Price$30.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedMar 30, 2011
The Invisible Pass
Dugdale, Chris
JB Magic
(Based on 3 reviews)
Full instructional DVD with Bonus tips and handlings.
"The best invisible pass I've never seen, you b******"
- Jerry Sadowitz - The Crimp
"Many magicians perform the pass badly, clumsily or only with insane misdirection. Chris Dugdale's handling of the pass is flawless. Flaw-LESS; literally you cannot see it, even when the HD camera filming his fingers is 5 inches away during a straight on shot (at hand level NOT from above). He is someone you want to learn this sleight from, not just because he is so damned good at it, but also because he is an excellent teacher.
I originally learned this move from a book and it was like trying to catch a fly in the millennium dome - it is so elusive. Using this professional DVD its more like catching a tortoise in a phone booth! Chris makes this sleight so achievable for anyone. If you THINK you do the pass well you should probably still buy this DVD!"
- Daniel Alexander
Running Time Approximately: 22min
Reviews
(Top ▲)
PROS
The pass is very good. The explanation was just ok. The instruction is broken down step by step emphasis on a few moves that make the pass more invisible.
The pass is pretty invisible from just about any angle.
It’s hard to assess the difficulty level. Prior to watching this DVD I think I had a pretty good pass, and after watching it, I still feel I have a pretty good pass. So, as for difficulty, given this is pretty much your standard pass with a move that has been explained many times before, it is not more or less difficult than your standard pass. I would say it is somewhere between intermediate and advanced level to get it right.
The ad copy says:
An incredible step by step guide to one of the most invisible pass techniques ever created!
Full instructional DVD with Bonus tips and handlings.
I suppose the ad is pretty accurate.
CONS
First, I really don’t think anything was new here. Every single aspect of the pass was something that has been explained before.
This is not a new way to do the pass. It is a very good pass, but I don’t think it is anything new.
In fact, it appeared as though it was explained as if you already know how to do a basic pass. So, the actual mechanism of the basic pass was not really explained as thoroughly as the rest of the moves.
The rest of the DVD was downright annoying. There was the briefest of half baked explanations of a few other passes, and several videos of live routines that were not explained at all.
While watching the DVD, I kept hoping there would be something new, perhaps an awesome routine using the pass. Throw us a bone! While it was a barely ok explanation of the pass, unfortunately, nothing new, and no bone.
VERDICT
Just a so-so explanation of the pass. However, I don’t think there is anything new here. Clearly he does a nice pass. I was disappointed that the rest of the DVD provided little new instruction and there was quite a bit of footage of live performances of routines with no explanation of them. Given this was a really good explanation of something that has been explained very well many times before, it would have been good to see an explanation of something new.
The pass is very good. The explanation was just ok. The instruction is broken down step by step emphasis on a few moves that make the pass more invisible.
The pass is pretty invisible from just about any angle.
It’s hard to assess the difficulty level. Prior to watching this DVD I think I had a pretty good pass, and after watching it, I still feel I have a pretty good pass. So, as for difficulty, given this is pretty much your standard pass with a move that has been explained many times before, it is not more or less difficult than your standard pass. I would say it is somewhere between intermediate and advanced level to get it right.
The ad copy says:
An incredible step by step guide to one of the most invisible pass techniques ever created!
Full instructional DVD with Bonus tips and handlings.
I suppose the ad is pretty accurate.
CONS
First, I really don’t think anything was new here. Every single aspect of the pass was something that has been explained before.
This is not a new way to do the pass. It is a very good pass, but I don’t think it is anything new.
In fact, it appeared as though it was explained as if you already know how to do a basic pass. So, the actual mechanism of the basic pass was not really explained as thoroughly as the rest of the moves.
The rest of the DVD was downright annoying. There was the briefest of half baked explanations of a few other passes, and several videos of live routines that were not explained at all.
While watching the DVD, I kept hoping there would be something new, perhaps an awesome routine using the pass. Throw us a bone! While it was a barely ok explanation of the pass, unfortunately, nothing new, and no bone.
VERDICT
Just a so-so explanation of the pass. However, I don’t think there is anything new here. Clearly he does a nice pass. I was disappointed that the rest of the DVD provided little new instruction and there was quite a bit of footage of live performances of routines with no explanation of them. Given this was a really good explanation of something that has been explained very well many times before, it would have been good to see an explanation of something new.
(Top ▲)
Let's get something out of the way right up front. Chris Dugdale has a great pass, and I'm jealous. If you're an aficionado of the move, the first several minutes of this DVD are the equivalent of card sleight porn.
But I'm not Chris Dugdale, and neither are you. If you want to know how he does the pass this DVD will show you, but it won't do a very good job of actually teaching you how to master it yourself. The instruction is too scant and there's too much filler.
What I expected from this DVD was something along the lines of John Carney's On Palming. That disc runs for over an hour and exhaustively covers its topic. Or, perhaps, something like Andi Gladwin's Double Pushoff, which has 2 DVDs of quality instruction and costs only $5 more.
In contrast, this disc, not counting the fooling around and irrelevant performance video, amounts to about 10 minutes of instruction. That's less time than it will take you to read about the pass in The Royal Road to Card Magic. Sure, the video looks good, but for $30 buyers should get more than the equivalent of a YouTube-sized bullet point presentation.
There's a lot of value in seeing a really good pass performed, and the revealing angles this video shows are useful, but this disc is simply overpriced for what it provides.
If you want something more helpful, go watch Aaron Fisher's Card Magic Minute: The Invisible Pass. It's different frome Dugdale's approach, and doesn't cover the mechanics at all, but it's free.
But I'm not Chris Dugdale, and neither are you. If you want to know how he does the pass this DVD will show you, but it won't do a very good job of actually teaching you how to master it yourself. The instruction is too scant and there's too much filler.
What I expected from this DVD was something along the lines of John Carney's On Palming. That disc runs for over an hour and exhaustively covers its topic. Or, perhaps, something like Andi Gladwin's Double Pushoff, which has 2 DVDs of quality instruction and costs only $5 more.
In contrast, this disc, not counting the fooling around and irrelevant performance video, amounts to about 10 minutes of instruction. That's less time than it will take you to read about the pass in The Royal Road to Card Magic. Sure, the video looks good, but for $30 buyers should get more than the equivalent of a YouTube-sized bullet point presentation.
There's a lot of value in seeing a really good pass performed, and the revealing angles this video shows are useful, but this disc is simply overpriced for what it provides.
If you want something more helpful, go watch Aaron Fisher's Card Magic Minute: The Invisible Pass. It's different frome Dugdale's approach, and doesn't cover the mechanics at all, but it's free.
(Top ▲)
A relatively short and concise DVD (circa 22 minutes in total which includes a couple of Chris's routines)
but one that refreshingly gets straight to the point and gets on with the job of teaching you how to perform
one of the more difficult sleights in card magic - properly!
The tutorial is clearly broken down into 6 key steps:
The Flesh Break, The Finger Break, The Tilt, The Movement, The Swing and The Squaring. There is also a couple of
very short tutorials on variants of the move such as; The Turnover Pass and The Riffle Pass. Chris then demonstrates
The Classic Force in one of his show / routines.
The steps are described in detail and repeated numerous times to help ensure you have a clear understanding of
what is going on and how you should be doing it. Further to this all of the moves are shown from different
camera angles which really does allow you to get a very thorough understanding of exactly what is required in each
step. As with all good things in magic to learn what Chris teaches will require dedicated practice. However,
this DVD ensures you know exactly what to do, how to do it and when to do it.
The DVD then moves on to show you Chris in action - he is different! I think you will either like his style of
presentation or you won't. I do!
My overall score for the DVD is 8/10. As stated above, it is short concise and to the point - exactly what you want
when you purchase a new magic DVD - to stick it straight into the computer or the TV and get down to business with
cards in hand!
but one that refreshingly gets straight to the point and gets on with the job of teaching you how to perform
one of the more difficult sleights in card magic - properly!
The tutorial is clearly broken down into 6 key steps:
The Flesh Break, The Finger Break, The Tilt, The Movement, The Swing and The Squaring. There is also a couple of
very short tutorials on variants of the move such as; The Turnover Pass and The Riffle Pass. Chris then demonstrates
The Classic Force in one of his show / routines.
The steps are described in detail and repeated numerous times to help ensure you have a clear understanding of
what is going on and how you should be doing it. Further to this all of the moves are shown from different
camera angles which really does allow you to get a very thorough understanding of exactly what is required in each
step. As with all good things in magic to learn what Chris teaches will require dedicated practice. However,
this DVD ensures you know exactly what to do, how to do it and when to do it.
The DVD then moves on to show you Chris in action - he is different! I think you will either like his style of
presentation or you won't. I do!
My overall score for the DVD is 8/10. As stated above, it is short concise and to the point - exactly what you want
when you purchase a new magic DVD - to stick it straight into the computer or the TV and get down to business with
cards in hand!