IN PERFORMANCE
What: David Copperfield -- An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
When: Monday, 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $50, $65, $75 (250-220-7777)
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For those attending David Copperfield's magic show, banknotes aren't the only thing that'll vanish.
The famous illusionist, commanding between $50 and $75 a ticket at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, says he'll make 13 Victorians "disappear" on Monday. Make that 26, seeing as there are two back-to-back shows.
"One of the most challenging illusions in my current show is when I vanish 13 randomly selected people from the audience," Copperfield said in a e-mail interview.
"Every night there is something different that takes place, since in every city there are new faces, new challenges and always the hope, on my part, to not only vanish them all, but bring them back safely for their loved ones."
It recent years, hipper and edgier magicians such as David Blaine and Criss Angel have emerged to dominate the make-'em-gasp scene. Yet old-school illusionist Copperfield, the 52-year-old son of a haberdashery owner, is still synonymous with making things disappear, levitate and the like.
On this tour, he has been reportedly strolling through a giant fan and then turning into a puff of white smoke. Copperfield also promises to:
- perform sleight of hand with a lethal African scorpion;
- squeeze himself into a little box-like thing;
- share his secret technique for winning the lottery.
There's no question Copperfield is a tremendously successful magician. Forbes Magazine once reported that he earned a cool $57 million in a single year. As well, the artist formerly known as David Seth Kotkin has done well in the romance department, having dated such models as Claudia Schiffer, Ambre Frisque and Terry Holladay.
Still, despite living a seemingly charmed life, Copperfield said things don't always work out perfectly.
"On occasion, the tricks that don't seem dangerous at all are the ones that harm you," wrote the man who has levitated over the Grand Canyon and tumbled over Niagara Falls.
"I remember one time I was performing what should have been a simple rope trick, using a very sharp pair of scissors. I held the rope up for the audience to see and proceeded to cut it, like I had a thousand times. Except this time I accidentally sliced off the tip of my finger.
"I said to the audience, 'Excuse me for a moment, I just sliced the end of my finger off,' and exited stage left. They laughed hysterically, thinking it was part of the show, while I headed to the nearest emergency room for stitches. I did come back and finish the show."
Copperfield says the illusion of which he is most proud isn't part of the current show. In this trick, he appears to fly around the stage, with hoops being passed over him to prove he isn't suspended by wires. He also floats inside a transparent box. Then Copperfield selects a woman from the audience to fly around with him.
"It took me seven years to create ... Some talk about how it would take them back to their youth, when dreams of flight are most prevalent," he said.
When asked what he would do if magic hadn't worked out, Copperfield goes back to his own youth.
"I started out as a ventriloquist with my dummy, Ven, at the age of nine. So I would have to say that would be it."
