Preparation: Put the 8 of spades face down on top of the deck followed by the 9 of spades face down on top of it.

Method:
(1) While announcing the following: “I have found that in every deck there is always one card that is more ambitious than the others. It likes to be the top dog and will always push its way up to the top of the deck.”, perform a false Overhand Shuffle (if you know how to so do it) or any other other shuffle like hindu shuffle that retains the two cards on top.

(2) Execute the Double Lift and reveal the eight of spades adding, ” Apparently, the ambitious card in this deck is the 8 of spades.” Put the two cards down seize the top card and insert it into the outer end of the deck so that about 2/3 of an inch of it protrudes out. So, when you next put the tip of your right middle finger on the face of that card only the closed loop of the 9 can be seen. Do that and casually tip the pack upwards so that it will appear to be the eight of spades to the spectator .Insert that card fully in. Tap the deck and reveal the eight of spades.

(3) Have the spectator sign the face of the eight of spades so that she knows it you are not using duplicates. Have the spectator place the card on top of the deck. Now get ready to perform the overhand shuffle. Holding the deck in your left hand in the overhand shuffle position, grasp the bottom half of the deck with your right hand, run one card (say card X) on top of the eight of spades, run the next card (say card Y) on top of card X but have card Y stick out an inch below card X, shuffle off the remainder of the cards on top of card Y and then take the pile below card Y with your right (this should be easy to due to the placement of card Y) and throw it on top of the deck. At the end card X should be on top of the deck with the eight of spades below it. Perform the double lift again and put card X into the middle of the deck taking care not to reveal its face. Tap the deck and reveal the 8 of spades. And place it on the top of the deck face down.

(4) Again prepare to do the false shuffle. With the deck in your left hand, seize all the cards except the top one with your right hand (this can be done by applying a slight pressure on the top card with your left thumb. Shuffle off the cards in your right on top of the card (the 8 of spades) in your left hand. Now by doing pressure on the bottom card with your left 3rd and ring fingers seize the bottom half of the deck except the bottom card with your right and then shuffle them off on top of the deck. So the eight of spades should be at the bottom of the deck. Tap the top card and say, “This is not the card.” Then turn the deck face up exclaiming, “Here it is. At the top of the bottom!”

(5) With the deck still face up, do a double lift and while bending the two cards (they must look like one) by making their shorter edges meet, say, “To make the ambitious card easier to follow, I shall bend it like this.” Then place the two cards face down on the deck that should also be face down. Hold the two cards down by gripping the deck with the left thumb on top of the deck and left fingers below the deck. While maintaining this grip, pull out the top card and insert it into the middle of the deck. Now hold the deck with the left hand palm up, thumb on one of the long sides of the deck and the 3rd finger on the other long side. By exerting a slight pressure with the thumb and the third finger, you should be able to prevent the top card from popping out.

(6) For the final, announce to the spectator: “If the eight of spades does rise to the top, then the top card must pop up. ” Tap the top of the deck and pause for several several seconds. Next tap and whistle, pretending to coax the card to rise up. Do not release the pressure on the top card yet. Give some excuse like: “Maybe the ambitious card is a bit out of shape and is not feeling so well right now.” Then finally add that you will try one last time reminding the spectator to watch carefully. Now tap, whistle and release the pressure on the top card while raising the deck a little. If done well, it will look as if the card had just pushed its way to the top. Take a bow and any free drinks that come your way.

Not: This is a hard trick and you need to really practice all the shuffling until you can do them with ease and while maintaining eye contact with the spectator. But having mastered that you are well on your way to mastering one of the great classic card tricks

A word or two on the overhand shuffling position: (from The Royal Road To Card Magic by Hugard and Braue)

Hold you left hand half closed, palm upwards, and place the pack in it face downwards, so that the third phalanx of the index finger is bent against the outer left corner. The middle and ring fingers, slightly bent, rest against the face of the bottom card; the little finger curls inwards so that its side rests against the inner end and the thumb rests on the top card, its tip near the middle of the outer end. The pack must slope downwards towards the left at an angle of about forty five degrees, its lower side resting along the palm of the hand.

Trick is: Before doing the trick, place all of the aces at the top of the deck. If you know any false Shuffles (like hindu)to retain top stock, do so. If not, simply do a False Cut or nothing at all. Anyway, the only move involved is what I believe is called the slip (topslip?). This move is rather hard to verbalize, but easy to perform. Here is my attempt at explaining it: The left 2nd 3rd and 4th fingers go on the long side of the deck (facing the spectators) and the thumb on the inner long side and the index finger (that provides the key move, explained later) on the top card of the deck, the right hand in the same position except for the index finger, which is free from the deck. Now, keep the left thumb on the bottom half of the deck and pull with the left hand while keeping slight pressure with the left index finger. During and immediately before this pull, the right hand should have pressure on the upper half of the deck the left hand applying pressure on the lower half of the deck and the top card. The result should be as follows: The left hand should pull out the bottom half of the deck, and the top card ONLY. The top card will immediately fall onto the lower half of the deck (now in the left hand) and it should appear as though the deck was merely cut. At this point, I usually provide a little Flourish, such as flicking the ace off of the deck. At any rate, take the ace off of the deck and complete the cut, making sure that the remaining aces are on top of the deck. The rest is cake. Again, this move is very hard to verbalize, but with practice, I am sure it will be found that it is not very difficult. A few false shuffles magnify the effect of this trick, and I recommend them as well as any flourishes that could be added in the removal of the aces.

1. First ask any spectator to select a card as free. Once they have selected the card and are looking at it, you palm the top card. This must be practiced in front of a mirror to make the palm look like you were simply squaring the deck.

2. You then let the spectator place their card on top of the deck.

3. Now, you get the card still palmed in your hand and place it on top of the deck. The most natural look is for you to square the deck, then, at that instant, just place it on top. It should look as if you simply squared the deck.

4. Then you must do a double turnover to show the spectators card still on top. You take the top card and the second card (Spectators card here) both by the corners and simply flip it and place it on top of the deck. In reality you are showing the second card, not the first.

5. Repeat this procedure and flip those 2 cards back face down on the top of the deck (Still seeming that the spectators card is indeed on top.

6. Then take the first card and place it in the middle of deck, this leaves the spectators card on top, as they think it has just traveled to the center of the deck.

7. Show the top card to be spectators.

How to: David Blaine showed the spectators a different trick before this one involving the same spectator signing a card of the same number and suit that is forced when shows the card in the bottle trick following after the card trick.

He then keeps the card and does another trick not involving cards and slips the card to one of the camera men or lights crew. The guy then puts the card in the bottle while David distracts the audience with the trick.

Then he goes on to perform the card in the bottle trick and the card is forced signed and the trick was done.
He then throws the cards at the bottle and the card that was recently signed is held on to.
He then tells everybody to look at the bottle and the card is slipped in his pocket.