Almost every time I perform magic somewhere, I am asked if I know how David Copperfield went through Great Wall of China or made the statue of Liberty disappear. I am sure this is very common for other magicians as well. Copperfield still remains one of the top world known magicians throughout the whole history of magic. He was an inspiration for many generation of magicians. He started his career in a very young age and get huge success mostly because of hard work and quality work he was creating. My favorite Copperfield’s performances are dancing cane and card manipulations act appeared in his first TV series called “The Magic of David Copperfield” aired in 1978. I highly recommend to go through the whole series so get a real sense of his creative work and showmanship. He had a really deep understanding of TV production, advertisement and media, which was the one of the main forces becoming the renowned master.
In winter 2019 I had a chance to watch his show in Las Vegas at MGM. The center seat, close to the stage was a really good choice to experience the show at its best. His shows are always sold out, even though he performs twice a day throughout the week and fully equipped theater fits around 700 people. I imagine how tough this schedule is. Copperfield performs the same show for the last 6-7 years and it takes around 1h30 minutes. As soon as show starts, audience members are asked to hide their smartphones into the wooden boxes in front of them. As he explains further, he is going to send an email before the show starts and this is being done for the final magic trick. However, in addition, he figured out a very clever and subtle way to prevent people to video record the performance. He has performed his famous appearing motorcycle and floating rose right in front of my eyes. Even though I know how it is done, it still feels real magic to me and for everyone. Most of the tricks he does includes audience participation that he choses using various randomness techniques. By the end of the performance, we check our phones and noticed that the email he sent before the show started contained every detail of the performance including audience member names, random choices, etc.
Worth to mention, the crew and his assistants have done a great job keeping the show running without any issue and delays. It reminded me the Swiss made watches – running too smooth and precise. I once had a conversation with renowned magician David Regal, describing his experience from Copperfield’s show. One time after the show, he was at backstage to greet him and he saw how Copperfield goes through the every detail of the show and mentions the issues the crew made. So they can prevent that for the next show. Being the main performer on stage is a very hard job and I was wondering how he could notice and remember every single detail and come back to the staff after the show.
Overall, Copperfield sets the high standard bar in the business. Most people think that he is retired but he is still performing with very high enthusiasm and charm. A truly memorable day.
