David Copperfield’s magician’s assistant severely injured in trick gone wrong
Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Hot Momma
A magician’s assistant for David Copperfield was rushed to the hospital with a severe injury after some kind of prop malfunction. The accident occurred during Copperfield’s finale performance of his MGM Grand Las Vegas show Wednesday.
The employee was assisting Copperfield during the “fan illusion” and got his arm caught in the fan. In the illusion, Copperfield appears to walk through the 12-foot high industrial fan and disappear as he turns to smoke. A rep for Copperfield said that:
“Just prior to David himself walking through the fan, [the assistant] was accidentally pulled into the vortex of the moving fan blades, causing injury to his arm and face.”
The assistant, named Brandon (his last name is withheld for his privacy), broke his arm in multiple places requiring several hours of surgery to insert pins and bolts. The puncture on his face requiring eight or nine stitches.
An eyewitness to the incident tells Us Magazine that when it happened, the audience “heard a thump.”
“One of the assistants dropped to the floor. The curtain came down partially. Blood was everywhere, and the other assistants dragged the victim back. Then the curtain closed all the way.”
Shortly after, “Copperfield came out and said, ‘We have an emergency and we might have to end the show…please give me two minutes.’ He came back a minute later and said, ‘I’m sorry, the show is over…if you want your money back, refunds will be given.”
this is sick……………….