One of David Copperfield's magician's assistants was rushed to the hospital with a severe injury during the finale performance of his MGM Grand Las Vegas show Wednesday, a rep for Copperfield tells Usmagazine.com.
"During an illusion where David attempts to walk through the rotating blades of a 12-foot high industrial fan, the fan and its platform were being rotated by one of David's illusion technicians," the rep says. "Just prior to David himself walking through the fan, [the assistant] was accidentally pulled into the vortex of the moving fan blades, causing injury to his arm and face."
The Clark County Fire Department confirms that they received a call at 11:25 p.m. from the theater.
"It was reported that someones arm was stuck in a fan prop," Scott Allison, the fire department's spokesperson, tells Us. When paramedics arrived, the assistant's arm was free and had suffered severe bleeding.
Here's a video of how the routine looks when done properly!