I think you need to ask yourself,
"If I were a spectator and I saw a magician do that move, would I be suspicious?"
I think the answer would be yes. I think that for most people an "invisible pass" is out of the question. Mainly people dont want to put in the YEARS AND YEARS of practice it takes to master one. So heres my tried and tested advice to you friend.
For me, there is two types of passes that I will do.
If I am performing to one or two people, it's a simple matter of meeting their gaze and talking to them as I execute the sleight. Flies right by.
Then there is a group performance where I will use a covering action as I complete the pass, just because I cannot ensure that people will all be misdirected at the same time.
The reason my blatant uncovered pass works is because there is NO movement in my hands, wrists or arms. It's all done with minimal finger movement. There is nothing for them to see. So what I would suggest is that you get rid of that huge covering action. It's not helping anyone. Practice just getting the packets to shift and coalesce without much movement. Get the action down smooth. When you can do a pass without thinking, looking, concentrating and it's smooth and quick, then you can work on applying the covering action to your pass.
I know it's cliche but you've got to learn to walk before you can run.
But hey, I know you can do it!
