David Copperfield

I've embarrassed myself so many times. About a week ago, I threw a frisbee into the audience to find a randomly selected person. A guy caught it and I told him to stand up. He was reluctant. I thought he was just shy. I encouraged him to stand up - please, stand up! Come on!

I then realized that he was disabled, and I felt absolutely horrible. I apologized profusely and I ran to him, he smiled, I hugged him, and he understood. So yeah - that was embarrassing.

An island. ;)

One of my favorite illusions is Flying. It's a dream anyone can relate to. All of these illusions take many years to develop. A lot of trial and error. Sometimes we have to change paths totally, but eventually, usually, we succeed.

The flying illusion took SEVEN years to develop - to make it really credible. I wanted to make it feel real: levitating inside a plexiglass box, levitating through hoops, flying while holding a woman from the audience.

First, learn everything you can about the art. Second, learn everything you can about being on stage - performing. And then work hard to find you own voice - your own unique point of view. Do lots of shows. And finally - most importantly - don't give up.

Filmmakers from The Prestige and The Illusionist did research in my museum - I was very happy with the respect they gave to magic.

Magicians lose the opportunity to experience a sense of wonder. Our mind is programmed to understand how things work, to be skeptical. To experience that now is a wonderful feeling, but very rare for me.

I recently saw the musical Ghost on Broadway, and my friend Paul Kieve created the magic for the show. One particular moment in that show gave me that feeling, and it was amazing to see. If you're in New York City, definitely check it out.

I love when people come up to me. Especially when I'm eating or in the middle of a movie. Just kidding. Actually, people are REALLY nice. I've been very fortunate. There's a secret - I can become invisible by just changing my posture. It's a trick I've learned when I want to get somewhere quick.

I brush my teeth with a Sonicare toothbrush before every show.

Finally... I got my way! Sorry, that was a bad joke.

1. In Greece, a pop star saw part of how an illusion was done, and then revealed in the press what he thought was the method. He got front page news. His idea was close, but we had an alternate method already prepared. So the next night, I told the audience about what happened, and we performed the illusion anyways - but with a different method. After it was over, the audience cheered. It amazed me that the audience was on my side and wanted to help me preserve the wonder.