Leipzig Pass

The Leipzig Pass is a card control invented by Nate Leipzig, in which the performer cuts off about half the cards and has a selection replaced on the lower half of the deck, which is held in the left hand. He then uses the right hand's cards to flip the selection over face-up and onto the left hand's half. In the action of flipping the card back face down and putting the deck together, the performer secretly brings the selected card to the top. A variation created by H. Adrian Smith and popularized by Bert Allerton brings the card to second from the top.

History

The first known publication was in 1937 as The "Flop-Over" Card Sleight, but the authors, Stewart Judah and John Braun, wrote that it "is not original with us, nor do we know where it came from." Also described was a variation by H. Adrian Smith to bring the card to second from the top.

The following year, in the January 1939 issue of The Sphinx, the move was published as The Leipzig Pass, and revealed to be the creation of Nate Leipzig.

The Smith variation was later described by Robert Parrish in Bert Allerton's The Close Up Magician as a technique of Bert Allerton's. Parrish compiled the book posthumously, and was apparently unaware of the move's origin. It has often been miscredited to Allerton since.

In the early eighties, Ron Bauer published a technique for the Smith/Allerton variation in Genii that sparked some interest from several card guys, including Daryl, Harry Lorayne, and Jon Racherbaumer.

Publications

• The "Flop-Over" Card Sleight: Stewart Judah and John Braun, Subtle Problems You Will Do (1937, pp. 39-40).
  • "Flop-Over" Card Sleight Variation (H. Adrian Smith): Stewart Judah and John Braun, Subtle Problems You Will Do (1937, p. 40).

• The Leipzig Pass (Nate Leipzig): The Sphinx, Vol. 37 No. 11 (January 1939, p. 289).
  • Levent and Todd Karr, Roy Benson by Starlight (2006, pp. 748-749).

• Card Move: Robert Parrish, Bert Allerton's The Close Up Magician (1958, pp. 25-26).

• The Screened Leipzig Pass (Ron Bauer): Genii, Vol. 47 No. 2 (February 1983, pp. 113-114).
  • Stephen Minch, Daryl's Ambitious Card Omnibus (1987, pp. 73-77).
  • Jon Racherbaumer, Card Finesse II (1992, pp. 190-199).
    • Racherbaumer Addition: Jon Racherbaumer, Card Finesse II (1992, pp. 199-200).

• Addition to Leipzig (Peter Warlock): New Pentagram, Vol. 15 No. 5 (July 1983).

• Robertson Handling of Allerton Move: Robin Robertson, Card Modes (1983, pp. 8-10).

• Primal Screen: Harry Lorayne, Trend Setters (1990, pp. 15-19).
  • Harry Lorayne, Lorayne: The Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (2010, pp. 183-186).

• Avis Handling for the Leipzig Pass: Jack Avis and Anthony Brahams, ed., Rara Avis (2006, p. 171).