Although Copperfield tours the world, travelling up to 40 weeks a year and often performing several shows a day, he is all about excellence and state of the art. In 2002, Florida based Paradigm Productions swapped out Copperfield's aging lighting rig with an automated Martin lighting package that consisted of MAC 2000 Profiles, MAC 2000 Performances, MAC 600 washlights, MAC 250+'s, RoboScan Pro 918 scanners and Atomic 3000 strobes. Paradigm has provided ongoing support for the David Copperfield show ever since and just this past spring refreshed the entire rig with new fixtures while substituting MAC 250 Kryptons for the 250+'s and adding MAC 700 Profiles to the mix. Lighting control is from a GrandMA.
"I'm very involved in the lighting aspect of the show," Copperfield comments. "I love design and the idea to paint with light is very important. Also, lighting plays a very important part in the magic itself. Lighting can focus the attention on what people should see, or misdirect to what people shouldn't see. A missed lighting cue could be disastrous, for example. A piece of magic would become less magical if a button was hit at the wrong time."
Lighting design for his magical shows is a collaborative effort between Copperfield and Homer Liwag, the show's conceptual designer. Lighting is not only integrated into the illusions, it's used to set mood, what Copperfield calls 'emotional magic' as well as to complement musical pieces in the show. "Everything you'd see in a big Broadway show or a rock concert we do," he explains. "The whole show is like that - it's a big production. Even in my TV specials I collaborate with a lighting designer to set the stage version and then recreate that version on TV." Copperfield notes that his TV specials have won several Emmy awards for lighting alone.
"Lighting plays a key role in every minute of the show. We strobe the lights, use moving patterns, decorate scenery, everything. For years and years it was all about fixed lighting and you'd have to have quadruple the instruments to do a single thing. The idea to have moving lights that are programmable give you so much flexibility - it's an exciting thing. I love these lights."
(Chris Henry)
