I use the spread pass alot, but some off my friends and my mom know how its done so everytime I do the pass for them they say that they see it. also the same with the herman, classic pass and bluff pass.

I feel that I have mastered the spread pass now and the other passes but not the classic pass

Anyone else feel the same?

Have done it sometimes to people who dont know any thing about magic and I have never been caught doing it. not done its so many times.

Is it just because my family and friends know how its done that they see it?

And when I performe for many people I just do a double under cut or a faro shuffle from the break. but the double undercut I feel looks weird for the spectator.

so I have a problem doing magic sometime because I dont know how I can control the card to top :/

Have any tips?

When I first started to learn and utilize the Pass, I did feel somewhat awkward when I performed the sleight. What I did to get over this weird feeling and from people catching me while I do it, was take a deep breath and relax. Let's say you riffled down the side of the pack and ask someone to say "stop" for them to replace the card. After they have replaced the card, I would put the remaining half of the deck on top and hold just a tiny pinky break. Then I would pause, and bring my attention AWAY from the deck and look the spectators in the eyes and casually talk about what will happen next or anything really, just long enough for them to look at me and not the deck. Once I have their attention, I would get a deeper finger break on top of their selected card and perform the Pass that way. Ever since I have done this, no one has caught me because of the misdirection from asking a question or talking about the aspects of the effect I am performing.

Another thing you might want to try is condition your audience from the very beginning, that once they hear you speaking they no longer look at the deck and will look you directly in the eye. This has worked extremely well for me, because it gives you the exact, right amount of time to perform the Pass, get a DL ready, etc.

My personal favorite method of performing the Pass, is using the Invisible Pass (Square up Pass). The reason I like this Pass over most others, is the fact that they can still be looking at the deck of cards, while I perform the Invisible Pass, and they still see nothing.

So just keep practicing and remain calm, cool, and collected when performing a card effect that utilizes the Pass, double undercut, or any sleight that you feel might come across as awkward. Because if you act like it's nothing big at all, the spectators wont suspect anything either.

The key to any Shift is misdirection. I have never seen a TRULY burnable Pass. There's always a tell, no matter how good or fast the move may be. There's always an awkward movement, sound, amount of tension, or some other giveaway to the move. Rozzerdog pointed out taking your attention away from the cards. That's exactly right. Square up the cards, drop your hand to the side and forget about it, talk for a second, bring the hands back together, do the shift, and drop them again. Just make sure you have a reason to bring the hands together.

Good advice from both Ex and Rozz. I'd only add a line I have heard quoted from Vernon. The pass should happen the moment the hands come together. Get your break ready but when the hands come together don't dawdle. You want the pass completed before they have a chance to shift their attention back to the deck. I don't have a particularly good pass but by misdirecting and getting it over with the moment the hands come together I have never been caught.

Yes, I feel the same way. We tend to try out tricks on family and therefore they become sensitive to the methods.



This is just my opinion - many may not agree. There is no overwhelming reason to waste massive practice time on perfecting a classic pass. I do practice it now and then hoping that someday it may get good enough. But there is a mountain of great tricks that don't involve a classic pass.

There are a gazillion other methods for controlling a card to the top that are highly deceptive. The double undercut is deceptive enough for most people. BUT if you really want to make the card look lost after the double undercut, just overhand shuffle the card to the bottom and once more to bring it back to the top.

My pass is so perfect I don't even see it done myself.
Anyways I will enlighten you with my vast amount of card handling understanding.

1.If you don't need to do a pass then don't- Use card controls instead,
My favorites are Terry LaGerould Swingset Control plus the 2 variations which can be seen in "Brian Tudor Generation Extreme" and in "Heckler" as well.

2. use a cover pass-

3.The spread pass is not that deceptive, but do mess the spread so u can fix it while u execute the move.

4.If you are not as good as me then use misdirection- My pass is so flawless I can do it up to their noses, If u get caught a lot then speak to them and while they are not looking at your hands do it.

5.Learn the Dribble Pass from "Brian Tudor Generation Extreme" and use that.

6.practice more- It takes years to get the pass looking half as good as mine.

7.profit

Could you please post a video of you performing the Pass? I would really like to see your absolutely perfect performance of the sleight. I also like the way you have self advertised your DVD's, it almost sounds like your DVD is the one and only best way to learn all sorts of various Pass techniques. Also, I'm not trying to be rude or sarcastic in the slightest, so I hope my questions don't come across that way, I'm just genuinely interested.

The classic pass is easier than most people make it out to be. Its all about the misdirection when executing it. I use classic pass a majority of the time, and as soon as ive got their card in the deck and ready to execute I just look at them and say something to them and they will look at me and won't have a clue that I did anything with the deck except just holding it. You can get away with it when they are looking because it is so fast, but your angles are important with that. As far as any card control that may look "weird" to a spectator, remember who is in control and performing the effects.

I think it was Larry Jennings who said he will never perform the pass unless his spectators are looking at his hands.
I agree with that sentence; when I do the dribble pass I don't want my spectators to look away and then in retroprespective think that they might have missed something, that's why I constantly practice my pass even though I've been feeling completely comfortable with it for years...

Try and learn another control such as the Deliberate Side Steal. I find that when correctly performed the side steal is efficient (you move 1 card) and deceptive. Remember there are many roads that lead to the same destination and the pass is only one...
Good luck in finding a new road.
Best regarz,
Olmagi52