Ambitious Classic

Ambitious Classic is a small packet Ambitious Card routine which circulated in the underground magic community (starting with Persi Diaconis before a version by Larry Jennings was finally published in Epilogue Special No. 3 (1975) and later in The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings.

Effect: Several cards in sequence (usually the Ace through Five), each rise to the top of the small packet one at a time and is set aside, until there's only one card left, which is then discovered to have magically changed into a completely different card.

This routine which became popular after Derek Dingle performed his version (Too Many Cards) on The Dick Cavett Show.

Prior Art

• Ambitious Ten in Ibidem No. 10 (June 1957)
• Amorphous Aces by Brother Hamman later published in Secrets of Brother John Hamman

Variations

• Ambitious Ace-Two-Three-Four-Five in Card Cavalcade II by Jerry Mentzer
• A Matter of Psychology in "Ultra Cervon" (which he states was a reworking of a Ray Grismer idea).
• Amorphous Aces by Brother Hamman in Secrets of Brother John Hamman
• Limited Ambitions - Any Second Now / Martin Nash
• Too Many Cards - The Complete Works Of Derek Dingle
• 5 Speed - Out Of Control / Chris Kenner
• Ambitious Classic Revisited by Bob White in It's a Matter of Style" lecture notes and Genii 2006 March
• The Ambitious Classic Revisited - James Swain
• James Swaim in "Don't blink"
• Too Many Cards - The Complete Works Of Derek Dingle
• Con-Sequence in Focus by Max Maven
• Jumping Gemini by Darwin Ortiz.
• Variation Of Ambitious Card Variation" by Paul Gordon in "Lecture Notes # 1" (1989) and reprinted in "Card Marvels" (2009).
• Fourlorn in CARDOPOLIS — David Britland and Marc Russell

References

• http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/213301/fpart/1
• Small Packet Sequences & "Ambitious Classic" - Theme from Denis Behr database