# How did David Copperfield vanish the Statue of Liberty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 10, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559 "2007-04-10T23:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/1 "2007-04-10T23:15:05Z")
[Original column](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mliberty.html) by Melis. I just thought I’d let everyone know (in case you didn’t notice) that [Ask Yahoo!](http://ask.yahoo.com/20070405.html) basically just cited to the Dope column when asked this same question. Sort of lame, if you ask me. Not that you asked me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/2 "2007-04-11T00:47:50Z")
That’s not how he REALLY did it. How he REALLY did it is a secret that no magician will ever reveal. Just trying to be pro-active. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/3 "2007-04-11T01:13:33Z")
Short answer-he used a camera trick. It takes no talent whatsoever to turn a camera away from the target and say “Look! It’s gone!” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/4 "2007-04-11T02:14:38Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Short answer-he used a camera trick. It takes no talent whatsoever to turn a camera away from the target and say “Look! It’s gone!” [/QUOTE] There weren’t any cameras involved for the audience who was present. It was a perfectly well-executed, if simple, illusion. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/5 "2007-04-11T02:40:53Z")
What ever happened to the fountain of youth he claimed to have found? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/6 "2007-04-11T21:07:47Z")
You misunderstood. He found a fountain of Ute, in Provo, on the U of U campus. Maybe I was watching on a different network, but on my set, the statue never even came close to vanishing. I was very disappointed, and I wondered how much he was paid for his lame display. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/7 "2007-04-11T22:53:54Z")
Deleted. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/8 "2007-04-11T23:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] There weren’t any cameras involved for the audience who was present. It was a perfectly well-executed, if simple, illusion. [/QUOTE] That part of it _was_ a perfectly well-executed illusion-what was shown to the television audience that night was a cheap camera trick. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/9 "2007-04-12T09:09:48Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] That part of it _was_ a perfectly well-executed illusion-what was shown to the television audience that night was a cheap camera trick. [/QUOTE] Huh? Then why didn’t he just put the camera with the audience, so we saw what the audience did? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/10 "2007-04-12T11:21:46Z")
The camera for us home viewers was pointed where the Statue Of Liberty was, the mumbly-magic words were recited, then the camera was pointed at the new destination, where the Statue _wasn’t_. The on-site audience got an elaborately staged trick involving a platform that turned without anybody noticing the movement(damn nice trick, that), but all the rest of us got was a redirected camera. If he had a camera pointed directly at the audience, we would have seen the live audience slowly turning to point in the new direction. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/11 "2007-04-12T11:27:09Z")
That still doesn’t explain why the camera wasn’t placed **on the platform** , along with the audience, as **Priceguy** suggested. It would not have given away the platform + audience turning, since it would be turning at the same time along with all the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/12 "2007-04-12T11:33:22Z")
I wish he had done that-then we would have had the same opportunity as the audience to experience the original trick, instead of the camera trick we did get. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/13 "2007-04-12T12:37:16Z")
I’m not sure what “camera trick” you’re referring to. If you re-watch the video on YouTube, you’ll see the camera _is_ on the same platform as the audience - unless this is a different audience or something… ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/14 "2007-04-12T13:10:22Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] The camera for us home viewers was pointed where the Statue Of Liberty was, the mumbly-magic words were recited, then the camera was pointed at the new destination, where the Statue _wasn’t_. The on-site audience got an elaborately staged trick involving a platform that turned without anybody noticing the movement(damn nice trick, that), but all the rest of us got was a redirected camera. If he had a camera pointed directly at the audience, we would have seen the live audience slowly turning to point in the new direction. [/QUOTE] I believe he also arranged for the lights on the statue to be turned off. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/15 "2007-04-12T16:15:36Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] I wish he had done that-then we would have had the same opportunity as the audience to experience the original trick, instead of the camera trick we did get. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I agree with **critter42**. If you check youtube, you’ll see that the camera is clearly on the stand with the audience / Copperfield. We see the curtain go up, we see the audience sitting there, we see Copperfield futzing with the _ahem_ radar, and then we see the curtain go down to the lack of a statue. Am I missing something? Here’s a [youtube link.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lF_615dXXM) ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/16 "2007-04-12T17:52:24Z")
I cordially invite you to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=416383) where I ask how David Copperfield flies. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/17 "2007-04-12T18:28:46Z")
“I have never seen a Statue of Liberty dissappear the way this one did” maybe the funniest audience reaction quote ever. In fact, I’ve never seen a person say something in response to a statue of liberty dissappearing that’s made me laugh as much as this one. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/18 "2007-04-12T23:22:19Z")
[QUOTE=Doctor Who] Yeah, I agree with **critter42**. If you check youtube, you’ll see that the camera is clearly on the stand with the audience / Copperfield. We see the curtain go up, we see the audience sitting there, we see Copperfield futzing with the _ahem_ radar, and then we see the curtain go down to the lack of a statue. Am I missing something? Here’s a [youtube link.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lF_615dXXM) [/QUOTE] Unlike the live audience, the home viewer had _only_ the narrow view of the single stationary camera pointed directly between the two posts. We could neither look away to see if any other landmarks were moving(he couldn’t shut down _all_ the lights in the area), nor did we have any chance what so ever of feeling the movement, however slight, of the stage. For an audience member to have the same experience as the home viewer, she/he would have to have extreme tunnel vision and be totally paralyzed. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/19 "2007-04-12T23:36:52Z")
Ok, **Czarcasm** , let’s see if we can get on the same page: You said (in reference to putting the camera on the platform with the audience): > [@](#): > > I wish he had done that-then we would have had the same opportunity as the audience to experience the original trick, instead of the camera trick we did get. And that’s what spawned my post (and critter’s post as well) - he _did_ put the camera on the platform with the audience. Yes, it gave us a narrow view pointed directly between the two posts - but it was on the platform nonetheless, that’s what made the trick work. I don’t think anyone has argued (or is going to argue) with the rest of your points. I mean, of course home viewers couldn’t look around to see other landmarks moving. Of course home viewers couldn’t feel whether the stage moved. Nobody’s arguing we got less of a trick - a “camera trick” as you described it - than the actual audience. I’m just saying that camera was on that platform - like you said you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/20 "2007-04-12T23:54:16Z")
[QUOTE=Doctor Who] Ok, **Czarcasm** , let’s see if we can get on the same page: You said (in reference to putting the camera on the platform with the audience): And that’s what spawned my post (and critter’s post as well) - he _did_ put the camera on the platform with the audience. Yes, it gave us a narrow view pointed directly between the two posts - but it was on the platform nonetheless, that’s what made the trick work. I don’t think anyone has argued (or is going to argue) with the rest of your points. I mean, of course home viewers couldn’t look around to see other landmarks moving. Of course home viewers couldn’t feel whether the stage moved. Nobody’s arguing we got less of a trick - a “camera trick” as you described it - than the actual audience. I’m just saying that camera was on that platform - like you said you wanted. [/QUOTE] I’ll grant you that(memory being fuzzy and all that), but the “view” we got was but a tiny fraction of the view the live audience got. If the camera had been set back a few feet _with_ the audience instead of right at the front edge of the stage with Mr. Copperfield, so that we had somewhat the same range as the audience, we would have at least some of the same experience as they did. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559.md?page=2)