Whether it's Jesus or not Mr. Copperfield seems to need a change in his life if you take these recent reviews of his show seriously.

http://www.ticketsnow.com/Reviews/Produc......ctType=0

Nearly half of them negative, some extremely so and with many of the positive ones sounding as if they came from reviewers in his employ.

Personally I think he just needs to take a year or two off to rest, relax and rethink. Possibly also to seek professional help to deal with what many of the negative reviews feel to be an inflated ego problem.

Personally I'd rather he retire and leave us all with fond memories of his excellent magic than to see him spiral ever downward along the path he seems to be on these days.

I saw him in CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday, April 3rd. This was my first time having seen him perform live. He played to a pretty full house.

I was close enough to spit on the guy, and he definitely did not look bored. On the contrary, he looked very comfortable and into being there. He had a more 'relaxed' vibe than we've seen in his TV specials. The feel of the whole show was one of him just "hanging out" with the audience. He was super casual, and definitely seemed to be having a good time, and that feeling was contagious. He had some very funny bits of business, and while he didn't spend too much time making magic arm waves and looking mysterious, he really kept the energy level up.

The show began with a video/voice intro about how great DC is, to get everyone amped for the show. It seemed to work, because when he made his magical appearance on the motorcycle, it was to thunderous applause and cheers. The smile on his face as he greeted his audience for the first time set the mood for the show, as did the duck that made his first unscheduled appearance of many at this time, which became a very funny running gag.

Toward the middle of the show, we watched a video of his straight jacket escape hanging from burning ropes over flaming spikes with a dangerous mullet and lots of drama. I suspect this was to buy time for stage setting, and if so, it was a good way to do it. I wasn't too into watching the video, but the audience gasped every time a rope broke, and cheered his success, so I would say that it went over well.

He closed the show with his vanishing audience members illusion, and then accepted a standing ovation. When I turned around, the whole crowd was on their feet applauding. I think I heard some cheering, too, but that might have just been me

His handling of the people called up to assist in his tricks was very professional throughout. It was clear they were all made to feel comfortable. The cueing was masterful, and created many very funny moments, adding greatly to the entertainment.

Going into the show, I half expected to see the corny old Dave Copperfield I know and love from the TV, but I was pleasantly surprised by the new cool, relaxed, and hip David that I had the pleasure of seeing. I don't know if I just happened to go on one of his "on" nights, or if some people are interpreting his casual style and tongue-in-cheek humor as not caring, but I loved the show, and heartily recommend it to any fan of magic. The person I went with had never seen a magic show, or even heard of David Copperfield, and she loved the show as well.

In my opinion, Copperfield is a wonderful entertainer, and deserving of his status as a household name.

Hey, I would gladly welcome a "greatest hits" type of show, where I could see many of the same illusions on stage that I saw when I got to watch him perform in 1992. That was probably the best "setlist" he's ever done.

So he was pretty much doing David Blaine's schtick? That's what I took away from Tornado of Fire. Blaine was the new guy in town, getting a lot of acclaim and stealing the attention from Copperfield, and I believe Tornado of Fire was the response. It was Copperfield's way of saying "Hey, I can do that stuff too." Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't David's "street magic" segment on Tornado of Fire as well?

Lastly, for what it's worth, I saw him perform last year and the show was amazing. He was completely on top of his game and the crowd loved him. I also got to be a volunteer! It was even his second show that day, so the fact that he didn't seem bored/tired/upset or whatever seems to support the good days/bad days theory. Glad I have been fortunate enough to catch him on two good days.

I've seen David multiple times, in different cities. Only one show stood out and it was a closing show after he had a short break between cities. I have to agree, unless you see David on TV he usually appears to be on 'auto pilot'. While this is/was a disappointment, I can understand how it happens after working as long as he has without a significant break. Personally, until he updates his show, I for one won't spend any more money on tickets to see him. If I want to see his 'standard effects' all I have to do is take a trip to my library.

With that being said, if you have the opportunity to watch David do each of his show's in any given city tour I recommend the expierence. The education is definatly worth the ticket price and it was interesting to see the differences in his performance - especially his timing.

I take into account that these "negative" posts about David Copperfields show are not theatre reviewers, but unhappy attendees for reasons that they could have found faulty with many shows they could have seen, especially in Las Vegas, not only Copperfield. Although very important, what you don't see here is the untold number of very happy attendees that probably gave him a standing ovation at the show they were attending, that will never find a reason to log online and post a positive review. People tend to post when they have a beef to complain about, and not post otherwise.

The majority of the negative posts about the Copperfield show are unhappy with

1- Videos shown in a live show,
2- The price - mostly in Las Vegas,
3- Jokes some thought were not appropriate for family audiences and kids,
4- A show of past material and illusions
5- Some are put off by self-promotion or what they feel to be a big ego.

All obvoious points, but not much validity in my opinion.

1 - First off, let's take the videos:
People have been complaining about Copperfield's use of showing video excerts of his specials in his live shows for years. I never understood the problem. It works for him. They are usually his large illusions that cannot be shown on stage. He is famous for them so he shows a 10 min video IN LEIU of an intermission. Teh other video intro sounds like a preshow video, not part of the show. Maybe I'm wrong since I have never seen this intro video, it must be new to the show.
Don't like it? Go visit the bathroom during the intermission video.

2 - The Price is too high is another complaint.
This was mostly from those who saw the show in vegas. The price in Vegas is over $100 a seat. So is most every large stage show in vegas. And in my opinion.. none of them are worth that ticket price. But it's vegas.. so you pay it or don't go. David Copperfield on the road has regular ticket prices starting at $30 in most cities. I just purchased tickets for a friend in Ohio. Don't want to spend $100, don't see him in vegas. Or don't even bother going to vegas in the first place.

3 - As far as sex jokes and material not good for kids.
I guess that's a parental call. I see nothing wrong with it personally. Some of them are indeed funny, some are chuckles. It's his performance style, like it or not. For my money, I miss the Copperfield material of the 1980's, webster, guest celebs and so on. I liked what most magicians here call "corny". I miss the vignettes, the stories, the duck routines.

But, I never saw his show marketed as being a kids show. It is not. But I certainly find nothing offensive in the very mild sexual innuendo in his show. Your kids see much worse on the Simpsons, South Park, and TV in general. My guess is your kids left there and went home and played some horribly violent video game that you don't pay any attention to, right? Don't bring the kids if you want to shelter them from such mild innuendo.

4 - As far as too many "old illusions",
If you went to see Billy Joel you will hear his greatest hits. If you went to see the Rolling Stones, you are not going to hear all brand new songs written this year. David Copperfield has a body of work adn I see nothing wrong with presenting it. That said, I do long to see new work created by David. There is still no magician that comes close to his ability to present theatrical illusion routines.

5 - And lastly, s far as his ego... y
Yes he has an ego, shock and surprise... a famous entertainer with an ego. Someone call the Newspapers! I personally have never known a successful entertainer who does not have one. One can argue it's a necessity. I guess some are put off by it. However, he is not saying anything that isn't true. He is the most successful magician of all time. I don't see the problem. It's showbiz and promotion.

In the end, personally, on any day, I would rather pay to watch David Copperfield perform magic than sit through any of the plethora of magic dvds and reality shows on the market from other magicians today.

Just a simple fan,
And I am not in his employ:)

Nick Carifo
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Mr. Carifo:

I agree with you totally!!

Don

Nick you sure said it! I couldn't agree with you more.

Lucas

Videos in lieu of an intermission is a great idea.

Over the last 7 years or so I've seen Dave's show 11 times and have seen good performances and better ones. One show that stands out I saw at Casino Rama just one year ago and he gave 200% at this performance. Having seen the show so many times I've grown to know the jokes and bits he uses. That night was something else entirely. He must have ad-libbed half of the jokes, he was full of energy and seemed to be having a great time; heck even his clour was better than the time before. I hear a lot of negative comments about DC and his current show and that it hasn't changed. I saw The Pendragons in Jan. and their show was hit and miss. Charlotte took part in 2 or 3 illusions (Pole levitation, Cargo Net Vanish and of course Metamorphosis) and their two female assistants were in the others (such as Clearly Impossible). The worst part was when Charlotte performed Andrew Mayne's Ghost Vision to an audience of 2 thousand or more and I kept thinking "why are they doing this as a stage piece?". It took over 3 minutes for her to find a suitable spot and take the picture which turned out horrible as no ghost could be seen in all the blur; even the girl who was selected to help couldn't be seen. The Pole Lev., Cargo Net and Metamorphosis were spectacular though and clearly impossible was very well received also. People who perform as much as these 3 giants have off nights, make bad decisions and yes, do slow down after a while; Charlotte and Jonathan are also in or very near their 50s, but I've not heard the complaints that I have about Copperfield even though I'd rate Dave’s show as being a bit better. Also, for a long time now Dave has shied away from "box" illusions and also performing female assistants. I think that by eliminating illusions with females has robbed his show of the romance it once had; beautiful assistants was DC trademark and a staple in magic. This loss of onstage romance is the thing I miss most about Dave's shows. I also think that he should consider bringing back more illusions from the past such as Origami, Deathsaw, Motorcycle Disappearance, Walking Through A Steel Wall, Run Duck Run, Brazilian Water Lev., Snow, Barclay House, Big Black Box (Things That Go Bump In The Night), On The Edge (Impaled Beyond Belief), Cocoon (Metamorphosis), Voyeur, Tides and if he is still able to perform it Flying. Dave still has it as every performance that I've seen was well received by the audience and even by my discriminating eye, but to expect the same energy level in his shows and from him in particular is unrealistic and to say that he is a shell of his former self is nonsense. Slowed down sure, but a shell of himself; I don't think so!

Ok, so back on topic. Has anyone heard of any new illusions? Topandball you were talking about David's escape over spikes, I was unaware that was brought out of the closet.

He showed the video of it.

I don't think he cares anymore he makes 50 mil a year and purchased a island for 50 mil

If he didn't care I think he'd give up the hectic schedule. Something keeps him going, and he consistently draws large audiences and predominantly very enthusiastic responses to his shows. No word on the new illusions; maybe still in rehearsal stages?