction by W I L F R I D

J O N S O N

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND BY

ACADEMY OF RECORDED CRAFTS, ARTS AND SCIENCES LIMITED 406 SYDENHAM ROAD, CROYDON

Preface The " rough and smooth " principle has opened up a wide field in card magic. Just how wide it is will be known only in the future, when all its possibilities have been thoroughly explored by card-enthusiasts. The present writer will not attempt to trace out its history and development.

That has been done, capably and brilliantly, by Trevor Hall in his two books, " The Testament of R. W. Hull," and " Nothing is Impossible "— two books which are recommended highly to all my readers. In them the reader will find the formula for the preparation of rough and smooth cards* and the sleights used in handling the rough and smooth pack ; all described in meticulous detail.

This brochure is offered to my magical friends and confreres as a humble supplement to the two books mentioned above, and contains "new effects" with the rough and smooth principle, " new " in the sense that this principle has not been applied to them before. It is expected that the reader has had some experience in handling and using a rough and smooth deck {e.g., The Brainwave Deck of Dai Vernon) as this would give the necessary touch that must be acquired in handling this latest tool of card magic.

This point should not be lost sight of, as it will determine the degree of your success in this new field. There are, I hope, very few of us who think, that, given a prepared article like the Brainwave Deck, the effect could be carried out with the minimum of practice, or none at all! As my readers are presumed to have some knowledge of this subject, I will " cut out the cackle," and proceed at once to describe the tricks.

TAN HOCK CHUAN. Singapore, 1948. * This preparation is sold by most magical stores.

Publisher's Note

Appendix A Roughing fluid can be obtained from most magical dealers, ready for use. It consists of a solution of Resin and a fluid. This fluid can be spirit, but Carbon Tetrachloride is the most suitable as it does not smear the pattern on the cards.

In England the cleaning liquid known as " Thawpit " (obtainable from most chemists) is very suitable. The proportions, however, must be determined by experiment, for whereas some persons require a good " bind," others only need a slight roughness.

Introduction Entrusted by the Author with the pleasant task of seeing his booklet through the press, I have successfully resisted the temptation to put on the title page, " translated from the Chinese by Wilfrid Jonson." But, as all readers of the Sphinx know well, Tan Hock Chuan writes excellent English and stands in no need of translation.

Tan Hock Chuan became acquainted with the fascination of magic at a very early age, for his father was a performer of considerable talent, and for many years before the war Tan's house in Emerald Hill Road, Singapore was the meeting place of travelling magicians and the Malayan Magic Circle.

The principle of the adhesive card, after slumbering undisturbed for more than a century between the dusty covers of old magic books, has been brought into prominence during the last two decades, chiefly by the American amateur, Ralph W. Hull, and his Yorkshire disciple, Trevor Hall.

Used with discretion it is a valuable addition to the conjurer's chest of tools but, unfortunately, it has been used with that complete absence of discretion that so often accompanies enthusiasm. So we have seen a series of wonders produced with this principle and packs of cards that changed to curious colours and incredible patterns to prompt the intelligent onlooker to say, " Let's see the cards." The practical magician and the professional performer, accustomed to appearing before people with no reason to treat them with particular politeness, have naturally revolted from these products of unbridled imagination and have been inclined to condemn the whole business as smelling too strongly of amateurism. These entirely reasonable " possibilities " of the ingenious Tan may serve to show that the principle is worth further examination.

WILFRID JONSON. London, 1948.

ROUGH AND

SMOOTH

POSSIBILITIES

R. & S. Giant Monte Effect : Taking three giant cards, the magician fans them out in one hand, showing them to be the Three of Spades, Queen of Hearts and Five of Clubs. Then he turns them over to show the backs, which are Blue, Red and Blue, that is to say, the centre card, the Queen of Hearts, has a Red back. The cards are then turned over again and the fan is closed with the faces towards the audience. The cards are fanned again, but this time with the backs out, showing Blue, Red and Blue as before. The cards with the Blue backs are taken one by one and shown to be the Three of Spades and the Five of Clubs, as is expected. Pointing to the Red-backed card that is left, the magician asks the audience to name it. He then turns it around and shows it to be the Joker !

Method : This version is very clean as the full faces and backs of all the cards are clearly seen by the audience. If it were to be offered for sale in a catalogue, the advertiser would wax enthusiastic with glowing descriptions This effect is made possible by the ingenious application of the rough and smooth principle to half the faces and backs of the cards, as explained

by Dr. L. Rothbart in his card effect called " Coloroto," in the Jinx No. 7].

This principle of roughening only half the surfaces of cards will be made use of in a few more of the effects described later.

For this particular effect you require four giant cards窶認ive of Spades, Joker, Queen of Hearts, and Three of Clubs. The Joker must be from a Red-backed pack and the others from a Blue pack. Lay them out in a row as shown in Fig. 1A, and coat the shaded portions of the Joker and the Queen with the roughing fluid. Turn them over when the treated parts are dry and they should be as shown in Fig. IB, the only red back being that of the Joker. By the way, the turning over should be done sideivise and not endwise. Now apply the fluid again to the shaded parts of the last two cards as in the lower diagram. When the cards are thoroughly dry, turn them face up and gather them together in the order Five, Joker, Queen and Three, the face card being the Three. This card is chosen for the reason that the centre pip can act as a guide in the fanning necessary to work the effect. Hold the cards squared-up in the right hand with the face card showing as shown in Fig. 3, the forefinger at one end and the thumb and three fingers at the sides will help in getting the cards squared-up properly.

ROUGH AND SMOOTH POSSIBILITIES

4 4 4

1

* *

RBI BLUE

BLUE