ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603140017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
hE didn't even read the questions.
Or maybe he did, and politely chose not to answer them.
Either way, when master illusionist David Copperfield sat down last month to answer a series of questions by fax, it was in many ways like the elaborate disappearing tricks that have made him famous. Was it really him? Or was it all smoke-and-mirrors?
Decide for yourself.
But first, you should know that because of his hectic schedule, Copperfield conducts interviews only by fax. That way, he can respond to questions at his leisure. He agreed to this interview to promote his ``Magic is Back'' tour, which comes to the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium for two shows tonight.
You also should know that we asked for verification. A Polaroid of our elusive subject holding up our fax sheet was suggested. A copy of his driver's license. Copperfield ignored our requests. Of course, coming from the man who made the Statue of Liberty disappear, what would it have proved anyway?
Along those lines, we then asked if there is anything he can't make disappear. Or anything he can't do. After all, in addition to the Statue of Liberty stunt, Copperfield has in his career levitated across the Grand Canyon, walked through the Great Wall of China, plunged over Niagara Falls and escaped from Alcatraz.
We asked: ``What about the Red Sea? Can you part the Red Sea?''
He didn't answer the question, although he did say there are some things he'd like to try in the future.
``I've always wanted to straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa, put a woman's face on Mount Rushmore (guess whose?), and make the moon disappear,'' he faxed.
Then he launched into a long monologue about some of the illusions in his current show and about gazing into the Valley of the Shadow or some such stuff, all of which sounded like it had been written by an overpaid publicist with too much time on his hands. It was all very suspicious.
What we really wanted to ask him was whether the woman he would like to see on Mount Rushmore was his supermodel fiancee, Claudia Schiffer. Here again, his responses seemed to generate more questions than answers.
Was this just Copperfield politely side-stepping anything that got too personal? Or does the person who answered our questions even know Claudia Schiffer?
We asked: ``For David Kotkin [Copperfield's real name], a kid from Metuchen, N.J., was the idea of marrying a supermodel like Claudia Schiffer impossible? And when is the wedding day? You've been engaged nearly a year, what's the holdup?''
His answer: ``We are enjoying our engagement time together. With over 500 shows a year and a touring schedule that has got me on the road for the last 15 years plus creating an annual special for the CBS-TV network, well, that has always made it hard to settle down.''
We asked: ``Are you worthy? Are you worthy? Are you worthy?''
His answer: ``For as long as I can remember, I've always had a lady in my life. They were just not as famous as my fiancee, so I managed to keep my personal life very private.'' (Hello, David, are you there? Did you read the questions?)
We even tried to invite ourselves to their wedding. No response. We asked what line he used to ask her out. Nothing. We asked if their relationship was just another illusion, perhaps a publicity stunt. And we asked if he ever gets sick of answering questions about her.
Silence.
Maybe that was an answer in itself.
In a recent Esquire magazine profile, Copperfield proclaimed he was 75 percent happy. So, we asked: ``What's the problem? You are the world's foremost illusionist, you earn something like $30 million a year, and you're marrying one of the planet's most beautiful women. What's missing?''
His answer: ``I'm quite happy with my life and the direction it is going. I suppose if there's anything that I'm looking forward to, it is children. But hopefully that will change in the near future.''
Finally, we asked about his legacy, his place in the history of magic and illusion.
He pointed to the International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts, a museum that, in fact, doesn't yet exist in a public sense. It's Copperfield's collection of antique magic props and other memorabilia on the art of illusion, which is housed, he said, ``in a secret Nevada location.''
Reportedly, the collection includes more than 80,000 items, including Houdini's original metamorphosis trunk and some 15,000 books on magic.
``One such book is the oldest known literary work regarding magic in the world,'' Copperfield said in ending the interview. ``It's the first edition of Scott's `The Discovery of Witchcraft,' dated 1584. It was written at the time to reveal how magic was done, so that conjurers would be safe from burning at the stake.''
Yeah, but does it say anything in there about fax machines?
David Copperfield's "The Magic Is Back" tour: Tonight at 9 in the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium (the 5:30 show is sold out). Tickets are $39.50, $34.50 and $24.50. Call 981-1201.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Hello, David, are you there? The illusionist has madeby CNBthe Stature of Liberty disappear, but he didn't pull the wool over
anyone's eyes when he - or someone else - sent canned answers to
faxed questions.... Or were they canned? 2. Is his engagement to
Claudia Schiffer also an illusion? Apparently no date's set for the
magical event. color.