"execute a shuttle pass"

Say what?

Lawyers speak of attachments, trials, demurrers, defenses, torts, forum, encumbrance,
        and estoppels.
Chefs speak of brunoise, julienne, patissier, sautee', chine, fluting, and curdle.
Tailors speak of  Bemberg, gimp, gorge, pleat, pucker, weft, vent, baste, and block.

We magicians in the sleight-of-hand world have our own language as well.  A few of those terms are:

       Down's palm, shift, undercut, french drop, equivoque, one-ahead, go south, biddle              count, double lift, elmsley, paddle move,

                                    and....oh, yes.....shuttle pass.


After witnessing a rare TV performance of magician Dai Vernon in the early 70's, I was determined to find out how such deception by sleight-of-hand could possibly be accomplished.  This 3 minute routine completely baffled my senses.  I was in college at the time and knew nothing of the magical world.

I had no idea that a casual walk into a magic store a year later caused my eye to catch the title of a partially hidden manuscript titled "Vernon Cups & Balls".  My mind immediately flashed back to that TV segment that I had watched in reruns many times.  I couldn't wait to get it home so that all could be revealed.

Little did I know at the time that my much awaited anticipation would soon turn to major disappointment. As I mentioned, the manuscript was meant for the "professional".  How well I remember one of those opening lines....
   "...  showing 3 balls in each hand by executing a shuttle pass from right to left, retaining        the extra ball in the right pinky palm position"
           
Say what?

That was my first glimpse into this lifelong quest and passion of mine to study seriously those sleights and secrets known only to the underbelly of this wonderful secret society.  And still very much a secret society today.  But being well-versed in it's "jargon" and being the serious student I am, doors have opened to me that would have otherwise been closed.

We magicians are still a very close-knit group of fellows with most secrets only revealed to those in the know on the "inside".  Mind you, these are not the secrets you buy in a magic store. The "real" secrets are those that manipulate the sight, sound & mind.  Those you cannot buy.  Those are skills only attained by practice and repetition.

Oh, by the way, I still perform the "Vernon Cups & Balls" and have for the past 25 years.
     

Misunderstood "Art"

Magic as an "art" is very misunderstood.   Why?

Magic (or more precise, the art of deception) is one in which the measure of skill is equivalent to how invisible his talent is to all others.

Huh?

A skill of a concert pianist can be recognized by his playing ability that we can hear and see, and ultimately, measure against other virtuosos.  The same can be said for the theater "arts",  as well as those in dance, etc.
Our senses are excited by sight & sound at the skill poured forth by such talent.

On the other hand, the magician skills go unnoticed.  And even though miracles occur, oftentimes this perceived ability is attributed to "trick" or "fake" means.  Most times, this is just not true.  I pride myself as many others in this field of performing with little, if any, fake or trick apparatus.  There is a group of us (magicians, that is) that try to perform entirely using ungimmicked ordinary objects whenever possible.  It's called performing "clean"....meaning there is nothing to hide or that cannot be examined afterwards.

It is extremely frustrating.  A few months ago, I performed an effect with a deck of cards in which the outcome is the appearance of all the backs of the cards changing color, i.e. a blue deck becomes a red deck.
  This can be accomplished by sleight-of-hand as long as one card is of a different color.  It sounds improbable, but true.  In this case, right before the eyes of my willing (perhaps unwilling) spectator, I openly showed a blue deck and with a few moves showed the deck now completely red.  I fanned out the "newly colored" deck and set them on the table for examination.  He looked at them quizingly, then remarked:
           "My brother used to have a deck like that."
            "Exam them. You will find nothing unusual about the cards",  I remarked.
            "I don't have to.  They're fake"
And so the story ends.
Oh, well.