In New Jersey, in 1956, Hyman and Rebecca Kotkin welcomed into their world a son they named David.

David became a magician, an illusionist, a performer and a storyteller, and at 18, he started using the stage name “David Copperfield,” which he took from the Charles Dickens book.

Copperfield began learning magic at a young age. His grandfather taught him a card trick when he was seven, and at 12, he was the youngest person ever admitted to the Society of American Magicians. He performed magic at his bar mitzvah when he was 13, and at 16, he taught magic at New York University. Soon afterward, he started performing professionally.

“Early on, my folks were hoping for ‘my son the doctor,’ but realized magic could provide a steady income after my first network TV special on ABC,” he said.

Since those early days, Copperfield has performed in so many television specials and live events that The Magic of David Copperfield TV specials have been nominated for more than 30 Emmy Awards. According to Guinness World Records, he’s sold more seats than any other solo entertainer.

His most famous illusions include making the Statue of Liberty disappear, levitating over the Grand Canyon, flying, and walking through the Great Wall of China.

Along with performing on stages  worldwide, in 1982, Copperfield created Project Magic, a rehabilitation program that helps disabled people regain lost or damaged dexterity skills by using sleight-of-hand magic as a method of physical therapy.

“Many years ago, I had correspondence with an individual that showed a great amount of self-esteem in his letters,” Copperfield recalled.

“Finally, after many months, I met him at a show, and to my surprise, he was handicapped and in a wheelchair. I was a bit taken aback only because he had never mentioned it.

“Then I realized he didn’t think of himself as being physically challenged. And that his use of magic at home gave him a great amount of self-esteem. From there, I started Project Magic that is now in thousands of hospitals in over 30 countries around the world,” he said.  

The program involves magicians who teach magic tricks to therapists. Then, together, they show the participants how to perform the illusions. Copperfield, as often as he can, works with Project Magic participants.

“Magic seems to give patients, from stroke victims to those with physical impairments, a great amount of self-esteem, and it improves manual dexterity. It is a program I am most proud of,” he said.

The illusion of which Copperfield is most proud is Flying. “It’s a very special illusion of mine. It took me seven years to create, and although not in the current tour, some talk about how it would take them back to their youth, when dreams of flight are most prevalent.”

 Copperfield said magic is always reaching new people around the world. “It is, after all, the oldest of all the performing arts. It’s [been] practised in an unbroken succession from ancient time through the present. Science and technology have often been used by the magician before they came into the marketplace on a mass basis.”

He added that before the era of motion pictures, magicians were using  images in motion as illusions in their shows. At that time, moving images were so new that audiences perceived them as “magic.” Also, before holograms became commonplace, magicians would use them to baffle and intrigue audiences.

Copperfield’s latest tour includes the illusions Reunion, Squeezebox, The Lottery and Thirteen.

“In Reunion, a member of the audience takes the trip of his or her life for reconciliation with a loved one,” Copperfield said.

“While standing on a crane arm with me, suspended over the heads of the audience, the person vanishes, only to reappear moments later in the freely selected location of their dreams.”

With Squeezebox, the audience gets to see Copperfield squeezed into a size that could fit into a shoebox.

“In a mesmerizing illusion I call The Lottery, inspired by my grandfather’s unfilled dream, I share a secret technique for predicting the winning numbers of The Lottery,” he said.

“Also, in an ‘unplugged’ moment of pure sleight-of-hand, I do some close-up magic with a lethal black African scorpion.

“One of the most interactive moments of the show is Thirteen, where 13 audience members chosen entirely at random vanish, leaving friends and family wondering whether to applaud or put their loved ones’ faces on milk cartons,” he added.

Judaism has played and continues to play a special part in his life. “I spent my entire childhood going to Hebrew school after regular school every day. I was force-fed by faith,” he recalled.

“In retrospect, I’m very glad that my parents had me do it. I’m profoundly appreciative to know where I came from and what my ancestors went through. I learned life lessons that have served me well.”

Copperfield’s current tour includes Canadian performances of David Copperfield: An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion, in Toronto from March 28 to 30 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (www.sonycentre.ca).