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Ken Krenzel - The Pass VHS
L&L Publishing
Running Time: 67 mins

Cost - £7

This is actually Volume 4 of Ken's video series from L&L, and again, I found it in the video clearance sale at International Magic in London.

Difficulty - 4 to 5
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

Review

Here's the back of the video... the chapters.

The Classic Pass
Common Mistakes
The Pass as a Colour Change
ken's Preferred Method
The Jiggle Pass
The Top Card Cover Pass
The Top and Bottom Card Pass
How To Practise The Pass
The Single Card Pass
Reversing a Card With The Single Card Pass
The Sendax Tap Pass
The Herrmann Turnover Pass
The Expert Card Technique Pass
The Jack Miller Pass
The KE Pass
The Dribble Pass
The Marlo Dribble Pass
The Louis Histed Packet Pass
Poltergeist
LePaul's Spread Pass
The Leipzig Pass

Wow! I bet you never thought there were so many variations of The Pass did you? Combine this with Kaufman's DVD 'On The Pass', and you'll have a Pass for every occasion.

Again, it's an old video, so it's all very simple. This time, Ken is giving us his demonstrations of his mastery of the Pass, and Gary Ouellet is the man asking the questions. Gary obviously knows a thing or two about the Pass... his book on it is a great learning resource.

There is a lot of information here, and I wouldn't recommend watching it all at once. It's just too much to take in at one sitting. Plus it's VHS, so there's no skipping between chapters. After watching it all, eventually, I found Ken's input on the Classic and Riffle Passes most useful. His pointers on practising the Pass should be well noted too.

I've not seen this on DVD, it's one of those 'bargain-in finds' that I like to buy. If you do happen to see it, I'd recommend getting it, just to see Ken in action.

Overall - 3.5 out of 5

Enjoyable to the Pass fanatic, but maybe not suitable for the beginner in card magic.

Thanks for the reveiws.

If you had a choice between keeping this or the Kaufmann video which one would you choose?

Good question... they are both so full of information on the Pass that it is difficult to choose.

I would say that I would keep Kaufman's out of the two. Partly because it is on DVD, rather than VHS, so skipping between the different methods is easy. If you want to see the Dribble Pass on Ken's, you have to fast forward through 40 mins of tape. On Kaufman's I can skip between them with ease.

Also, I would keep Kaufman's because it has a few routines taught at the end, so you can actually see the application of the Passes you are learning.

That said, I don't mean to deter anyone from looking into Ken Krenzel's teaching. They are both masters of this difficult sleight.

Hope this helps,