# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/21 "2007-04-13T02:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] 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. [/QUOTE] Umm, is there a particular reason you STILL haven’t watched the YouTube clip? The camera IS behind the audience and NOT at the edge of the stage, as you seem to believe. ---
**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 13, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/22 "2007-04-13T03:10:44Z")
[QUOTE=Red Barchetta] Umm, is there a particular reason you STILL haven’t watched the YouTube clip? The camera IS behind the audience and NOT at the edge of the stage, as you seem to believe. [/QUOTE] _Finally_ got the YouTube to work(Damn computer has been as slow as a dial-up this evening). Tunnel vision and no sense of movement for the home viewer?-check. Placement of camera-behind audience instead of in front of audience?-you are correct. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/23 "2007-04-13T08:34:13Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Tunnel vision and no sense of movement for the home viewer?-check. Placement of camera-behind audience instead of in front of audience?-you are correct. [/QUOTE] So you agree that he did basically all he could to give the home viewer the same experience as the audience? I can’t think of a way to eliminate tunnel vision with a television camera, and the audience on site didn’t get a sense of movement either (that was the point). ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/24 "2007-04-15T05:51:11Z")
On the programme where it shows how magic tricks are done they replicated it, using as I recall a tank, that was chained down After all the usual shenanigans the home audiences view was temporarily obscured by a curtain and when the curtain was removed ,no tank just empty chains . Just as the other posters said it was a cheap camera trick with a second set of empty chains to the side . They said that the whole audience were in on the trick and that at least some of them were paid extras though I cant remember if they all were because quite honestly it was a totally forgetable event. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/25 "2007-04-23T00:32:10Z")
Um, so… Czarcasm, when are you just going to admit you were wrong? Watching you continually try to rationalize it away and bring up side topics to try to distract people is painful. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559/26 "2007-05-09T19:07:46Z")
Will this qualify as a zombie thread yet? Hope not. It was also significant that, having made the SoL “disappear,” he then made it “reappear.” It would never do to have the onlookers leave their seats to get back on the ferry and then see the SoL there, slightly to one side of where they’d seen it before. “Dammit, Merle, there’s that cotton-pickin’ Statue of Liberty again! He just moved it over a little. I want my money back!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-david-copperfield-vanish-the-statue-of-liberty/399559.md?page=1)