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In April, 1983, 50 million television viewers watched the illusionist David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear, straight into thin air. If you’re north of 50, you perhaps remember the spectacle. How did he do it? 40 years later, the YouTube channel Mind Blown Magic Illusion demystifies the large-scale magic trick, explaining how Copperfield distracted the audience, rotated the stage, and shifted Lady Liberty out of view. That’s apparently the gist of the illusion. However, in the co*ments section on YouTube, one co*menter adds a little more important detail:

You missed the most important misdirection. He had a helicopter with a bright spotlight shining on the statue for a considerable length of time during which he apologized to the audience and said they were having “technical problems.” Eventually the curtain came across and the stage began to revolve imperceptibly slowly. However the helicopter moved in sync with the stage. The beam of light appeared to be stationary in relation to the stage. When the curtain was lifted they saw the helicopter in the same place but with no statue. The beam of light also helped black out the background. Otherwise the audience would have seen a different skyline. Pure genius!

For Open Culture readers, it’s worth mentioning that the legendary filmmaker Frank Capra (It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It Happened One Night) played an unlikely role in the production. In an interview with Judd Apatow, Copperfield recalls how he enlisted Capra to help write the script for the episode:

So then I said [to myself] “Now the Statue of Liberty is going to disappear, but I’ve got to make this have more meaning.” So I went to visit Frank Capra, one of my idols, and did a kind of Judd Apatow interview with him. I said, “I’d like the Statue of Liberty to disappear, but I want to do it as a lesson in freedom, how valuable freedom is and what the world would be like without liberty.” And Frank Capra looked at me and said, “David, I love your idea, but here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to try and it’s not going to work; it’s not going to disappear.” And I said, “Mr. Capra, I can’t do that.” You know? [laughs] And I got to watch Frank Capra, in his eighties, in action.

You can watch some of the original 1983 footage below. Enjoy!

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