The Pass

Over 100 years ago in one of the most important books ever written on the subject of card manipulation, S.W. Erdnase describes in detail several methods of executing the pass. (Or “shift” as it was referred to in gambling parlance). In “The Expert at the Card Table” Erdnase dedicates nearly 20 pages to this slight. He goes on to say that…”The conjurer employs the shift in nine tenths of his tricks”. Harlan Tarbell in Volume I of his monumental course in magic refers to the pass as…”One of the most important slights in card magic”. That was published in 1927. Paul LePaul in 1959 calls the pass the very “backbone” of card magic. He goes on to say…”The fact that this time-honored slight has survived through the centuries and is still used by all the better manipulators should prove that it is basically sound and well worth mastering”.



Suffice it to say, the pass should not be ignored by anyone wishing to become proficient at card manipulation. Now here’s the rub. The pass is certainly one of the most difficult slights to learn. Card man extraordinaire, Richard Kaufman puts it this way…”If you practice it 100 times a day for a year you will start to get the idea of what the pass is all about”. Whoa! It is the stuff of card work and separates the men from the boys, as it were.

Back in the day I had a decent turn-over pass, but my classic pass was junk. I got to where I thought it would never come so I relied solely on the turn-over pass. As I now try to work out my old routines as well as new ones, it’s clear that doing the same pass all the time would arouse suspicion. And one thing any slight-of-hand artist knows it is this… It does not matter if the audience is unaware of WHAT you just did. If they sense an unnatural or jerky motion, or that you did SOMETHING, the illusion is shattered. So, the pass I shall learn. Classic, Modern, Braue, Zingone and Charlier. But for now I will continue to work on the classic pass and clean up my turn-over pass. At this time my classic pass is about 85% up to scratch.


If you are reading this and you have mastered the pass; I salute you sir! If you know about the pass, but don’t think it’s important, please reread the 1st paragraph. Once the pass is mastered, a whole new world of possibilities is at the beck and call of the card worker.
After all, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it!

Please share your experiences!