Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. Today I’m writing about the man who is described by Forbes as the most successful magician in history. I’m talking about the man who was born on 16th September 1956 as David Seth Kotkin, but is better known as David Copperfield.
David Copperfield was a quiet child, who came out of his shell when he picked up ventriloquism at the age of 10, which led him to magic. At that age, he practiced magic under the name “Davino the Boy Magician”.
He began performing magic professionally when he was 12 and also taught magic at New York University when he was just 16 years old. David is also the youngest person to be entered into the Society of American Magicians (at the age of 12).
At age 18, Copperfield enrolled at New York City’s Jesuit-based school Fordham University. However, three weeks into his freshman year he left Fordham to play the lead role of the musical The Magic Man in Chicago. This was the turning point of his career.
He adopted the stage name “David Copperfield” at this point, taken from the famous Charles Dickens novel because he liked the sound of it. He sang, danced and created most of the original illusions used in the show. The Magic Man became the longest running musical in Chicago’s history.
Copperfield has so far sold 33 million tickets and grossed over $4 billion, which is more than any other solo entertainer in history. In 2015, Forbes listed his earnings at $63 million for the previous 12 months and ranked him the 20th highest earning celebrity in the world.
Besides performing at shows, Copperfield has also made many television specials, which have won 21 Emmys from 38 nominations. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a knighthood by the French government and has also been named a Living Legend by the US Library of Congress.
He also has 11 Guinness World records to his name including those for most number of magic shows performed in a year, largest international television audience for a magician and largest illusion ever staged.
Some of his most famous illusions include making the Statue of Liberty disappear (8th April 1983) & walking through the Great Wall of China (1986). Some of the other ones are the disappearance of a Learjet (1981), levitating over the Grand Canyon (1984), escaping from Alcatraz prison (1987), the disappearance of an Orient Express dining car (1991) and flying on stage for several minutes (1992).
During an onstage illusion performance in 1993 he flew effortlessly with a lady from the audience in his arms. This is considered by many as the greatest illusion onstage ever.
The average time it takes David to create an illusion from conception to performance is 2 and a half years, although it took a little over 7 years for ‘Flying’ to be perfected.
During an appearance on the show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, he presented a few prank devices to the host. O’Brien used the device incorrectly and Copperfield’s pants caught fire. He still carries the scar.
He is the proud owner of International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts that boasts of the world’s largest collections of magic memorabilia, books and artifacts.
David and two assistants were robbed at gunpoint in 2006 but he was able to employ sleight of hand to conceal his possessions when the thieves turned to him. He called his spontaneous illusion “reverse pick pocketing.”
In March 1982, Copperfield founded Project Magic, a rehabilitation program to help disabled patients regain lost or damaged dexterity skills by using sleight-of-hand magic as a method of physical therapy.
He also has a chain of eleven resorts on islands in the Bahamas.
That’s all on this edition and time for me to do my disappearing act. See you again in 2 weeks.
GK Nugget 