Tuesday, June 5, 2012

David Copperfield on Reddit


Last night, David Copperfield appeared on Reddit to answer questions from the Reddit community.  /r/IAMA is one of my favorite subreddits, as many celebrities make an appearance there.  Tenacious D's AMA (Ask Me Anything) was a different experience for me, as, in edition to typing out their answers, they also answered via audio.  Below, I've included some of my favorite answers from the session with David.  For the rest, go check out the site.

unassumingname:
What is your favorite illusion? Where did you learn it? How do you perform it?

DCopperfield:
One of my favorite illusions is Flying. It's a dream anyone can relate to. All of these illusions take many years to develop. A lot of trial and error. Sometimes we have to change paths totally, but eventually, usually, we succeed.
The flying illusion took SEVEN years to develop - to make it really credible. I wanted to make it feel real: levitating inside a plexiglass box, levitating through hoops, flying while holding a woman from the audience.

TomCook24:
What was the first effect you ever performed, or the first you performed with some regularity and can remember?

DCopperfield:
The first trick I bought at Macy's was a little wooden board where a quarter would appear and disappear. It took quite a bit of skill and practice - I worked so hard on that thing!

shoeler:
What's your biggest embarrassing moment on stage? Illusion or otherwise.

DCopperfield:
I've embarrassed myself so many times. About a week ago, I threw a frisbee into the audience to find a randomly selected person. A guy caught it and I told him to stand up. He was reluctant. I thought he was just shy. I encouraged him to stand up - please, stand up! Come on!
I then realized that he was disabled, and I felt absolutely horrible. I apologized profusely and I ran to him, he smiled, I hugged him, and he understood. So yeah - that was embarrassing.

passitaround:
Do you have any pre-show rituals?

DCopperfield:
I brush my teeth with a Sonicare toothbrush before every show.

paradisefound:
What's the most magical thing you own?

DCopperfield
An island. ;)

No comments: