If there is anyone in our business (or show biz generally) with better press skills, we haven’t heard of him or her. We guess that is a truism. If we haven’t heard of them, chances are they don’t have very good press skills. Okay, another wasted lead paragraph.
Whilst our press skills may lack in the “writing catchy lead” department, David Copperfield’s ability to “offer a front-page news item” excels. In fact, a recent study by the Pugh Charitable Trust notes Mr. Copperfield’s ability to “capture headlines is directly and inversely proportional to Inside Magic’s ability to write said headlines.”
We don’t believe this study was a sensible expenditure of money by this great public foundation, we are in agreement. Mr. Copperfield has, as we say in competitive origami, “skills.”
Several months ago, we were among the first to carry news of Mr. Copperfield’s plans to truck his incredible show to Branson for two weeks at Andy Williams Moon River Theater. We wondered aloud – and wrote it on the webpage at the same time – how he would be received.
You know he is an undisputed heavy-weight champ in the world of magic, but Branson already has so many excellent resident magicians with well-established shows in fine theaters. Would they welcome the peripatetic performer who starred as “Ken, The Magician” in the 1980 French Canadian classic film Le Monstre du train (“Terror Train”)?
Inside Magic’s friend Darren Romeo said it would be great to have Mr. Copperfield come to the once-quiet, Ozark destination. Mr. Copperfield’s arrival would provide additional legitimacy to the already extensive entertainment offerings.
Mr. Copperfield told the local paper “if he does his job well, people won’t walk away from his shows saying ‘Well, that was a good trick.’”
Mr. Copperfield garnered incredible press in advance of his run beginning today including a story in today’s News-Leader with a great lead paragraph:
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His likeness is in London’s Madame Tussaud’s. He was knighted by the French government.
He’s vanished an airplane, levitated across the Grand Canyon and escaped from Alcatraz.
And for two weeks, he’ll be in your back yard. Live.
Beginning today, master illusionist David Copperfield performs for two weeks at Branson’s Andy Williams Moon River Theatre.
Not too shabby.
Mr. Copperfield’s interview with an enthusiastic reporter is on the front page of the News-Leader’s Entertainment section this morning. The reporter talked with Mr. Copperfield by cell phone on his return from a “three-day press junket in Berlin.”
We’ve become mini-experts in the Copperfield press interview. We enjoy reading how Mr. Copperfield tailors the interview to the town and builds excitement for the show. This one is different. You can read the full interview yourself — after all, this is a free country and we’re not going to stop you — but here are… Continue reading Copperfield Brings “Very Urban” Show to Branson
It is the policy of Inside Magic to publish corrections to articles appearing on Inside Magic within six to seven weeks following notification of the error; and to publish letters to the editor at around the same pace.
Correction for August 12, 2002 Inside Magic (North America Edition):
Billy McComb has not been named the actor for the upcoming summer blockbuster, Spider Man. The starring role will be played by Tobey McGuire. While the two names sound alike — especially when heard over a walkie-talkie — they are two different people with different skill sets.
The leading lady of Spider Man will also not be 1960′s Ed Sullivan Show icon Topo Gigio, but Kirsten Dunst. Mr. McComb denies recent press speculation of a romantic relationship with the diminutive mouse puppet.
To the Editor:
I am amazed you consider yourself a fan of magic. Your site is nothing but a bunch of stories about magicians and what tricks they are doing and where they are doing tricks we’re supposed to pay good money to see but likely will find a waste.
If that is what magic is to you, than I hate to think what you think non-magic is.
E.A. – Michigan
Editor Responds:
One of the things we pride ourselves on at Inside Magic is our ability to write run-on sentences longer than anyone we may encounter on the internet including people who write in to complain about our definition of magic.
We concede, however. Your abilities to avoid punctuation easily trump our efforts.
Correction for May 17th, 2005 (World-Wide Edition):
Magician Guy “Bug” Tussle was not injured in an otherwise tragic accident involving thrashing blades and darts.
He normally looks like that but without so much sweat.
To the Editor:
Why do you say “we” all the time? Talking in the third person is arrogant and irritating. Unless you have tapeworms, you should refer to yourself in the first person singular.
M.B. -Texas
Editor Responds:
We apologize for the pronoun usage. It has not been long since we were separated from our conjoined triplets and old habits are hard to break.
On that note, we thank the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine for performing the delicate 26 hour surgery necessary to separate us and ruin our occupation in sideshows.
While we are appreciative of the medical expertise, we do not appreciate having to pay three co-payments.
The Leeds Today reports local magician Magic Michael Arnold will attempt the Mail Bag escape on stage to benefit Children Heart Research.
Mr. Arnold is well-known to his day-job co-workers for his constant — but appreciated — demonstration of new magic. But that is close-up and an escape is, well, an escape. What is driving him to take on this public presentation of what most would agree is a difficult stunt?
Mr. Arnold’s bride, Amanda, was born with a hole in her heart and thanks to medical research she has thrived with placement of a heart pacemaker. The charity’s mission hits close to home. The cause is of optimum concern to Michael as he says, “everyday children are born with heart defects, and they need our help.”
Magic Michael will be handcuffed, before being secured inside the seven foot bag by a metal pole and padlocks. His goal is to escape within two minutes.
Tickets cost ?4 of which ?1 from each will be donated to the children’s charity.”
Do not, under any circumstances, invite the man in the photo above to sit at your table. Not even for dinner. He’s Simon Lovell, a charming, chatty chap from Manchester, England – and a world-famous cardsharp, hustler and con man. He’s also an irrepressible showman who loves nothing more than to show off his dubious skills for an audience.
So if you are cautioned to not allow him at your card table, how can you encounter him? You can take a trip to the Soho Playhouse in New York City (he’s downstairs) where you will see his aptly-titled one-person show, Simon Lovell’s Strange and Unusual Hobbies.
Mr. Lovell describes the show as “a roller-coaster ride that I invite the audience to come along with me on, as opposed to me just performing to them. I do a whole potpourri of things, but I basically put together some aspects of my life.”
His life is colorful plus.
“When I was 19 to about 30, I was a professional con man and a card cheat,” says Mr. Lovell, who, as a 4-year-old, was introduced to confidence games by his grandfather, a professional poker and dice hustler. “I started playing in big-time poker games, and cheating became a career for me.”
Like all great magicians, Mr. Lovell did a couple nights in the hoosegow before deciding to go straight. He said he got tired of leading “a double life.” “Cheating is an incredibly lonely occupation,” he says.
Some would argue he chose the cheating life but with an emphasis on entertainment. It’s nice to get paid to be bad.
The … worst thing about having done it for a living is that when you get a conscience – which I got – you kind of feel there has to be some payback, some karmic balance. The secret of a con man is not what he does with his hands; it’s that he doesn’t have a heart. I actually found a heart and I’m sure my grandfather is flipping in his grave right now.
You can check out the show and if you know the secret word, you can get two tickets for the price of one.
You will be greeted by the visage of Lady Liberty as you push through the throng of expectant diners crowding the foyer of David Copperfield’s Magic Underground.
The location is perfect for the theme restaurant at the corner of Broadway and 49th (about a block off Time Square) in the city so nice they repeated its name.
Mr. Copperfield’s partner is perfect for this type of creative and imaginative venture: Walt Disney Studios and David Copperfield and food! It does not get much better than this unless you can have Minnie perform close-up while feeding you peeled grapes like a harem girl.
Wow! Where did that come from? Sorry. I don’t really even like grapes and I’ve never dressed like a harem girl, per se.
The restaurant’s facade contains cracks and evidence of incredible structural pressure courtesy of the Disney Imagineering Crew. Mr. Copperfield wanted the interior to look like an 1880′s New York waterfront warehouse containing parts of the Statue of Liberty. Disney wanted it to be the first of many Magic Underground restaurants around the US and then the world.
Unfortunately, the chain of Copperfield’s Magic Underground never came to pass. Construction began on the first location at Broadway and 49th but was abandoned before the doors could open to the first customer.
Jim Hill Media has a wonderful photo essay on the started but uncompleted venue. He promises we’ll read why Disney and Mr. Copperfield abandoned the project in later issues of his fascinating website. Check out the story of what could have been by visiting his website.
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