The most spectacular tricks of David Copperfield. Five of the most incredible magic tricks of David Copperfield

American illusionist and magician turns 60 today David Copperfield. In the 1980s and 90s, viewers in many countries sat at blue screens with open mouths admiring spectacular tricks reminiscent of magic.

David Seth Kotkin (David Seth Kotkin - the real name of the illusionist) was born in the small town of Metachen (New Jersey, USA) into a Jewish family. As a child, he stuttered, which made him very shy. In addition, the appearance of the boy was not the most attractive. But, at the same time, David, as a child, learned the Torah by ear and had an amazing memory. When the boy was four years old, his grandfather showed him a card trick, David was able to immediately repeat it.

After the first trick with cards, little David became interested and repeating, and then inventing his own tricks. At the age of seven, the boy surprised the parishioners of the synagogue with his skill, and at 12 - the inhabitants of the whole city. Then the young magician joined the "American Society of Illusionists" and taught tricks to university students, even before reaching adulthood.

At first, David Seth Kotkin was known under the pseudonym "Davino", but then he took the name of the character of the Charles Dickens novel "David Copperfield". In 1978, the illusionist got on television, where he hosted a program demonstrating his tricks.

Later, Copperfield came up with the idea to do large-scale illusions. The first was the disappearance of the plane. In 1983, millions of viewers gasped when David made the Statue of Liberty "disappear" from his plinth and from radar screens. Later, skeptics bet that the recording was edited, the image on the radar was a fake, and eyewitnesses were hired actors. And those who expose the tricks claimed that the audience was real. Copperfield managed to pull off the trick by playing with light. At the right moment, the illumination of the statue was turned off, and the audience was blinded by specially directed spotlights.

The most spectacular performances of Copperfield were flying. And the magician not only soared into the air, but he also flew through a glass cube, hoops, thereby demonstrating to people the wonders of magic. One of the debunkers of tricks managed to repeat the tricks of the illusionist, having obtained the necessary equipment. He used very thin cables (less than 1 mm in diameter) capable of supporting weights of up to 100 kg.

David Copperfield also had such tricks that even the most inveterate whistleblowers cannot figure out. For example, passing through the Great Wall of China.

The incredible artistry of David Copperfield does not even make the audience think that something could go wrong. In 1984, David, shackled and submerged in water, rehearsed the trick "Escape from Death". Unfortunately, he got tangled in the chains and choked. This was understood only after 1 minute 20 seconds. In addition to the shock, the artist also got sprained tendons in his arms and legs, so for another week after the incident, he moved in a wheelchair.

The talent of a magician helps David not only on stage, but also in real life. Once, when the illusionist was returning from a concert, they put a gun to his temple and demanded to give the money. When David turned out his pockets, they were empty. Copperfield later admitted that doing this trick, losing his temper, amounted to him great work.

Despite the fact that the peak of popularity of David Copperfield came in the 1990s, he still successfully gives 500 performances a year.
No less famous 100 years ago, but so far, whistleblowers have not been able to reveal all of its secrets.

"And how is it done?" - a question that torments every second viewer after a masterfully done trick. Objects appear from nowhere and disappear into nowhere, the sawn coalesces, and the dead come to life. It is impossible to understand how this all happens! Or is it still possible?

How ancient "miracles" worked

The art of focus dates back several millennia. So, in the Berlin Museum, an ancient Egyptian papyrus is still kept, in which folk tales on illusionary art relating to 2900 BC. e.! Wandering magicians roamed all over the world, surprising crowds of people with an unusual spectacle. Basically, this art was developed in India, Japan and China. world fame earned by Indian magicians and fakirs. Priests of large temples, persecuting conjurers as representatives of the “devilish” art, themselves widely used their techniques and performed “miracles” for religious purposes. For example, against the background of smoking incense, with a flash of lightning and peals of thunder, the “devil” appeared, the doors of the altar opened themselves, statues of the gods grew out of the ground, and the sacrificial fire flared up by itself. Such effects had an impact on people, strengthening the authority of religion.

The possibilities of the genre expanded significantly in the 18th-19th centuries. by discovering new laws of physics and chemistry. From Egypt and Assyro-Babylonia, illusionary art came to Syria and Byzantium, from there it came to Russia. There, after the October Revolution, focal numbers began to be cleared of tinsel, deliberate mystery and mysticism. Swallowers of swords and frogs, pseudo fakirs, "kings of chains", "Egyptian magicians" and imitations of hara-kiri disappeared. The recognized masters of focus are Alli-Vad, Kio, M. Marches.

Now a lot has been written about the secrets of performing tricks. Some feel that exposure is "killing" the genre. After all, magic tricks are interesting because they make the viewer think about their implementation. Although there is an opinion that partial exposure, on the contrary, contributes to creative searches and the creation of new tricks.
"It's all fairy tales!" - I'm sure Vitaly Savitsky, artist original genre, the winner in the nomination of audience sympathy at the festival of micromagic, held in Munich in 2002. He has been improving in this skill for 8 years.

Vitaly became a magician by accident. When he was working in a circus studio in Munich, it so happened that the main magician fell ill, and Vitaly had to replace him.
“The focus has its own foundations, the so-called classics of the genre: disappearance, appearance, transformation and sawing. Even if a woman is “sawed” in half in some other way, it will only be a new presentation, another interpretation of the trick. Therefore, you should not expose the tricks, - the artist believes. As long as there is mystery, intrigue lives on. When they become the property of the crowd, interest in them is lost.
Although Vitaly admits that he nevertheless revealed small secrets several times, but only to friends.

Flight without wings

Many laurels of successful illusionists are kept awake at night. One of these is a former magician, and now a whistleblower, Russian Timur Abdulov. He considered that the greatest David Copperfield leads the audience by the nose, and it is he who should open people's eyes. So Timur and his team set about exposing all the numbers of the American illusionist's program. They not only unraveled the secrets of tricks, but also experienced them for themselves. And in order not to do it ingloriously, they opened their own website, where they set out reverse side tricks. After some time, the page disappeared from the Internet space. It was rumored that Copperfield himself had a hand in this. Allegedly, he personally called the founder of the site with a demand to close the shop.

“I saw this site,” says Vitaliy Savitsky. - Regarding Abdulov, I can say that this person did not take place as a magician. That's why I decided to make a name for myself in a different way - by declassifying other people's numbers. And, in my opinion, not in the best way. All his revelations are just speculation. Technically, everything is much more complicated. I don't know why he does it. Maybe he wanted to make Copperfield's fortune by repeating his own tricks. But the copy is always worse than the original. It's important to be first."

Nevertheless, we will try to unravel the secrets of the most famous numbers of David Copperfield. So, the “flight”, for which he became famous, is his main strong point. enchanting shows. Long years people are scratching their heads over this amazing trick.

How many ridiculous versions he gave rise to ... Some believe that David is dressed in chain mail made of magnets, which is affected by a special installation under the stage, which allows you to get off the floor. Others argue that the insidious illusionist introduces the audience into hypnosis, so people simply do not notice how assistants carry David almost in their arms. Nobody came close to the solution. The main version of the secret is unique cables that are attached to a special Copperfield acrobatic belt. These threads are produced for space purposes by only a few factories in the world. Their thickness is slightly less than a millimeter, but they can withstand a load of about 100 kg! In the show, the threads are invisible due to fog and lighting. Above the stage is a winch (the most expensive part focus), she lifts David at different speeds, smoothly, without jerks. To prove to the audience that there are no cables, the number has two hoops that allegedly revolve around David. But, in fact, the rings pass under it, which can only be seen from the side of the stage.

Nevertheless, focus flight requires a certain physical preparation of the performer, so let's give Copperfield his due.

Disappeared train and "death saw"

The second no less famous trick of the American illusionist is the disappearance of the Orient Express. There is a wagon on the rails, around it the spectators, holding hands, form a living ring. The car is covered with a huge rag, after a moment it rises several meters into the air, the material is pulled together, and - bam! - the car is dissolved in the air!

Until now, many believed that a special wagon was built for Copperfield, which narrows and sinks underground. It's a delusion! The car leaves unnoticed by us. The whole secret is in the canvas, supposedly covering the car. The rag, in fact, remains hanging in the air, in the same place where the car was. It covers a special structure hanging on four cables. This structure, repeating the outlines of the roof of the car, lay on the roof of the train from the very beginning. The second nuance: the car is not covered completely - only one is covered side car with windows, which faces the camera, and one end. The rest of the sides and the roof remain open, but we don't see it - the focus is only for the TV audience. Thus, the car rolls out along the rails from under the dummy roof hanging on the cables and, thanks to the lack of lighting, successfully hides from our eyes.

Well, no less virtuoso trick - the legendary "saw of death", where David lies face down on the table, assistants chain his legs, torso and arms to the table and close him in a box. The saw placed over him starts to descend and saws the mage right down the middle. The assistants move the halves of the table apart, legs lie on one, and the torso of the illusionist lies on the other. Then the sorcerer turns the clock back, the halves are connected again, and in a second he rises unharmed ... How is this possible ?!

Here the riddle is "hidden" in the table! At first glance, it is quite thin, but this is an optical illusion. The table is black, but bright metal "sides" create the effect of subtlety. Further - David does not lie on the table itself, under it there is a special pocket about 45 cm high, it is in it that David hides his legs. It turns out to be a rather uncomfortable position, but, as we understand it, Copperfield's flexibility is all right. Everything is clear with the torso, but what about the legs?

With legs - the same. In the second half of the table, in a box, not the legs are hidden, but the body of the assistant. But he, unlike David, lies on his back, and bends his legs up. It remains to add that the place of the cut of the magician is a kind of artificial addition of the torso under the shirt. And where do the legs disappear at the end of the trick when the illusionist gets up? The second person occupies both boxes (he simply removes his legs from the table and stretches them inside the box in which David's legs were).

To dispel illusions completely, I will only add that at Copperfield's performances, the audience is forbidden to use magnifying devices, cameras and camcorders.

David did not invent most of the tricks, but bought them. And he sells the secrets of his tricks from old programs to the media for a lot of money.

“I was at the Copperfield show when he came to Moscow in 1997,” said Vitaly Savitsky. - I can only say that his show - good investment of money. Plus, the huge work of a large team: these are engineers, lighting technicians, people who create special effects, service staff, more than 80 people. It is also very important to know the psychology of the viewer. The success of Copperfield's programs is artistry, original ideas, precise mathematical and engineering calculations, as well as devices that cost a lot of money.

What's the secret?

disappearance from the cell.

In the circus, they often show such a trick: they put the girl in a cage, cover it with a cape, lift it up, and when the cover is pulled off ... the young lady is gone. Immediately, the light is directed to another cell, and - bam! - disappeared is there.

The answer: twins always participate in such numbers.

Hammer on the clock.

The spectator puts his watch into the trickster's bag. He takes a hammer and mercilessly beats on it, a terrible crack is heard. The audience is shown fragments of watches that are taken out of the bag. After a moment, the magician takes out an unharmed watch from the bag.

Secret: in fact, there are two bags. In one - pre-prepared glass fragments, screws, springs and the case of an old watch. He hit them with a hammer.

Rabbit in a hat.

This is perhaps the most famous trick that has become a symbol of illusionism as such. The magician places his empty top hat on the table. A minute later he pulls a rabbit out of it.

Secret: the performer, placing the hat, combines it with the secret door in the table. The cauldron also has a secret hole. Through them, the magician gets the rabbit.

A tearing poster.

The audience is shown a poster, then torn in half. Fold the halves together, tear again, and so on until small pieces. A moment later, in the hands of a magician - again a whole poster!

Secret: in two identical posters. One of them, folded several times, is glued on the reverse side to the second to form a pocket. Then the poster is crushed into a lump equal to the size of the pocket. During the demonstration, the performer, covering the pocket with his hand, tears the poster, carefully crushes the pieces, gradually collecting them from the back of the pocket. Then he straightens the whole poster, and discreetly hides the fragments in his pocket.

Levitation (floating in the air).

The magician hypnotizes the girl, puts her on the table, then she slowly rises. After that, the artist runs a special ring over the girl, proving that nothing is holding her up or down.

No matter how! You will never see this trick in the middle of a stage. There is always a lift behind the curtain. All that is required of the mage is sleight of hand with the ring.

"Resurrection from the dead".

The trickster shows a dead fly in his palm, makes several mysterious movements, the fly comes to life and flies away!

How it's done? A live fly is placed in a matchbox, then placed in a freezer for a couple of hours - the insect should fall asleep! When the fly lies on the palm, the warmth of the hand warms it, and it comes to life. The difficulty is only in determining how long it takes the fly to exit hibernation.

September 16, 1956 was born David Seth Kotkin, known throughout the world as the great illusionist David Copperfield

His spectacular performances still make people admire and puzzle over how it all works. Let's lift the curtain on this mystery.

Metamorphosis

The girl hides the magician in a tent, which stands on the platform in the middle of the stage; platform rises. The girl goes around the table standing on the stage, rises to it, throws up a cloth that closes it for a moment - and turns into Copperfield.

What happens: When the platform begins to rise, Copperfield is no longer there. The girl, bypassing the table, unnoticed by the audience, lowers a black curtain from it, merging with the black backdrop. She stands on the table, spreads her legs wide, closes herself with a fabric screen, throws it up - and the magician, who is already standing behind her behind the curtain, can only jump onto the table, slipping between the legs of the assistant, and catch the screen. The girl at the same time, having grouped herself, jumps back from the table, behind the curtain.

Levitation

In 1984, the world was shocked by the flight of David Copperfield through the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Repeatedly the illusionist flew on the stage - without any visible cables and insurances; flew through hoops, flew in a glass box, flew with a girl in his arms. There were versions that Copperfield flies with the help of magnetic clothes put on him - something like chain mail; that the reason for the flights is a huge magnet under the stage. In fact, David flies with the help of a special wire - a thin, super-strong fiber that is attached to him at the waist. This fiber is produced for the needs of the space industry. It is impossible to see it already from a distance of half a meter, it is so thin.

Attached to the winch are 24 of the strongest and thinnest cables, 12 on each side, keep Copperfield in the air. As for the trick with hoops, which supposedly prove that there are no cables - this is, as my uncle said Mokus in a cartoon about Funtika, "sleight of hand and no cheating". And gaps are left in the lid of the glass box for cables.

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Penetration through objects

Before auditorium Copperfield repeatedly demonstrated tricks like the following: a girl climbs through Copperfield itself. And this focus can be explained. The illusionist is in a special design, puts his hands on stands, spreads his legs wider. His body is hidden by a multi-layered black fabric. When a girl comes in from behind, Copperfield turns his legs and torso “in profile” and draws in his stomach as much as possible. The girl crawls into the resulting opening - first sideways, and when the shoulders are outside, then turning her back down.

The disappearance of the Statue of Liberty

It was this grand trick of Copperfield that entered the Guinness Book of Records. Almost every illusionist has disappearing tricks in their arsenal - but no one worked on such a scale before Copperfield.

We remember that the Statue of Liberty is located on a small island where there are no light sources other than those that illuminate the forty-six-meter, two-hundred-ton statue. During the performance, which took place at night, the audience sat about 60 m from the statue, and Copperfield was behind them. On both sides of the statue were two light towers, the spotlights of which were directed towards the audience. A separate searchlight was aimed at a helicopter circling overhead; filmed from a helicopter.

A cloth was stretched between the light towers, which covered the statue. Then the matter was lowered - and the audience gasped: the Statue of Liberty was not in place.

The secret is simple: after the fabric was stretched, the lighting of the statue was turned off, and it became invisible against the background of the night sky. Add to this that the spectators were blinded by the light of the spotlights directed at them. Those moving beams of light that supposedly illuminated an empty place were actually directed upwards. As for the image from the helicopter, it was a fake obtained using a mock-up.

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Exposure of tricks often borders on disappointment: the audience wants a miracle. Fortunately, miracles also have a place in life - some of Copperfield's tricks have not yet been solved. For example, his famous passage through the Great Wall of China in 1986 or falling from Niagara Falls in 1990 How the great David succeeded, one can only guess.

September 16, 1956 was born David Seth Kotkin, who became famous under the pseudonym David Copperfield. During his career as an illusionist and hypnotist, David has amazed audiences many times by performing inexplicable tricks. On his birthday, we decided to recall five of his most amazing magic tricks.

Any self-respecting magician has tricks with disappearances. These can be items, assistants, or the magician himself. In 1983, David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear in front of thousands of spectators. This trick was included in the Guinness Book of Records. There are several versions of how the trick was performed, including the use of a turntable, video editing and the play of light. There is also an opinion that everything that happened is a grandiose hoax with dummy spectators and a model of the Statue of Liberty. Video in English.

Another trick, where David Copperfield flew over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, was shown to the viewer in 1984. Since then, he has flown in front of the audience on stage. In order to show that the flight is real, without the use of belays and cables, he flies through rotating hoops, flies into a glass box and continues to fly in it. From show to show, Copperfield can use a trained falcon, fly with a volunteer girl in her arms, like Superman. Among the versions that reveal the secrets of this trick, there is such that bundles of ultra-thin, but strong fibers are attached to the magician's body in a special way. Moreover, they are attached in the region of David's belt, where the center of gravity is located. That is why all vibrations from lifting the human body up are extinguished, and the movements of the magician in flight are unconstrained. The video below shows how Copperfield does it.

In 1990, the magician was thrown into the water just a few meters from Niagara Falls. The raft with Copperfield fell from a 53-meter height onto the stones at the foot of the waterfall and did not crash. Moreover, on this raft Copperfield was chained in a makeshift coffin. Spectators saw the magician after he was pulled out of the water by a helicopter, holding on to the rope. Skeptics point to some inconsistencies that prove that instead of Copperfield, a stunt double fell into the falls. For example, during a trick in the video, you can hear the magician talking to his assistants, while in the immediate vicinity of the waterfall, nothing should be heard for several kilometers due to the sound of falling water. Yes, and from the water Copperfield was pulled completely dry.

Even experienced debunkers of tricks cannot guess how David Copperfield passed through the Great Wall of China. On one side of the wall was a raised podium, covered on both sides with a white cloth. Copperfield entered the wall and exited from the other side to the same podium. Some argue that that part of the wall was used where there is a breach, which was laid by "bricks".

No less spectacular is the "Saw of Death" trick. David lies face down on the table, and the assistants cuff his legs, torso and arms to the table and close him in a box. A huge circular saw is installed above it, which starts working and slowly sinks down. David has exactly one minute to free himself and get out before the saw cuts him. He does not have time, he starts fussing and the saw cuts him exactly in the middle. After a few seconds, he raises his head. A second later, two assistants push the halves of the table into different sides, on one lie the legs, and on the other - the torso. Both halves are brought to each other, a cry is heard from the hall: "move your legs!". David looks at his legs and in a second they start to move! After which he starts the mechanism in the opposite direction, the saw begins to spin, the halves are connected, the box closes David and his legs, and in a second he rises unharmed. The secret of the trick, according to skeptics, is hidden behind the metal inserts in the recesses in the table and Copperfield has a secret assistant.