The Vault – Ambitious Aces by Chris Wood – A Review
The Vault – Ambitious Aces by Chris Wood – A Review
(-Plus- a 2nd bonus effect from Mark Lavelle)
Part of the new ‘One Shot series’…
This is the Ad Copy:
What you see is what you get!
Welcome to the Murphy’s Magic Supplies One Shot series!
Each one-shot download is hand-picked from our amazing At The Table lecture series and features one proven powerhouse magic trick — all shot in one continuous take.
That’s right! No edits, no fancy music or effects — just awesome real-time magic from our talented artists.
We consider this a one-effect teaser for the entire lecture. We know that, if like what you see, you will definitely want to check out the artist’s full At The Table lecture!
On this download, Chris Wood teaches you his impossible Ambitious Aces routine. All four aces are lost in the deck and then rise to the top! He repeats this three times and each time it is more fooling than the last. ultimate challenge Ace routine.
If you love this download, be sure to check out Chris Wood’s entire At The Table lecture for an incredible low cost.
My Thoughts:
Chris, headquartered in southern England, is a former Secretary of the society, a director of the Centre of Magic Arts and a gold star member of The Inner Magic Circle. He is an extremely personable guy.. and a pleasure to watch and listen to…
AMBITIOUS ACES is a very familiar effect, performed by magicians around the world. Chris Wood’s Ambitious Aces is certainly true to form.. but different in so many ways. Ambitious Aces can be heavy on the sleights, but Chris’ version is heavy only on psychological sleights. Don’t know what that means? Buy the video.! (I’m not being flippant..)
This is a three phase routine that brings the Aces to the top three different times.. three different ways. Each phase uses a different method.. yet there is only one true sleight employed.. on the third phase. (I will go ahead and tell you it’s a John Carney Versa Switch, which is NOT a knuckle-buster.)
The ‘sleights’ used to accomplish the first two assemblies are both psychological sleights that make the audience believe you’re doing something you’re not. Chris gives credit for the first two moves to Justin Hines.. from his Non-Automatic Card Tricks booklet. They are slick, no doubt, but probably shouldn’t be repeated for the same audience. They are good enough to fool many magicians the first time around.. as Chris uses skillful verbal misdirection to conceal the dirty work.
Chris credits Aaron Fisher and Harry Lorayne, among others, for some of the well-timed moves that serve as real convincers. A Sadowitz move brings everything to a smooth conclusion.
This effect is shot in one continuous video.. thus the name ‘One Shot’ series. There are NO frills or music.. just the magic and thoughtful instructions. The video and sound are typical Murphy’s Magic quality. The video runs 37 minutes, although there is a second bonus effect included by Bro. Gilbert, featuring Mark Lavelle, and titled Number Pick. I’m thinking it was originally featured on Mark’s At The Table lecture, but I’ve been known to be wrong.. once. So.. Ambitious Aces is 25 minutes and Number Pick is 12 minutes. The download itself is 634 MB…
You will have no problem mastering Ambitious Aces.. with a little practice. I would rate this as an advanced beginner level effect. I like this new concept from Murphy’s.. and I suspect you will too. For six bucks, you can’t afford NOT to buy it. I recommend it to my friends and readers.
$6.00 .. From Murphy’s Magic and their Associates.
https://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=70715
Review by Rick Carruth