Some Notes on the Pass

In spite of all the printer's ink which has been spilled in describing this sleight it still remains a stumbling block in the path of the tyro. In order to avoid its use much ingenuity has been exercised to find satisfactory substitutes for it. Some of these are useful, so useful indeed, that some of our best card men have told me that only on rare occasions do they have recourse to the pass. However, the fact that they do have to use it sometimes shows that it is necessary for the would-be card manipulator to master it. The difficulty found in its execution arises mainly from an imperfect understanding of the moves required.

So many descriptions of the sleight have appeared that it will not be necessary to enter into all the details here. The main point to be noted is this--the upper half of the deck must be gripped firmly between the top joints of the first three fingers of the left hand, above, and the first joint of the little finger below. The lower portion of the pack must be held between the tips of the right thumb and second finger, the right hand being arched as much as possible above the pack, which is held at an angle of about forty-five degrees. By straightening the lowest joints of the left fingers with the back of the hand, the top portion is drawn off to the right, it is not lifted off. The right second finger then lifts the lower portion slightly by bending its first joint inwards, the hand itself remaining motionless. The arch of the right hand affords room for the edges of the packets to clear one another, the left fingers are then closed, the two packets having changed places.

It requires rare skill to make the pass invisibly with the hands at rest, but that this can be done, those who have seen Mr. Ralph W. Read perform the sleight will testify. But it is not necessary to attain such extraordinary dexterity. A recent visitor to the USA, Mr. John Ramsey, an accomplished magician from Ayr, Scotland, showed that, after the position of the hands for the pass has been taken, if they are then raised slightly and turned over to show the fact of the bottom card, the pass can be made imperceptibly in turning the hands back with a downward motion. It is interesting to note that a French writer, M. Ponsin, early in the last century, described the same moves as being a perfect cover for the execution of the pass.

I have found that it aids greatly in disguising the sleight, if at the very moment that the pass is completed, the hands are moved a little apart, spreading the cards, with the accompaniment of some such remark as this: "You see the card remains in the middle of the deck." Then close the pack sharply and go into an overhand shuttle without an instant's delay.

If the movements described above are done smoothly and boldly, while addressing the drawer of the card and looking him in the face, the actual transposition need not he very rapid, yet the operation will be completely covered. It is misdirection, not the rapidity, that counts.