Pol Pollux: The One and Only Card Juggler!

Given our mission here at Propelled Pasteboards, it probably shouldn't have taken this long to feature Pollux, billed as "the one and only card juggler."  Several of his cards had long occupied places in my throwing card albums, it was just a bit more difficult to find information about him, as the traditional magic literature sources were wanting.  So I did something unusual, I searched him out, wrote to him and, despite a language gap, managed to get some interesting information and terrific graphics.  

 The earliest record I could find relating to Pollux appeared in World’s Fair in 1968:

 

"A young French couple whose names I don't recollect coming across previously, Les Pollux, appeared on B.B.C.-1's "Basil Brush Show" last Friday with a neat but brief act. First the girl appeared, with a decorative inverted umbrella on the floor from which a cane sprang into the air; catching it, she went into a Dancing Cane routine in which she seemed a little lacking in confidence. Then the young man performed a variety of card flourishes, boomerangs, spread and throw, etc., the last spread on a cane producing a dove; to conclude he flipped cards at a cigarette in a holder in the girl's mouth, finally hitting it- Unusual, and quite pleasing, if not very striking magically." 

In 1977, Abracadabra made a brief mention of Pollux's appearance on the "David Nixon Show (ITV, Monday)."  Then, in 1990, Elizabeth Warlock raved about a star turn by Pollux as part of a variety bill in The Linking Ring:

"But good as all these acts were, for many the star of the show was Pollux from Switzerland. New to me, he brought a new dimension to card spinning. I have never seen it presented so entertainingly or with so much finesse. With a cheeky wink and a nod the cards spun out front, sideways and backward with machine gun precision. The audience warmed to this skill and even took part, in a fun way, in the demonstration. As a finale, Pollux spun a card from a distance to split a cigarette held in his partner's mouth. As an interlude, he threw in the thumb tie which he did equally well. Pollux has the type of act that can play the London Palladium or the small cabaret club with equal success."

Even a report of a less successful show still showcases this performer's extraordinary and unique talents.  A particularly acerbic reporter for Opus, who commented on Pollux's 1992 appearance at the Eastbourne gathering of the IBM, noted:

"Pol Pollux juggles cards. He has some of the best card spins ever seen. I know this because I saw him at the International Day of Magic where everything went right. Here it didn't and so he died a death. A pity. When I tell you that one of his bits is to flick a card up in an arc and just before it hits the ground back heel back up in the air again to catch it in the pack you get some understanding of how great the act is when it works. Also of course you realise that it doesn't mean a light when it doesn't."

After 1992, the next documented performance I could find was a 2007 Magic Circular report of his appearances at the 8th International Festival of Magic. 

And that's where the trail grows cold in the traditional magic press, leaving the extraordinary talents of this dynamic performer in a mysterious lurch.

But, as regular readers of these posts know, the intrepid curiosity of those of us at Propelled Pasteboards is difficult to satisfy.   Through a series of web searches, I located Pollux and his assistant, who supplied me with several of the photos seen here, and more importantly, answers!

Turns out, Pollux was simply too busy having a fabulous career, working venues not covered by our usual sources.   Pollux advised he was most active from 1962 through around 2000. He worked mainly in casinos in West Africa and nearly every casino Europe - a circuit not generally covered by the Western magic press.  Pollux spent a great deal of time performing in Japan, where his card juggling met with great favor and heady reviews.

The great card juggler offered to meet your correspondent in Korea for the 2018 FISM competition, but alas, it wasn't to be.  Pollux was apparently there, and while Propelled Pasteboards is always eager to get a scoop, a trip to Korea was not within the time and money allocated within the blog budget.

Pollux's throwing cards, seen above, are beautifully produced with playing card faces.  They are produced by, and cobranded with, AG Muller & Cie, the outfit that produces Swiss Playing Cards.