Sorry if this isn't the apprpriate forum, couldn't find any better ones!

I bought 4 tickets for Copperfield in Pittsburgh in October. Me and the oldest went to see him like 5 years ago...

With no description in the the phamplet, is this the same "Video on the Beach" show that has been touring forever?

Even so I'm glad my wife and my youngest (9 years old) will be going, I'm just hoping something has changed in the past 5 years...

I saw Copperfield last year and it was a great show. At this showing he didn't do 'video on the beach'.

GaryW,
Hello!

The GF and I went to see DC when he came down to San Antonio on February 26th..
I can tell you that he did not perform the "Video on the Beach" illusion.

The highlight of the show was when he invited 8 or 9 audience members onstage and teleported them to the back of the theater.
Pretty darn memorable!!
I know that you'll enjoy his latest show......

Hope this helps!


Respectfully,
rochaz

"Video on the beach" is called "Portal"
and
"audience members to the back of the theatre" is called "13"

"13" is actually a lot older than "Portal".

Sadly Mr Copperfield is in my opinion coasting now and hasn't done hardly anything new for many years. Plus no TV specials.

I saw him the last time he came to England back when he was doing his "Unexplained Forces"/15 years tour and he was truly at the very hight of his game.

I'm glad that I got to see that, as that was the Copperfield I grew up with on the TV specials.

As he hates England and doesn't care at all about the English fans, he won't be coming back here again.

I did travel to Brussels to see him back in 2000 and whilst "Portal" was stunning, DC himself seemed to have given up.

Since then, that feeling has grown and shared by an ever increasing number of people.

Sad, but I'm glad I did get to see him one time at his greatest.

Shrubsole,
Thanks for the info!
I really had no idea that 13 was an older illusion than Portal.
The last time I saw DC before this year was at least 12-15 years ago......

I also wish that DC would go back to doing a TV special or two.

Respectfully,
rochaz

I first saw him live on his Dreams & Nightmares World Tour. That was unforgettable.

Saw him in Vegas a few years ago with the Mrs. and the show was far from stellar. Sort of sad actually. We both thought that seeing him in Vegas would be great because of the better stage, lights, etc., but we were wrong. You could tell he was essentially phoning it in. Speeding through pretty much every routine. Audience reaction was less than stellar accordingly. Some of the illusions were great including Portal and the lotto prediction, but many old standards were included (including the much overused construction scene illusion where he shrinks).

I hope he isn't still doing that trick where he makes a girl pregnant on stage with an obvious pre-recorded video tape.
It was offensive, pathetic and sad to see such a legend performing such an awful card trick.

I saw David last year and the illusions performed were as follows:

Harley's Ghost (motorcycle shadow box)

Thumbs (indian sunburn)

Thru Steele

The Fan (just David, no girl)

Prada Shoebox (shrinkbox)

The Floating Rose

Air Coppers (ring flight)

The Dancing Ties

Slo-Mo Duck

Anthrax (card trick with a scorpion)

The Lotto (prediction w/ car appearence)

13 (vanish and re-appearence of audience members)

I wouldn't say the baby routine was pathetic, a bit silly yes, but not pathetic! You're offended by this trick and yet you want the video to be what...live??? Now THAT would be perverse! BTW DC never tried to hide the fact it was pre-recorded which means that this, in effect, is similar to a cassette prediction in most respects; if it weren't obviously pre-recorded what would the magic/effect be? And, exactally what were you offended by other than the fact that it's a card trick? Pickles, chocolate, the music? Heck, the classic bra trick is way more offensive to me than his routine), the illusion being that the specs bra is magically removed! Think about that now. Everyone grumbles and bemoans about days past when he performed other illusions. Does anyone stop to think that most of magic's great masters, the Blackstone's, Kellar and so forth, performed pretty much the same show with only a few changes here and there for their entire careers? That's the way most magi were back then, performing an "act" they'd constructed their whole performing careers Thurston BOUGHT Keller's show when he retired and nothing is said of that! David has culminatively performed over 230 illsuions on TV and many more live that were never aired on TV. Now let me describe parts of a show by a very well respected magic duo who I saw last summer and both of whom I've loved nearly my entire life. They performed a b**** a** "invisible woman" strip-tease and not too later in the show did the venrable cargo net vanish?!? Produced the same dog...twice! Tried to make Andrew Mayne's Ghost Vision a stage trick (WTF!) and took OVER 5 minutes to snap the pic! They also used a younger woman even though Johnathan could have just as easily and more desirably used Charlotte in performing Clearly Impossible. I speak obviously of The Pendragons. Now, they also perfromed a nice pole levitation and their signature metamorphosis, which was worth the modest price of admission, was impecable. Now we're talking about professionals of 30 years here. Now those are just some really bad choices for a stage show, but it proves that not even the best are perfect. I'd rather have seen them perfrom the sub trunk 10 times in a row than half of what I saw. I have seen DC for live for the last 23 years and I've seen him rush a bit through a show where the audience isn't interacting, by this I mean offering their own comments and such, because when this is happening, Dave is a master at adlibling and coming up with some pretty funny stuff. I saw one performance of a show I had seen many times over a 7 year period, it was the same illusions yes, but DC must have made up, on the spot, over 75% of the humor. It was as if someone had dubbed the show, so used was I to the patter and jokes that this departure was just amazing. I've seen Dave when he was pale and sickly looking in appearence, however this was right around the time when his father died. A year later at the show I just mentioned, his colour was robust and he seemed full of energy and life. I agree that he should bring back some of his older material, but as he won't perform with female assistants (as DC puts it " who wants to see a young beautiful woman draping themselves all over some 50 year old guy!") many illusions can't be performed. I'm tired of magi who've not acheived 5% of David's success (and not I'm not talking of just dollars either) putting down a man whose very life and career has paved the way for the rest of us. One thing about David that is undisputible is that he performs with class and in a class all his own. And, that is something each and every magi should try to do with their performances of magic.

That's a very long last paragraph with more than a few different subjects comingled. but I don't see these comments as blatant put downs of David from "people who have not achieved 5% of his success". Rather I see legitimate concerns by fans who have paid for tickets and want to know whether it's a worthwhile purchase;( Is he 'phoning it in? What part of the show is new?) These concerns are not unlike the concerns of any ticket buyer to any live attraction..including Broadway shows.

As to whether he paved the way for us... well, many of us were on our own paths before meeting, seeing David, but I'm sure we all agree he most often performs with class, and is indeed in a class by himself.

How is this not a blatant put down? I've seen the baby illusion 9 times and no one ever seemed put off or offended by it. On the contrary, they were smiling and laughing and enjoying the performance. Before DC the only magician to have such widespread success was Houdini and it was he who paved the way for all others after him in global terms, just as DC did. It's their effect not only on magic and magicians, but on popular culture that has made people accept magic as more than just a vaudvile type amusment show. These two giants captured the imagination of a generation, Houdini by performing escapes and causing people to consider escaping their own personal prediciment and entrapments and Copperfield by showing us that no matter how impossible, we can achive our dreams through hard work and persistance. It just seems in vouge today to put down DC and most usually by those who've not had an ounce of his success. Is it worthwhile to see David? To me that is as perposterous as asking if it would be worthwhile to see Houdini perform a simple handcuff escape. If you have to ask whether or not it's a good idea to see one the best magicians (and as you must know, there' a fair number of them) in history perform live, then going to a magic or not is the least of your worries.

Did I put down DC? No. He is the best illusionist in the world.

I simple said the pregnant trick was awful. I'm allowed to have an opinion aren't I, or are you the police on these matters and do I have to bow down to your obvious superior judgement?

The trick itself is embarrassing for the volunteer he got on stage, suggesting sexual innuendos and making it an unsuitable topic for the children in the audience. The TV monitor is played as though it is live, that's the whole basis for the trick, the baby in her stomach finds the playing card. We all know she's not pregnant, and its pre-recorded. So it just proves he forced a card and therefore its a very weak trick, obvious in its workings.
Didn't he get people suggesting DC made them pregnant after performing this trick and he had to go to court to prove it wasn't actually real and the mothers baby was not his?
There are sick people out there who actually thought he really did do the trick and wanted half of his money for it. I think that was the reason he decided to stop performing it (I hope).


But you don't need to be as successful as David to have an opinion. Just look at how successful Criss Angel is, and then read the reviews for his Believe show. Lots of magicians and lay people have an opinion on that, just as they do with DC.

You cannot just start insulting members because you have a differing opinion to them.

Steve

Your sentence lacks a qualifier, such as "I believe that" and therefore is a statement and not an opinion, which you, I and everyone are entitled to. Had it been an opinion you voiced, I would have responded to it as an opinion. You also contradict yourself when you say that I was insulting you; only if you count yourself as part of the group I mentioned. While the photo may be misleading, I have many things regarding DC that are not possitive and this illusion is most assuredly one of his weaker effects, but the performance of it is quite humourous and the other effects, like the full pickle jar production, wowed people every time. Now, I will need to confirm this, but I'm certain David did this illusion only during the later shows where it's hubbies and wives BFs and GFs that make up most of the audience. David changes the patter and even the illusions for the early shows where kids are present. And, no I'm not the police, just as you are not the censorship board! To set the record as stright as my memory will allow, a woman is randomly selected and invited to the stage and is seated on a chair. Some well-chosen music plays as DC gives her a rose, a box of chocolates and as I recall stands behind the smiling woman while some sound/lighting effects take place, for a second or so, to signal "conception" and she is then asked "What shall we name it?" She gives any name and then projected on a large screen onstage is what "appears" to be an ultrasound (really looking more like a silohuette)video of a baby in the womb. The baby's freely selected name is revealed, I can't remember how exactlly, but I believe it's on the baby's wristband, and then the baby holds up a the selected card. BOTH name and card are freely selcted. The spec looks through the deck to ensure they are all different, shuffles and takes out any card. They spec says ANY name. Every time I've seen this the card and the name are different. Never once have I seen a spec looking anything but happy whilst all this occured. Lance Burton does (or used to do) a very risque levitation, but only during the late show for adults where he straddles her as they both float high into the flies. Heck, even DC's panty swap is more offensive if you think about it; your pulling peoples' undergarments out from under their clothes! Yet, this illusion appeared on his last (I really hope it's not) special. The baby illusion is definitely not one of my favorites, but it's got orginality on it's side. Remember too that this is performed in a lighthearted "cute" way and the inuendos are far less offensive than what he did with his chicken "Elvis" on his 16th special, no one mentions panty swap or "Elvis" as offensive, even though I could see why they would. One of the reasons I admire DC is that he doesn't want to hear what you liked about his show, but rather what you didn't like, so that changes can be made if he feels it's needed. He invites constructive criticism! What I don't like is people bashing anyone far more successful than themselves over something so trivial and harmless. I'm not someone who whorships Copperfield like a god and feels he must defend him to the death, but rather someone who admires any great performer, like David, and dislikes seeing any of these performers bashed needlessly. As for being biased, there is a number of things I dislike or have disliked, such as Thru Steele; it never made sense to be seen laying under the steele plate and yet penetrate and appear kneeling facing the audience, rather than apperearing laying in the same position as he stated in, but kneeling and facing the audience "looks" better, so that's how it's perfromed. I did not like his version of Lewis' Cardiographic in which a selected moon (half full quater etc.) rises; even though he gets it wrong on the first try and causes it to sink below the horizon (just a black line on the paper) and then the correct moon comes up. Oh and the the story of the ones he alegedly made pregnant was reported by The National Enquire...I guess inquiring minds like yours want to know!
BTW, and for inquiring minds, I guess these are my offcial first rant(s) here on the Café.

Before DC there was only Houdini????????? So many giants in between. Doug Henning really got the ball rolling in more recent TV and stage times.

Also, Adam and Steve surely saw 2 different performances of the same trick. It could be likely that DC styled his performance of the effect in question differently.

Adam, nevertheless thank you for your words. Jan

I hope Copperfield makes a comeback on TV.

Chris Kenner and Homer Liwag's Twitter posts of recent late seem to be suggesting the development of new material. Anyone else have any intel on this?

-Marc

Kotkin's team bought the exclusive rights to Losander's latest levitation. This is probably one item they are working on.

He will be local for a show in January