Yes, I'm ranting. The subject? Two words:
The Pass
I am ranting about the pass. I'd like to know when the whole obsession got started with this little move. Seriously, what's the big deal here? We all know what it does, and that aint too much!
It seems like the pass is the solution to everything. Want to control a card? Do a pass! Ambitious card? Do a pass! Need the bathroom? Do a pass!
I recently posted on another forum; someone was concerned about spectator's asking to "check if that's still my card". Aside from the obvious advice that your presentational skills should stop that kind of situation before it starts, someone actually advocated using a pass to switch the cards, show their card really in the middle, then just pass it right back again! If you can't see what's wrong with that approach, then get out of my rant, that's all I have to say. Two passes, under fire, when a simple double lift will accomplish the same thing. Someone is locked into a certain way of thinking methinks.
I hear the phrase "just put the card back in the middle and BAM! It's done" an awful lot when people talk about the pass. How about a side steal? How about a spread cull? How about Marlo's Moveable Card Pass (note: not a "pass")? How about any number of controls with no movement of the deck at all? Heck, why not shuffle the deck and be done with it? After all, what is the virtue of not mixing the cards? Yes there are tricks where the spectator needs to believe their card is in the centre and that you haven't re-arranged matters. But are all your tricks like that? I use shuffles in my tricks more often than not because I have to create a certain arrangement of the cards once the selection(s) have been returned. No one has ever stopped me (at least since I got good) and said "hey, you're controlling my card! And the aces! Stop it, you bad magician man you!"
How did the "cult of pass" get started? I have a theory, but I feel that it is a tad obvious.
All artists, all craftsmen, use tools appropriate to the job. You don't bang a nail into a plank of wood using the end of a screwdriver and you don't try and create an oil painting using watercolours. You may be very good with a screwdriver; you may recognise what a wonderfully clever tool it is and spent years mastering it's use. That doesn't mean you have to use it for everything!
A screwdriver has it's uses, and so does the pass. Unless it is absolutely necessary though, why bother? If the reply to this is "because I can" followed by something along the lines of "and BAM! It's done", then congratulations on mastering a tough technique...and now why don't you try mastering something else? A little variety perhaps? What is it that made you think the pass was such a great "go to" move in the first place? Is that really such a great reason?
As well as being a professional magician, I am also a choreographer and founder of a dance company. As a choreographer, it is my job to put together basic movements into a sequence that matches several criteria: One, that it is visually appealing; two, that it works with the music to form a cohesive whole; three, that the dance is within the range of my dancers. Simplicity and efficiency are key factors in successful choreography. When creating or re-modelling a trick, I think like a choreographer.
Is the trick worth doing?
How do the sleights fit with the patter/presentation (and vice-versa)?
Is it performable - by me - under fire?
Is the method efficient/elegant - am I using the right tools for the job?
Going through a very careful process of modifying presentation and method when creating my own tricks or tailoring the handling of someone else's to my own style has taken me away from using the pass unnecessarily time after time. And of course, towards it in situations where it is absolutely necessary.
Rant over.
The Pass
I am ranting about the pass. I'd like to know when the whole obsession got started with this little move. Seriously, what's the big deal here? We all know what it does, and that aint too much!
It seems like the pass is the solution to everything. Want to control a card? Do a pass! Ambitious card? Do a pass! Need the bathroom? Do a pass!
I recently posted on another forum; someone was concerned about spectator's asking to "check if that's still my card". Aside from the obvious advice that your presentational skills should stop that kind of situation before it starts, someone actually advocated using a pass to switch the cards, show their card really in the middle, then just pass it right back again! If you can't see what's wrong with that approach, then get out of my rant, that's all I have to say. Two passes, under fire, when a simple double lift will accomplish the same thing. Someone is locked into a certain way of thinking methinks.
I hear the phrase "just put the card back in the middle and BAM! It's done" an awful lot when people talk about the pass. How about a side steal? How about a spread cull? How about Marlo's Moveable Card Pass (note: not a "pass")? How about any number of controls with no movement of the deck at all? Heck, why not shuffle the deck and be done with it? After all, what is the virtue of not mixing the cards? Yes there are tricks where the spectator needs to believe their card is in the centre and that you haven't re-arranged matters. But are all your tricks like that? I use shuffles in my tricks more often than not because I have to create a certain arrangement of the cards once the selection(s) have been returned. No one has ever stopped me (at least since I got good) and said "hey, you're controlling my card! And the aces! Stop it, you bad magician man you!"
How did the "cult of pass" get started? I have a theory, but I feel that it is a tad obvious.
All artists, all craftsmen, use tools appropriate to the job. You don't bang a nail into a plank of wood using the end of a screwdriver and you don't try and create an oil painting using watercolours. You may be very good with a screwdriver; you may recognise what a wonderfully clever tool it is and spent years mastering it's use. That doesn't mean you have to use it for everything!
A screwdriver has it's uses, and so does the pass. Unless it is absolutely necessary though, why bother? If the reply to this is "because I can" followed by something along the lines of "and BAM! It's done", then congratulations on mastering a tough technique...and now why don't you try mastering something else? A little variety perhaps? What is it that made you think the pass was such a great "go to" move in the first place? Is that really such a great reason?
As well as being a professional magician, I am also a choreographer and founder of a dance company. As a choreographer, it is my job to put together basic movements into a sequence that matches several criteria: One, that it is visually appealing; two, that it works with the music to form a cohesive whole; three, that the dance is within the range of my dancers. Simplicity and efficiency are key factors in successful choreography. When creating or re-modelling a trick, I think like a choreographer.
Is the trick worth doing?
How do the sleights fit with the patter/presentation (and vice-versa)?
Is it performable - by me - under fire?
Is the method efficient/elegant - am I using the right tools for the job?
Going through a very careful process of modifying presentation and method when creating my own tricks or tailoring the handling of someone else's to my own style has taken me away from using the pass unnecessarily time after time. And of course, towards it in situations where it is absolutely necessary.
Rant over.