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SCMP Reporter

David Copperfield is keen to get back to Asia to boggle the minds of Hong Kong audiences with his Dreams and Nightmares show.

  He last astounded local audiences in 1996 with his Beyond Imagination tour, a show that was seen by more than 55,000 people.

  The superstar magician then fulfilled a long-time dream by appearing in his own Broadway show to great success in a month-long run which broke all box-office records.

  'I had wanted to work on Broadway for a long time and this is the show I am taking to Hong Kong.

  'Francis Ford Coppola [who directed The Godfather] and his team helped us stage it and I get to do some dangerous things.

  'There's plenty of magic happening to the people in the audience and it's pretty cool. It's important to get people involved,' he said.

  'I had a great time in Hong Kong and the people were very warm.

  'I just have to use a little more feng shui in the show. It's fun.'   According to New York reviews, Dreams and Nightmares , which runs for nine shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from May 8 to 11, features Copperfield sawing himself in half, flying through the air and making tissue papers dance.

 The mega-production is comparable to a massive rock concert and Copperfield will bring in more than 100 tonnes of equipment set up by 50 travelling crew members and another 50 local crew.

  'I've been doing a lot of interactive magic, magic with people right in their own hands. It's remarkable.

  'It's a whole new departure for our art as people don't just watch it, they experience it. It's amazing.'  Legendary for making the Statue of Liberty disappear and for walking through the Great Wall of China, Copperfield said he started off with simple magic as a child growing up in New Jersey.

  He said it helped him a lot in his own personal development.

  'Magic really helped me to meet people and to feel secure enough in myself to make friends and to communicate. It was a real icebreaker.

  'If you are interested in magic, go to the library and take out all the books on magic and do shows if you enjoy it. That's how I started.'   One of Copperfield's pet projects is Project Magic, a rehabilitative programme he started more than a decade ago to strengthen dexterity and motor-use in disabled patients through sleight-of-hand tricks.

  It has been implemented in more than 1,000 hospitals around the world in more than 30 countries.

  'There is nothing I do that is more important. It motivates a patient's therapy and helps to build self-esteem,' he said.

 Copperfield reveals some of the tricks of his trade at the Web site http://www.aec-ltd.com 



Magic beyond imagination