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Is my problem that its just too slow? I just need to work on speed or technique as well...

Probably both. :\

Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgtWwF8NF-g

Although I couldn't see the video very well owing to fairly low lighting levels, I must say it seemed to me like your hands were all over the place

If you'd like a few pointers, then feel free to PM me. Can't say too much on an open forum!

It's one of those moves that requires practice and tweaking, but there's a few general hints and tips about it too

remake the video untill you get a club card (it fits better with the song clubbed to death)

sandstorm412 wrote:remake the video untill you get a club card (it fits better with the song clubbed to death)

Oh nice on the pickup

Not a to bad pass either

That kinda needs some work but it looks like you're getting there ...


Just a point here, this has been annoying me lately, so sorry if I go on, and no offence, but why is everyone showing their passes with the card face up? To me this seems kind of pointless. Now it is much harder to hide the pass when the card is face down. When people do it face up we know that there is going to be a change 'on top' but we should be trying to make it look invisible. The change of the top card from a face down one to a face up one sort of hides what is going on because it is so visual. I'm not sure if I'm making my point very clear, but basically face up passes look better than face down ones, but the pass shouldn't look like anything. Sorry that was kind of hard to explain. By the way virtuex7, that had nothing to do with your performance...

Mahoney wrote:That kinda needs some work but it looks like you're getting there ...


Just a point here, this has been annoying me lately, so sorry if I go on, and no offence, but why is everyone showing their passes with the card face up? To me this seems kind of pointless. Now it is much harder to hide the pass when the card is face down. When people do it face up we know that there is going to be a change 'on top' but we should be trying to make it look invisible. The change of the top card from a face down one to a face up one sort of hides what is going on because it is so visual. I'm not sure if I'm making my point very clear, but basically face up passes look better than face down ones, but the pass shouldn't look like anything. Sorry that was kind of hard to explain. By the way virtuex7, that had nothing to do with your performance...

True, but to me at least and I am sure to many others, it isn't to make it look pretty. No one does a pass with the cards up but on videos showing skill or trying to get feedback. They do it face up so the viewers can keep track of the card better and then commet on it with better knowledge.

Now on the video, I do believe you have the basics done and just keep praticing and speed will come.

I heard somewhere that you should do it 100 times a day for a year to get all the little fine areas of it down. I think it was the On The Pass video with that guy whos name I cant remember.

Ok, first of all, you can totally see the break to the face up card before the pass even takes effect. And it's a large enough break to see the card you're passing to.

And yes, it is MUCH easier to pass to a card face up than face down and if you're looking for a skilled shot, then pass to a card face down. Why?

Do a pass slowly face down. Notice that the border and colors of the card on top immediately clash with the same backing that you're passing to and draw your eyes to the fact that there is some sort of motion going on. Now turn a card face up and pass to that card at the same slowness. Two things assist you here. First of all, the white border of the bikes or whatever other card you're using on the backside blends with the whiteness of the card being passed making it less conspicuous and allowing you to get by on speed alone if you must. There is no real clashing that goes on color-wise. Also, the sudden revelation of white tends to attract the eye to the lower card and detract from the top packet being passed.

Note that when you're passing a card face up, it's usually for some sort of ACR or variation move where a card is popping to the top whereas when you're passing cards face down, it's to secretly get a card to the top which is what the pass was designed to do. If you see excess motion or any motion at all as I described above, the spectators will know that something happened. Speed is not really an issue here, no matter how fast you do a pass to another face down card (unless you're going at light speed) the spectator WILL see some sort of flash.

So, some things to note about your pass.

1. Use your thumb to cover the break instead of separating the two packets.

2. Get it more covered, I feel that if there was more lighting I could have seen the entire motion

3. Try to film another one, card face down as that's a better indicator of skill in my opinion.

My tip...buy Ken Krenzel's video on the Pass. It is amazing beyond belief. As is the pass when you get it perfected. It has taken me 4 long years to get my pass invisible and I love it! I prefer to pass then, as my right thumb is on the bottom(now top) packet I riffle these down ontop of the transposed packet. The riffle and necessary action covers the noise of the packets transposing (aim for no noise but inevitably it will happen occasionally)

The main secret is practice. I do all day (sadly) whenever I have free time - watching tv, walking around the house, in the garden. As you get better and better the practicing becomes more fun - honest, and you get the biggest sense of achievement when it finally clicks! I use mine as a colour change during an ambi card routine. Because of its clumpy mechanical nature I find it is my failsafe for drunken fingers messing about down the pub. It becomes ingrained in your hands, the action, I also do it with friends decks. I hate doing impromptu tricks sometimes - "do some magic" So I end up taking the cards and saying nice deck, havent seen one of these before, I've heard about them though. Set up for pass and just keep riffle passing deck changes the faces. It looks weird and people are left wondering "eh?!" hand the deck over and I just say thats all I know, with a smile. Its usually enough in itself to convince people your not just any old hobbledy-hoi with cards and people get the hint, as youve not gone into some showboating routine, that it is the end of your entertaining for this evening.

[quote="Mahoney"]Just a point here, this has been annoying me lately, so sorry if I go on, and no offence, but why is everyone showing their passes with the card face up?/quote]

Because it looks good in an ACR

ace of kev wrote:Because it looks good in an ACR

Quite right, and I have used it for this before. But what I am getting at is that a pass is not (usually) meant to be visible. Of course if you are using it for ACR then it's a completely different thing. I don't think everyone should be practicing their passes 'face up', it jsut makes it harder to see where you need improvement. Do you see what I mean?

Your problem is not that your too slow. Peter Cassford does a 10 second pass on his DVD "Pass with care" and you dont see a thing. If anyone tells you speed is the key issue, its not true. If you want the best resource on the pass then get "Pass with care", I have had it for 3 days and my pass is as good as yours, and by the way I had never practised the pass before I bought this DVD.

Not bad, but you have two main problems I can see:

1. You flash the card right before the pass. Covering the deck with your hand should stop this

2. Your pass is accompanied by a huge twitch. I guess you've picked this up from a DVD or something? A nice smooth pass involves no twitching at all really.

The question here is: Are you practicing the pass as a COLOUR CHANGE or as a SLEIGHT. If it's the former, then you will need to practice a lot more!

Also, it's very hard not to attract criticism when videoing a pass... it's usually done as a very secretive move in full view, and obviously wouldn't be as easy to watch as yours, as video gives the spectator the luxury of rewind, plus we know what to look for!

I still find the best cover for a pass is to make eye contact with the speccys for a split second to distract them from the deck. This is easy for me, as during performances I inject humour, which is a smashing way to draw attention to my face.

What I like to do during a classic pass is just make it look like I'm squaring the deck. This means using as little movement as possible and, after showing the card face up, perposly disturb the deck in some way that makes some of the cards stick out a little and require squaring. This makes everything look totally natural.