An Ambitious Card

David Ben puts in the time to really present both magic and instructions. He is clear and precise.

Simplistic, but powerful effect, I love it!

This style of card magic is my favourite. When a performance is so relaxed and clean there is nothing to spot or lookout for then the layman's only conclusion is it is really happening. I am convinced the viewer will enjoy the magic all the more. The simpler the better. I already knew the trick before I bought it, but I couldn't resist taking a look because I was interested in the refinements. I am glad I did and now I will be going to check out more of David Ben's work.

Although someone might think this trick isn't that ''mindblowing'', I HIGHLY recommend you to purchase this. David's explanation and insights about this trick are one of the best I've seen. It gave me new perspectives about a performance in magic generally. After practicing and performing this, I can say David Ben's Ambitious Card is my favorite trick to perform. Everything is very clear to the audience, there are no showy elements – just pure elegance. I also like the minimalist touch to this effect.

For just a couple of bucks, heck yeah! 6/5!

Simple handling but very impactful. When I was in high school, Daryl picked me to sign the card for his amazing Ambitious Card routine. I have been hooked on the effect ever since. David Ben's handling is one of the cleanest I have ever seen, but it really does blow you away.

Great starting place for the AC - simple, direct, quick, DL variation taught too

Clear and concise. Elegant. Nothing fancy here: it's three levels of building difficulty with only two slights. I really like that he does the double turnover without a getready--my favorite way to do it that I may actually make look good one day!

This video is really well done and a good value. David Ben clearly explains each move and how to present the trick. This trick/routine is great for the experienced magician and suitable for a beginner who wishes to develop card handling skills and learn a classic routine.

This, I believe, was my first download purchase from Vanishing Inc. I have since become a huge fan of Paul Wilson. I like his style of explaining and teaching the various sleights and/or self-working effects. 10 x 10 is a really great download. I have since moved past the beginner phase of card magic/card sleights, but I continue to return to all of my downloads from time to time for a review. This is one of my favorites.

David Ben, Author of "Dai Vernon, A Biography (Squash Publishing 2006), has created an instructive 7:26 video explaining the structure and the sleights of Dai Vernon's "Ambitious Card." Roberto Giobbi lists "Ambitious Card" at the Number 1 position for Top Ten Card Tricks for a reason. The elegance and simplicity of the effect are unmatched and the structure, sleights, and presentation theory of the effect are useful across many facets of our performance art (something Roberto Giobbi might call "polyvalent"). The David Ben video is well worth the cost of the download and I would like to see more from Mr. Ben. Thanks, Vanishing Inc and David Ben.
D.G. Mullen (Richmond, Va. June 2022)

I really enjoyed this trick. I picked it up for a few quid but its become a practise routine to ensure my handling becomes better. In the end, it's pretty simple, but if you can perform it - it WILL fool Houdini. The instructions are very clear and you just get on with practising it. Not sure I would perform it but when I do have a deck in my hands I will practise this version of An Ambitious Card. It's a logical start, middle and end of an effect that normally gets WAY over elaborate.

excellent

Elegant, old school card magic presented by a true Artist, David Ben!

This is a beautiful and intelligent discussion of a classic piece of card magic. It is a simple version of the Ambitious Card. David Ben mentions in this that it is counter to the approach most magicians take to this plot, but in all honesty I really like the simplicity and elegance of his handling and thoughts on this classic effect.

David Ben teaches his Ambitious routine expertly and efficiently without skimping on subtleties. His brief explanations of why he performs a sleight one way rather than another are invaluable, not least because he’s modeling misdirection and audience management rather than wowing the crowd with your knuckle-busting skill. I rewatch it as much for the philosophical underpinnings of his approach to magic as to pin down the subtleties. Not bad for four bucks.

great

Clear; precise. It's obviously meant to be an opening. So that's a good guide in structure. But Ben goes further, making the double lift a simple but convincing gem.

A perfect ambitious card magic ! Thanks Ben

Excellent performance but a shame there is no magicians point of view but merely video is as from a spectators view point. An over the shoulder view would certainly make learning the sleights a little more intuitive. Seeing a live performance of this routine would of been a nice extra as well.

David Ben provides short but very well focused instruction for a very simple, clean three-stage ambitious card routine. He includes a good explanation, with advice on the Bertram double lift, and an excellent suggestion for how to improve the presentation when a table is available. I have been stripping away and simplifying how I do this, and going back to the Vernon approach and some other resources I had looked at and relied on many years ago, including the old description in Bruce Elliot‘s Classic Secrets book, and seeing this David Ben presentation in that context was very helpful. A great reminder about how sometimes less is more.

Great explanation. The double lift technique was worth five times the price of the video. I’ve been using the double lift technique for months now.

Beautiful simple piece of magic!

I learned some fantastic subtle touches to add to my Ambitious Card routine.