Copperfield astounds audience

Before any jokes or tricks, David Copperfield had the audience at the IU Auditorium March 11 close their eyes and picture the place they would most like to travel. He announced that for one audience member that night, the dream of traveling to that special place would come true.\nCopperfield began the show by passing through steel. He laid flat on a platform underneath the large steel sheet and was covered by a cape. When the cape was removed, Copperfield was on the other side of the steel.\n"The show was fantastic," said audience member Lisa Arthur. "This is my third time seeing him, and it's always very entertaining."\nOne surprising facet of the show was Copperfield's interaction with the audience. The action on the stage was never stagnant, except for a slow point in the show where the famed magician showed the audience videos of his most rabid fans. The video sequence was supposed to feed into the next trick, which never occurred. But Copperfield constantly fed the audience one-liners, throwing Frisbees, beach balls and even pickles to choose his volunteers. At one point, a woman from the audience grabbed his backside as he led her to the stage. He laughingly brushed it off. \n"He's definitely a showman," said audience member Lou Harris. "The show was a family thing."\nBetty Rynard, another attendee, agreed.\n"I liked the humor best," Rynard said.\nAs an introduction to "The Lottery," Copperfield spoke about his grandfather.\n"It was always his dream to win the lottery," Copperfield said. "He would play the numbers from his cars' license plates. He always said if he won, he would buy a 1948 Lincoln convertible."\nFor the illusion, Copperfield chose random audience members to pick lottery numbers. After everyone had picked, he revealed his prediction. It was an exact match to what the audience members had picked. To prove the legitimacy of the prediction, he brought out two license plates which he'd supposedly made before the show. They were also an exact match. As a topper, he produced a 1948 Lincoln convertible out of thin air. \n"I drive a Lincoln ... I would've liked to have that car," Rynard said. "And I'd like some lottery numbers, too."\nThen came the show's grandest illusion. Christened "Reunion" by Copperfield, it involved picking a boy from the audience and reuniting him with his father in Hawaii. The magician was supposed to magically transport himself and the boy to a remote Hawaiian beach. Cameras were set up on the supposed Hawaiian beach, broadcasting live to the audience. Copperfield asked for an audience member to write the letters B and L on his right arm. He took the boy onto a platform above the audience, and from behind a curtain came an explosion of smoke, signaling their disappearance.\nThey reappeared in front of the cameras on the beach. The boy's father was near the water and embraced his son. While they ran laughing along the shore, Copperfield held his arm up to the camera: the B and L were there in large dark letters.\nCopperfield returned to the platform somehow and showed himself to the audience amid a wave of applause. The show was over, but didn't officially end until after the encore, when Copperfield made 13 audience members disappear.\n-- Contact staff writer Daniel Castro at dacastro@indiana.edu.