Last night I saw a legend. David Copperfield. Yes, David Copperfield in Atlanta, Georgia. I went to his show expecting some of the classics of stage magic and went in thinking it would be good, but nothing more than a great Metamorphosis, or an underwater escape, or something. Something I've seen before.
Everything was great- he did two of my favorite illusions. The animated/floating tissue paper that he rolls into a rose then lights it and it becomes a real rose, and his duck in the bucket routine with Webster.
He also did something I didn't expect. At all. He had a white board (big enough to see, but small enough to carry) divided in two down the middle with a black line. On the left side he instructed a spectator to draw herself playing any sport. She chose baseball and drew a messy stick figure with a bat. David chuckled and said, "That's not baseball, that's the Blair Witch Project..." Everyone laughed.
He then tossed a number of Frisbees out into the audience very quickly- saying that whoever caught the Frisbees were to come up on stage. This convinced everyone that the spectators were selected COMPLETELY at random. He then brought a little kid up on stage and had him write his name on the right side. Surprisingly, he wrote very clear and bold (he looked about 8 or so), "Hunter." David complimented his handwriting and told him to stand to the side with a small group of people who had caught the Frisbees moments earlier, They will act as witnesses to what was about to happen.
He then opened a letter sent to him by a single father whose wife had passed away. The letter explained that the single father was working two jobs and struggling to make ends meet. His daughter once thought he was her hero, but over time they’ve grown apart and they haven’t talked in a long time. The father always wanted to make his daughter’s dreams come true, and hopes David Copperfield could help their dreams come true.
The daughter was there in the audience and was invited on stage. He then asked another random spectator to come up on stage and think of two letters of the alphabet and write them on his right arm with a marker. When she was done, David Copperfield turned around to display the letters “SA” written boldly across his arm.
He then got all the spectators together on stage and snapped a picture with a Polaroid camera and wrote the date across the bottom. It read, “Feb. 20, 2008.” In the picture the group held the white board of a randomly selected sport on the left (baseball) and Hunter’s name on the right.
He then directed everyone’s attention to the big screen in the middle of the stage. On it were three men on a beach joining the audience live via satellite from Perth, Australia. Two of the men were kneeled on the ground pressing a white cloth to the sand. The third man was between the men holding the white cloth. David asked one of the audience members to name a number. “Three,” she said. David then asked the crewmember in the middle (wearing a headset) to say the number that she just named. “Three,” the man said. David said, “Ok, it’s very important that the audience knows that this is, indeed, a live satellite feed from Perth, Australia, and in no way, shape, or form are green screen, CGI, or camera tricks used in the making of this illusion.
Copperfield then took the daughter with him to a platform that stretched out over the audience. He then covered the elevator-sized platform with a cloth and placed a light inside so the audience could see their silhouette. Suddenly, in a big flash of smoke, the curtain fell down off the railing and the light inside was left dangling in the middle of an empty platform. Seconds later, the live satellite feed from Perth, Australia shows something underneath the white cloth moving. The cloth is raised and dropped revealing David Copperfield and the daughter on the beach, in Perth, Australia. David stopped and said, “I know some are thinking this was pre-recorded or something like that, so I want you to reach in you pocket and show them what you have.” The girl reached in her pocked to find the Polaroid picture with all the audience members holding a white board on which, was a stick figure playing baseball on the left and “Hunter” on the right. Below that was “Feb. 20, 2008” He told the girl to run to the water and she ran all the way up to the shore and into the water, getting her feet wet. When she came back from the water, David Copperfield pulled up his sleeve and showed his right arm…. “SA.” He looked at the girl and said, “I want you to run over to that guy right there…” as he pointed off camera. The camera panned over to show her father standing right there on the sand. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.
The camera the panned back to David as he was kneeling down scooping a handful of sand from the beautiful shore. David then walked over to the white cloth on the ground, raised it up, dropped it, and vanished. Then, suddenly, a giant flash of light exploded right beside me. David Copperfield was back in the audience. He lifted his fist, and sand began to pour from between his fingers, as the audience burst into a powerful applause. The audience was in complete awe at the spectacle. David Copperfield jogged back to the stage where he brushed himself off, leaving a small trail of sand behind him. The curtain closed and the music started and he simply left us with, “Thank you, everyone. Goodnight.”
Everything was great- he did two of my favorite illusions. The animated/floating tissue paper that he rolls into a rose then lights it and it becomes a real rose, and his duck in the bucket routine with Webster.
He also did something I didn't expect. At all. He had a white board (big enough to see, but small enough to carry) divided in two down the middle with a black line. On the left side he instructed a spectator to draw herself playing any sport. She chose baseball and drew a messy stick figure with a bat. David chuckled and said, "That's not baseball, that's the Blair Witch Project..." Everyone laughed.
He then tossed a number of Frisbees out into the audience very quickly- saying that whoever caught the Frisbees were to come up on stage. This convinced everyone that the spectators were selected COMPLETELY at random. He then brought a little kid up on stage and had him write his name on the right side. Surprisingly, he wrote very clear and bold (he looked about 8 or so), "Hunter." David complimented his handwriting and told him to stand to the side with a small group of people who had caught the Frisbees moments earlier, They will act as witnesses to what was about to happen.
He then opened a letter sent to him by a single father whose wife had passed away. The letter explained that the single father was working two jobs and struggling to make ends meet. His daughter once thought he was her hero, but over time they’ve grown apart and they haven’t talked in a long time. The father always wanted to make his daughter’s dreams come true, and hopes David Copperfield could help their dreams come true.
The daughter was there in the audience and was invited on stage. He then asked another random spectator to come up on stage and think of two letters of the alphabet and write them on his right arm with a marker. When she was done, David Copperfield turned around to display the letters “SA” written boldly across his arm.
He then got all the spectators together on stage and snapped a picture with a Polaroid camera and wrote the date across the bottom. It read, “Feb. 20, 2008.” In the picture the group held the white board of a randomly selected sport on the left (baseball) and Hunter’s name on the right.
He then directed everyone’s attention to the big screen in the middle of the stage. On it were three men on a beach joining the audience live via satellite from Perth, Australia. Two of the men were kneeled on the ground pressing a white cloth to the sand. The third man was between the men holding the white cloth. David asked one of the audience members to name a number. “Three,” she said. David then asked the crewmember in the middle (wearing a headset) to say the number that she just named. “Three,” the man said. David said, “Ok, it’s very important that the audience knows that this is, indeed, a live satellite feed from Perth, Australia, and in no way, shape, or form are green screen, CGI, or camera tricks used in the making of this illusion.
Copperfield then took the daughter with him to a platform that stretched out over the audience. He then covered the elevator-sized platform with a cloth and placed a light inside so the audience could see their silhouette. Suddenly, in a big flash of smoke, the curtain fell down off the railing and the light inside was left dangling in the middle of an empty platform. Seconds later, the live satellite feed from Perth, Australia shows something underneath the white cloth moving. The cloth is raised and dropped revealing David Copperfield and the daughter on the beach, in Perth, Australia. David stopped and said, “I know some are thinking this was pre-recorded or something like that, so I want you to reach in you pocket and show them what you have.” The girl reached in her pocked to find the Polaroid picture with all the audience members holding a white board on which, was a stick figure playing baseball on the left and “Hunter” on the right. Below that was “Feb. 20, 2008” He told the girl to run to the water and she ran all the way up to the shore and into the water, getting her feet wet. When she came back from the water, David Copperfield pulled up his sleeve and showed his right arm…. “SA.” He looked at the girl and said, “I want you to run over to that guy right there…” as he pointed off camera. The camera panned over to show her father standing right there on the sand. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.
The camera the panned back to David as he was kneeling down scooping a handful of sand from the beautiful shore. David then walked over to the white cloth on the ground, raised it up, dropped it, and vanished. Then, suddenly, a giant flash of light exploded right beside me. David Copperfield was back in the audience. He lifted his fist, and sand began to pour from between his fingers, as the audience burst into a powerful applause. The audience was in complete awe at the spectacle. David Copperfield jogged back to the stage where he brushed himself off, leaving a small trail of sand behind him. The curtain closed and the music started and he simply left us with, “Thank you, everyone. Goodnight.”
