What do you think is the best ending for the Ambitious card is out of the following choices?

card to mouth
shoe't
card to wallet
Ultimate ambition

Also, you can say shoe't followed up with Ultimate ambition. Thanks a lot.

Its hard to beat a signed card to sealed envelope in wallet.... Then again you can read the thread in this forum entitled "Ambitious Card Ending" and get another few dozen ideas....

S.Segal

Card in sock by Carl Cloutier IMHO is the best ending for an ambitious card .

If the ambitious card does not have to end in an impossible location, I end it in an impossible situation/state, either by using the dark card ,or kundalini rising.

I sometimes end it with my interccesor.

Rannie

There are no best endings for the Ambitious Card. It is a plot with no ending. No matter what you do, the spectator knows what is going to happen. This is a puzzle, not a magic trick, as it is usually seen. It appeals to magicians, and it puzzles laymen, but it is certainly not a good magical effect. You make the card rise, then you do it again, then you do it again, then you do it more imposssibly, then you do it with a bend, then you do it to a shoe, then you're done - ho, hum! The AC is a challenge effect, and it shows how clever you can be, but it certainly has no plot - think about that! By the way, there are solutions, I've seen some. They're not in print, and I hope they never are, but there are solutions...

Best, PSC

I like the one where you put a forklift on top of the deck and a wallet on top of that and I'll be darned if that there card don't end up in the wallet somehow. Sorry Paul, had to do it...

Though I will undoubtedly have a magician or two disagreeing with me, if you wish to have people remember the ambitious
card as... the ambitious card, then you want to avoid most of the endings you mentioned. If you end with a card to impo
ssible location, all they will remember about the effect is that the card ended up in an impossible location. If you do
ubt this, keep in mind that most laypeople just remember "the big balls" in a chop cup or cups and balls routine.

The card to impossible location is such a ridiculously strong effect that the ambitious portion will be readily forgotte
n. If this is of no concern to you, then by all means go right ahead. But why do two effects if the audience will reme
mber one when you can do two and have a better chance of them remembering two?

- From a "pure" standpoint, Daryl's Ultimate Ambition is very likely the best most widely available way of ending the ro
utine. I also like Raise Rise (Ray Kosby), the SWE Shift or Shifty (Christ Kenner) for those looking to avoid anything
extra. And if you do not mind leaving minor crimps, the "bent card ploy" (Hugard/Braue) is always strong.

My latest ending I have toyed with is one inspired by rumors regarding Gaetan Bloom's approach. It looks like Raise Ris
e only the cards are in the box, and you literally see it rise to the top. My lone complaint about this is there is ver
y little mystery. It's not that the methodology is transparent, but rather, the spectators are seeing the cards do exac
tly what you say they are doing. And here, you have an argument over whether it is better to imply a miracle than to sh
ow it, and that is a whole different conversation.

And just to be canonical, Vernon's apparent intent of the routine (Stars of Magic) was not a pure "card comes to the top
" but rather intended to be a misdirection/guessing game to the spectator. The spectator is to be lead to believe he ca
n follow what is going on, only to find out this is not so as the card will go to the bottom in his version. His perfor
mance of the routine in the Revelations series proves as much.

The endings here sound really good. I wouldn't know how to do them but that's not the point.
I finish my ACR with the well know pop up move (braue I believe, please correct me if I am wrong)There is something incredibly deceptive about it. I love that move!

As a finale, tell spec you'll see what happens when you put the card in face up. Put the card in using a tilt, then do an Erdnase color change to bring in to the top. Or if you've been snapping your fingers, put it in tilt face down and do a snap type change holding an indifferent top card.

I agree with Pedkac.... about people only remembering the end of a routine type trick. I have even tested this theory on several ppl that I work with. What I did was show each person the same routine, in a different order. The tricks still flow and the patter is still the same for the most part. I then ask the person which trick he likes the best, they always say the last one that I performed is the best. After this I waited about 3 months and did the same routine but again in a different order for each person. (I only had one person recognize that I was doing the same tricks just in different order.)They all picked different tricks as there favorite, and guess what they where all the last trick it did. All the tricks where similar in reactions that I get from ppl.
Oh... as for the ACR I use a similar version to Bill Malone’s..... ACR is just a classic...

To answer the original question...card to mouth - not folded card in mouth. The version where the signed card is seen fairly put into the deck and then suddenly is seen hanging from your mouth.

It depends on who you are and what audience you are performing for. The card from mouth, shoe, sock are all great endings if you are in a bar.

But depending on where you are performing and how high class your audience is they may or may not be a good ending for that performance evening.

If you are performing at a high class cocktail party they may not find it in good taste if the magician pulls off his sock and shoe and exosed a bare foot. Just of find a selected card.

Also the card in the fly may also not be a good choice.

I like card in the box, card to pocket or wallet or the card under the drink if the performance venue and audience calls for it.

I feel this very strongly just as you should dress one step better dressed than your audience is a good rule - I also feel magicians should choose their effects from their audience point of view.

Anyway that is my slant... others have their own way and if it works that is great for them!

Has to be the pop up card. It's simply gobsmacking

I agree with Paul. I took me more than twenty years to find a way to present Ambitious Card that overcame my misgivings about the plot.

My ending (which will be included in my upcoming manuscript "Tribute") has the signed card appear face up on top while the pack is out of your hands. It's an ungaffed method, well suited for use with a borrowed pack, with good (but not great) angles. It requires significant skill in both sleight of hand and audience direction but it's as magical a rise as you could ask for...

Some folks here on the Café may have seen the video I had posted on my website a year ago...

For those who wish to do their own "work" on the idea I'll give you a hint. It's based upon a Marlo technique (which I've refined a bit) that can be found in Card Finesse.

Here, here. A great way to end this effect!!!

I like the pop up move the best so far. It always gets oohs and ahs. I have thought about ending with card to wallet, but havent tried it yet.

I like for the card to remain "ambitious" throughout my whole card routine, not just this one trick. After performing just a short typical AC I move on to other tricks. However, it's not long before the previously selected and signed card appears under a glass on the far side of the table or other impossible locations. I force the card later for example at the start of another trick, the card always shows up no matter what I do. The card haunts me. I then can explain why I am tearing the card up only to restore it. My ambitious card is haunted by the ghost of my grandfather. I finish my whole card routine card to ceiling to free his sole to the above, whatever that might be. Not everyones cup of tea, but, it explains why I am performing several tricks that really are not related in any way.

They will only remember the end of the ambitous card if its much stronger than the first stages, the solution, make the first stages stronger, I did this by doing my acr face up and at the end it dissapears and ends up in my pocket. the card to pocket is stronger , but not so much stronger that they forget about the first few stages .
ollie

I like the idea of the card been sign twice like in Gregory Wilson video, Pyrotechnic Pasteboards.

One of the few endings that actually makes sense is Paul Harris's Solid Deception.

I have done an ACR with the entire deck face up and the card signed on the back. I used it with the presentation of making sure you know what you put your signature on, as it appears on many different cards. It got great reactions. To end, the signature ended on card that said "IOU $100". I would take out my wallet to collect and in the wallet would be the IOU card with a "PAID" stamped across it and the specs signature on the back.

Trevor