You missed the most important misdirection. He had a helicopter with a bright spotlight shining on the statue for a considerable length of time during which he apologized to the audience and said they were having "technical problems." Eventually the curtain came across and the stage began to revolve imperceptibly slowly. However the helicopter moved in sync with the stage. The beam of light appeared to be stationary in relation to the stage. When the curtain was lifted they saw the helicopter in the same place but with no statue. The beam of light also helped black out the background. Otherwise the audience would have seen a different skyline. Pure genius!
Interesting, KingRobert. That was one slick chopper pilot who was able to sync up the light with the stage from what I assume would have been at 1,000 feet AGL.
A trick like this is just a nothing burger, there is no skill involved. But seeing people who are really good at sleight of hand perform is really impressive, perhaps even more so when you know how it's done.
Cool! As a kid, I loved watching David Copperfield. I knew it was all tricks, but the experience was what I enjoyed because I didn't know how he pulled it off. For me, it doesn't change my enjoyment to know.
I was fortunate enough to see him the last time I was in Vegas. He still puts on a great show and I'd definitely recommend it to anybody who has the opportunity to see one of the all time greats. There's a reason why he was the first billionaire magician. He puts on a spectacular show. I was somewhat surprised to be able to get such good tickets the day of the show. But, then again he does shows throughout the year and has been for many years.
Great video. I was impressed back then, and years later, I had heard that the stage moved and he had the bass turned up in the music so the audience did not realize what was going on. Very loud music with a heavy bass can make people confused and even psyched out a little. It can also throw off your balance . So the stage movement would feel normal to the audience, like you greatly mentioned. Thanks Dan.
@Oystersgetclamydia Hello, I hope that you are doing well. Have you been to any more concerts? If so, I hope you got thru it safely and took precautions. I wonder what precautions you could take. Same with others who have other health issues. I agree that the loud bass and other loud sounds that are mixed in at a concert could affect our health and cause issues, but especially if we have any on- going issues. Im sure the loud noise could affect many people in many ways. I've been drumming my whole life and am thankful and blessed to still have excellent hearing. My eye sight is a different story, lol. From playing in bands, running sound and being around the loudness, I know what goes on at a concert setting from the stage set up, behind stage effects, the front special effects, speaker and amp placements, etc. Lot of bands who have money like to use indoor pyrotechnics. I worry because when watching a band while singing along to the songs and groovin to the music, we dont know when those pyrotechnics are going to blast off. We dont know if loud sirens will be played, and if any other loud bangs will go off. We dont see the effects coming and we are not told. The sudden shock could affect someone's health from getting scared, and maybe having a stroke or other attacks. People could pass out from the noise, and the very bright flashing lites. I know that some people have suffered and orhers have died. Some bands have been sued. We need to be pretty much in great health to enjoy a rock concert. Some heavy metal, grunge bands make people sign waivers. GOD BLESS.
@@glenpolen5562 Hi. Yep! I’m relatively well.. I’m on medication for AF now. The last concerts I attended was Beth Hart,Richard Hawley and Fontaines DC few years back.. It was the Fontaines gig that caused me to feel unwell.. Heart rate was everywhere until day after. I’m going to be very selective in future about the band and also venue acoustically.
@@Oystersgetclamydia Hey, It's great to hear back from you. Im very happy to hear that you are doing well, staying healthy, and keeping the ole heart pumping. Amen. I just said a prayer for you when i read your reply. I forgot to mention in my first comment that many cities can't afford to pay the bands because of how big their show might be. Some cities just don't want to pay bands because of their budgets. Then there are the cities that just dont want certain bands to be around because of what people do before and after the shows . A lot of venues can't afford bands, and some dont have the room for fans. There are capacity limits, and many bands prefer to play the smaller clubs. Bands can't bring their whole show to smaller venues for safety reasons, but a larger facility mite allow minimal pyrotechnics inside, and even then, people get hurt. The sound can get so deafening in a smaller venue and hurt people. All clubs and venues must obide by noise laws, and can by sued by the city and if someone gets hurt. A band should also be required to have a certain stage volume. Some sound teams use the same settings from an arena show and at a smaller venue. They might adjust the highs and lows. Most clubs do it right, and respect is given all around. But, things can still happen. I would think that a persons hearing could suffer from a small venue compared to arena shows, but that is not always true. Plus, we are all different. My sensitivity could be worse than the person standing next to me. I remember being at many concerts, and no matter what section i was in, my ears would be ringing when i left and got home. I know this has happened at other events, but I remember being at a concert, and my ears were ringing bad and I got a little confused and almost lost my balance and fell over. I had to clear my head and sit down. Please be safe, and take care. Enjoy the music.
@@glenpolen5562 Yep! I remember those gigs very well.. I’ve seen Black Sabbath in the 70’s .. My ears are ringing to this day 😁 I’ve a massive vinyl and cd/dvd collection that I’m going to dust off and enjoy..from my armchair. Thank you for your prayers~ I appreciate that. God bless too. 👍🏻
He also hired actors to play some of the audience because he wasn’t trying to fool them, he was trying to fool you the tv viewer. There was a This American Life episode about this.
I recall starting to watch it on tv, but the buildup was so interminably long, it was really tedious waiting for the trick, that we just changed the channel…. We had previously wasted an hour or two waiting for Capone’s safe to be opened just to see there as nothing in it…. was a common approach on shows back then…
Those David Copperfield Specials were a must back in the 80´s, I remember there were 6 or 8 of them and he always performed something "impossible" at the end of the show. Back then it was insane and we had no idea how he did it, but today it´s so easy to understand how everything was done. I´m not gonna lie I kind of like the fact that now I know how he did all of those tricks, back then I really wanted to know how he could do such amazing tricks but it was impossible to get that information.
Why? TV nowadays became more interesting. Of course in different countries situation can be different, as example I stopped to watch Hollywood movies near 10 years ago, incredible madness and non stop propaganda, even more than at old times :/
Well networks are dead. I find a lot of great stuff through Hulu/Netflix/Amazon and many other streaming services. You just have to dig harder to find good stuff, but you have more options than you ever had before.
@@Traitorman..Proverbs26.11 That is still better than only showing you what some people in power want. The problem is education and missing critical thinking. You have to question yourself everyday.
I remember that show! I always looked forward to his and Doug Henning's specials on TV. Finally got to see Copperfield in person many years ago at the San Jose Arena, and it was a great experience. Cheers!
close but the actual secret was revealed a few years back in Ghostbusters 2. Copperfield had his staff spray the statue with pink slime and it merely walked a few steps away during the show. Magic!!!
I remember that too (and he even said some but not all of the audience were actors because it was the TV audience he was fooling, not the live audience) but I've also seen other versions of the trick that were much faster, lacked the buildup, the music and the helicopter to mess with perspective. This means the platform would have needed to move fast enough to be noticed, requiring the entire audience to be in on it. Which tells me Copperfield put in far more time and effort to make the illusion work, not just for the TV audience, but for the live audience.
Is the rotating audience platform confirmed as the method? Asking because it was night and there were lights shining at the audience. Wouldn't lighting and the use of mirrors have been enough without needing to take the risk of having someone feel the stage rotating?
I remember watching it and the next day at school our science teacher explained it, but he told us it was optical illusion of lighting and when David was on some talk show he slightly hinted on the turning of the stage.
I live in Las Vegas, have worked in many stage shows. The audience is ALWAYS in on it. They also sign legal papers which make them liable if they reveal secrets. Copperfield is not a very nice person, nasty dude.
This guy is a real magician and he masterfully exploits the art of misdirection. If you notice, he goes out of his way to say multiple times that there's no way the statue of liberty could actually vanish and then he provides an elaborate explanation why. DON'T BE FOOLED, PEOPLE! That's just what they want you to think, but I'm more convinced now than ever that the statue really did disappear in 1983. Pretty cool!
Thanks for the video. I was big into magic from the mid 70s through the mid 80s, and David Copperfield and Doug Henning were the two biggest magicians of that time. Henning made an elephant disappear in the first season, then walked through a brick wall in the second season of his television series, Doug Henning's World of Magic. The elephant was the big one until Copperfield did his Statue of Liberty vanishing act.
I remember this vividly as a child. Not sure I thought much on how it was done. I then ate spaghettiO's for dinner. The following day I rode my bike 4 miles.
Watched it live and actually wasn't impressed BECAUSE of the forced camera views - I remember they had a helicopter and boats I think, but when the "trick" started, we were forced to watch everything from the same perspective as those on the stage. I mean, you already knew he didn't move the statue, but forcing the TV audience to view it from the stage too, was a bit of a giveaway.
@@TheTruthKiwi oh, ok then, if that’s the case the whole thing was just on a bunch of wheels, or on a single rotating disk. I think with some strong materials it still might not be *super* expensive
@@Bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. And to make it safe and apparently hidden from the audience/viewers? I don't know, I'm just assuming that a large, complex mechanism would be quite pricey. I may be wrong.
@@TheTruthKiwiI think it could be surprisingly simple. It’s very different from anything you normally build. It only has to move a little bit. You can build a track or surface for it. Only has to move twice. I’m imagining a few dozen wheels at each end of the stage, running along curved tracks. Maybe even just train tracks. A couple motors geared down, with chains kinda like bike chains connecting the wheels together. A mechanism like that would only be maybe a foot or two tall. Easy to cover it up.
A lot of people don't consider "camera tricks" to be "real illusions." But it's a matter of opinion. Some of the very first illusions performed on film just used camera trickery.
This isn't really a camera trick. No illusion was processed in the cameras. The cameras saw what the audience saw. When people talk of camera tricks - they're usually referring to something that appears different to those viewing live as opposed to those viewing on camera or some other manipulation due to how it's filmed. Here - the camera saw what the audience saw (even if they were in on it . . ). It's really no more a camera trick than any other trick filmed from the front as opposed to angles that reveal the secrets.
One problem wuth the moving stage theory. Again realiziing that the statue CANNOT move. If the audience "moved" then the statue would have vanished from the part of the audience that was centerline, to the part of the audience that is left or right. The statue can't move, the illusion that the statue was "behind" one of the pillars, is just that an "illusion" caused by field of view. Secondly, always accept the easiest explanation first. All that you would have had to do was put a pitch black curtain behind the silvery one, raise both, but lower only the front silvery one at the end.
He also had shots from above from the helicopter. Before he made the statue disappear, he had live shots from above. After he made it disappear, the live studio showed a miniature from that perspective, with no statue, completing the illusion for the live audience at home.
Most people I knew shrugged it off as a TV trick. I remember talking about this at school after it aired - and no one I knew was impressed. The main two theories were that the audience was in on it, or he just used mirrors. I always thought Henning was far more entertaining than Copperfield. 😎
Moc hezký den přeji vám jste super lidi kteří nám ukazují tu nádheru díky patří vám gratulujeme mnohokrát krásné bohužel nerozumím cizí jazyky ale koukám co vidím na internetu
I was there, and I noticed. And I noticed the angle was different, because when you there you could see the sky, stars clouds etc… and I could tell we moved.
Part of me imagines the "imperceptibly rotating" stage violently shuddering and vibrating enough that drinks were sloshing around with people being thrown to the side like the Enterprise being attacked by Klingons then cutting to the amazed crowd as the Statue "disappeared." As the little old lady is being interviewed on camera following the show there's someone just off camera having a neck brace placed on them to treat their whiplash.
You just have to leave behind a lot of other so-called, "EVIDENCES", LIKE:- 1) The polaroid films and cameras showing that the "STATUE" Disappeared, not shifted to one side, 2) Both of the Helicopter and Intense Light Beams crossed and hit the Helicopter, at some point and lastly, but not the least, the TOP VIEW from the Helicopter looking down, giving a 360° view, that it is not shifted, but actually gone!!!!! Oh, and not forgetting that there was a radar, but you could have argued that the RADAR was tampered with, so a possibility of "THE Statue of Liberty" was somehow a lightweight replica and "The Audience" was paid to react to the "Disappearing" STATUE, while a VERY extremely Advanced "special effects", at the time, was employed! If you believe in the latter than the first, you must first check into a mad house, to be sure that you are sane and not have loose screws or lose marbles, then you can come back and say once again that it was how it was done and not be delusional!!!! Please go and watch the FULL show, over and over again, and try NOT TO OVER LOOK ANY AND ALL THE PROOFS, needed to show that your, SO-CALLED "EXPOSURE" is SOLID, NOT FLIMSY!!!!!
I thought the trick was corny, but it turned out to be more imaginative than I had thought. But what I do remember was his speech afterwards -- the trick was highlighting the statue of liberty as the symbol of freedom and how "easily our freedoms can disappear". I thought that too was corny at the time. 40 years later man. 40 years later.
Others have pointed out the role that the moving helicopter played in the illusion, but it’s also important to notice the bright lights (both along the pillars and around the base of the statue) which were effectively shining in the audience’s eyes making it very difficult for them to notice the background skyline had also changed.
So i watched this special and i distinctly remember that Copperfield had positioned models around the statue with a camera taking a pic every few seconds and the pictures showed the statue in one snap and then gone in the next. I'm just curious, was that part of the illusion done with this same moving stage?
I saw a live show. I remember a lot of very bright flashes of light throughout the performance. There was a very bright flash every time something disappeared or reappeared. I thought that was kind of cheap, but I will say that if Copperfield and the other performers didn't have their movements just perfect, then the flashes wouldn't have helped pull it off.
What he said about being the audience being distracted during the turns is absolutely true. Just go on Rise of the Resistance. When you are being captured by the First Order ship, you are on an actual turntable like device to get you from one location to another without you knowing.
That's genius, I assumed that he used forced perspective in some way to place a black curtain somewhere between the audience and the statue so when the first curtain was dropped a second one would still be hiding the statue, what he did was really clever.
I remember watching this when I was a kid, even then I knew he didn't really make it disappear, I just figured because of the weird camera view how to do some kind of mirror, and everybody in the audience was in on it
If you need the entire audience to be in on a trick, no magician would do it. It's okay to stooge a few people who are directly involved with the trick, but not the entire audience.
@@bipolarminddroppings at this point in my life, I never say someone wouldn't do anything, under the right conditions anyone will whatever it takes for fame or money
This sort of “magic” just never struck me as interesting.. it’s too big of a trick to be believable.. Personally, Ive always been more impressed with slight of hand card tricks than over produced gimmicks.
Humans can't detect motion slower than 2.5 degrees a second with their inner ear. Is how full motion flight Sims reset position after a large bank etc, so it is central for the next large movement. Also, how you get easily disoriented when flying in cloud.
You're right about the method, but I'm not convinced that the audience was fooled. Far more likely the audience was paid stooges. Particularly since the curtain was set up for the camera (which the team controlled). The audience could glance around in the 60/90 seconds and see everyone else to their sides and behind them was moving. Stooge audiences aren't uncommon in these kinds of tricks (vanishing Orient Express also performed by Copperfield)
You could probably do the trick today by having a high def video screen displaying what you think is the Statue of Liberty, and then just switches to a video with the Statue edited out. The ones they use at Lucasfilm and Disney to film infront of "real" backgrounds are pretty convincing if you're far enough away.
Why would it not work now? You forgot to mention that the cameras were mounted to the stage, the seats were mounted to the moving stage, everything in the audience little world moved, and also at home. Of course this would work today.
It's half past 2 in the morning, I should be asleep. But then TH-cam recommends the answer to a question I've been wondering about since before I could pee standing up. Must see TV right here.
I greatly frustrated ChatGPT (as frustrated as an AI can get atm) having a conversation with it regarding whether or not the people who were doing the Statue of Liberty tour at the time that David Copperfield made it disappear were given a refund since they didn't get to see the statue...
I found a couple copies of 'David Copperfield's History of Magic' at a Dollar Store a few months ago for $5.00 each, without damage. Hope you didn't pay full retail...
Free Magic: MindBlownMagic.com
TH-cam needs more videos like this, straight to the point and isn't 10+ minutes long to answer a simple question. Thank you ❤
FR, most videos be like, “but to understand the trick, first let me tell the life story of David Copperfield…”
And then an awkward, sudden cut in the middle to talk about today's sponsor, Factor/Squarespace/Ridge Wallet/Vessi/Raid: Shadow Legends. 😂🤣
You missed the most important misdirection. He had a helicopter with a bright spotlight shining on the statue for a considerable length of time during which he apologized to the audience and said they were having "technical problems." Eventually the curtain came across and the stage began to revolve imperceptibly slowly. However the helicopter moved in sync with the stage. The beam of light appeared to be stationary in relation to the stage. When the curtain was lifted they saw the helicopter in the same place but with no statue. The beam of light also helped black out the background. Otherwise the audience would have seen a different skyline. Pure genius!
Interesting, KingRobert. That was one slick chopper pilot who was able to sync up the light with the stage from what I assume would have been at 1,000 feet AGL.
@@acreguy3156 Slick magician too!
@@kingrobert1st Agreed! When I first saw that when he did the trick, I couldn't believe he was even from this planet.
He also had floating lights in the water if i remember, to replicate the ones shining up onto the statue.
@@countsmyth Well executed plan!
thanks for only being 2 mins and not 20.
agreed, most people would drag this out for a 4 hour video
Definite king status
Most videos are 11 min
Agreed 👍
And still too drawn out with useless babble.
Egon moved the statue of liberty with his NES controller. Well done Egon. Well done.
And, the happy goo.
NES Advantage
Figuring out how a magic trick is done is far more interesting than the trick itself.
But it does kinda take the 'magic' out of magic tho'
@@michaelbarton4787 not really. We know magic isn't real and it's just an illusion. So the fun is in figuring out how it was done.
Not really to me anyway.
A trick like this is just a nothing burger, there is no skill involved. But seeing people who are really good at sleight of hand perform is really impressive, perhaps even more so when you know how it's done.
@@finkelmanaI agree with you. Watching magic tricks aren’t as fun because I’m more interested in how they did it vs what they did
Cool! As a kid, I loved watching David Copperfield. I knew it was all tricks, but the experience was what I enjoyed because I didn't know how he pulled it off. For me, it doesn't change my enjoyment to know.
I was fortunate enough to see him the last time I was in Vegas. He still puts on a great show and I'd definitely recommend it to anybody who has the opportunity to see one of the all time greats. There's a reason why he was the first billionaire magician. He puts on a spectacular show. I was somewhat surprised to be able to get such good tickets the day of the show. But, then again he does shows throughout the year and has been for many years.
Great video.
I was impressed back then, and years later, I had heard that the stage moved and he had the bass turned up in the music so the audience did not realize what was going on.
Very loud music with a heavy bass can make people confused and even psyched out a little.
It can also throw off your balance .
So the stage movement would feel normal to the audience, like you greatly mentioned.
Thanks Dan.
That helps to explain why I felt unwell at rock concerts.. I have atrial fibrillation..I’m sure the bass altered my heart rate..
@Oystersgetclamydia
Hello, I hope that you are doing well. Have you been to any more concerts? If so, I hope you got thru it safely and took precautions. I wonder what precautions you could take. Same with others who have other health issues. I agree that the loud bass and other loud sounds that are mixed in at a concert could affect our health and cause issues, but especially if we have any on- going issues. Im sure the loud noise could affect many people in many ways. I've been drumming my whole life and am thankful and blessed to still have excellent hearing. My eye sight is a different story, lol.
From playing in bands, running sound and being around the loudness, I know what goes on at a concert setting from the stage set up, behind stage effects, the front special effects, speaker and amp placements, etc.
Lot of bands who have money like to use indoor pyrotechnics.
I worry because when watching a band while singing along to the songs and groovin to the music, we dont know when those pyrotechnics are going to blast off. We dont know if loud sirens will be played, and if any other loud bangs will go off.
We dont see the effects coming and we are not told. The sudden shock could affect someone's health from getting scared, and maybe having a stroke or other attacks. People could pass out from the noise, and the very bright flashing lites.
I know that some people have suffered and orhers have died. Some bands have been sued.
We need to be pretty much in great health to enjoy a rock concert.
Some heavy metal, grunge bands make people sign waivers.
GOD BLESS.
@@glenpolen5562
Hi. Yep! I’m relatively well.. I’m on medication for AF now. The last concerts I attended was Beth Hart,Richard Hawley and Fontaines DC few years back.. It was the Fontaines gig that caused me to feel unwell.. Heart rate was everywhere until day after.
I’m going to be very selective in future about the band and also venue acoustically.
@@Oystersgetclamydia Hey, It's great to hear back from you. Im very happy to hear that you are doing well, staying healthy, and keeping the ole heart pumping.
Amen. I just said a prayer for you when i read your reply.
I forgot to mention in my first comment that many cities can't afford to pay the bands because of how big their show might be. Some cities just don't want to pay bands because of their budgets. Then there are the cities that just dont want certain bands to be around because of what people do before and after the shows .
A lot of venues can't afford bands, and some dont have the room for fans.
There are capacity limits, and many bands prefer to play the smaller clubs.
Bands can't bring their whole show to smaller venues for safety reasons, but a larger facility mite allow minimal pyrotechnics inside, and even then, people get hurt.
The sound can get so deafening in a smaller venue and hurt people.
All clubs and venues must obide by noise laws, and can by sued by the city and if someone gets hurt.
A band should also be required to have a certain stage volume.
Some sound teams use the same settings from an arena show and at a smaller venue.
They might adjust the highs and lows.
Most clubs do it right, and respect is given all around.
But, things can still happen. I would think that a persons hearing could suffer from a small venue compared to arena shows, but that is not always true.
Plus, we are all different.
My sensitivity could be worse than the person standing next to me.
I remember being at many concerts, and no matter what section i was in, my ears would be ringing when i left and got home.
I know this has happened at other events, but I remember being at a concert, and my ears were ringing bad and I got a little confused and almost lost my balance and fell over.
I had to clear my head and sit down.
Please be safe, and take care.
Enjoy the music.
@@glenpolen5562
Yep! I remember those gigs very well.. I’ve seen Black Sabbath in the 70’s .. My ears are ringing to this day 😁
I’ve a massive vinyl and cd/dvd collection that I’m going to dust off and enjoy..from my armchair. Thank you for your prayers~ I appreciate that. God bless too. 👍🏻
He also hired actors to play some of the audience because he wasn’t trying to fool them, he was trying to fool you the tv viewer. There was a This American Life episode about this.
I recall starting to watch it on tv, but the buildup was so interminably long, it was really tedious waiting for the trick, that we just changed the channel…. We had previously wasted an hour or two waiting for Capone’s safe to be opened just to see there as nothing in it…. was a common approach on shows back then…
😂😂. First time I truly experienced true dissapointment as a kid was Al Capones vault.
@@John_Locke_108 Capone's safe!! Then the sequel, the Titanic Cabinet! What memories.
yeah al capones vault, what a shaft that was
Those David Copperfield Specials were a must back in the 80´s, I remember there were 6 or 8 of them and he always performed something "impossible" at the end of the show. Back then it was insane and we had no idea how he did it, but today it´s so easy to understand how everything was done. I´m not gonna lie I kind of like the fact that now I know how he did all of those tricks, back then I really wanted to know how he could do such amazing tricks but it was impossible to get that information.
Used to prefer Doug Hennings specials.
@@gbhxuThey were all good and fun to watch...
i remember the great wall of shina the most. that was awesome
@@kevinpittman2517 Indeed - not too tricky to work out how he did that one tho'
And even today for some reason I still remember those specials were always sponsored by Kraft
I remember watching this on tv. My 12 year old mind was blown, lol. It was such a cool trick.
Unfortunately, Copperfield couldn't make his name disappear, from the Epstein Island list.
Hahaha best comment!
Tbh it seems like everyone famous has been to Epsteins island
Did he do more than cop a feel
First time ever googlr about Epstein Island .
Lol
I figured it was a 2nd black curtain that mimicked the night sky.
That's what I thought it was as well.
@@martabachynsky8545no. The arrangment of light make it disappear
hade the same idea
As a kid i always looked forward to a David Copperfield special. Tv is terrible nowadays.
Why? TV nowadays became more interesting.
Of course in different countries situation can be different, as example I stopped to watch Hollywood movies near 10 years ago, incredible madness and non stop propaganda, even more than at old times :/
@@juliap.5375 TV is dead/dying. We are in the Internet era. You can choose what you watch, not what your masters want you to watch. Be free.
Well networks are dead. I find a lot of great stuff through Hulu/Netflix/Amazon and many other streaming services. You just have to dig harder to find good stuff, but you have more options than you ever had before.
@@goku445
Problem is with the choice on the internet is that there is an awful lot of confirmation bias.
@@Traitorman..Proverbs26.11 That is still better than only showing you what some people in power want.
The problem is education and missing critical thinking.
You have to question yourself everyday.
I watched this on TV in 1983! Thanks for the explanation.
I love this! I always wondered how he did it. I heard it was something about the angles with the audience but this explanation is perfect!
I remember that show! I always looked forward to his and Doug Henning's specials on TV. Finally got to see Copperfield in person many years ago at the San Jose Arena, and it was a great experience. Cheers!
He used a giant “Lazy Susan”
pretty much
That's gold! I remember that stunt but never knew the trick. Great video dude!
close but the actual secret was revealed a few years back in Ghostbusters 2. Copperfield had his staff spray the statue with pink slime and it merely walked a few steps away during the show. Magic!!!
Egon: My parents didn't believe in toys.
Ray: You mean you never even had a Slinky?
Egon: We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it.
This was shown on TV on "Magician Secrets Revealed" about 20-25 years ago. Rumor has it that the audience was in on it too.
most likely
If the audience were in on it they could have moved the platform faster and wouldn't have needed the bass music.
I remember that too (and he even said some but not all of the audience were actors because it was the TV audience he was fooling, not the live audience) but I've also seen other versions of the trick that were much faster, lacked the buildup, the music and the helicopter to mess with perspective. This means the platform would have needed to move fast enough to be noticed, requiring the entire audience to be in on it. Which tells me Copperfield put in far more time and effort to make the illusion work, not just for the TV audience, but for the live audience.
That's why TV magic never meant anything to me. I have no reason to think they're telling t he truth if they pinky promise no editing tricks.
An earlier source was Bigger Secrets by William Poundstone in 1989.
Is the rotating audience platform confirmed as the method? Asking because it was night and there were lights shining at the audience. Wouldn't lighting and the use of mirrors have been enough without needing to take the risk of having someone feel the stage rotating?
They're just guessing,,,,you can feel a floor move while standing on it at any speed no matter how much music or base is coming through the speakers
the real secret is in a book...
I remember watching it and the next day at school our science teacher explained it, but he told us it was optical illusion of lighting and when David was on some talk show he slightly hinted on the turning of the stage.
I remember watching this live here in Finland.
Good times.
I’ve always heard that the audience was in on it.
I’ve always wondered if they were. I think the effect would have worked either way, but for a live TV event, better to play it safe.
I live in Las Vegas, have worked in many stage shows. The audience is ALWAYS in on it. They also sign legal papers which make them liable if they reveal secrets. Copperfield is not a very nice person, nasty dude.
they are! many times just staged actors!
No he put it in his pocket
@@gradywilson9213 Is it possible for someone to not know the floor is moving under them if it's moving slowly and there's multiple distractions?
This guy is a real magician and he masterfully exploits the art of misdirection. If you notice, he goes out of his way to say multiple times that there's no way the statue of liberty could actually vanish and then he provides an elaborate explanation why. DON'T BE FOOLED, PEOPLE! That's just what they want you to think, but I'm more convinced now than ever that the statue really did disappear in 1983. Pretty cool!
I choose to believe 😂 what I don’t believe are these people explaining it😂
Con artist*
This would still work in 2023. People are still simpletons.
People have cameras in their pockets today. This would be live on social from every angle around the stage revealing the trick.
@@BillyViBritannia a lot of performers have audiences turn in their devices to this day, so there's that.
Thanks for the video. I was big into magic from the mid 70s through the mid 80s, and David Copperfield and Doug Henning were the two biggest magicians of that time. Henning made an elephant disappear in the first season, then walked through a brick wall in the second season of his television series, Doug Henning's World of Magic. The elephant was the big one until Copperfield did his Statue of Liberty vanishing act.
I remember this vividly as a child. Not sure I thought much on how it was done. I then ate spaghettiO's for dinner. The following day I rode my bike 4 miles.
I remember it vaguely (I was five)...can't recall what we had for dinner!
Yeah - I thought it was lame as well. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes for my family. 😋
I’m just not enthralled by illusionists either. We had pizza that night. Can’t remember what I did the next day, but I’m sure a bmx was involved.
Haha it’s cool you remember that
Best Comment!
I watched this live. It was amazing!
Watched it live and actually wasn't impressed BECAUSE of the forced camera views - I remember they had a helicopter and boats I think, but when the "trick" started, we were forced to watch everything from the same perspective as those on the stage. I mean, you already knew he didn't move the statue, but forcing the TV audience to view it from the stage too, was a bit of a giveaway.
That must've been a hell of an expensive custom made stage
Considering that they were right next to the Statue of Liberty, I’m pretty sure it was on a boat. It’s pretty easy and cheap to move a boat
@@Bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. The stage was on Liberty Island apparently.
@@TheTruthKiwi oh, ok then, if that’s the case the whole thing was just on a bunch of wheels, or on a single rotating disk. I think with some strong materials it still might not be *super* expensive
@@Bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. And to make it safe and apparently hidden from the audience/viewers? I don't know, I'm just assuming that a large, complex mechanism would be quite pricey. I may be wrong.
@@TheTruthKiwiI think it could be surprisingly simple. It’s very different from anything you normally build. It only has to move a little bit. You can build a track or surface for it. Only has to move twice.
I’m imagining a few dozen wheels at each end of the stage, running along curved tracks. Maybe even just train tracks. A couple motors geared down, with chains kinda like bike chains connecting the wheels together.
A mechanism like that would only be maybe a foot or two tall. Easy to cover it up.
I watched this live as a kid and my dad was like " he rotated the staff, phiff. And walked away. 😂
And your dad was right! 😄
did your dad then say he's going out for some cigarettes and never came back?
bawahahahahahahahahahahaah!!!
Exactly same story, but it was my cousin 😂
Plot twist, that's Copperfields son.
@@scottsmith7203 no. He sd he was going to bang some whore and left. What's up brother. 😭
A lot of people don't consider "camera tricks" to be "real illusions." But it's a matter of opinion. Some of the very first illusions performed on film just used camera trickery.
This isn't really a camera trick. No illusion was processed in the cameras. The cameras saw what the audience saw. When people talk of camera tricks - they're usually referring to something that appears different to those viewing live as opposed to those viewing on camera or some other manipulation due to how it's filmed. Here - the camera saw what the audience saw (even if they were in on it . . ). It's really no more a camera trick than any other trick filmed from the front as opposed to angles that reveal the secrets.
Ty for posting ! I was 8 and rember watching.i was mesmerized 😮!
I remember watching this as a 13 year old, and wondering did he move the stage
I remember watching this live on tv. Ive wondered how it was done ever since. thank you!
The good old days without drones, social media, ubiquitous cameras, internet...
I understand his explanation but how did he make the Lego statue disappear during his explanation.
He rotated the table
One problem wuth the moving stage theory. Again realiziing that the statue CANNOT move. If the audience "moved" then the statue would have vanished from the part of the audience that was centerline, to the part of the audience that is left or right. The statue can't move, the illusion that the statue was "behind" one of the pillars, is just that an "illusion" caused by field of view. Secondly, always accept the easiest explanation first. All that you would have had to do was put a pitch black curtain behind the silvery one, raise both, but lower only the front silvery one at the end.
Great video! Really liked the off road bit, that’s where the bronco shines! Good stuff
And he made the stage move by magic.
He also had shots from above from the helicopter. Before he made the statue disappear, he had live shots from above. After he made it disappear, the live studio showed a miniature from that perspective, with no statue, completing the illusion for the live audience at home.
too bad he couldnt make the Epstein files disappear.
Im 47 now in 2023. I remember watching that on TV when I was a kid and it blew my mind. 😂
who else was impressed when he made the lego statue disappear??
That is pretty darn clever!!
I remember being in awe of this.
What in the world do you mean this trick wouldn't work today? That is one of the most bizarre statements I've ever heard someone make.
Because drone cams and phone cams would be pointed at the statue and platform showing how it was all done.
@@mrcydonia This comment is too silly for me to respond to (other than this).
Someone who's apartment overlooks the statue would have a zoom lens set up and do a livestream.
@@markusgorelli5278 But . . . we already know how it's done.
Most people I knew shrugged it off as a TV trick. I remember talking about this at school after it aired - and no one I knew was impressed. The main two theories were that the audience was in on it, or he just used mirrors. I always thought Henning was far more entertaining than Copperfield. 😎
Or since it's showing as night time, a black screen
Haha people always say “mirrors” as the default explanation for these stunts. “Oh yeah he probably used mirrors.”
Doug Henning was more entertaining but for the wrong reasons.😆
@@Ken-fh4jc They never explain how the mirrors are used though lol
No one thought he really made it vanish
Moc hezký den přeji vám jste super lidi kteří nám ukazují tu nádheru díky patří vám gratulujeme mnohokrát krásné bohužel nerozumím cizí jazyky ale koukám co vidím na internetu
I was there, and I noticed. And I noticed the angle was different, because when you there you could see the sky, stars clouds etc… and I could tell we moved.
Part of me imagines the "imperceptibly rotating" stage violently shuddering and vibrating enough that drinks were sloshing around with people being thrown to the side like the Enterprise being attacked by Klingons then cutting to the amazed crowd as the Statue "disappeared." As the little old lady is being interviewed on camera following the show there's someone just off camera having a neck brace placed on them to treat their whiplash.
There were special effects. There were not CGI effects. Probably what you mean.
Having all the audience in on the trick helps...
Honestly, it’s at night, so he could’ve just got them to turn the lights off.
You just have to leave behind a lot of other so-called, "EVIDENCES", LIKE:- 1) The polaroid films and cameras showing that the "STATUE" Disappeared, not shifted to one side, 2) Both of the Helicopter and Intense Light Beams crossed and hit the Helicopter, at some point and lastly, but not the least, the TOP VIEW from the Helicopter looking down, giving a 360° view, that it is not shifted, but actually gone!!!!! Oh, and not forgetting that there was a radar, but you could have argued that the RADAR was tampered with, so a possibility of "THE Statue of Liberty" was somehow a lightweight replica and "The Audience" was paid to react to the "Disappearing" STATUE, while a VERY extremely Advanced "special effects", at the time, was employed! If you believe in the latter than the first, you must first check into a mad house, to be sure that you are sane and not have loose screws or lose marbles, then you can come back and say once again that it was how it was done and not be delusional!!!! Please go and watch the FULL show, over and over again, and try NOT TO OVER LOOK ANY AND ALL THE PROOFS, needed to show that your, SO-CALLED "EXPOSURE" is SOLID, NOT FLIMSY!!!!!
Now that I haven't seen before. (Not just the explanation, but also the use of the word "vanish" as a transitive verb. 😀)
The trick was simple, Turn off the lights. Now you see me, Now you don't. lol
I thought the trick was corny, but it turned out to be more imaginative than I had thought. But what I do remember was his speech afterwards -- the trick was highlighting the statue of liberty as the symbol of freedom and how "easily our freedoms can disappear". I thought that too was corny at the time.
40 years later man. 40 years later.
Others have pointed out the role that the moving helicopter played in the illusion, but it’s also important to notice the bright lights (both along the pillars and around the base of the statue) which were effectively shining in the audience’s eyes making it very difficult for them to notice the background skyline had also changed.
Very cool idea he did 😊👏👏😊😊👏
The audience was in on it.
So how’s he going to make the moon disappear??
Since the moon is made of cheese, David Doucherfield will just eat it all.
buuuuuuuuurp.
Anyone can make the moon disappear. They Just have to pull their pants back up.
So i watched this special and i distinctly remember that Copperfield had positioned models around the statue with a camera taking a pic every few seconds and the pictures showed the statue in one snap and then gone in the next. I'm just curious, was that part of the illusion done with this same moving stage?
The audience was in on it.
It was the tv audience he was trying to fool.
I saw a live show. I remember a lot of very bright flashes of light throughout the performance. There was a very bright flash every time something disappeared or reappeared. I thought that was kind of cheap, but I will say that if Copperfield and the other performers didn't have their movements just perfect, then the flashes wouldn't have helped pull it off.
I always wondered how he did that. Thanks for posting this.
Copperfield was the best money I spent on a show in Vegas. He appeared right in front of me. It’s nuts.
His nuts appeared right in front of you?
Which theater did you go to?
Was a huge live show at the time. Was awesome
What he said about being the audience being distracted during the turns is absolutely true. Just go on Rise of the Resistance. When you are being captured by the First Order ship, you are on an actual turntable like device to get you from one location to another without you knowing.
Easy. He cut it off and hid it behind the pedestal. The pedestal is 154 feet tall, the statue itself is 151 feet tall.
That's genius, I assumed that he used forced perspective in some way to place a black curtain somewhere between the audience and the statue so when the first curtain was dropped a second one would still be hiding the statue, what he did was really clever.
This one seemed pretty obvious to me the first time I saw it. He didn't even need to move the stage, just the panels on the side and the camera angle.
He didn't make a stage move without anyone noticing. Every person there was paid to keep the secret! 😂
How did D.C. make a Hummer disappear from the top of a hotel in Vegas . ?
I remember that! I was like 12 at the time. Holy smokes after 40 years it's amazing to finally know.
Copperfield always said: "there is no camera trick..." 🤭
One of Epsteins buddies, he can't make that connection disappear.
Yap. Epic fail
This comment deserves an oscar 😂
I remember watching this when I was a kid, even then I knew he didn't really make it disappear, I just figured because of the weird camera view how to do some kind of mirror, and everybody in the audience was in on it
If you need the entire audience to be in on a trick, no magician would do it. It's okay to stooge a few people who are directly involved with the trick, but not the entire audience.
@@bipolarminddroppings at this point in my life, I never say someone wouldn't do anything, under the right conditions anyone will whatever it takes for fame or money
This sort of “magic” just never struck me as interesting.. it’s too big of a trick to be believable.. Personally, Ive always been more impressed with slight of hand card tricks than over produced gimmicks.
@@bipolarminddroppings Don't forget this was televised around the world, in the grand scheme of things, the audience where just props themselves.
You sure that was back in 83? I thought it was sometime in the 90’s
Did it at night. Had helicopters. Could they have had 2 separate helicopters drop an opaque curtain in front of the statues?
Humans can't detect motion slower than 2.5 degrees a second with their inner ear. Is how full motion flight Sims reset position after a large bank etc, so it is central for the next large movement.
Also, how you get easily disoriented when flying in cloud.
Cool thanks for sharing knowledge freely
You're right about the method, but I'm not convinced that the audience was fooled. Far more likely the audience was paid stooges. Particularly since the curtain was set up for the camera (which the team controlled). The audience could glance around in the 60/90 seconds and see everyone else to their sides and behind them was moving.
Stooge audiences aren't uncommon in these kinds of tricks (vanishing Orient Express also performed by Copperfield)
1983? I remember seeing this on television! That's nuts.
You could probably do the trick today by having a high def video screen displaying what you think is the Statue of Liberty, and then just switches to a video with the Statue edited out. The ones they use at Lucasfilm and Disney to film infront of "real" backgrounds are pretty convincing if you're far enough away.
No, fool. How would that even work? Fiol.
If only he disappeared his name from the Epstein Lists
Why would it not work now?
You forgot to mention that the cameras were mounted to the stage, the seats were mounted to the moving stage, everything in the audience little world moved, and also at home. Of course this would work today.
Drones. People would have drones all over the place today, so the secret would be revealed before the episode even aired.
It's half past 2 in the morning, I should be asleep. But then TH-cam recommends the answer to a question I've been wondering about since before I could pee standing up. Must see TV right here.
1:30
Here you move the stage only, not the audience. You should have placed the camera one the red platform.
His best illusion was 'Portal' and 'Flying'
I find magic done on tv to be the most unimpressive thing. I grew up watching a woman twitch her nose and things magically happened.
I greatly frustrated ChatGPT (as frustrated as an AI can get atm) having a conversation with it regarding whether or not the people who were doing the Statue of Liberty tour at the time that David Copperfield made it disappear were given a refund since they didn't get to see the statue...
He did this or something like it all the time. For TV he moves the camera to make planes disappear. For live audiences he simply moves them.
Hundreds of people? Show me one screenshot of hundreds of people in that audience
I found a couple copies of 'David Copperfield's History of Magic' at a Dollar Store a few months ago for $5.00 each, without damage. Hope you didn't pay full retail...
I remember watching that live as a kid.
Wouldn't it be easier to just put a mirror between the pillars and rotate that, instead of all the entire audience?
You’re closer to the correct solution than the explanation in this video
And who would be able to manufacture a 150 foot long mirror? Westinghouse?
I watched it on TV the night it came on.