David
Copperfield
An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion
Date: 16-17 November 2004 Venue: Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Reviewer: Ross Michael Pink
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David Copperfield |
For famed international magician David Copperfield, dazzling audiences with spellbinding routines is all in a day's work.
Copperfield's career itself is something of a feat of magic. His father, upon winning a prestigeous acting scholarship, was told by his own father that if he became an actor he would be disowned from the family.
Copperfield Senior gave in to the intense pressure and took a routine job. Not so for the grandson, David. He faced censure from his grandfather when he announced his intention to pursue a magic career but he persevered and today is regareded as the premier magician in the world. It is, as Copperfield told the sellout audience, and without bitterness against his grandfather, "a testament to following your dream."
Copperfield was born in 1956, and as a youngster, performed under the name, "Davino - Boy Magician," around his hometown. He had minor success at college shows but the classic big break came in 1977 when ABC television asked Copperfield to do a magic show series. Later, he switched to CBS television. Some career highlights include: walking through the Great Wall of China and making the Statue of Liberty disappear. On the humanitarian side, Copperfield started 'Project Magic' which helps improve motor skill in the disabled.
His Vancouver performance left the audience enthralled. He opened the performance with a metal box containing a thick metal lid. Strapped into the box, Copperfield managed to climb through the metal lid. Guessing the card that people selected, a staple of magic acts, was another feat he performed with ease.
Copperfield talked with nostalia about his grandfather and the car he always dreamed of owning but could never afford. He assembled a group of audience volunteers to hold a flowing white curtain and, as if by magic, the beautiful green 1950s convertible appeared on stage.
Perhaps the highlight of the evening was a trick involving a glorious beach on the Thai resort island of Phuket. A real-time video link showed the beach. A volunteer, was brought on stage then placed in a metal cage with Copperfield that was then suspended over the audience.The emotional impact of the feat was that the volunteer, whose mother died young, loved Phuket. With a flash, Copperfield and the volunteer disappeared and then re-appeared on the beach in Phuket.
Fortunately, Copperfield re-appeared at the QET to finish the show which by all accounts was amazing, a word that Copperfield probably never tires of hearing at his 500 shows a year.
© 2004 Ross Michael Pink