Only a lawsuit can cause a magician to reveal its secrets. At least it happened to the famous illusionist David Copperfield, who saw deciphered one of his mysteries during the hearing after being sued for negligence by a Briton who attended one of his shows in Las Vegas, in which he claimed to be seriously injured.
The plaintiff claims that he suffers a brain injury from trauma suffered while volunteering at the show that the wizard did at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, for which Copperfield must appear before the jury very soon.
In the show that night, entitled "Lucky 13", Copperfield made 13 people disappear from his audience, who climbed onto a platform, hiding them from the audience with a curtain, but after removing it they were not there. They had magically disappeared.
This is a trick that in the last decade has had the participation of at least 55 thousand volunteers, according to the synopsis published on the website of the magician, in which people are mysteriously transported behind the audience instantly. There are many videos that show it.
David Copperfield at the court in Las Vegas. His lawyers tried to avoid revealing how a disappearance trick works. Photography: John Locher / AP
A magic trick revealed "by accident"
But five years ago something unexpected happened. Gavin Fox, who is now 58, fell at a point on the course when he participated in the show as a volunteer. This has forced that Chris Kenner, executive producer and friend of Copperfield, have had to count before the criminal justice, the entretelones of one of the tricks that more has characterized to the famous illusionist of masses.
Kenner revealed everything. Once lost sight of by the audience, the assistants of the magician made pass to the group of volunteers taken from the public through different dark corridors guided by just a few lanterns, between curtains and corridors, even crossed the kitchen, not knowing where they were going. Everything was hasty, so that Copperfield made them appear at the exact moment on the opposite side of the room.
"It was not an obstacle course," Kenner said when asked about the conditions of the route, by plaintiff lawyer Benedict Morelli, during the hearing in which his company, Backstage Employment and Referral Inc, is also accused. Gavin Cox claims to have spent more than $ 400,000 on medical services for the injuries sustained on the spot.
Volunteer: from emotion to uncertainty
In spite of the accusations, Kenner refused to assure that transiting this route meant any danger for the participants, after Morelli asked him if the production team verified in any way the physical condition of the people of the public selected to be part of the act. or if the clothing and footwear were appropriate.
Morelli said that his client did not know what would happen when he heard that they said "get up, come with me". He said that the volunteers were removed from their places when the curtain hid them from the audience and hastily "they made their way through a secret corridor and an outdoor area that took them back to the theater." He assured that it was a dark and unknown route for everyone, and even had to go through a slope and a dusty area where there was construction debris.
According to his story, Cox suffered a fall during the course in which the shoulder was dislocated, which later became a chronic pain that led to a brain injury. Along with his wife Minh-Hahn Cox, the man claims negligence in suffering widespread damages.