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Maybe David Copperfield was a little before my time, but in the context of my life, he’s always been more of a punchline than an actual act. My generation had Criss Angel, who now, is also more of a punchline than the pop cultural phenomenon he once was. But just because David Copperfield isn’t a fringe C-List celebrity anymore does not mean he isn’t in the news anymore.
Because Copperfield, apparently, is still doing his act and people, apparently, are still going to see it. However, one unlucky British tourist did not have a — dare I say — magical experience and decided to sue.
Gavin Cox, a 58-year-old who saw Copperfield’s show while traveling to Las Vegas, claims he was seriously injured while taking part in Copperfield’s signature illusion and is suing the legendary (?) magician for negligence.
While Copperfield refuses to accept responsibility for Cox’s injuries, the nature of the lawsuit has given the court, and therefore the public, insight into how Copperfield pulls off one of his signature tricks.
via Daily Mail:
While not going into great detail, the court has heard elements of how the trick, ‘Lucky #13’, is performed. Copperfield throws 13 inflatable balls in to the audience with those who catch them, as Mr. Cox did, randomly chosen as participants for the illusion, dubbed ‘the runaround’.
They are then asked to sit on chairs on a raised platform on stage which is then covered with a curtain. Copperfield talks to the audience for a few minutes before the curtain is lifted to reveal they have ‘vanished’. He then points to the back of the hall where the participants reappear – to the astonishment of the audience.
The court has heard how practiced stagehands with flashlights hurried participants off stage once the curtain came down on the platform. Benedict Morelli, an attorney for Cox, had said in his opening statement on Friday his client was told to ‘stand up, come with me’ and was never warned he could be injured taking part in the trick.
So … there ya have it. Not too exciting. News flash, but unfortunately, magic is fake & Harry Potter is a p*ssy (that’s not really related, but since we’re talking about “magic”, I had to get that one out.) Speaking of David Copperfield being a living, breathing punchline, here’s a David Copperfield joke:
What do the Bloods call David Copperfield?
David Bopperfield.