Top illusionist David Copperfield forced to give away trade secrets in court

David Copperfield, who is reportedly the world's highest-paid magician, has been embroiled in a lawsuit over a 2013 performance of his famous 'Lucky #13' magic trick. 

The trick sees the magician seeking out 13 volunteers from the audience, calling them on stage and then making them disappear. Shortly afterwards, he makes them reappear in a different part of the venue. 

David has performed the trick thousands of times throughout his career, and he has had no complaints before. But in 2013, one of the volunteers from the audience, a man named Gavin Cox, claims he was injured during the trick. 

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Gavin says that he suffered from "chronic pain and brain injury following a fall that dislocated his shoulder" after he participated in the trick. Gavin is suing David for $435,000 (R5,2 million), claiming negligence.

See how 'Lucky #13' has been performed in the past below. Can you figure out how David does it?

In order to prove or refute Gavin's claims, David has had to reveal how exactly the 'Lucky #13' trick is performed. This after the judge did not accept David's lawyers' claims that revealing the secret would be bad for his career.

In court, David's show producer Chris Kenner revealed that once the 13 participants have "disappeared", they are led to the back of the performance venue through concealed passages, so that they can be in a different position when they are made to "reappear".

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Gavin wants to claim back the money he spent on medical expenses. But one question does remain: if Gavin was of sound mind and went onto the stage willingly, how much responsibility should David really take in this situation?

However the case pans out, it will surely cause people who attend magic shows to think twice before volunteering to do anything.