David Copperfield: Illusion Kultur   Reviewed by Tony Buchsbaum	I'm a sucker for a good magic trick. When I was a kid, I had dozens of tricks. I even did birthday parties for a while. My sleight of hand was slight and my skills with silk hankies left a bit to be desired, but there was a lot of heart there. I entertained the kids and I entertained myself. Now that I'm all grown up, I still think magic is cool, and few are as good at it as David Copperfield. I've seen him on stage once or twice and I used to be addicted to his TV specials. And now, much to my personal joy, the best bits from those specials have been gathered on a DVD, David Copperfield: Illusions. More than a magician, Copperfield is a showman in the classic mold. He's P.T. Barnum. He's Harry Houdini. He's Steve Jobs. He's Donald Trump. Like these guys, he's not content to just get up and do his tricks. Rather, he augments the magic with genuine showmanship and he seems to be as amazed as his audience that these things actually work. That's his signature. If you've ever seen his TV specials, you'll be pleased to know that the DVD has all the best stuff (including his laughably trendy hairstyles): There's Copperfield locked in a safe in the belly of a building that's going to implode in two minutes (will he get to the X-marked platform in time?). There he is, strapped to a table, under a giant buzz saw that just might cut him in half. And dangling from burning ropes over a field of nasty metal spikes. And making the Statue of Liberty disappear, and levitating (and then vanishing) an Orient Express rail car. There's Copperfield, creating snow out of thin air, then predicting graffiti and then -- yes! -- flying. There's much more, including some close-up magic (just as cool, but on a smaller scale) and a sort of magician's secret closet, with photos and descriptions of notable magic artifacts. Throughout, there's Copperfield's own running commentary, providing a look behind the trickery. (But if you want how-it's-done secrets, you're out of luck.) Arguably the greatest illusionist of our time, David Copperfield has the gift of presentation. He knows the value of the magic itself, but he also knows how to heighten the drama of the magic with music and highly refined stagecraft. The end result is event theater, with Copperfield at the center of a magical landscape that challenges logic and possibility, frees emotion and ignites the child's hope-filled imagination in us all. | June 2004   Tony Buchsbaum is the author of Total Eclipse. At night he works on another novel and a screenplay. Days, he writes advertising copy in Lawrenceville, NJ, where he lives with his wife and sons.	More than a magician, Copperfield is a showman in the classic mold. He's P.T. Barnum. He's Harry Houdini. He's Steve Jobs. He's Donald Trump. Like these guys, he's not content to just get up and do his tricks.