A Little Bit of Magic with David Copperfield

You may recall that last week I was in Fabulous Las Vegas attending a trade show for work. One evening I went to see magician/illusionist David Copperfield perform at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. Before I go any further, I'd like to share some information from our friends at Wikipedia about David Copperfield that stunned me: "Forbes Magazine reported that Copperfield earned $57 million in 2005 in merchandise and tour revenue. Copperfield performs over 500 shows per year throughout the world." Fifty Seven Million! I had no idea that he was so successful. Anyway, back to this post. It's always such fun to see live shows in Vegas, there is literally something for everyone, no matter what your taste or preference. I had never seen David Copperfield perform live, only his television specials, like when he made the Statue of Liberty and a Jumbo Jet disappear. I always thought those two stunts were pretty hokey, so I wasn't sure what to expect in a live performance. It was exciting to be in Vegas and I was happy to be relaxing with friends at the show. Imagine my surprise when toward the end of the show, I ended up being brought on stage to participate in the big finale illusion. I was one of ten people from the audience who went on stage and sat in chairs inside of a metal-framed open "box". I'm sitting in the front row, second from the left, wearing a black dress shirt and grey trousers.
LOOK, IT'S THE PALM SPRINGS SAVANT ON STAGE IN LAS VEGAS!

The illusion, or magic trick was that David Copperfield made all ten of us disappear right before the eyes of the entire audience. For the audience members watching, one moment there we all were seated in front of them on stage, and the next moment, we were gone, But suddenly, the very next moment, the audience saw us appear in the back of the theatre, behind all the seats. Later we were able to see the trick recorded earlier on a video monitor back stage and I have to say, it looked quite impressive to those sitting in the audience. Of course now I know how the trick was done, but David Copperfield himself swore us all to secrecy, so my lips shall remain sealed forever. It was a fun experience, a night I shall not forget anytime soon.

above: Here I am, celebrating with some wine that same night. For some reason I wasn't wearing my glasses, which is nice for a change. Anyway, thanks for stopping by today!
-Rick Rockhill