Ultimate Ambition Improved or "You can teach an old dog..."

[erdnasephile]

Like many of you, I have used Daryl's Ultimate Ambition for formal close-up shows since it first came out some 20-30 years ago. It killed.

When Daryl released his improved version a few years ago, I bought one and threw it in a drawer. After all, why change something that had been working so well? Eventually, I stopped doing the Ambitious Card all together. It seemed like everyone and their mother was doing it, and as an amateur, I was fully enthralled by "The Tyranny of the New."

Recently, I had a formal close-up show for a bunch of young professionals, and I thought it would be fun challenge to do three tricks closely associated with Dai Vernon. I worked up some personalized routines for Matching the Cards and Triumph, but I still needed a closer. I thought an Ambitious Card routine would fit the bill, and decided to give Daryl's improved Ultimate Ambition a whirl.

Boy, was I dumb for waiting so long. The finale got screams!

The big difference for me was changing the moment of the dirty work. With the improved gimmick, the effect is so far removed from the method timewise, there is just no possible way for the audience to reconstruct it. It's also much more practical from a pocket management point of view, and more versatile as well. That is, if you don't like Daryl's routine structure of eliminating cards, you can still use the new gimmick if you prefer the old handling. The only weakness I see is that when working very close, you've got to watch your angles a bit when wrapping the deck, but that's easily managed with a little thought.

The entire show was extremely well-received and I was reminded of a few things: 1) the classics are still very powerful when done as yourself, 2) Pros like Daryl never stop thinking about their routines no matter how strong they are, and 3) Sometimes what you need is not always "new", but rather, improved.

I realize this reads as an overlong dealer ad, but I've got no financial stake in Daryl's trick. However, IMHO, Ultimate Ambition Improved is a definite keeper for me (at least until he comes out with an improved, improved version!)

[AJM]

Great post - thanks for sharing.

I am a big fan of Daryl's Ambitious Card work and have the Ultimate Ambition which I haven't used for some time.

I'll make sure to check out the improved version.

Cheers

Andrew

[Chris Aguilar]

The updated gimmick is thinner right?

[erdnasephile]

Yep. It's half the size of the original.