He returned from intermission with his "Vertical Sawing" which he calls, "The Blade." A large steel blade is lowered from the ceiling of the stage by a chain. The blade has a hole in the center, which DC attaches a rope to, on which he and his female assistant do some very, ahem, close mid-air choerography before detatching the rope. She then climbs into a box with her legs showing, and stagehands pull blinds from the front of each side, closing her in, while her hands poke out from holes at each side. DC then hangs from the blade as it is lifted over the box, stands on the box and guides it into the center of the box as it is bisected.

The blade is removed (with DC) and one at a time, each side is swiveled out and the blind is pulled back, showing one half of a girl on each side, and her hands moving through cutout sides of each half. The sides are put back together and the whole restored girl is removed from the box.

Next was "Ring Flight," the effect with the baby "Air Copper" shoes. This was done substantially as the TV special (XV, 1993), except the girl he pulled from the audience was of Hispanic heritage, giving way to some amusing DC byplay, as he tried to recall his high school Spanish ("I speak Spanish. After all, I come from New Jersey."). When he asked her what "ring" was in Spanish, she said "anillo." He asked her to repeat it. "Anillo," she repeated, (the double-l is pronounced as a "y" in Spanish, for those who don't know, as in "a-NEE-yo"). "Anillo," she repeated a third time. "I nee you too," DC said, and the audience broke up.

The rest of the routine was, well, routine, complete with hand-in-pants pocket, and "Cop-a-feel."

The next effect was done simply and delightfully, and showed that DC has lost none of his skill at card sleights. It also appeared to acknowledge Ricky Jay's success at translating card magic to the stage. He showed on a large projection screen some home movie footage of his grandfather and himself, and said his grandfather showed him his first magic trick, a four-ace effect with cards where the aces vanished and reappeared. He says his grandfather died before he ever got a chance to perform it for him in return.

A small, red felt covered table is brought out, along with a period lamp (exquisite props, I might add) and he performs an ace assembly. Unfortunately for you card people, as you might expect, I'm not as up on my card magic as I once was, so I can't tell you exactly what the name of it was, but you'll know it when you see it come the special in May. It was intimate, and even though we were watching it on a monitor with about five thousand other people, it was done skillfully and with charm.

Following that is his version of the "Spirit Cabinet," where he showed footage of a supposed brothel that burned to the ground, killing all the inhabitants. He explains that his people have built a stage "house" using the wood from that building, and they hope to contact the spirits within. (He says this will be the last illusion of the night)

Three people from the audience, two men and a woman are selected to come and tie his hands behind his back and then wind the rope up around him, tying it around his neck. He is then tied to a chair, and put inside the "house" along with a box of newspapers and a bell. Once the sides are lifted, and he is hidden, the bell rings and newspapers are thrown out of the house through the top and slats on the sides. The sides are lowered and he is still tied to the chair. One volunteer's jacket is hung on one of the sides, and when it is lifted, more papers and thrown around, the bell rings and when the sides are dropped, DC is wearing the jacket, despite being tied to the chair and tied up. Next, another chair is placed inside, and one of the volunteers is seated on it, blindfolded. (Running joke: once blindfolded, DC asks the man to "put your hand on my arm." The man mistakely puts his hand on DC's leg, and DC says loudly, "That's NOT my arm." He then shrieks, "Maybe this IS the Jenny Jones show!")

The sides are pulled up, the lights, noise and smoke commence and when the sides fall, the jacket is on the volunteer, and his pants legs are pulled up to show he's wearing a pair of women's red high-heel pumps. They then blindfold the other two and they vanish inside, complete with lights, noise, newspapers and smoke. The house is wheeled off, a large steel table is wheeled on (barely a steel sheet with curtains around it), and the curtains are pulled around the table. Wind whips up around the table, and suddenly the silhouettes of the three are seen standing on the table inside the curtain. They are assisted down, and DC takes his bows. (It is 10 pm, at this point)

After a standing ovation (rapid and genuine) from the audience, he asked if they'd like to see some more. He goes into the audience, and gets a female volunteer -- charmingly enough (for DC, anyway), she's in her 60s or so. He takes her up the side to the camera in the audience at the front left side of the stage, and performs the "Floating Rose" (the Kevin James effect from 1991's XIII) magnificently, complete with the same music (Johnny Clegg and Savuka's "Dela"), ending with the real rose. I must mention that the sound people cranked up the tune by about 40 decibels at the point of the rose transformation, leading me to want to call this tour, "Copperfield -- Beyond Deafening." But then again, maybe I'm just getting old.

This was followed by "Twister," an effect from 1989's XI. This was one where he seemed pretty into it (especially as I understand other shows didn't get encores) and the audience was clapping along with the music. Female assistant is put in box with doors in middle (like "Disembodied Princess), and her head is spun around and around, and then the middle is opened, showing her middle twisted like a dishcloth, all to the tune of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again (Like We Did Last Summer)." She is then "untwisted" and restored.

The last effect was, of course, "Snowing." [Editor's note: It has since been debated about that this trick's creative genesis originated with Kevin James and/or Peter Samelson. To avoid any legal entanglements, let's just say go see their shows and decide for yourself...] DC explains he never saw snow as a child in NJ, because every winter his parents insisted they drive to Florida. The winter they didn't -- of course, it didn't snow. He would run around the house tearing up paper and throwing it in the air, pretending it was snowing. Finally one year he went to sleep and his mom woke him and showed him the snow outside his window. He wanted to preserve that feeling.

As he is saying this he is tearing up pieces of tissue and throwing them in the air. As he gets to the rear of the stage and stands on a platform, the paper changes to real show and comes out of his hands. More and more blows into the air, and as the lights dim, snow machines in the the stage's front overhead lights blow snow into the audience, he lifts a blanket over himself and lowers it and becomes a small boy.

The boy comes down front and the curtains close behind him, and he swivels, face upturned into the snow with his arms out. The curtains behind him open and, mirroring the boy is DC, swiveling at the same time. DC comes down and takes his bows with the boy, as the snows swirls down around them.

End. (10:10 pm)

The Editorial, from me:

One the whole, I have to say I liked the Egg and Ace assembly effects the best, but that betrays my love for simplicity in magic without glitz. I thought his choice of volunteer for the Rose was wonderful, and shows that he cares about more than good-looking young babes in the audience. I thought, unfortunately, that on most of the older effects, he was "phoning it in." I suppose the repetition of the effects that are in the TV shows (the "Copperfield's Greatest Hits") can be explained in that there will always be people who, despite any and all disclaimers, believe that what is done on TV can't be done in person. Thus he comes to a town near you. I can understand this, but I wish he'd show the ame enthusiasm for those effects. After all, that's the hallmark of a true pro, be it in magic, rock, theatre or even sports. Practice hard, play hard.

His tour T-shirts ($30) are exorbitant, as were his tour book ($20 for about 20 glossy black and white Herb Ritts photos of him and a pair of handcuffs and some Gary Ouellet text), the cap (I can't remember the price), the program (a real rip at $12 for one folded sheet of photographs on glossy cardboard) and the other various photos of him on the motorcycle and in other poses. Considering the tickets were $34, I guess you gotta make the bucks any way you can, and touring ain't cheap, but hell -- the T-shirts weren't even four-color, they were black on white. He's making rock bands' shirts like U2 and Springsteen seem like a bargain.

I wish DC would make magic more like theatre (beginning, middle and end) rather than like rock concert (greatest hits mixed with new songs), but that's his style. I kind of wish Lance Burton would get a move on and give him some competition, so there's some real innovation in style from DC. But by the fact that he's a touring magic act playing arenas means there's something still good about the art form, and for that DC is to be commended, as he's the guy who got it rolling. He had just better not rest on his laurels too long, as someone (LB, P&T, McBride) eventually might be gaining on him.

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