Hacking The Pass

[Alpen]

I normally don't post reviews of magic items... But I recently received Steven Youell's Hacking the Pass in the mail, and it is phenomenal! I am letting everyone know what I think of it, because to me that's the best way to thank Steve for putting out this (as well as his other) great material.

The CD covers two passes. His version of the Riffle Pass and his version of the Turnover Pass.
If you like the riffle pass, but can't get rid of the slight flash, the version on the CD, the Mongrel Pass, is perfect. It elimates all the flash points, and fully utilizes orientation and economy of motion to create a smooth pass. The angles are great. It can literally be done surrounded!
The Rotation pass is his version of the turnover pass, and the subtleties in this one are pure genius... (especially one of them). Its the most natural looking turnover pass that I have encountered so far.

This CD is great if you are into passes, and especially finessing your passes. There are clips on the website of him doing some of the passes, and he is around on the forum to ask questions to (and it just so happens that he's one hell of a nice guy.)


Alpen

[Guest]

Originally posted by Alpen:
I normally don't post reviews of magic items... But I recently received Steven Youell's Hacking the Pass in the mail, and it is phenomenal!

Thank You for the kind words, Alpen-- I sincerely
appreciate them! :D

The CD covers two passes. His version of the Riffle Pass and his version of the Turnover Pass.

Two minor corrections, however-- and I think
you'll agree: The Mongrel Pass is distinctly
different from The Riffle Pass. Although the
Mongrel Pass has many different elements from
many different passes, the sum total of these
elements differentiates it substantially from
anything else out there.

While the Rotation Pass is a hybrid of the
Turnover Pass Variety, it avoids turning the
hands and instead, rotates the deck.

For anyone interested in seeing the differences
for themselves, you can see demonstrations here:

http://www.cardguy.net/demos.htm

Again, thanks for the kind words!

Steven Youell

[Andru Luvisi]

I agree entirely. Steven has put together ideas from several people (Vernon, Marlo, Elliot, Braue, Thompson ... and he gives full credit!) in a well "engineered" (to borrow a phrase from Steven) manner.

I'm really glad that he put out videos on this. I've known Steven for many years, and before the videos came out he was kind enough to try and tell me some of the technique over the telephone, but I didn't really understand what he was doing to "eliminate" rather than "compensate for" the flaws in the classic pass until he showed me some of it in person.

When I got the CD, something that I really liked about the videos is that he warns against some mistakes which you are actually more likely to make if you have extensive experience with a classic pass or a standard riffle pass.

Even if you know that you're going to buy this, be sure to check out the demos at http://www.cardguy.net/demos.htm They're fun to watch while you wait for the CD to arrive. :D

Andru

[Andru Luvisi]

Heh. Steven posted his reply while I was writing mine. Sorry for any duplication.

Andru

[Guest]

I got a chance to see Steven lecture last year at Denny's in MD and he performed these passes live (during and after the lecture).

His passes differ from the traditional riffle pass and turnover pass and are flawless in his hands.

The CD will benefit anyone wanting to learn the pass and he does a wonderful job explaining everything.

[Alpen]

Sorry about the confusion Steven...
I don't think I phrased myself correctly. Your pass definately is much different from a standard riffle pass (just because it has a rifle, doesan't make it a riffle pass... my bad...) How I should have explained it was that you took the strengths of the Riffle pass, as well as strengths from passes from Marlo, Vernon, Eliot, Thompson, etc... and combined them into a pass void of any weak spots. And you did an awesome job of it.
In terms of the Rotation Pass, I didn't want to give away too much, but the elimination of turning the hands, and instead turning the deck is the subtlety that makes your pass stand out from any other i've seen.

[Guest]

Here's another heartfelt vote for Steven's CD. Really well thought out, very clearly explained. It's great! But be prepared to rethink everything.

Thank you, Steven.

[Richard Kaufman]

The idea of turning only the deck over while doing a Turnover Pass is an old one. In fact, that's how it was taught to me in New York when I was a kid (by who I can't recall, might've been Krenzel or Lorayne).
I am unable to view the demo clips on Steven's site, so don't know what his looks like. But not turning the hands over when doing a Turnover Pass is not a new idea.

[Guest]

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
The idea of turning only the deck over while doing a Turnover Pass is an old one. In fact, that's how it was taught to me in New York when I was a kid (by who I can't recall, might've been Krenzel or Lorayne).
I am unable to view the demo clips on Steven's site, so don't know what his looks like. But not turning the hands over when doing a Turnover Pass is not a new idea.

Richard,

First, I didn't say the idea was new.

Second, I didn't say I turned the deck over.

Third, just ask me and I'll send you a disk.
That way you can comment AFTER you've see it.

;)

Steven Youell

[Richard Kaufman]

Steven, you wrote, "While the Rotation Pass is a hybrid of the Turnover Pass Variety, it avoids turning the hands and instead, rotates the deck."
I understand this to mean that you turn the deck over. If you're not turning the deck over, then your words were poorly chosen.

[Tabman]

Originally posted by Steven Youell:

Third, just ask me and I'll send you a disk.
That way you can comment AFTER you've see it.

Hay Steven, Sir Richard is the head Genii!!!! Just send him one!!!

-=tabman

[Guest]

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
Steven, you wrote, "While the Rotation Pass is a hybrid of the Turnover Pass Variety, it avoids turning the hands and instead, rotates the deck." I understand this to mean that you turn the deck over. If you're not turning the deck over, then your words were poorly chosen.

Well, Richard, I don't think they were poorly
chosen-- they were chosen with the idea that
whoever read them would see the video. In fact,
rotate is the only word that accurately
describes the action.

However, since rotate means "To cause to
turn on an axis or center", I can easily
see how you could assume it meant I was
turning the deck over, since in three
dimensinal space an object can have more
than one axis.

How about this-- you give me the benefit of the
doubt until you see the move... is that fair?

Steven Youell

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

The motion would probably better be described as turning the deck end for end.

-Jim

[Guest]

Originally posted by Jim Maloney:
The motion would probably better be described as turning the deck end for end.

-Jim

Yes Jim, I thought about that, however
turning the deck end for end could just
as easily be interpreted as turning the
deck over. I tried to avoid the word
turn so as to avoid that conclusion...

SEY

[Dustin Stinett]

Given that I am probably not Mr. Youells favorite person on this site I hesitate to ask this, but perhaps he can tell us exactly what it is that the covert move is meant to simulate? If the deck started face down, would it end being face up? What I see in the video is a deck being turned over, albeit in a semi-side to side then end for end manner; but turned over nonetheless.

Dustin

[Guest]

Originally posted by DustinStinett:
Given that I am probably not Mr. Youells favorite person on this site I hesitate to ask this, but perhaps he can tell us exactly what it is that the covert move is meant to simulate?

Dustin-- I have no animosity towards
you whatsoever.

As to your question-- I don't think it's fair
for me to discuss details of something here (in
public)that people have paid me money to learn.

If you'd like to purchase the CD, then I'm
always available for questions via e-mail.

Steven Youell

[Dustin Stinett]

Originally posted by Steven Youell:
I have no animosity towards
you whatsoever.

Glad to hear it Steven. Likewise, I'm sure.

I respect your desire to protect your customers. Please rest assured I was not after a description that would expose the covert actions themselves. I really think we are in the realm of semantics anyway. The video clearly shows the move as seen overtly. I was just trying for a verbal description which, as noted more than once, isnt particularly easy. The move could have just as easily been named The Quick Fiddle Around Pass (and I don't mean that in a derogatory way--it appears to be a natural "fiddle").

Dustin

[Guest]

Originally posted by DustinStinett:

I was just trying for a verbal description which, as noted more than once, isnt particularly easy...
Dustin [/QB]

Sorry you're having trouble, Dustin. Try again... Steve needs all the help he can get!

Best, PSC

P.S. I gave up!

[Don]

how long is hacking the pass going to be available? is it one of those things that needs to be bought before they run out, or is it something you can get whenever you are ready to learn the pass?

Thank you.

[Guest]

Originally posted by rage:
how long is hacking the pass going to be available? is it one of those things that needs to be bought before they run out, or is it something you can get whenever you are ready to learn the pass?

Thank you.

Nothing in this world is for sure. I could
get hit by a car tomorrow and it wouldn't
be available. Although I have no plans to
cease production, I can make no promises.

SEY

[Don]

i hear what your saying Steven but im trying to get over a dirty little habit of mine. when i see a book that i really want, but dont need at the time, i'll just buy it anyway. so in an attempt to save money, i might hold off (for like a week or so ;) )

[Don]

well i just ordered it. im looking forward to recieving it. how long should it take to arrive?

[Guest]

Originally posted by rage:
well i just ordered it. im looking forward to recieving it. how long should it take to arrive?

Rage,

I just packaged it up and it'll ship tomorrow!

You want it shipped to the address on the PayPal
account, right?

Steven Youell

[Travis]

The idea of turning only the deck over while doing a Turnover Pass is an old one. In fact, that's how it was taught to me in New York when I was a kid (by who I can't recall, might've been Krenzel or Lorayne).
I am unable to view the demo clips on Steven's site, so don't know what his looks like. But not turning the hands over when doing a Turnover Pass is not a new idea.

Richard, you're on a mac, right? (me, too)
You should be able to view Steven's clips. Just download Windows Media Player 9 for mac.

[Richard Kaufman]

I'm on a PC, and the clips wouldn't open properly.

[BlueEyed Videot]

I second Richard's notion. I'm on 3 different PCs, none of which will play the clips (using 3 different media players, too!)

[Guest]

I had to adjust my settings in Windows Media Player (v.10) to get the clip to view properly:

Tools|Options|Performance|Advanced...deselect the box for "Drop frames to keep AV in sync."

Don't know if you guys are having the same problem or not, but after making this change, the video played normally. This happened because, despite the notation on the website that this is a silent movie, it's not. There's an audio track; Steve just isn't speaking, that's all. My player had trouble synchronizing the audio with the video, so therefore I could only get intermittent frames.

Here's what I saw: A pass in which, if all the cards were face up, the actions would result in the performer holding the deck face down at the conclusion.

I don't really see the confusion over semantics here. It seems pretty straightforward: Regardless of how you get there, if you start with a face-up deck and end with a face-down one, I'd say you "turned the deck over."

I guess if one wanted to get picky about it, it could be noted that the deck is held with a long edge roughly parallel to the floor. This means that instead of turning the deck "over," you're really turning it "around," but I don't think it's any stretch to say that if the deck faces one way and then completely the opposite, "turning it over" is as good a description as any.

[Richard Kaufman]

Disparity is correct: if the deck is face up when you start and face down when you finish (or vice versa), it's a Turnover Pass.

[Don]

hey steven,

i would like it shipped to a different address if its not too late. if you already shipped it dont worry about it, i will still get it.

if its not too late just e mail me at pyned001@hawaii.rr.com so i can give u my address.

thank you

[Guest]

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
Disparity is correct: if the deck is face up when you start and face down when you finish (or vice versa), it's a Turnover Pass.

I diagree with you, Richard.

It's only a Turnover Pass if the move depends
on the deck ending up a different way. In the
case of the Rotation Pass, you can easily do it
with the deck facing the same way as when you started.

Of course, we can sit here and split hairs
forever since there's no real taxonomical
definition of what constitutes a Turnover Pass
and what does not.


Steven Youell

[Don]

sent you the address.

thanks