DAVID SETH KOTKIN
DO YOU BELIEVE?
THE SHOW
ILLUSIONS
Rule #1 of magic: control what the audience sees.
Rule #2: control what they don’t.
Rule #3: when your name shows up in a stack of very uncomfortable documents, release more doves.
COMEDY
Every magician needs comedy in the act. It keeps the audience laughing while journalists quietly read through very large file releases.
CARDS & COINS
All magic begins with simple tricks.
A shuffled deck. A coin behind the ear.
Eventually the trick becomes convincing everyone the paperwork is less interesting than the rabbit.
HYPNOSIS
A room full of people can be guided anywhere. Left. Right. Toward the spotlight.
Just not toward the footnotes in federal memos.
MIND READING
Mind reading is simple. If you control the spotlight, you can almost predict what people will ignore. Even when your name appears in the headlines.
FIRE ACT
Sometimes the smoke machine runs a little too long. Sometimes the audience starts asking questions. That’s when the real magic begins.
WHO IS
David Seth Kotkin
For decades the world has known him as David Copperfield. A master of illusion.
A man who built a career on misdirection. Watch the cards. Watch the smoke.
Watch the spotlight. Just don’t look anywhere else. For 25 years Las Vegas rewarded the act. Millions watched the tricks and went home believing they had seen magic. Because the most powerful illusion was never the disappearing train.
It was convincing the audience that nothing important was happening just outside the frame. Curtain up. The show begins...
Documents released in connection with the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein reveal that federal investigators once examined what they described as a “clear connection” between the two men.
A 2007 FBI memo said further investigation was needed to determine whether the relationship between Copperfield and Epstein involved referring possible victims to one another. Agents reviewing evidence also referenced what they described as a “business list” kept by Copperfield that appeared to catalogue women he pursued, including notes identifying some as guests of Epstein.
According to later communications summarizing the investigation, employees at Copperfield’s shows were allegedly trained to identify young women in the audience and bring them backstage. Investigators also referenced a notebook said to contain contact information, photographs, and notes about women he had been involved with.
Agents further documented occasions where complimentary tickets to Copperfield’s Las Vegas shows were provided to Epstein and his guests.
Documents released years later also included photographs appearing to show Copperfield with Ghislaine Maxwell, reportedly taken at a location believed to be on Epstein’s private island.
Copperfield has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has never been charged with a crime related to these matters. The investigation was eventually closed. The documents remain.