If you’ve never seen magician David Copperfield working before, you are really missing something interesting. It’s absolutely amazing to watch him do things that seem impossible, to say the least.
This has worked out well for him and he has quite a lucrative career surrounded by the magic he performs. In 2006, however, his unusual abilities served him in a different way.
According to People, he was busy touring the United States at the time for the “An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion” tour. After he left the performance in West Palm Beach, Florida, he was walking with two female assistants and they were robbed at gunpoint.
This is undoubtedly a moment in anyone’s life that would be terrifying, but Copperfield took it in stride. He was able to use his magic to perform an illusion that made them think his pockets were empty.
When he was headed for his tour bus with Cathy Daly and Mia Volmut, two of his assistants, a black car pulled up and two people exited.
Copperfield said to People that at first, they thought it was somebody wanting an autograph. That is one they told him to give their money and their stuff, and they had guns out.
Daly and Volmut handed over a purse with plane tickets, a passport, a cell phone, and €200. There was also $400 that they were carrying at the time.
Copperfield, however, used an illusion to show them that his pockets were empty. This sleight of hand convince them that they needed to exit. At a later time, he showed police that he actually had a wallet, passport, and cell phone in his pockets.
According to the Herald-Tribune, he referred to it as “reverse pickpocketing.”
He also performed another trick, he got the license plate of the car and the suspects were captured. They were able to recover the purses and the money.