David Copperfield Levitates Across The GrandCanyon

There is a forklift raising him at the beginning (the reason for the wall behind him). When he goes through the hoop (side to side) the hoop has a way of letting the armature of the forklift through.

The "person" flying is not DC. It is a lightweight model on an RC plane (hence the music - to drown out the engine noise - but you still hear it a little).

The thing to remember about all tricks is to question why some things are there. Why the concrete wall behind him, why the (bad) music so loud, why does he not move or wave while "flying"..etc.

Copperfield has trained himself to emit a very long and sustained fart that he can ride all the way across the canyon...

All you pimps don't know nothing about magic but wanna make comments. He's the real deal!! better than david blaine, better than mondo magic or anyone else!!! The next thing you guys gonna tell me is Santa don't exist!!.... Screw all you negative nancie's!!

You can hear the engine noise,and thats why the music is so loud..Greetings fra Norway..My english is bad:)

sucks

i love the 80's

This is hilarious!!!!!! I wonder why they didnt show the helicopter he was hanging on by a string.... just hilarious

When CBS is paying you a ton of money,

thanx to adobe photoshop and premiere!!

This can be done with djinn!
Yes djinn are real & will grant wishes-levitaion & more!
you can summon djinn if you have the conjurs ect!
you can buy djinn already conjured from some people!
if you notice -his eyes were closed!if he opens-he falls!

that this wasn't on his 15 Years of Magic special. This is the first time I ever saw this, though I did hear that he floated over the Grand Canyon. I think David knows this was stupid and cheesy. He probably regrets doing something like this. It doesn't change the fact that he's the best illusionist alive, and maybe the best that's ever lived.

A couple of things some of you commenting don't realize is the context of this video and when it was made. This was the 80's. And 80's televisions at that. There was no way they blue screened (they didn't use green back then) this because even the multi-million dollar movie effects of that era stuck out like a sore thumb in those days. Particularly on bright day-time scenes. Check out the pre-Special Edition snow scenes in Return of the Jedi (approximately the same time this was filmed) and you'll see the in extra where they had to trade off the opacity of the Hoth ships with the thickness of the outline they left against those white backdrops. They were later able to fix that with the benefit of CGI in the 21st Century.

In addition, the "Flying Copperfield" is obviously an actual object in the air. Those camera angles were impossible to generate in a studio in those days, much less a TV studio, without the benefit of CGI technology. Again, look at the old Star Wars films prior to the add-ins and you notice the limitations of the space movement. The Superman movies as well. Certain angles were impossible without those tell tale signs that something had been added or replaced or wasn't really there. There's something really there flying through those canyons.

And that "creepy broad" you all keep referring to was the woman who sang that song, a mega hit in the 80's, which is why she's there. It wasn't just some random song. He picked a chart topper from that era and worked it into his show.

She's lip-syncing, by the way, so the notion that the music is turned up is ridiculous. There's no audience, so there's no reason to even have live sound. It's not hiding anything, cause even if an atomic bomb went off, their playing a completely different soundtrack and we wouldn't be able to hear it.

The close up scenes are obviously there for dramatic purposes, unless the cameraman went flying with him. It's NOT blue screen, but likely him sitting near the edge of the cliff with the wind or a fan in his face. I don't think that was meant to be taken seriously, especially when he's looking around in the flying sequences, and not meditating.

The flying scenes could very well be an RC plane, and is the most likely. It's far to realistic looking to be the best 80's special effects had to offer. But the fact he's looking around is a little harder to explain, and that's what makes the trick so entertaining. It's very difficult to deconstruct in it's entirety, and the more you rule out, the less likely the options become.

But I felt I should offer a little perspective on some elements of the video. Some of you cats make your assumptions a little too hastily. We ALL know he didn't really fly. Otherwise David Copperfield wouldn't call himself an "Illusionist".

does anyone know the name of the song ???

This is really cool stuff! Helicopter noise only because camera in helicopter!

can fly better than DC, at least he's carring a camera when he flies...

the cameraman how he flew together with him.

Especially with that camera close up, Copperfield must have taught the camera man how to levitate. obviously the student surpassed the teacher, since the student is operating some equipment, unlike David who is totally concentrating on levitating

=)

what a GAY song .. and sooo fucking FAKE !!

it would be on the news for yrs

love how he didn't get a kiss at the end of the video for all his trouble.

ancient clip through, get something newer and better.

this reminded me of criss angels stunt, being suspended by hooks and flown around by a helicopter over the dessert.

...but Jedies are better and they got Lightsabers!

"Look mom I'm flying"

As U all can C I was on drugs on this clip. Just look at my face at the closeups.

what's the difference between this and any movie ever made with special effects. it's called a blue screen. and it ain't magic. i'm usually a fan of david copperfield but this seems very low brow to me.

who is the guy in the white dress at the end, holy shit is he hot.

tricks. so no matter what kind medium it uses to deliver the visual effect, all we, as audience, got was only what we see. magicians wouldn't say that he/she didn't do this or that to accomplish such goal. for example, david blaine or criss angel would never take legal responsiblities to say they didn't set up the whole scene or crowd that might be part of the collaborators. of course we believe what we want to believe and that's all right. i guess i just want to point out all magic shows are complete packages of messge delivery, including tricks, media, choreography... and it is art...

to the IDIOT who hates this clip so much but still views it 14 times???? get a life ok, no one has a gun to ya head forcin ya to watch it!
i got a laugh out of it in my first veiwing, which i think is good in this world of uptight anal tossers as yourself.
to everyone else who got a chuckle from this ad, i congratulate you all as it shows peoples humor is alive and kicking!

this is one of the funniest videos on metacafe, i think the image of a man flying fast over a canyon while sitting cross-legged in an invisible chair is one of the most amusing things i have ever witnessed

and it's very, VERY cheesy

I have a feeling its fake

It's a video trick. If you look REAL close...you can actually see a small broom stuck up his ass.

That this was done using a green screen?

Somehow I don't think that it is real

hes flying on top of wonder woman's invisible plane... duh..lol

=)

she said she wants her invisible jet back!

so its obviously fake.

looks like one of those cheap effects from the old movies

Just watch his hair blowing.

Is he Steven Seagal?