The sacrifices that David Copperfield has made for magic are huge – it’s meant that nobody can really trust him or his stupid haircut.
But, as great as those sacrifices are, they’re nothing compared to the sacrifice made by David Copperfield’s stagehand on Wednesday – he got sucked into a giant fan, broke his arm in three places and badly mangled his face up.
Still, at least David Copperfield was decent enough to visit the stagehand in hospital with a gift – a children’s magic set. Ah, all the fun of magic but with none of the screaming fear of death. What a gent!
Performers, when will you learn – Las Vegas hates you. We’re being serious. It actually hates you. Look at Toni Braxton – she went to Las Vegas and ended up getting a chronic heart condition. And look at Suge Knight‘s girlfriend – she went to Las Vegas and ended up getting repeatedly punched in the head by Suge Knight. And look at Siegfried And Roy – they went to Las Vegas and one of them ended up getting mauled by the giant white tiger that they let roam around freely with them all the time.
And that goes double for David Copperfield. He went to Las Vegas and what did he get? An FBI investigation into a series of alleged rapes. Oh, and – more relevantly – a stagehand who buggered himself up in a fan quite badly.
On Wednesday night during his Las Vegas revue, David Copperfield attempted a trick called The Fan – one that he’s performed hundreds of times in the past without a hitch. Here’s what the trick is supposed to look like…
And on Wednesday it looked exactly the same, expect a) David Copperfield’s hair is a different kind of bad now, b) Oprah Winfrey wasn’t staring at him like he was a big fat ham and c) at some point while David Copperfield was titting around with his billowy lady friend, there was probably a noise that sounded a bit like “Wait, christ OH JESUS NO MY ARM! OW! MY ARM AGAIN! AND OW AGAIN ON MY ARM NO NO NOT THE FACE NOT THE FACZZZZUGHHHARGH!”
Because that’s when David Copperfield’s stagehand Brandon was sucked into the fan, shattering his arm in three places and heavily lacerating his face. Obviously the show was immediately stopped and Brandon was hospitalised for his serious injuries. But at least David Copperfield didn’t act like a massive dick afterwards, did he, E! Online?
“Many people assume that the death-defying illusions I do onstage are not dangerous,” Copperfield said. “This unfortunate accident shows that couldn’t be further from the truth, and we’re just thankful Brandon’s injuries weren’t worse.” To show just how thankful he was, Copperfield paid a conciliatory visit to Brandon to give him what every post-op patient most hopes for: a children’s magic set.
A children’s magic set. What a sweet and completely cost-equivalent gift to give a man who’d just been mutilated by the metal blades of a 12-foot industrial fan.
Really, it’s lovely of David Copperfield to present his injured stagehand with a gift that will most closely remind him of the violent trauma he’s just been through. Maybe the hospital gift store didn’t have David Copperfield’s first choice of gift in stock – a miniature 12-foot fan that, when switched on, emits a sound that alternates between agonised screaming and a group of cackling children.
Julian Mentat says
That’s an amazing trick. The space under the platform is completely empty when they start, and we can see the lights through it. But at 4:54 it becomes opaque. Magic!
Alice says
How the hell did he do that!
Julian Mentat says
Alice:
Sigh.
When David went back to pick up his screen, he was replaced by a similar-looking stagehand, and he walked around behind the audience.
A box under the platform became opaque as I pointed out. This was the escape route for the 2 people inside the screens.
The screen images of people walking into the fan were projected. That wasn’t actually happening. The people behind the screens were actually going down into the opaque box at the time.
The woman who appeared in the audience wasn’t even the same one whom we originally saw.
Shitty says
What’s the fucking point of levitating girls if you don’t do a up-skirt?
me says
his eyebrows scare me
Nathan says
The space under the platform does not become opaque. That’s just a bad lighting job at the Oprah Show’s poor excuse for a stage. Check out Coppa-feel’s live show sometime – it’s awesome. And I don’t even like magicians.