The Magic of David Copperfield IX: The Escape from Alcatraz (1987)

This is the 9th CBS Copperfield TV special, introduced by the host Ann Jillian after a short presentation by David Copperfield himself from the Alcatraz prison's beacon. It is the first one to include officially in the title the name of the last illusion, that is "Escape From Alcatraz". Copperfield has chosen just this prison because of its reputation: Alcatraz, nicknamed "The Rock" or also "The Bastion", was opened on August 11th, 1934, as a maximum security federal prison, and has operated for 29 years, until the close of March 21th, 1963, caused by the high costs of maintenance and use. Then, in 1972, it was reopened as a tourist attraction. However, its reputation mainly comes from two reasons: it has held some of the most notorious criminals in American history, as Al Capone or George Kelly, and of the 14 escape attempts only the one of June 11th, 1962, has still not evidence of failure, after decades of FBI investigation. And Copperfield is the only illusionist that has performed his attempt, that is also one of the few escapes no more repeated. So, the illusions performed are: "Table Of Death", "Death Defying Duck", "On The Edge", "Dream Vision", "Duck-O-Matic", "Kid-O-Matic", "Reverse Duck/Kid-O-Matic" and then "Escape From Alcatraz". In addition to this feat, during this special's closing credits he performs a gag that somehow represents an opposite challenge: he can't get into his car because it is locked and the problem is that the same key is inserted in the dashboard's lock. He tries different ways to force the door but fails... This special is the first one produced by the Copperfield's first production company, and no more by the previous one, The Cates Brothers Company.