Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard

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      CHAPTER 4. THE PASS

      THE INVISIBLE TURN-OVER PASS

      This pass is worthy of the practice required for its mastery and for this reason has been described in completest detail. It has been tested exhaustively before one of America’s finest card experts, under close-up conditions and at a distance of twenty feet, under a brilliant light, with the operator turning slowly so that the pass might be observed from every angle. Under these conditions, with the hands at rest and without any covering motion, this authority pronounced it the first invisible pass he had ever seen.

      The transposition of the packets is made under cover of a smooth and orderly action which exactly simulates the turning of a pack face upwards, and in studying the actions the reader should strive for smoothness, with one movement following the other without any hesitation or awkwardness, until the sleight, to all intents and purposes, does become the simple action of turning a pack face upwards. This is not nearly so difficult as it may appear once the nature of the pass is understood, for the various actions blend and the movement of the two packets is at all times screened by the position of the hands and the pack. Here are the moves:

      1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing, with the single exception that the thumb lies along the left side until the last movement of the sleight. With the little finger hold a break above the card to be brought to the top, this card lying somewhere near the middle of the pack.

      2. Place the right hand over the deck, the middle phalange of the first finger resting on the end at the left corner, the ball of the thumb resting on the inner edge at the left corner. Press the flat ball of the left thumb against the side of the right first finger at the left outer corner. The outer right corner of the pack rests at the root of the right third finger, the right wrist being dropped to bring the palm of the hand on the same level as the top of the pack. In this position the fingers of the right hand screen the outer end of the pack, Fig. 1.

      3. Curl the left first finger under the pack, its nail resting on the face of the bottom card.

      4. Drop the right side of the lower packet half an inch and insert the face card of A and press sharply a horizontal position, face upwards, the tip of the left second finger between the two packets. Grip the lower packet between the left first finger, at the bottom, and the left second finger at the top.

      5. Straighten these fingers, thus moving the lower packet into a vertical position still gripped between the fingers. This action is concealed by the screening fingers of the right hand, Fig. 2.

      6. The moment the edges of the two packets clear one another, turn the upper packet, A, down to a. vertical position behind B by pulling upwards on its left outer corner with the first joint of the right forefinger. Do this by bending the first joint of the forefinger inwards, allowing the packet A to pivot at the ends near the left corners between the ball of the right thumb and the side of the right second finger at the middle joint. As the first finger bends inwards the second finger straightens rigidly and presses outwards, the double action serving to whip packet A from a horizontal to a vertical position, Fig. 3.

      7. Bend the left thumb bringing its tip against the middle of outwards, snapping the pack into and resting on the top joints of the left fingers. The pack will now be face upwards with the desired card at the top.

      The following points should be kept in mind:

      a. With the right fingers forming a screen at the end of the pack, it is impossible for the onlookers to see the movement of the lower packet when it is extended to the right.

      b. The moment the lower packet clears the upper packet, the right first finger must bend inwards, pivoting its packet into a vertical position without the loss of a fraction of a second.

      c. Similarly, immediately thereafter the left thumb and fingers snap the assembled pack face upwards without hesitation.

      The pass can be made without the slightest telltale sound; however, if the proper timing is not maintained, there may be a small whisper of card on card. Once perfect coordination is established, this is eliminated.

      In making this pass it should be clear to the onlookers that the pack is turned over and there should be a self-evident reason for having turned it. Commenting upon the favorable import of having a certain card at the face of the deck may be used, but the following is an even better procedure:

      Immediately upon terminating the pass grasp the pack at the inner sides from underneath between the left thumb and second, third and fourth fingers, with the first finger curled at the bottom. Place the right thumb, second and third fingers at the right ends and make a pressure fan. After a brief glimpse at the fan, close it and square the deck upon the left palm.

      By this procedure you have given a tacit reason for turning the pack and you have further amply demonstrated that you have turned the face-down pack face upwards, and vice versa.