Master magician David Copperfield is flying high--in...

Master magician David Copperfield is flying high--in more ways than one.

He’s getting ready to hit town with a new magical production that features his trademark “flying” feat. He’s also planning future television specials, working on new epic stunts and sketching out other large- and small-scale illusions for future projects.

Copperfield is arguably the most popular magician in the world and definitely the richest, earning $50 million last year.

Success seems to be driving him more than when he was starting out as a struggling magician in New Jersey. His schedule includes about 500 shows a year, and he often performs three or four in the same day. His pace and schedule are relentless.

What makes Copperfield run? Or rather, what makes him disappear?

“I’m driven by fear, driven by the fear of failure,” he says just before a sold-out performance of his new stage production, “Unknown Dimension,” which hits Southern California this weekend for several dates in several cities. “I’m also driven by the fear of not staying relevant. I’ve been getting a lot of honors and awards the last couple of years, and I’m not sure how deserved it was. I feel I’m still trying to get it right. In that way, fear turns out to be positive.

“There just is never enough time to get everything I want to accomplish done,” he adds. “Mainly, I’m searching for ways to make magic relevant, to touch people in a way that makes them go on a journey.”

He’s literally taking audience members on a journey in “Unknown Dimension,” which kicks off its U.S. tour Friday in San Diego and continues in Pasadena, Costa Mesa and Santa Barbara. During each performance, Copperfield and 13 randomly chosen audience members vanish on a platform suspended overhead. Then the magician and one of those audience members appear in a remote “dream location,” like Bora Bora, Tahiti or Hawaii. They are shown on a live satellite hookup.

“It’s very cool and very emotional,” says Copperfield, explaining that the concept is in sync with his mission to use magic to provoke awe and wonder instead of befuddlement. He wants to give his audiences a complete emotional experience.

‘The Wonder Factor Is Very Important’

“My magic has never been based on an effort to fool people,” he says. “The wonder factor is very important. That’s what I based ‘Flying’ on. This concept in the new show, like when I fly, is based on a dream of mine--closing your eyes and being anywhere you want to be. Everyone has a perfect place that you dream or think about, away from troubles and worries. For the audience, this provides wish fulfillment--and fulfills my wish as well.”

At this point in his career, one may wonder what more Copperfield could wish for. He consistently sells out his performances and is as adept at tricks of epic proportions as he is at sleight of hand. He still has regular television specials, and he staged a record-breaking Broadway show, “Dreams and Nightmares,” 3 1/2 years ago, in which Francis Ford Coppola served as creative consultant.

And his personal life is not too shabby either. He is dating Belgian model Ambre Frisque. His six-year engagement to German supermodel Claudia Schiffer ended last year.

But all the accolades, awards and jet-set romances haven’t made Copperfield slow down. He still feels he has something to prove as an artist and magician. Copperfield is obsessed with getting it right. It took seven years of training for Copperfield to perfect the flying routine, one of his most difficult feats, which became a staple of his live shows. Other large-scale illusions have taken several months or a year to nail down.

Now he’s developing his most dangerous feat: walking into a tornado.

“It’s about walking into a real tornado that appears on stage, and surviving,” he says. “It’s very powerful and very dangerous. It’s not a special effect. We create an actual tornado. The audience would have to be strapped in their seats. Some people in my crew have gotten hurt pretty bad. We’re having some setbacks, but we’re still working on it and determined.”

That drive is symbolic of the many paradoxes of Copperfield. In conversation, he sprinkles deadpan humor with constant self-deprecating pokes, yet has a perfectionist’s approach toward his craft and honoring the tradition of magic.

He jokes and flirts during his live shows but is rarely photographed smiling, his image dominated by his searching, brooding eyes. He is the no-nonsense head of his own magic empire but has a little boy’s appetite for bizarre toys and contraptions that fill his Manhattan penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park.

“Yes, I have a Peter Pan complex,” Copperfield says with a chuckle. “I live in this Legoland of contraptions. And I’m constantly playing psychological dramas with people. The bottom line is I never grew up.”

‘She’s Totally Great,’ He Says of His Ex-Fiancee

Copperfield has been on his own personal journey during the last several years, largely prompted by his high-profile courtship and engagement to Schiffer. The relationship elevated him from famous magician to high-profile jet-setter as he and Schiffer were photographed all over the world at award ceremonies and gala gatherings.

The engagement also sparked a media storm of tabloid rumors about his sexuality, about whether the relationship was arranged, even whether his tan is real.

He is still friendly with Schiffer, saying that their nonstop work schedules took their toll on the relationship. On his Web site (https://www.dcopperfield.com), Copperfield says, “We’re married to our careers. We basically cheated on our careers by stealing time to be together. She’s totally great, and we’re still friends, and always will be, but we’re scratching each other’s names off our Keds and moving on, obladee, obladaa.”

During the interview, Copperfield adds: “We had a good time. I had a six-year relationship with someone I really care about. I guess people wrote about it so much because they don’t know how to write about magic.”

But Copperfield has just the hint of an edge in his tone when talking about the flood of rumors surrounding him.

“Most of those rumors are pretty moronic,” he says. “Is it hurtful? Not really. Who really cares? At the end of the day, it’s all about the work. What does it matter what I do in my personal life? I’m not a politician. I’m doing my little show, hopefully letting people forget about their problems.”

And he says the performances still have appeal, despite revelations by the Masked Magician on Fox TV specials and others about how magic tricks are done.

“I’ve always dealt with that kind of exposure,” he says. “People have always tried to demystify what I do. I always have four or five different ways I perform illusions, so it’s no big deal for me when one of them is exposed. But it really hurt those magicians who don’t have the resources I have. Those people lost work. Those specials were a pathetic way for Fox to get ratings.”

Magic Is ‘Healthy. . . .It’s a Viable Art Form’

Magic has prevailed, he maintains: “Magic is very healthy now. It still has its detractors, so it’s important to keep pushing the envelope. But people are loving it. It’s a viable art form. Between the emotional things I do and the more dangerous things like the tornado, it keeps magic exciting.”

Also more exciting is his personal life. Copperfield is ecstatic that both his parents and Frisque travel with him on the road, adding an element of calm to his whirlwind existence.

“She can travel a lot with me, which is a new situation,” he said. “My going home is not going home, so it’s great when I can have my familiar things with me, like my parents and my girlfriend.”

As the 44-year-old Copperfield gets older, settling down has become more of a priority. The problem is balancing his personal goals and career.

Says Copperfield: “I have to do what I’m doing. It is pure expression for me. The object is to do it with less stress but still do it by my rules. When I have a family and kids, hopefully in the near future, I will have to find that time balance.”

In the meantime, there are still magical worlds to explore. And winds to conquer.

“I’m still not satisfied, absolutely not,” says Copperfield. “There are moments where I say, ‘That’s pretty good.’ But other moments where I say, ‘I wish I could do that again.’ It’s great to have that little bit of an edge. It’s important not to be that satisfied. When that happens, it’s pretty much over.”

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* David Copperfield’s “Unknown Dimension,” Civic Theatre, 202 C St., San Diego. Friday, 9 p.m.; Saturday, 1, 4 and 9 p.m. $29.50 to $44.50. (619) 615-4100. Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Tuesday, 9 p.m.; Wednesday, 6 and 9 p.m. $30 to $50. (213) 365-3500. Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Next Thursday, 6 and 9 p.m.; Dec. 2, 12, 3, 6 and 9 p.m. $30 to $50. (714) 556-2121. Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara. Dec. 3, 6 and 9 p.m.; Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m. $34.50 to $42.50. (805) 963-4408.