News of the Day: David Copperfield Sued & Forced to Reveal His Magic Trick in Court

We all should know who David Copperfield is: the charming magician has walked through the Great Wall of China, made the Statue of Liberty disappeared and given gravity the middle finger as he flew like Peter Pan.

Performing through the pre-Internet era whereby Google did not exist to reveal his secrets, he garnered countless fans with his witty remarks and humour while surprising us with his illusions in the 80s and 90s.

But with the Internet nowadays, you might think that he has faded away from the industry.

Apparently not.

While he has performed less, he is still shocking audience all over the world, with his next performance set to be today (21 April 2018) in LA. In mere 2015, he earned over USD$63 million for his performances.

The world’s highest-paid magician also run his own chain of resort islands in the Bahamas, making him a rich, rich man. The 61-year-old who looks 40 is currently touring with his performance known as David Copperfield: An Intimate Evening Of Grand Illusion.

So, what’s with the history lesson of our childhood dream husband?

He’s been sued, and because of that, he would have to disclose the secret of one of his illusions to the court.

In 2013, a British tourist injured himself while taking part in one of Copperfield’s tricks, the “Lucky #13”. The man, Gavin Cox, claimed that a fall dislocated his shoulder and even caused brain injury, and he had spent more than USD$400,000 on medical bills.

Not sure about you, but my first thought is this: oh, so the so-called “volunteer” participants aren’t actors!

This, for your info, is the trick in action.

So basically, he would pick 13 people from the audience and make them disappear after covering them with a large cloth.

It turns out that all they needed to do was to walk away through a dark and unknown route. Of course, David Copperfield made it looked like they had been sent to heaven with his drama-mama acting and music.

But honestly, with the Internet, everyone who wanted to know how it works can know how it works. It’s not like in the 90s when some people even thought that David Copperfield had special powers.

Apparently, during the walk, Mr Cox fell and hurt himself. He blamed it on David Copperfield (ar bo then?).

Therefore, the producers and David Copperfield had to explain the trick to the court. If not, how could they defend themselves? And seeing that the court is open for all to see…well, for the first time, a magician is revealing his trick to the public.

Magicians usually take an oath not to reveal their tricks to non-magicians: it’s an unofficial promise to preserve the trade. Known as the Magician’s Oath, this is usually passed down from a mentor to the mentee, with a code of ethics (primarily not to reveal the magic tricks lah).

The outcome of the trial is not yet decided, but Mr Cox is suing David Copperfield for an undisclosed amount. The trial will continue next Tuesday.

Not sure about you, but the only takeaway I have about this piece of news is to watch more of David Copperfield’s performances online.

Now you know what Singaporeans are talking about today; do check back tomorrow for another piece of news of the day!