For those of you who don't already know, I also work for the illusionist David Copperfield.
As a part-time employee of David Copperfield Dissappearing, Inc. (DCDI), I am responsible for the following:
- Moderate the message board on Copperfield's official website to make sure people don't reveal magic secrets
- One of the official editors of Copperfield's Wikipedia article
- Maintain and moderate 2 other websites for Copperfield
- Answer fan questions and handle requests for autographs and meet-and-greets
- Act as the liason between his worldwide fan base and his crew.
This all started because my grandfather is a huge Copperfield fan. He used to record as many Copperfield TV specials as he could and watch them over and over with me, and we would have a blast exchanging theories on how we thought each of the illusions were done (we were all wrong, lol).
In 1997, when personal web sites became a craze, I decided to make a David Copperfield fan site to learn and test web development skills. I built a measly little site with a few pictures I found online. At the same time, David Copperfield launched an official website with a message board for his worldwide fans to ask questions and trade stories. I joined immediately, and just for fun, mentioned my fan site on the board. Little did I know how fast news would spread about my fan site. Fans around the world started contributing material to add to my site, and after a while, it became the largest Copperfield fan site on the web.
Visit TheMagicOfDC - http://www.TonyKo.com
The success of my website and my participation on the message board got the attention of Copperfield's crew, and I was offered the Moderator position. The first thing I did after I got that role was ask for tickets to a Copperfield show to take my grandfather. And at the age of 79, my grandfather finally lived his dream of meeting David Copperfield in person, and getting a photo taken with him...and it also doesn't hurt that my grandmother got an added bonus in the form of a big hug from David. Since then, I've taken my grandparents to see David's show whenever his tour came to the NYC area, and my grandfather has gotten many more pictures taken with David, all of which he still treasures immensely :)
A few years ago, David made an appearance on the Today Show to promote a TV special, and the night before, he found out I was arranging a small fan gathering at Rockefeller Center to see him, so he invited me to his apartment in NYC - a penthouse suite that takes up the top 4 floors of an apartment building in Midtown Manhattan, with a beautiful view overlooking Central Park. A couple of other guests were there too, so we got the grand tour of his home, including his vintage arcade collection (which I got to spend a while playing all of them), his amazing library (he has several copies of the book "David Copperfield" which he has never read, lol), and an amazing top floor bedroom with a panoramic view of Central Park, with a indoor swimming pool, and a huge rooftop terrace. Halfway through the tour his parent came home so we got to meet and say hello to his parents as well!
As I worked longer for David as his message board Moderator, he began giving me more responsibilities, from overlooking and maintaining his Wikipedia page, to moderating a tribute site to his father and mother. The first time he called me at home, my wife was so excited that she took a picture of me talking on the phone, lol. David Copperfield has been nothing but a pleasure to talk to and to work with, and the same goes for the incredible people that is part of his crew.