David Copperfield has brought magic to millions through his performances at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. But now he’s showing that sometimes a magic trick is just that – a trick. During his signature “Lucky #13” disappearing act, Copperfield stuns his audiences consistently by making 13 audience volunteers magically disappear on stage. With this trick, the volunteers are seated on stage in a big cabinet that is covered with a giant curtain and suspended in air. When the curtain lifts, the volunteers have vanished, only to reappear in the back of the theater.
More on the Magic Trick That Resulted in Injury
For one volunteer, this the trick turned into a disaster. During a show in 2013, audience member Gavin Cox of Britain sustained a serious injury during the Lucky #13 act. He was on stage, inside the cabinet, and when the curtain went up, he and rest of the volunteers had vanished into this air. Fortunately, Mr. Cox and the rest of the volunteers were still alive and present. However, the secret was revealed that when the curtain went down, they were each hurried through passageways and a kitchen at the MGM Grand resort before they reappear at the back of the theater.
Mr. Cox sued David Copperfield, alleging severe injuries after he tripped and fell while being quickly ushered from the stage through an alleyway that was coated with powdery residue near a trailer-sized trash bin. Cox’s lawyer has accounted his medical bills to exceed $1 million dollars for treatment of a traumatic brain injury and injuries to his spine and shoulder.
Copperfield and his attorneys have tried to declare mistrial based on the case’s publicity, but the judge wouldn’t let them pull a Houdini. Now, Copperfield has had to break the magician’s cardinal rule and reveal how he did this trick, and further has lost any chance of escape beyond the jury’s verdict.
The magician testified to checking the pathway where Cox was injured before every show and that no one else has ever been injured. However, at least two people have come forward to discredit him. Cox’s attorney has announced that there will be new testimony from both witnesses who took part in Copperfield’s trick at another time. That testimony could be crucial to Cox’s case. How Copperfield’s attorneys handle it will demonstrate if they are as good at running the show as their client.
Copperfield is being sued for negligence as it is alleged that his employees were carelessly rushing the audience members through the unkempt hallway, which led to injuries from a slip and fall. As Cox’s attorney strives to prove that this careless act was the cause of injury, the magician is contending no liability. MGM Grand Hotel is also party to the suit as it was their property on which the injury occurred.
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