How Copperfield Vanished the Statue of Liberty

Learn how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty vanish on live television back in 1983.

Free Magic:

[kingrobertst]

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!

[ebolarnator]

Youtube needs more videos like this, straight to the point and isn't 10+ minutes long to answer a simple question. Thank you ❤

[khmergodhobbies]

thanks for only being 2 mins and not 20.

[frogman]

Egon moved the statue of liberty with his NES controller. Well done Egon. Well done.

[ChaoticYak]

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.

[PRH]

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…

[finkelmana]

Figuring out how a magic trick is done is far more interesting than the trick itself.

[fepatton]

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!

[malkamusik]

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.

[DR-mqvn]

I watched this on TV in 1983! Thanks for the explanation.

[hunter]

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.

[ryancoulter]

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.

[Flyboy_]

I figured it was a 2nd black curtain that mimicked the night sky.

[glenpolen]

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.

[RyuuTenno]

plenty of people say that, if you know how the trick worked, it loses it's magic, but for me, it's still incredible to know about. Always wondered, even though I wasn't around for that trick. I remembered hearing about it, and it's just something that's absolutely wild to think about. And I love this, cause even though I know how it's done, it's *still* absolutely incredible to see.

[ThreeToesofFury]

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!!!

[DOC_]

Dear lord… I’m so thankful you made this video on 2 minutes, unlike other channels

[probegt]

As a kid i always looked forward to a David Copperfield special. Tv is terrible nowadays.

[zabadazidit]

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.

[StLProgressive]

I remember watching this on tv. My 12 year old mind was blown, lol. It was such a cool trick.