STAGE REVIEW : A Scaled-Down Copperfield at Arts Center

Penn and Teller, the unrepentant bad boys of magic, haven’t been kind to David Copperfield, magic’s recognized big gun. The duo often jab at Copperfield, and at others who like their legerdemain on a Masters-of-the-Universe scale.

So it was surprising, even amazing, to see Penn and Teller help Copperfield in his Friday show at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. They weren’t there in person, but in a tape that provided the punch line for one of Copperfield’s more sensational tricks.

At the end of the bit, the usually nasty Penn even called out affectionately to “Dave” and wished him well. For his part, “Dave” smiled back at the looming video image, also with affection.

Well, maybe Penn and Teller need the money. Whatever the reason, including them amid all the flash and fancy, made for an amusing touch, and showed that Copperfield doesn’t mind poking fun at his image.

Actually, certain aspects of that image were a bit downplayed Friday--to the show’s advantage. Copperfield continues to rely on a contrived gigolo sexiness buoyed by Las Vegas patter, all zapped up with those truly remarkable illusions of his. But this time we got all those things in smaller doses than in previous local engagements, particularly his 1988 Performing Arts Center show which was devalued by its slick, schmaltzy attitude.

For one thing, Copperfield seemed more natural, more able to be himself and have some fun--which meant more fun for the audience as well. (Perhaps the environment had something to do with this more relaxed approach. Copperfield taped much of the performance for his annual television special scheduled for March, and the process resulted in a few delays. There were breaks while the sets were prepared and the cameras set up, and Copperfield gabbed with the crowd. He was almost homespun in his delivery, even nervous. He even stammered a few times.)

Even some of the magic had a scaled-down quality. Copperfield often has been criticized for emphasizing the spectacular over the sublime, but Friday--though the customary, eye-opening technology-reinforced tricks were in place--he also offered smaller sleight-of-hand tricks (shown in close-up on the video screen) that apparently pleased the crowd as much as the giant numbers.

There were still, of course, all the familiar accompaniments: sexy assistants, thumping MTV tunes, rolling stage fog, caroming lights and corny visual narratives.

Among Copperfield’s best illusions are those that toy with our notions of space. Several times he seemed to shrink his assistants into smaller and smaller compartments. The most interesting of these involved a Chinese box-like contraption that seemed to collapse on itself.

Of the more special effects-oriented tricks, his appearances and disappearances involving a revving motorcycle accomplished its goal of leaving us disoriented and wondering. But then again, so did his tiniest and tidiest bit of work, a perplexing manipulation of a couple of ordinary rubber bands, of all things.