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Every now and then I go back to RRTCM. I, too don't find it outdated. It will remain a classic in my view. I love Card College too-but for other reasons. As for dyachylon, I have wondered the same thing. I read somewhere it has something to do with lead plaster. From what I've read in Encyclopedia of Card Tricks, I gather you can use roughing fluid to get the same effect.

EndersGame wrote:

mark lewis wrote:I have never found the Royal Road to be particularly outdated except in a tiny few places. I would still like to know what "diachylon" is though! Having said that I think at least 90% of the tricks therein are just as effective now as they were when the book was first published. I do many of them. However, the main value of the Royal Road is the little hints on how to present magic scattered throughout the book.

Good points, Mark. I'm currently working through Royal Road again, together with your annotations, and the videos by R. Paul Wilson and Rudy Hunter. Aspects from RRTCM that are arguably somewhat obsolete include things like the method taught for the Glide, and to some extent even the chapter on the Backslip given that most magicians don't really use it.

But you're totally right about the tricks - there's some real gold there. And the hints and tips on presentation throughout the book are excellent. I also like some of the alternative handlings you suggest. I'll be posting a review of your annotated version in a few months time once I finish getting through everything carefully for the second time.

I use the Glide as described in the book very frequently. Come to think of it most books I have ever read describe it in the same way. Perhaps there are some more up to date books that I haven't read with more advanced versions or describe it in a different way--I have no idea. The only variation I have come across is a sort of side glide by Cy Endfield. The only thing I have really added to it when performing is the little retention of vision tip with the middle finger. As for the backslip I used to use it a lot particularly for the Lightning Card trick described in the book. I still use it on occasion sometimes as a force and sometimes as a control. It is actually a great method of controlling a card and very convincing indeed since it gives the illusion that the spectator shuffles the cards rather than the performer.

As for the book itself it has been my Bible for decades. I have been studying it since I was 15 years old. That is why I felt I had to annotate the book which can be obtained in download from lybrary.com right here :
https://www.lybrary.com/the-annotated-r ... 23422.html

Or if you are an old fashioned fuddy duddy like me who prefers a hard copy real book you can get it direct from me here:
http://marklewisentertainment.com/html/magicians.html

Just bought a copy of this from Lybrary. Very good, I must say, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. Nicely done, Mark!

Derek

mark lewis » Jan 13th, '22, 04:32 wrote: "I would still like to know what "diachylon" is though!"

There is content on Wiki about ancient sticking plasters and medical poultices, which often but not always contained an oxide of lead and oil, such as compounds made from litharge (one of the natural mineral forms of lead(II) oxide, PbO, per Wiki) combined with lard or olive oil (per Merriam-Webster), and applied to abrasions and other wounds, and as a general adhesive. From various other sources, I have read that in the late 19th century some women consumed it as a secret abortion inducer.

This toxic lead-oil oxide version was purchased at drug stores in the 1930s and spread by magicians on cards while heated, then was tacky when dry. (A trick using it was described by Meyer, Orville The Ribbon That Made Good, in The Jinx (summer extra edition 1935; ed. Theo. Annemann), p. 43.) They referred to it as diachlon or diachylon (the Late Latin version of the word, from Medieval Latin diaquilon, from Greek diachylos, juicy -- thus, the ch should be hard like a 'k').

Later, magic prop creators used alternatives such as beeswax, or formulae such as “(ref: T.A. Waters' Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians)
The DIY roughing fluid recipe is:
8 oz grain alcohol
1 oz liquified phenol
1/2 oz (by weight) gum sandarac
1/2 oz " " gum mastic.
Agitate well, let rest for several hours and filter to remove sediment.” quoted from
Jack Poulter at https://alt.magic.narkive.com/hwjOptkz/ ... fluid-help" target="_blank.

Eventually magicians or prop creators such as Harry Robson and Lawrence Turner created special sticks of a hard substance which could be applied to props to create the same effect, first a product named Easy Rough, and later an improved version called Roughing Stick. The formulae are of course secret, but it is likely that they include wax and perhaps one or more of the above ingredients. This is pure speculation on my part. But I am fairly certain that they are no longer related to the lead oxide variants of the ancient recipes for medical poultices, although there is no statement on toxicity or non-toxicity in any ads or at any sales sites that I have found. According to posts in some fora, similar products became available under the names Hobson (possible typo for Robson?), and either Maddison (probable typo) or Daniel Madison's "Villain" Roughing Device; I assume these predated Robson's stick but do not know for certain, and don't know whether they are still available. An apparently newer one is Neo V2, which seems more affordable than Robson's, being cheaper and larger. I have purchased one but not yet tested it.

Somewhere I believe I saw that one of these creators, either Robson or the creator of Neo, perhaps, said that they had come up with a roughing stick based on diachlon or diachylon, and since then posters in various fora have been using this word, often asking what the heck it IS. I believe that it is simply a term borrowed due to its similarity to one or more earlier forms in causing stickiness, but unrelated in content. A similar, very expensive product using nano-technology, Science Friction, is said by most reviewers to work better than anything else, but is out of my price range for now. Many of course use matte clear varnish for a similar effect. The references I've seen to a 'roughing liquid' never seem to explain whether such a thing can be purchased in bottled liquid form or how to use it, but the term is often used adjacent to matte clear varnish, implying that this is what it means, since it is a roughing liquid, albeit a sprayed one. I'm just a 0-level beginner and have not yet had a chance to experiment with the varnish versus Neo V2.

just spent an hour reading through this and a few older posts. Haven't been on here for 8 years!

Welcome back, and happy reading!

Welcome back!