"It's date night tonight," I told my best friend Rusty on my cell phone, "Erin and I are going out to dinner and then to see David Copperfield." Rusty said "The magician or the play?" I retorted "The book. We're going to sit around and look at the book. It's leather-bound. Very nice."

Sometimes I miss our conversations and the quick-strike wit required to keep them going.

Erin and I did see David Copperfield and it was a great show. This was the third time I've seen him live, but the previous time was probably when I was 14 or 15, well over a decade ago. His show was as timeless as he is, some of the tricks are similar to prior ones I've seen, but some are definitely on a whole new level. The one that comes to mind most is "The Lottery." He starts off by establishing a story about his grandfather and his wish to win the lottery, claiming he always played the numbers from the license plates on the only two cars he owned his whole life. He throws a frisbee into the audience and that person thinks of two numbers between one and fifty and reveals a bit of personal information. Copperfield spray paints the numbers and the personal info onto a large white sheet on stage. Then that audience member tosses the frisbee to someone else, who comes up with two of their own numbers and a bit of personal info. They throw it to a third person who does the same. So in the end you have 6 numbers and three bits of personal info, all randomly chosen. Copperfield has the 3 people come on stage and open a lockbox that has been suspended from the ceiling the whole show. From the box he hands one guy a bag to hold, the other guy a sheet of paper and gives the woman an audio cassette. They put the audio cassette in a tape player and David's own voice on the tape correctly predicts the numbers and the personal information of the audience members. David unfolds the paper and the personal info is all there, as are the lotto numbers. Pretty impressive. But then, they open the bag to reveal two real, old license plates, with the numbers fully embossed in the plates. These were supposedly his Grandfather's old license plates that he kept in his dresser all his life. The numbers on the plates are exactly the same as those the audience chose. It was an amazing effect. Without a doubt I think that was the defining trick of the show. The others were good, some were a bit hokey, but that one took the cake.

Having just recently seen Penn & Teller in Vegas, I couldn't help but compare and contrast the styles of them and David Copperfield. Both shows were great, but I think it's the wit and banter of Penn & Teller that make their show so great, and probably a better overall show than the Copperfield one. Maybe it's just my sick sense of humor that makes them appeal more to me. Copperfield is definitely more the emotional performer, but Penn & Teller strike you on a different level with their banality that isn't really banal at all, if you listen to what they're saying. Copperfield wins hands down in terms of illusions, as he has some elaborate ones. Penn & Teller usually tell you how they do a trick once they do it, so some of the mystique is lost. It all boils down to the performance. When it's all said and done, I think Penn & Teller seem more like guys you could approach and feel comfortable with, whereas David Copperfield doesn't exactly exude the same quality, though I'm sure most women would say they could get very comfortable with him if it came down to it.