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DJP Veteran user London 391 Posts |
How about combining David Williamson's 51 cards to pocket routine with the Ambitious Card- then as MacGyver states would give a clear ending.
I don't perform the Ambitious card as I believe I am one of those "purists" and like my magic to have meaning rather than using a "click of the fingers to bring the card back to the top". I like the magic effect that happens in the routine (Erdnase colour change, tilt and DL etc) just why why whyw do it!? It just seems too corny! Dave P.S. No offence to Daryl as this routine fits his style but some of his patter is the cheesiest I've ever seen- anyone seen "The Jumping Knot of Katmandu"
David
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Dorian Rhodell Inner circle San Francisco, CA. 1633 Posts |
Larry Jennings used to do this as he very slowly compressed the deck and all cards were gone except for the ambitious selection. It was good. But he also didn't do any card tricks after that either. In regards to Yavid's statement of being a purist and liking his magic to have meaning rather than using "a click of the fingers to bring the card to the top", that's exactly my point. Maybe we could all change the premise a little, come up with an ending, and avoid the run of the mill ambitious patter.
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Aubrey de Wet Regular user South Africa, Johannesburg 110 Posts |
I have someone select a face-up card somewhere in the deck...then get it out to second from the top...do a quick colour change...have it signed...do two phases...offer an "explanation"...which of course isn't.
I then show three cards all alike (using the "retention of vision phenomenon")...have them look me in the eyes "breaking the illusion"...show the three cards indifferent...and suddenly their card is the one folded up in the paperclip on the table...or the one I put in my pocket when they weren't looking or whatever. It does well. [I play it as a demonstration of how Optical Illusions can help magicians in magic. It gives a good reason for the card ending up on top of the deck after apparently putting it in the centre(...or centER?).] AC IS very magical...as long as your presentation is good and your handling is clean. P.S. Man: Classic Pass, Muscle Pass, Double Lifts and the Ambitous Card...will magicians never get tired of discussing these topics. Probably not. |
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MacGyver Inner circle St. Louis, MO 1419 Posts |
Quote:
I thought lay people aren't suppose to know magicians "control" cards....So how can this be the climax of card control when apparently no control ever took place? I don't mean control as we use the term, but as a complete control over the cards, a supernatural control. Lay people do think we can control cards, but they have no idea of the methods. I've often been attributed more skill than I deserve just because of the fact that when I'm done, laypeople will believe that I have complete control over the deck and that I know what every single card is without looking at it. It's hard to describe, because it is an emotional thing, not an intellectual one, but i'll try: Most laymen, even though knowing the impossibility of putting a card in the middle and it being on top, think that some magicians have full control over a deck of cards, and that no matter how impossible, you can make any card appear anytime instintly, and they think of that as "control". I don't mean that they think we do a pass to control it, but that we have a magical control over the deck to move the card from the middle to the top instintly. So I feel this is the climax of control because in their minds we control the deck in a way that a card put in the middle appears on top, thus controlling the deck of cards. They think we put it in the middle and then make it jump the top, and we do that with control, that is what I meant. As far as purist, I feel there are some magicians that think EVERYTHING has to have a big story behind the magic to make it meaningful, they are in part covering the magic with a story to make it entertaining, because without a story some effects aren't good. Sometimes we need to make the MAGIC MOMENT the center of the stage, much like you would in a coin across plot. You don't need a big story about why the coins are traveling, its just Boom Boom Boom, the coin moves, and I feel the AC should be performed about the same manor, it is entertaining enough without a story or reason. |
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DJP Veteran user London 391 Posts |
MacGyver
"Sometimes we need to make the MAGIC MOMENT the center of the stage, much like you would in a coin across plot." In my eyes, the coins across looks magical and brilliant- and im not saying it needs a story but what is the motivation for sending one coin from one hand to another? For example, It just sounds patronising if you talking about one coin "joining his other friends"! Back to the AC effect, its the same kind of principle- A lack of MOTIVATION. I do agree with MacGyver that a magician in the eyes of spectators can bring cards to the top of the deck at will- being a supernatural act, however... My question is how do you do this effect without making it sound patronising? Dave
David
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MacGyver Inner circle St. Louis, MO 1419 Posts |
well maybe not supernatural, but lets just say magical. It goes to the top by magic, and not sleight of hand, but real BOOM there it is magic.
Since I am starting with magic, a big part of my character is someone who is still learning magic, and I often patter about how and why I got into magic, one of those things was how magicians could control the cards even when shuffled by a spec, or by putting a card cleanly in the middle, but having it in your pocket or on the top,ect. So I present it as a demostration of this magical power over the cards, with very little patter. I set the stage by explaining what I will do, and the rest is performed either silent or with "look it goes in the center, and jumps to the top" type patter so they fully understand what is happening. My point about the coin accross is that it needed no motivation. It looks magical and is really entertaining without a story about them being friends. I think the AC routine can be strong enough to do without motivation, but after thinking about it, I guess my motivation is to show my complete control over the deck of cards. That a card put in the center can immidiatly be on top of the deck. Of course that is just me, but when I am done performing, especially for people that I perform regularly for, don't even care what card they pick, whether I see it, or where they put it in, because I have broken down the intelletual barrier of how cards work, to them it doesn't matter what they do because the cards are under my complete contorl all the time. Its really bad, I tell them not to let me see a card and they will flash it to me(sometimes ruining the trick when you aren't suppose to know the value), telling me I already know what card it is, even when I don't, because to them, I have a magical power over a deck of cards, and my AC routine is the climax of my control over the cards. To me, making the card rise doesn't need motivation, other than to show how magicians have complete control over the cards. |
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jonesc2ii Loyal user Oxford, England 235 Posts |
AC Climax Brainstorm 1 ! :
How about going straight into a three card monte where the effect is basically the opposite of the AC? ie you can't find it anywhere even though there are only three cards is kind of the opposite of always finding it with a full deck.
www.ixyl.co.uk/forums - for when you fancy a debate or a quiet chat.
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Eddy Special user Manchester 582 Posts |
quote
No offense intended, but we were doing the "Blaine method" before he was born. I'm not sure who gets the credit, but certainly not Blaine. The Marlo "Tilt" or the Vernon "Depth Illusion" is extremely deceptive if done well and it will fool the most observant audience. _______ If I'm correct, I believe this to be Jack Merlin's tip over switch.]
La magie, c'est ma vie
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Paul Inner circle A good lecturer at your service! 4409 Posts |
Dorian said;
"could be better spent if we brainstormed and gave this classic of magic a killer and definitive ending." There are a few good endings I think already, but more are always welcome. You mentioned Jennings made the rest of the deck disappear. I used to use one with an envelope. The signed selection was placed in an envelope, the spectator cut the deck and the card still ended up on top, the tearing of the envelope on one side adding a touch of finality. Also had it appear under a hat I was wearing at the conclusion. Used Harris's "Solid Deception" too, after switching in. Then there is Daryl's idea with the rope. Some use card to wallet. Yep, lets have some more endings created than swapping of moves. For effectiveness, each successive move has to look cleaner and fairer, and having the card signed certainly adds to the effectiveness. But a good ending IS required. Paul. |
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LeConte Special user Bay area 830 Posts |
In my routine the card is haunted by the ghost of a deceased magician. It stalks me over and over not just in my AC routine but throughout my act. The card reappears in other tricks(not to take away from their magical impact however) throughout my overall card routine. Eventually I become fearful of the ghost/stalker card and destroy the it, but regret my decision so I restore it with the help of the ghost(ripped and restored). In the end I use Card To Ceiling to close and leave the card, having helped it get closer to heaven, thus freeing it from the deck.
This might sound dumb, but it's what I'm working on at the moment. It ties many of my tricks together, and has a nice logical conclusion and a lot of patter possibilities..
Drive Carefully
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marko Inner circle 2109 Posts |
Joshua Jay has a great and logical ending. He hands someone in the audience a TV remote telling them that it controls the deck. Whenever they press the channel 'up' button, the card comes to the top (the signed card representing that person's favorite channel). No doubt a great improvement over the 'snapping the fingers' ploy. At the end the card vanishes, being found folded up INSIDE the battery compartment of the remote. Great ending and a logical climax. (Wish I'd thought of it)
Thought: Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage.
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
I like the image of a card that 'wants' to be on top of the other cards.
The card on ceiling seems a good closer for that theme. Probably worth putting a d***icate on the ceiling beforhand. From then on you could say 'x' is on top of the deck and look up at the card and 'remind it' that 'it' is still above the other cards.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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jonesc2ii Loyal user Oxford, England 235 Posts |
Hugard says he has a climax to the AC but it's still essentially just a continuation with the card being stamped on, disappearing and reappearing on the top of the deck.
How about the card appears in its own executive chair wearing a collar and tie indicating its ambitious nature?
www.ixyl.co.uk/forums - for when you fancy a debate or a quiet chat.
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Card as "mr potato head" for dress up.
good image... thanks
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Stephen Long Inner circle 1481 Posts |
My ending has recently become the ambitious card appearing between my teeth.
I offer to demonstrate one last time and perform everything 'fairly' in the participants hands. The top card is turned over and, surprisingly, it's not the selection. Confusion ensues before people eventually look up and see the card between my teeth ("I think it went a little too high"). However, I haven't performed the ambitious card for quite sometime simply because of some of the reasons posted here already. Why am I performing this? Joshua Jay's presentational angle sounds like a great one but I'm not about to start carrying around a remote comtrol just in case I want to perform the effect. I've also wondered recently if performing the ambitious card could harm other selection effects. After all, if you can control a card to the top so effortlessly then what's to stop an audience from assuming that a selection is already on top the next time it's returned to the deck? These are little more than musings and I look forward to being proven wrong.
Hello.
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dunlop Loyal user Norwich, UK 201 Posts |
I like to (depending on the spectators) in some point of my AC routine to do DL an then top palm the AC, after this you tell to someone to shuffle the deck him/herself
then you put the card in the top again, and show that it's back on top. I' had get very good reactions. |
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T. Joseph O'Malley Inner circle Canada 1937 Posts |
Most of the time the ambitious card seems to include boring meaningless repetition.
It seems it's one of those effects where everyone has their own variation on it, and ultimately, thinks of it as THEIR ambitious card routine. But really, they're all doing the same thing, with the exception of very few. I think it's popular because it's "easy" to do. Of course there are varying degrees with regards to the difficulty of the methods used but still... It's also a poor effect to open with or put in the middle of your act. Why? Because you've just unequivocally proven that you can EASILY control a card to the top of the deck. In fact, you've hammered that point home. Congrats. So what are they going to think next time you do a card trick, especially if you do one immeadiately after this effect? It's not an effect I'm partial to. But, have I seen it done well? Sure, on DVD, I thought Daryl's take on it was pretty entertaining. These are just one man's opinion. I know it's a popular trick so I expect some sort of backlash.
tjo'
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shazzy Regular user 118 Posts |
Side Steal
Diagonal palm shift. |
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ithomson Veteran user 330 Posts |
Although I too perform an AC routine, I tend to agree with T. Joseph O'Malley's comments above. We spend most of our lives trying to hid the fact that we can control a chosen card to the top of the pack, but in this one routine make a point of showing the audience that's exactly what we can do. Although I enjoy the routine, I do find this illogical.
I always end an AC set with Jon Allen's "Destination Box". Best of breed, in my opinion. Ian |
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Jaz Inner circle NJ, U.S. 6111 Posts |
My ACR is usually different each time and the number of phases is varied.
The talk about the card wanting to be on top or rising above the others depends on the card's value. Topper, Hofzinser Cull, DL & Turnover, several others. Rising card (sometimes as an end, Kundalini style). After the ACR is apparently over I may follow with "Too Many Cards" using the same card as an end. |
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