"Magic came very easy for me when I was a kid. When I was 8 years old I started doing it, and by the time I was 12, I was already published in magic books"
About this Quote
The subtext is about legitimacy. Stage magic has always had a credibility problem: it’s spectacle, yes, but it’s also technique, secrecy, and apprenticeship. By pointing to “magic books,” Copperfield signals he wasn’t merely performing; he was contributing to the canon. Publication becomes a kind of proof-of-work, a way to say: I earned my seat at the table before I ever had a Vegas marquee.
Context matters, too. Copperfield’s rise coincides with late-20th-century celebrity culture, where charisma can outrun craft. This quote pushes back against that suspicion. It positions him as an artist-technician, someone whose fame is downstream of obsessive early mastery. The line “when I was a kid” invites the audience to see him as both gifted and relatable, which is the magician’s central trick: making extraordinary control feel like friendly enchantment rather than dominance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Copperfield, David. (2026, January 16). Magic came very easy for me when I was a kid. When I was 8 years old I started doing it, and by the time I was 12, I was already published in magic books. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/magic-came-very-easy-for-me-when-i-was-a-kid-when-135966/
Chicago Style
Copperfield, David. "Magic came very easy for me when I was a kid. When I was 8 years old I started doing it, and by the time I was 12, I was already published in magic books." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/magic-came-very-easy-for-me-when-i-was-a-kid-when-135966/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Magic came very easy for me when I was a kid. When I was 8 years old I started doing it, and by the time I was 12, I was already published in magic books." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/magic-came-very-easy-for-me-when-i-was-a-kid-when-135966/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.


