The ambitious card needs a big finish and what better way than
‘Holey Ambition’. The signed card appears on top of the deck
while it is inside its case and the gathered masses get the
pleasure of witnessing this first hand through a handy hole cut
in the top of the case. I worked on this for a long time and the
gimmicks, simple though they may be, are the result of
hundreds of hours of development. The first gimmicks involved
elastic, staples, glue, sticky tape and various other stationery
items and the end result was a clunky monster of a card case

that was simply unusable. As is often the case the answer was to simplify and ‘Holey Ambition’ is
about as simple as it gets. If there is a less complicated way to do this I'd be extremely surprised and
about twenty card cases will have been mutilated for nothing. Enjoy.

You have received a second PDF which is entitled 'TEMPLATES'. Open it up now and print the page.
(Make sure the print option 'shrink oversized pages to paper size' is unchecked in the print options
menu. File>Print Options) Follow the instructions on the 'TEMPLATES' PDF to make the gimmicks.

Done that? Easy wasn’t it? OK, the only real ‘work’ here lies in a card move so let’s look at that move
now.

At the end of your Ambitious card routine you have the signed card is second from top and you’ve just
turned over a double to show it back on top. Now you'll do a move which I haven't seen in print but I
am sure is out there somewhere, it's like a distant cousin of the KM move. Turn the double face down
again and catch a break below it. Pinch the double by the fingers at the face and the thumb on the
back. Grasp the double firmly and flash the face of the card(s) to allow the spectator one last glimpse
of their signed card.

fig.01.

The double is turned face down again and the left hand begins to roll the

deck over to a face up position.

fig.02.

As the deck continues to roll over the right fingers push the

lowermost card (the signed selection) to the left.

fig.03.

The left finger tips retain the signed card on

the bottom of the face up deck (as they would in the KM move) as the left thumb ‘flicks’ the indifferent
card.

fig.04.

The right hand moves away to the right with the indifferent card as the deck is tabled face

up.

fig.05.

Without pausing the left hand cuts off somewhere between eight and twelve cards, turns them face
down and the 'signed card' is inserted into the centre of the packet, outjogged. Timing is important

fig.01

fig.02

fig.03

fig.04

fig.05

and the whole move should flow into one seamless unit: The signed card comes back to the top, you
display it, give it a flick and bury it into a small packet. It all happens quite quickly and, if you're talking
as you do it, it all looks quite fair.

OK, so the signed card is outjogged in the centre of a small packet of cards. Place the small packet
on the table and pick up the case which ideally will be hole side down. I think it's a good idea to show
the hole in the case before you replace the deck inside but you must be careful not to expose the
gimmick so be aware of angles here. Now turn the box hole side down and pick up the face up deck
from the table. Slide the deck into the case making sure it rides over the gimmick inside. As the deck
slides into the case push up on the deck through the hole in the bottom and tilt the flap end of the
case towards you as you close it. You will feel the gimmick slide towards you. Contact it through the
hole with the fingers and in the act of turning the hole side of the case towards your spectators,
position the gimmick so that back design shows through the hole. Everything appears as it should.

Pick up the small packet of cards and take it in left hand dealers
grip, the ‘signed card’ is still protruding from the front end. Pick up
the cased deck and place it on top.

fig.06.

Explain that the signed

card will now travel up to the top of the small packet, penetrate
through the bottom of the case, travel all the way up through every
card in the deck before finally arriving back on top again and what’s
more, they’ll get to see it happen thanks to the hole in the case.
Make sure everyone is paying attention to the hole and as you snap
your right fingers over the hole, the left index finger pushes the
jogged card flush with the small packet while at the same time you
give a quick, sharp downward jerk of the left hand. The gimmick
inside will very quickly slide to the other end of the case, revealing
the signed card through the hole.

fig.07.

It happens very quickly and

appears quite magical. I believe it’s something called Centrifugal
Force that’s at work here. It's the same force you use to get ketchup
from the bottle and is also the reason we need seat belts in cars.
Personally I think that, ignoring condiment dispensing and auto
motive safety, this is its best use yet!

You'll have to work with it for a while but with very little practice
you'll get the hang of it and find that it is very reliable. You'll have to change the gimmick every so
often because, much to my amusement, it suffers impact damage from continuously colliding with the
bottom of the card case, how funny is that? OK, it's just me then.

Now to hand (almost) everything out for examination. It is actually the clean up at the end of Holey
Ambition that makes me most pleased, it almost cleans itself up! I love it when problems are solved in
an organic fashion and when I consider how long I spent trying to disguise the clunky gimmicks in
previous versions I smile with the realisation that to simplify is truly an enlightening experience. The
card has just appeared on top of the deck through the hole in the case. Open the flap and remove the
signed card, handing it to its respective signee. You'll probably find that the next face down card
partially slides out of the case too, which is a god thing. If you remove it a little more putting a
downward pressure on it as it is removed you'll feel a little 'click'. This is when the end of the
protruding card passes the two 'arms' of the gimmicked card. If you now push the card back into the
case the gimmick will be second from top. Remove the entire deck now, placing it on the table and
you can hand out the case too, which is nice.

That's it. I can't really say much more than that. Holey Ambition is simple and visual and what I always
thought would be a great way to finish an ambitious card routine. It's really just a bonus that it can be
achieved with so little complication. Have fun.

fig.06

fig.07

© Copyright David Forrest 2005