David Copperfield's Statue Of Liberty Vanish: Behind The Scenes
In 1983, millions tuned in to watch a then 26-year-old David Copperfield vanish The Statue Of Liberty. In today's post, read David's commentary on how he pulled it off...
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Not many friends my age found magic via David Copperfield. I did. I would walk, as a kid, by myself to my grandparentsā house. I would open the front door and trudge through to the living room. Then Iād press the Copperfield documentary VHS into the video player and sit crossed-legged a few feet from the screen.
I would watch in awe as Copperfield performed his illusions.
I listened intently when he told me anything was possible.
I still own the VHS.
Itās the only VHS I own.
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Thereās no doubt that Copperfield is the best storyteller magic has ever had. He has a reputation for being hyperfocused and a stickler for details with a passion for the art. But I think the stories heās created and shared are the foundations of his incredible career.
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Copperfield was younger than me now, only 26, when he made the statue of liberty vanish on television ā what an incredible story to tell.
He seated a live audience on a platform on Liberty Island facing the statue.
As a wonderful convincer and timestamper, he displays a radar screen with the statue blinking.
A curtain got raised in front of the statue, and when it fell, the statue was gone, along with the blip on the radar. Spotlights shone up at the empty space left behind, and we even see helicopters passing over the island.
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I still recall Copperfieldās commentary from the VHS tape about the impossible large-scale illusion.
David shared that the illusion was one of the most difficult he had ever achieved ā even getting permission was nearly impossible.
The year before, his team went to China and got permission from the communist Chinese government to walk through The Great Wall of China. Doing so was ten times easier than getting permission from the US government to deal with The Statue of Liberty.
In an establishing shot ā David stood in the torch section held up by the statue. Getting permission to stand inside the torch was an immense achievement. Frank Sinatra got turned down the year before when he wanted to sing āNew York, New Yorkā up there for a TV special.
The night before the big stunt, Copperfieldās team discovered that the sheet needed to cover the statue from view was too short. Oh, no. Theyād miscalculated. What were they to do?
If you look at the bottom of the frame, youāll see a different colour fabric sewn in at the bottom.
Iāve heard rumours this fabric was bedsheets.
It was cold on the big night.
There were supposed to be two helicopters, but oneās windshield broke at the last minute. So, the team had to make do with just one.
They managed to make it happen.
The statue vanished.
Copperfield jokes that they had to bring the statue back as part of the deal.
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I literally cannot believe they pulled off the illusion. Iāve been on stressful sets with the smallest of magic tricks.
They got permission, it was such a big illusion, and he was just 26 years old! Incredible.
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After Glenn Priest, who was Doug Henning's tech coordinator, stopped working for Doug, he worked on the Statue of Liberty production. They rehearsed in a sports field in New Jersey. John Gaughan built the necessary props. Part of the solution came to John because the industrial section of LA that John had his shop also housed companies that produced parts for the aviation industry. Copperfield got permission from the Parks Services on the condition that they could only begin to load equipment after the park closed at 5 or 6 pm and be finished an off loaded by 8 or 9 the next morning. The equipment was transported by barges. Glenn is no longer alive, but he told me many amazing stories from the time he worked with Henning, Copperfield, Expo '86 in Vancouver and also as the head stage manager for one of Michael Jackson's world tours.