Ben Earl and David Copperfield - Instagram Live - 7th May 2020

[Music] then go just a bit of clapping reason for the clapping every Thursday as you know everyone in this country is clapping for the NHS the workers and so that's what happens every Thursday if you listen everyone in the country in the UK at least mmm are clapping for NHS workers so that is what we're currently doing just doing a little bit of clap every Thursday the entire country in the UK is clapping for those NHS workers so we will do that to concern literally hear it everywhere thought the whole country does its great so here we are let's try this [Music] a little bit of a clue about tonight studio 52 live number 51 51 days straight and well we have an amazing guest tonight which I'll announce in a second after an amazing week after amazing week we have had David Williamson Steve 40 David Blaine and now our final guest it's been pretty amazing fifty first show the fifty second show the last show which is tomorrow this is the final interview show today tomorrow is the charity fundraiser where I'll be doing a 24-hour mega show okay mega shown and the whole thing will be done for charity and that charity I will now announce is mind they are charity which looks after the mindset healthy mind they're kind of all the issues that may go surrounding a lot of the situation we're in at the moment with the covert 19 and social isolation so looking after the mental health of people generally but also very specifically in this time period you know lots of people who aren't necessarily sick suffer very very much from forms of isolation depression and all kinds of stuff like that and so we will be doing a 24-hour charity fundraiser specifically for mind the the link for that is just giving forward slash studio 52 if you want to go to that that's just giving forward slash studio 52 then you can make a donation it goes direct to mind and nothing comes to us it goes direct to mind we will be taking a live count and pledging that over the whole 24 hours and updating you but that's why that's for to look after the mental health of everyone so it took us a long time to think about the right type of charity and for me that felt absolutely perfect especially when we're doing a lot of stuff on here about community and people's well-being so anyway without waffling on any more gosh I'm excited this is fun didn't expect to be saying this so I'm about to introduce our next guest I can see that they are in so hello right here goes our next guest has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that's right they're also knighted by the French government that's true now this person is also the most commercially successful magician of all time out selling tickets from Madonna Elvis and Frank Sinatra the same it is the amazing the world-famous mr. David Copperfield that's right I just set those words now let's bring him in this bits always the tricky bit let's go some look see what happens astok hey David how's it going very good honor to be here with you what a lineup you've had amazing lineup last you've had the other David on a younger David had Williamson to amazing Chris of course Chris Omer everybody everybody then yeah it's happy to be part oh thank you so much and you know it's I said this to everyone we always start by saying people you know happy it's a crazy time but me for you in this time this must have been the longest time since you're possibly 21 that you've in your professional life where you have been off the stage since I was 18 all right there we go you think that's not as bad as you think I'm spending a lot of time with friends online watching old magic videos just really fun and not just mine I'm talking about you know you know lots of the great people we watched as kids you know I've been having dinner with my family imagine that dinner with my kids yeah normally I'm at the theater you know doing doing shows and they're home but it's pretty good I mean I do take weeks off when I'm working I do take weeks off but I have to have dinner but usually that's in the Bahamas or someplace else to have dinner in my own house with you know with my kids and my family is really really amazing blessing actually so it has not changed anything for you like in terms of how you think about your to the stage and what you're doing or not I mean you know I'm just soaking it all in I'm really enjoying paying attention to things I never had time to pay attention to you know a lot of yeah you know great magic that existed before I was born before you were born that I'm getting to see you know just all that also giving back finding ways of getting back in unique ways I think it's fantastic I'm gonna donate to your your thing that you just announced I think is really awesome so thank $5 even five bucks no problem every bit helps no but I think I'm just really finding ways of realizing how lucky we are you know we're all pretty lucky even the magicians who we're struggling they're still lucky to be able to share and create new things they're still able to communicate with their friends and find time a while by the way to find to get past this took a few weeks to finally get creative again it's weird you know I thought oh now we have a time time to do stuff it took a while but now I'm in that game now inventing new things and trying to create new technology that will hopefully move the art forward that's always been the goal and yeah well I mean what was interesting what you mentioned there about technology and well more specifically moving the art forward because when I talked to Chris for many years those who don't know Chris Keller for many years about elements of what you guys are doing and bits of piece not too much obviously lots of secrecy but he's always talking about the the fact that you're always looking to do do it that much better it's always it's not just a question of putting in something new it's a question of getting it right and one of the most amazing things that Chris has said to me and this was also echoed by when we talk to blame was the fact that your first thousand audiences for if you've got a new thing it's can you consider a test audience the first thousand yeah I'm a good listener it's right know in its yeah and it's amazing how smart the audience is and how they collectively tell you what was good or bad you know getting things right is really important in your work I know a bit of your work I've seen you a magic live you fooled me you know with your coin going across I spoke to my caveny yesterday about that I was doing this and he said you know he fooled the hell of me he did this thing and he described the effect where the coin goes in one hand and I said I think he did this for me a magic live and he risk the risk is hold and very simple he goes the other hand fooled the hell out of him fooled me too but then you explained it I think wherever he saw it and he said I do that trick that's something that I do and he fooled me with the thing that I do and he explained why and it's interesting because it as part of this conversation the reason it fooled him is because you cared you asked why about every detail you asked where should I be leaning you know what's the timing of what I do where's my hand position where is you broke down every little element for this thing that you could have got got amazement out of an audience you know in the very beginning but you broke broke down so carefully that it fooled people that knew the effect and you know and you know congratulations to that it worked on me but it's what I do too you know it's what I care about every little detail and we're not happy with anything until we've done it not just a thousand times but until it really feels right and it's because I asked why I asked why even I was a kid I said well you know why why is there dragons on a box that guy's doing why is that you know why is there diffraction grading what's the yeah except except if you know our pal pip there's a reason for that or if you're doing a Chinese and an Asian base that maybe that makes sense but you know why is it the girl getting in the box with the I understand you know why isn't it me getting having it done to me why you know in fashion you know there's some fashion people watching this today and you know in fashion when they take a photograph the background is important right the design is important the position of the light is important they think of all those things but magic you know gets a quick response so quickly when you you know buy the effect and can do it immediately that you don't think about those things most people don't think about all that stuff and you know for me from the very beginning of my childhood I was asked why I don't understand it I didn't get it I know is search to you know find a way to make things more normal or and we're natural or makes sense in some way and to this day we're constantly asking why why why in the same way as a close-up artist you asked well why am I putting the coin there what is the reason for that really dissecting it and then you get something really really great and then everybody steals it but the process is very rewarding to that thing and that's how you move the art forward we're in an art form where you know in my case and a lot of people who really attempt to be the leaders I attempt to be a leader in this business you know we're having to invent new technology new things to move it forward it's not fun for me to do stuff anymore that's the same I don't want to do the same thing of mine again you know it's been taken and done you know in their own way you know it has to be a reason for doing it I have to find a reason for doing something and you know I'll see an effect I said that's pretty good but what's the reason that makes it worth doing you know in my show I do this alien thing and it you know for the first couple years it kind of sucked you know it kind of wasn't that good but I believed in it you know and I found a way to finally make it work and I had to make it work because it was a childhood thrilled to watch Topo Gigio this animated Mouse on Ed Sullivan Show it was a thrill tool to watch to character relationships and stories and Pixar movies not as a kid but isn't adult it said find a way to do something that kind of replicated that so it was worth it it was worth the struggle you know we're having space ships appear you know I think a spaceship appear well that's a new language for magic having a spaceship use some of the space and to be over the heads of the audience that's new that's worth doing have it over there as designs so to have it appear without coverage a blackout is kind of cover and to make that magical well that's a challenge and then it's worth can I make that work you know and Chris and Homer and I like pain and struggle for this stuff and we go home really like you know really tortured by the fact that's not working and finally finally you know I'll be taking a shower and suddenly uh okay or you know the other guys will figure out why don't you try this and end up finally working and that's a very very rewarding you know and yeah and I think this is more of an inside determinant you guys had but you had something that you guys knew as the cloth vanish which was I think was everything was perfect ready to go everything was great but you didn't what everyone was ready to go and you said no and it was all all came down to a piece of music it just the music wasn't right and the moment you found the music it was in there apparently straight away but it took a long time to find that we held on it to it for years we perfected it you know it's it's for those of you who have that may not know you know the famous classic asura effect where the girl is in the horizontal position going up my version of that was to have it upright to have it ever float up more like a ghost and have the cloth collapse and here's kind of beautiful the whole you know the timing of it was pretty good and we worked on it for a couple years and I just wouldn't be found okay music for it and it just wasn't I I couldn't do it I couldn't do it unless every single thing was you know at least 80% there you know I've been guilty and we have thrown things into the show because I've thrown in the show just to see if the audience even sees it as an effect you know I learned from the Beatles the Beatles would have an album of things that were kind of very familiar to them and very you know promote to the audience you know just the normal you know she loves you yeah yeah but then they would start to put within their sets things were experimental as they were experimenting in their own way don't do drugs but anyway they were expanding on an own way and they would put those test things within stuff that they knew the audience would appreciate it was kind of a safe thing and I've always done that I've always had you know stuff that was guaranteed to work and I put a new thing in between those things Chino's tested things I put an untested thing so if I really really felt flat and it adds that I knew that they'd get quality five minutes later from that so it was a it's always a struggle and it's always a wonderful struggle at the end of the day but and I find you know everybody that I look up to in the film area and film those are the same thing people that really test new ground test new you know new territory in film who've done it so much where there's a Kubrick sir that Scorsese the Spielberg's or you know or Joe Joe rabbit pronounce his name for me Waikiki yeah I mean just an amazing pushing the envelope of what's acceptable and what's beautiful visually and what you know can move a story forward an unique way I'm very inspired by that the fact that you know people dare to be that you know really dare to be bad and we certainly I have a career of guaranteed and I've been bad quite a bit quite a bit but largely overall it's been pretty good well I think what's really interesting to me in everything that you've just said I mean you were talking about why and asking those deep questions which I enjoy asking as well I think you also mention this idea of enjoying the struggle that but what's interesting to me and that is you said the word feel a number of times where where it's it's something that is coming from an instinctive place as to whether something is right or wrong and I think for me what's interesting to me I mean I work I'm essentially solo in comparison to you have many many people around you how do you manage to communicate and explain feelings that you are having about things that are wrong or right because I don't know how I would do that to some I know when something doesn't feel right it's very difficult for me to communicate exactly what it is so how when you have a feeling that something's not right how do you go about solving that with other people you know I have a great team you know Chris and Homer Homer talks about this the fact that he kind of gave up arguing with me after a while and said you know he's listening now he sends a learn to learn to trust you yeah and you know sometimes I'm wrong about that thing you know I'm not you know I'm a I'm a human being you know I'm a guy that you know I'm not perfect but I know I just feel it you know something's not right and so many people that have kind of stagnated in magic or they never get anywhere it's because they didn't feel it they didn't feel something was wrong they were satisfied with that reaction the reaction is great I mean we're we're in magicus you know that feeling that the audience is you know David Blaine has made a career out of showing those audience's reactions and suffered and the wonder of feeling you know getting people to really you know let go of those things and you know he did that brilliantly you know we are in it even the kid magician who does the you know the thing for the first time and they watch the parent though oh my god that's amazing we know that but it can't stop there for me it can't stop there we just know that it's not right it didn't with your coin effect going back but it didn't stop with the fact the first time you did it you could have amazed them would've been great but to get it to that level it was important to you oh why why was it important to you why is it important to you to have that much detail why well my instinct is is that it I don't feel that I can ever get to a place where I'm fully satisfied that it's perfect I always think there is something that could be better and in some places I feel it might be because of naivety maybe it's something I don't know sometimes I might have to admit to myself that I've been lazy and neglected something but I just feel that even the most simple thing I just I just think there's always a level I also I'd be bored if I just went well I guess I've solved that I'd be bored and I have this fire going into the details actually gives me more more pleasure we are a work in progress right we are a work in progress every act is working progress and many people stop many people stop we keep chanting my show we keep changing it every day literally every day we have new things every day even if it's a set piece that has to be different let's design walls for the theater that's something I'm feeling how does it to that level and so you know partially because you know I'm looking at Gone with the Wind I was gone with the width I go holy that's great and that's great and that's great Wizard of Oz that's great or watch even contemporary movies that are really really good and you go man am i that good maybe some stuff but you know everything's got to be that good and I keep what's wrong with it what's wrong what's wrong I just it's bothersome to me like you're saying the exact same conversation it's like it's always a work in progress always a way of making it better or positioning it better or having a better background or better lighting or you know even a close-up worker you know close worker close artists you know when you walk into a place choose the place that has an amazing background find where the light is find how you're gonna show how it's gonna be framed properly you know my first special I was producing cards and they had me producing cards I didn't know anything putting it in front of a white background I was doing carbon ablation producing white cards up in a white background well I didn't know anything and I saw no oh my god I better start learning about this they start paying attention so it's constantly those learning experiences happened to this day and you know whether you're doing parlor magic close-up magic or anything or if you're an art director every single thing is important at the end of the day and you know right before this little broadcast started Chris Kenner is standing right here and go Chris I've got to find a really great switch for a effect I'm working a really great switch and he says well this is the you know I said well I have this idea this is a thing the classic thing you do is or not no that's not gonna be good enough we got I think what would fool you Chris what would fool you what would fool me I want to be fooled if I saw what would fool me how do you make it that good to make me amazed at it you know I know I have this this technical issue to solve to to get to the goal of the magic effect and we know we can go with the catalog version of it or the version that we've seen so and so do but I want to do something that's gonna fool Chris Kenner through Homer fool me fool you you know maybe even for a couple shows oh yeah you know maybe not after the third shopes it's a really you know and then magic live comes to the comes to town hopefully sooner than later you know or the collectors gonna come back and they're sitting in the audience happened to buy ticket to my show which I appreciate you know the city noise and they walk out the hmm I'm not sure you know that makes me feel kind of good that we worked hard for something I like that you know and then they come back three times and I figure out how to do it but but the first you know a couple times if we can Foom that's really kind of interesting cuz at least it's and it's not about fooling them it's about pushing the art forward finding new piece of technology that actually has moved it forward a bit and fooling is not the important thing it's the fact that I we've created something that's different that has a new technique fooling is evidence but the actual purpose and goal is that maybe if it gets published Sunday we've done something that's really pushed it forward and I think that we you've used the word technology a number of times and I'm assuming by the way in which you're using it that you're not meaning necessarily a digital technical gadget you you're you're referring to essentially a process a new process which could only anything I'm referring to all of those things it is we've invented technology we have actually technical technology there's a lot of things in the current show that is technically different than what exists technically stuff that I don't want the public to see for a while but I want to be able to amaze with it for a while eventually the public will see and be able to use it'll be a piece of technology real technology that isn't in the way in the internet of everything they're doing that but it like you say it's also a nuance it's a passage of time it's a lighting cue it's a design element just the design element this becomes thicker thinner this becomes brighter or darker you know all those things matter everything matters and you know then you don't stop that impede the music's important but story is important you know I tend to overwrite things I overwrite and my team overrides we make it you know we had this thing in the show we combined in effect that Lysander who's a fantastic magician levitation under the cloth of a person and we held that for two years while myself and Homer and Chris created a way of having the person being able do it in the middle of the audience doing that effect in the middle of the audience because that was made it worth doing to make a thing worth doing you have a person levitating event in the middle of the audience that would be a worth spending time and we spent a couple years trying to do it and find it but that effect was going to be a Facebook effect where it was going to be a marriage proposal between two people who hadn't seen each other with with FaceTime my facebook facebook her patient both one of the two you could pick we talked to many different platforms now and it was very involved and the person on the other end would be reacting to that person live and do this demonstration of this effect and finally will you marry me be the end of it how is this incredible thing to really reach very far to use this new thing called FaceTime or you know or her Facebook depending which we were thinking of and to combine that with this thing and we we had audiences come in not paying audiences the audience's come in we took people out of the casino MGM was totally pissed you know off the slot machines and we had them sit for it for this and they come on yeah that's nice about I could tell you know when I visit him they kind of went went forever we said no and we kind of kept cutting back and back and back and now it's a much simpler thing a still a story still moving if people want to go with it but the the the end result was so simple compared this is a very complex thing so that was a journey that was interesting it was reaching very very far and you know I look to you know Pixar has the same process they they have these movies they create them we probably would love them but they take five years to keep working with them and you know in their words they say we make them suck less which is amazing to me you know really we all really relate to this you know this is genius guys geniuses and you know we we aspire to have work of that level you know we all do it's fantastic and it's because of the their process is the process we're talking about everything is everything is important and you know work in progress we're comprised we're just impossible in movie land and movie land you have a budget you have a time you've got a you know thing and you're stuck Pixar doesn't have that issue they are able to to demand freedom and in space and time to change things and I'm luckily enough to have that same you know thing and I'm enjoying it for the past you know ten years it's it's an amazing process and I think that there's there's a lot to unpack in that and I think for me one of the big things has been a big revelation for me over the last five six seven eight years has been the kind of exploration of simplicity this idea that it's hard asleep oh it's phenomenally tough and I think a lot of people seem to think that when something simple or easy or simple is easy and yeah those things aren't really equated in the same way and I think that whenever I see people that I really respect or work but I really respect whatever it is there's an understanding of the basics that goes way beyond how other people are using basics it is there are levels to those basics there's a and and that's where I think you lay them and it starts becoming truly truly beautiful well I personally you know you can write a book called journey to simplicity TM I should read journeys exist during Italy that is a really really important journey you know to end up being relatable and simple and then and people can connect with connect with the ideas that you're saying and you know connecting with you you know we talked about connection some time with an audience and you know the great singers and dancers and comedians connects you know they go right and connect why do they connect yeah guess they found this journey to simplicity something simple that yet and they understand it you know and it's like I have to get very complicated unfortunately to get you know to get simple that's unfortunately my process I can't I can't find it quickly you know I find it through a long path you know but has this given you a little bit of that I mean being in this time period now surely allows you to simplify aspects of that process I mean I see him at least large part of the work on stage isn't happening to some extent or is it gonna happen I don't explain your question again on the phone well I mean in terms of simplicity I mean right now instead of performing night after night after night you're having to sit back and relax and maybe simplify your life a little bit but I you know I I would be I could agree with you and look cool agreeing with you know you know I we don't have our own way of achieving what we've achieved right whatever level you achieve I think the for me I need the audience I need a group of people my magic lab team all that is part of a process you know if I'm sitting there alone the way that you do it then you need to do it you found what works for you you work alone you work with you videotape yourself do you have mirrors what do you do what do you do what's your process well I mean it's changed in the last few years with the development of studio 52 which is the company because I wanted to have a few people around me to do stuff but it it depends what I'm working on him if I'm working on something I might spend a lot of time looking individually at things happening and other times what okay this is the best way for me to explain it I remember someone asking me once about well you know why do I do magic just that question why and I I got lost in thinking about all the things because it's not just about showing a trick it's about design psychology timing move this there's so many different things that it's about that it's quite hard sometimes to just sit back and say it's this one thing I practice a trick I show it to someone they react it it's normally and I think from when you're talking you're spending so much time looking outwards you're looking at other movies you're looking at other directors or the company's films you're constantly trying to pull from other artists that are doing these beautiful things so I imagine that you're you spend your entire time constantly thinking about pulling this stuff to make your own work better and that has to be relatively a complex process although you hope the end result is simple well I think you know for me you know those artists that I look at and people that I really admire if you listen to their lives they reached out to other art forms they looked at other art forms and other artists not in their world maybe not even the Performing world but they looked at you know every director looks at paintings you look at paintings of great artists and you look at where the light comes and where the framing is and what they what can you learn from that painting you know every cinematographer will look at that you know those amazing pieces of art or photography looking for great photography so why is that why is that touch me that piece of advise that touch me you know so I I'm you know it's a trickle-down theory I look at people who are filmmakers and people who are mute musicians and performers on stage why is it working why I mean I'm saying how come that move me if I cry in the movie I won't technically analyze it on the first pass I'll watch and say I that really made me cry and I'll go back and I'll watch it ten times I say why did it work where did the music start what was a story telling me why was I touched what's the framing of the to multiple actors to create that you know that great effect why did it affect me why is it affecting me and you know I try to interpret the same thing for me and it is about not about amazing mainly it's not about fooling anybody it's about getting a feeling across to people it's giving a feeling that's different or unique and it's worth doing because this hasn't been done before then it's worth this is a way question is any I suppose it it's how I feel when I feel something's right I don't know if this is the same for you but when when I'm not thinking and when I'm in the moment with something truly I think a lot of that must be right whereas when I find myself analyzing a lot and thinking then I feel that there's a lot that's probably wrong and when I go that's good so I imagine that must be for you when you're on stage you've got a unique point of view that none of your team have and you're on a stage looking out you're seeing stuff how often do you do you find yourself you know really in the moment with the magic versus when you're thinking a lot you know the thinking process happens as you're really no it's not right when you notice that what you're thinking when you eventually get in the moment of something then you know you're closer to the goal and then you can really relax and really do it you're not thinking about the details and not worrying about stuff there's a real interesting pattern that happens you're I'm thinking about stuff like you're talking about when I'm still trying to figure it out and I'm thinking then you go from there that plateau to relaxing and really understanding of feeling all I'm really feeling this like that and then you do you know many many shows like that and then when you start to maybe get too comfortable then sometime start thinking again I go from thinking when it's not right to enjoying it then over here I start thinking again what can I do to make myself enjoy this more or make it better so it's interesting you know we keep talking about the Ark of the Karem coronavirus Ark of stuff and flat flattening the line and so forth a horrible reference but there isn't there's an arc in this and the arc the high point is when you're enjoying it and you feel hmm this is working and I'm really feeling I can feel what the audience is feeling when I was when I was flying in the show for the first months or a year of that it all was in real pain it was like really you know worried about my body position oh you know like I practiced some fools those really torches and there was a moment that like lifting way it's where it became easy and I felt like I was flying I really felt like I was doing it I ignored the technology as able to really be in the moment and really fly and the audience really felt that they really got that difference you know and it was here you know the audience is umas in you know it's a big wide stage you're kind of you know your eyes are zoom lens and he's focusing this night oh he's really feeling this you know you see an actor crying on stage you hold on he's really crying oh my god oh and they really feel it you know and I really enjoyed it and then after a while I started thinking how do I make it better you know what do I put clouds in the background so they can see the relationship between me and flying class so you know over and over and everyone else can I do so it's an interesting arc of that and I think you could relate to that same thing in you know the world that you're in yeah I completely agree and also I tend to find if I then let something go and when I've got that point where I think this is not perfect but I'm happy with it if I let that go and then I come back to it over time I will have done some more processing almost subconsciously about what that was and it will so sometimes I have to learn to let stuff go and not think about it and come back time is good I mean time you know you you know some people can songwriters can you know I took ten minutes to write the song boom yesterday done and whatever at the time was and then you go back and walk away and you go I should change this word here if you started to work really hard at that point you were not going to find that solution sometimes you have to put it away you know and not think about it for which is hard for me boy when there's unsolved things it's really troubling you know to me and I'd really like I can't sleep but you're right if you put it awake and learn to put it away do other stuff that's good and come back and oh you know it finally will reveal itself and you know that's an amazing process that I think writers have and we you know screenwriters have and musicians have and you know even people who do in technology you know they'll be up it'll be right in front of your face the solution is right there you know yeah it's amazing yeah and I think what's interesting I mean you've mentioned obviously you're doing all that stuff on stage and you mentioned me doing you know predominately close-up but you also have close-up in your show and I mean first of all I suppose avoid get onto that it might be for those people who haven't see it you know what how would you describe to people at your current show because we don't actually like properly said so what would you just say to people that haven't seen it your current show is like well it's a lot of unique viewpoint of magic but doesn't exist you know I like you know I like doing things didn't exist before you know a new language you know if you have spaceships that didn't exist before things over their heads didn't exist before having an animated character animatronics with magic didn't exist before having a time travel in that way I think people have been trying to travel things but time travel didn't exist that way that's rewarding to me you know if I'm doing an effect that's it's somebody else's I'll try to make it very make it at least half of ours you know this idea of the boy in the audience levitating and disappearing doing it in the audience hasn't been done before you know the what else is in the show because you have a lot of audience interaction in your shows tons which we had to redo we can talk about a whole virus of it all and what I did towards the end of our run but a dinosaur you know I having a dinosaur in my show who's you know that that's unique in that way I think you know having it you know and having a not to just have a dinosaur have a dinosaur that is appearing with a principal that never existed before so I I stole that principle for myself from the Barkley house thinking that I but the principle that is our invention you know of that thing so and have it not just a dinosaur appear it appears five you know five rows into the audience you know that's important that hasn't been done before I think if you reach out over the audience you know have it have a appearance of a dinosaur it's three times the size of the actual container that it's in there's layer and layer and layer beat the hell out of the idea so not just accepting it as in effect really take it as far as I can figure out how to take it and then we're still working on it we're still changing it you know and you know takes two years to make a little change in it but people react to it you know we have you know the story changes a little bit the words change a little bit and I keep you know keep making as more to add to that so it's it's very rewarding so the show is you know stuff that you won't see other places or else I wouldn't do it you know the clothes up in the show I do the floating rose thing which is a you know but I do it in the audience and that's what changed it you know to make it in the audience that piece of music was to me everything if I didn't have that piece of music it wouldn't exist and doing it in the audience wouldn't exist and it's like it somehow you know I've done it for 20 30 years I try to take it out and it stays out for a while but when I put it back people just love it is like it's incredible thing the you know it's always been that if you look through all my stuff in the past it's always been the journey to have a different kind of feeling Snow was a different kind of feeling having the audience immersed in snow no one ever saw that before you know I knew it would be good I knew having the audience be part of the onstage experience would be great and now it's everywhere Disney Disney parks have it snow and they advertise it but that came for me they saw me do that thing and on Broadway and so forth like that and now it's in every theme park so we keep moving on but anyway but I think what's interesting is that on the high level you know if people were to describe you and your show and there's all the kind of bullet points the highlight things that people could say in introductions but what's also that's super interesting to me which is less obvious unless someone is talking to you like this is the process I mean there's such a level of intention and detail and discipline that goes into making that you know to me it's that is the most interesting part of it and Blaine said it about the work ethic and you've mentioned it a hundred times as well as that it's that constant sense of looking taking adapting you know that's really the for me the the real magic of for one of your better phrase with the real magic of what you do is that constant attention to detail and work ethic people get this you know we're in a world that focuses on money you know they focus on you know how many they're like people love numbers how many shows you to do how many people you perform in front of you know how much money do you have or make and so it and that's it is what it is the process and what you really care about isn't any of that you know that's a result of all those things if you're lucky and you know you connect with with with the audience people get so focused on that they don't focus on the fact that you know my team really cares about moving magic forward and we work really hard at it and people thank God respond to it and we make mistakes like every human being you know we do you know we haven't you know we haven't done cats you know but you know but we've done you know I've gotten close to make some things that weren't quite right you know that's wasn't that bad you know but just wasn't quite right people jump on it and kill it you know some good parts of cats you know but I think we've all had those experiences that we believed in and didn't quite work and you have to really you know lick lick your wounds and you know put bandages on and kind of keep going you know and I boy we just lived it we just lived it and I love this this type of conversation which is you know about getting into those details essentially philosophy you know whether its aesthetic philosophy or technical approach to me that those details the stuff that make everything happen to me it's great but there's also like a another question I wanna ask you which I suppose is a bit more standard but I've really want to know the answer to which is open which is slightly off often being tracked but why I remember I have to what your plans are with with the museum but you know to talk about that is you have the most insane collection on earth when it comes to magic stuff and I wonder what what your plans are with that you know what's interesting you know I never really paid attention to magic history and when I was you know the first doing specials and so forth and cave and he said you got to buy this this Mullen library because it's going to be dispersed and there's a great collection and I did and you know I didn't really get it honestly you know I had the money to do it and I bought it and then I started realizing everything we're talking about now and this conversation existed before us everything all these women and men went through all this stuff and then it became interesting to me it became stories as opposed to stuff and those stories are pretty inspirational to me and I learned a lot about you know the fact that as a human beings don't learn from their mistakes they keep doing the same thing over and over again we think we learn a little bit little bit we learn but we keep doing the same crap to each other we you know there's still people copying stuff and like really be gigantic fights over it you know you I learned from this what watching what Horace golden went through trying to protect a sawing-in-half to fight for it to fight for ideas but maybe to move forward a bit instead of just in parallel to to get protecting your rights to move forward because I'm a luckily I'm able to create new stuff but you just learn from these things and respect them and their journeys were interesting so this museum is is an amazing thing and I get to share it we do exhibitions outside of Las Vegas in New York we did in LA little traveling exhibits will move around that won't expose secrets but as far as the magician's to come there I watch people literally fall to pieces they walk in and start crying when they see this stuff and yes why are you crying so well this is the reason I'm living you know we've have film directors you know who've sat there very famous famous film directors who see the malleus stuff and they start yeah weeping they get weeping and I know why are you crying well it's because I wouldn't be here for wasn't that anyway this is what I had that much of an impact so all our people in our past really have moved and have influenced us and have set a stage for creating amazing things and to move the art forward what's going to happen to the museum after I'm gone I'm putting together a bunch of money I'll have a bunch of money but I'm gonna have to endow it so it'll maintain and exist in and hopefully even a better form that can share this idea be a place to study we're working on our library right now the library building cabinets as we speak people putting lights and cabinets at the at the warehouse and you know to make this amazing library that could be a research center my staff are working on we call them the brown books which are all of the kind of books of all the ephemera and letters and articles of stuff everybody that you would wouldn't believe this incredible stuff I mean thousands of things it's it's beyond it's an amazing thing and I'm very it's an honor for me to be in this world to be able to to preserve that stuff you know I'm giving back or whatever but I think I'm preserving the stuff because those stories are important you know and all the people contemporary you know you did all the stuff that you're doing actually now the the Williamson show that you did was awesome the Williams the Chris Kenner thing which is all about Williamson show that was good too you know Williamson shows on this you know you know we did some nice things for me as well which is really really cool you gonna ask him about that you know is such a it's a really talented guys I was looking at the roster of all the people that did the thing is a really talented you know men and women who really thought about this a lot you know have a lot to say it's a pretty amazing group that we're in and I think this whole time now makes okay there's magic inventions and all that stuff which are fantastic stan island you know richard cap and they do amazing conventions but this time has allowed me to see with all these podcasts that I see stuff I've never saw before you know and I'm realizing now and I never really saw it before in because we're in the same frame this frame yeah here's the frame and we're seeing all the people that are really and being reminded dine nude I know these guys and now I'm seeing they're really good these people are really smart and counted and they've given me so much you know and and anyway it's fantastic well I mean it's yeah and it's it's interesting because they even though these times are changing and all this like these new opportunities can present themselves like I saying that there there is a Link to the Past there is a link to moviemaking in magic there's a link to science as a link to so all this stuff that a lot of people that don't know about magic don't know that the history of it is intertwined in so many different things so the fact that you're looking at things like Pixar in the future where you're also looking to the past and drawing on all of that stuff it's a it's a very I mean yeah I'm very envious of just it just being able to draw on so much stuff in that way must be in itself exciting outsider even the end result what everybody that lasts everybody that's really good pays attention to everything yeah what's the the singer I'm I just got a blank with the green hair in the center tell me her name ladies singer green hair punk start Billy Eilish there's Billy Eilish okay you know my kids love her I think she's fantastic and serveth she knows about the past she knows her parents talk about music real music and so forth understood it Gaga there's another one cares about you know the 40s and the 50s you know all that music everyone that lasts in music and think knows about the past knows about now not just pays attention and listens and asks why they ask why stuff you know and they they ask well why why is that good and somehow that stuff creeps into what you're doing you know creeps into the contemporary work even if it's if it's you know hip-hop you know it's just pure rap somehow the attention to the fact that is an awareness of the past everything around you then makes it more rich and somehow lasts more great this is great also I couldn't agree more I think that the idea of allowing yourself to be influenced is I think a big part of it which a lot of people are very resistant to either the future or the past but I think allowing yourself to be influenced and then still maintaining control because at any time you can decide to not use something or to use something so it's your choice it's your choice and so the manasa that's an amazing thing and a great answer what we will do because I don't want to keep you forever either this is I could talk on this work all day but what we will do is we'll open this up to a few questions from people it normally took about 10 or 15 seconds for them to come through we'll do that they'll come through and I'll start asking you a few of those if you can see any on your screen then you by all means pick them but we can we hand well here what's that mean that means high five there'll be some questions coming in there so look very inspirational was a lot of love that's that's a good thing a lot of love a lot of hearts someone talking about defining moment in your career you know there's all you talk to anybody I think if they're honest there's gonna be a lot of defining moments you know a lot of moments that you know when I was a kid in going to Tannen's magic shop in New York still they're still fantastic tannins you know I'd be there just who's your favorite employee it's Homer no I think Chris is somewhere you know throwing couches somewhere hopefully I stopped him in time anyway I think there's many things you know being going as a kid in Tannen's magic shop you know people would say you're not gonna make it it's not gonna work and then was a guy named Russell Swan Russell Swan was a great cabaret performing a great comedy magician fantastic and he he was the head of a gba Aguila he was the secretary at Agra and um and he said you know something I think you can maybe you can do it maybe it's the chance of doing it you know this moments like that you know this moments of you know I did a show for magicians I did a show at Tannen's magic Jubilee which was his convention they had in the Catskills and they weren't sure if it would work I do the second half and people like that they'd like I got a lot long they like my things I don't know that's pretty magicians like me that's pretty good not that important for you guys out there for magicians to like you that's not that big goal but it was a nice moment you know it's a nice moment and of course having your first TV special or you know as a show called magic at the Roxy I did there's a book called world's greatest magic which was by Hilah and Clark which a lot of people collect and I got in this book because I was one of the people in the show I was Carl Ballantine and Shimada and Richard Ross and this kid you know this little kid magician David Copperfield and I danced like you know there's moments of it that has hope to it the audience really liked me but I thought I sucked honestly I you know I did the show at the this theaters beautiful theater in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania the Roxy theater and it was amazing Randi James Randi who did a great job schemata Richard Ross Carl Ballantine and these guys are great and I was trying to change magic a little bit at that time and I was dancing I did American in Paris with a levitation and it's not that good but I was trying to move it forward I did a horrible dance to ease on down the road and produced sheepdogs at the end of it and the audience really liked it the audience like cheered me maybe because I was a young kid maybe but they really liked it and I thought oh my god this is great I'm you know I'm doing good I mean when I went to the cast party and they showed in a hotel room the video and I watched the video and I began to cry and my girlfriend that time said what's wrong with you and we left the room and I said um it's not gonna work it's a I'm a failure it's not gonna be happening because what I saw on the audience reactions were great and what I felt onstage wasn't what I saw on the screen you know I felt I was I was Gene Kelly talked about feeling things I thought that was Gene Kelly and the spotlight would come in and said and it wasn't that I felt I'm dancing really cool the only says loving it I was not dancing that good I knew it was bad but the audience liked it and I hated it I thought maybe I'm doing the wrong thing maybe I should do magic like Marc Wilson just need classic magic stuff you know maybe I should maybe it's the wrong thing to do and I thought this Koretz over is done my career is done then it was good I used that tape of that thing to just get on CBS amazingly enough but you know I knew it was not that great I knew it could be better and I really thought my career was absolutely all over at that point it ended up working out okay but you know my effort to be special it didn't get delivered the way I saw it if you watch it you'll agree with me it's not that great but for some reason there was enough there that was good that got me on TV to start the learning process for me that's interesting it's really interesting in them also I mean you did you talk about the learning process in that mean you did 17 years of specials in a row right like from around that early stage is what I mean that was pretty soon you know right immediately and you know you look at that and you know first special on CBS and you'll see all the mistakes I made producing cars in front of white background the psycho routine was pretty good that was a nice piece doing the Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho thing it was that was that was the right path to take I figured what else was on it I did a whole big sailor number like a Gene Kelly cell number I was trying I was trying to make it work it's not quite good you know that I have a phone booth a phone booth I'm sorry a photo booth where I would have vanished in the photo booth well you know it was on the floor kind of go to the trap door but I didn't see it I wasn't clear you know didn't think it didn't ask the right questions but the idea of a photo booth with a magic thing was it good I had a girl floating and she would turn on a move on the thing in front of a solid background with a gimmick we really tried hard listen elements that are good it's not great but at least I tried I made an effort for it you know and I was trying to have this path of being different so luckily they didn't get rid of me luckily CBS saw me and they put me on on their show and I was able to learn from that and do something new but at least I was you know had a point of view it was different and that's why I'm here because I had a point of view that wasn't everyone else's point of view even though I made all the mistakes along the way so I kind of constantly learn about stuff um there's a couple of more questions I want to ask however there's a slight problem with Instagram which is Instagram only allows you to do dead on 60 minutes and cuts so why was going to suggest we do is if I just cut the feed now and we jump back on and just finish off a few more questions not do too much longer few more questions only because we can only do an hour I don't it's a cut in the middle of you talking so I would rather we just did it now let's do it okay okay alright see you a second a big yo no idea what happened there the live just canceled so hopefully David will jump back in right that is a strange weird issue that has happened it happened a bit yesterday with with Blaine and it's just happened now as well so apologies for that this is one of the problems of doing stuff on here right but yes those are our gremlins I assure you that that is not our end there we go right here we go it's also not a David and Ram issue there we go yes my fault no it's not happened yesterday but it's an Instagram grace okay okay but what I'm saying is what's interesting we were talking about you know experience doing stuff you know I said I say besides all the preparation it's good out there and do it the audience will tell you what they like what they don't like I'm talking to singers I'm talking to painters I'm talking to playwrights just do it just get out there and dare to be bad and get out there and do it and that's the way you learn and that's the only way you can learn to kind of you can copy other people which you shouldn't do but you can kind of get influenced by them and and all that but I think just by doing it and everything you talk about with your work about how you have this spider sense of how you combine control you can't put under words because it's it's a nuance it's a thing it's a way you move it's the way you how well you breathe and how you do that how do you put that into words you can't you just have to do it and that's the the arc the the the goal of getting over that that moment that that obstacle of learning how to do that is extremely rewarding what you figure it out you know and I own it you now own that you know yeah and and you've you also earn it and I think that you have you have mentioned in here multiple times I say in here like it's a little box what it feels are but you've mentioned multiple times about failure instead of talking about successes which you have obviously had a huge amount of that but you've talked multiple times about failures that wasn't good this was bad I was bad and so what's interesting about that is again it's like you're saying that get out there and do it regardless you're going to learn as part of that process you have to accept that inevitably things won't be where you want them to be or things won't be as good as you want them to be and that you almost will learn more from those failures have 100% primacy and it's true of everybody you know I I was talking about was complaining to a to a business friend of mine about stuff it was bothering me in life and he said you know you sound like Stephen as I wanna he says he sound like you know my fees a good friend of Steven Spielberg's you sound like him as a what yes same stuff same compose same frustrations happening now yeah no no okay so everybody goes through it you know and I continuously start like you can usually learn about stuff learn all the time you know and if it's something that's worth doing I love spending the time in finding it I was told you about that me and Chris just a minute ago talked about we gotta make this better you know it's something assignment I like it that's that's the fun part and then he goes into torture and then it finally will work it'll be glorious glorious is a great word set and on look I could have this discussion all day and it's been a real pleasure I thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming on to do this live to this has been a great experience and you know just thank you huge thanks for coming on and being so generous with your time and also your experience and knowledge we've chosen you know the all the artists that came before me in this Instagram routine that you're doing is really it's an honor to be part of it I really respect them all they're amazing artists thank you the Dynamo for tuning in it's different people Homer Chris are here you know thank you for tuning in you know I don't know if I've said anything that's a value but I'm speaking from my heart and an honor to be with with you and you're all team oh thank you so much and one final thing for you is there anything you want to say to everyone watching before you go get well soon okay Wilson let's get back out there awesome thank you so much David real pleasure and yeah stay safe we'll see soon thank you thank you there we go I'll do this there we go that was the amazing David Copperfield that just happened that's right in case you didn't know so yeah thank you guys for watching I hope that was fun couple little gremlins in there but don't worry we have won't get all of that stuff sorted so yes that's good anyway right a little bit flustered oh very hot under these lights like to jump off and open a window in the break that was fun studio 52 that was number 50 show number 50 that was the final interview show and all of this is going to be moving into our show tomorrow which is the mega show which is basically a 24-hour live broadcast in which many many magicians that we've had more the artists we've had on so far ago jump back on some for a bit you know have other stuff planned and the whole thing is going to be done as a fundraiser for the charity mind now minds deal with mental health so in this time especially where you got a people a lot of people that deal struggle with mental health issues especially with social isolation and everything else going on in the world it's a better look after ourselves and each other with our mental health I think it's a very very important thing especially when sometimes charities like that get underfunded next to be much larger corporations and as a result by the way this mind a much higher percentage thing is that 85 P and every pound goes directly to that cause instead of a large portion of it go into administration costs so if you are interested in helping funds mind if you go to Just Giving forward slash sports lashes to do 52 that donation will go straight to mind we'll be taking a running total of that throughout this next 24 hours or through the 24 hour show and we'll be showing how much you guys have helped donate yes I also wanted quick thank you to Chris Kenneth for you know helping make this happen and also Richard young for giving me some interesting information about David and helping with that so yeah a huge thanks to everyone watching and you know what I'm starting to get a little bit emotional because this is the last interview show today so before we start mega show tomorrow but yeah this has been there's been real fun and it's a real honor to end with David Copperfield a fantastic chant a fantastic set of insights into in to experience the experience he has and his life so thank you very much we'll see you tomorrow for the 24-hour live fundraiser here at Studio fifty-two live and that will be show number 52 and at we the final show so hopefully we'll see you tomorrow here comes the finger

Channel: Uneditedmagicvids

Views: 2,989

Rating: 4.9111109 out of 5

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Id: LaBDDOfB_lA

Length: 65min 29sec (3929 seconds)

Published: Sat May 09 2020