• Coming home
• And the award goes goes to..
• Alumni Profile: Janet Jackson, '75
• Lutheran leader leaves impact
• Tricky trade

Tricky trade
Wittenberg graduate finds a job like magic

It is not an illusion: Wittenberg graduates can find great jobs. Amy Neff, ’98, knows this first-hand. Neff, a University Scholar and management major, graduated from Wittenberg a year ago and has found an amazing job working with the master illusionist himself, David Copperfield.

“I was in the right place with the right amount of experience and interest at the right time,” Neff said.

She was offered the chance to work for Copperfield as an administrative assistant after a representative from the David Copperfield tour attended a performance of The Music Man at Cain Park Theater where Neff worked during the summer.

Neff was “skeptical but excited” when she learned she had the job. She had a difficult time believing that she was now going to travel the globe with David Copperfield.

As one of Copperfield’s administrative assistants, Neff must juggle a multitude of tasks.

Besides handling all of Copperfield’s personal and professional correspondence regarding invitations, legal suits and fan mail, she helps coordinate his schedule and sees that he makes his appointments, press conferences and commercial appearances.

She also travels with Copperfield and has already been to Las Vegas, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The 1999 schedule includes a U.S. tour, followed by shows in Japan and Spain.

The crew may also film a TV special. Neff admits that it has been a challenge. “Everyday is different,” she said, adding that it “makes life on the road exciting.”

Working at the shows is also an integral part of the job considering the fact that Copperfield performs more than 500 shows a year. Neff assists with wardrobe changes and is responsible for cues both backstage and front of house.

A crew of about 40 people travels regularly with Copperfield, and a local crew joins them at each venue. “It takes a lot of people to put a show of such magnitude and precision together,” she said.

However, one performance-related incident stands out in Neff’s mind as a little too much excitement. She was assisting in Copperfield’s costume change backstage shortly after she began working for him.

Neff couldn’t see well because they had to work in complete darkness backstage in a short time period. When Copperfield came backstage, she reached out to help him take off his coat, but she miscalculated and gouged him in the neck with one of her fingernails.

The whole crew heard through their headsets when Copperfield said, “Oh God, I think I’m bleeding!” Unfortunately, he had to whisk himself back on stage, so his injury could not be examined.

When he returned backstage for the final time, the crew discovered that the scratch had only left a small mark. But Copperfield did send a note to his crew via the headsets: “From now on, all of David’s girls have to wear rubber gloves.”

The glove policy was never enacted, but Neff and her new employer joked about it later. Neff will complete her two-year contract with Copperfield in 2000.

She does not know exactly what she will pursue at that time, but her interest in the entertainment field will probably keep her in the industry. Regardless of what she decides to pursue, her life after Wittenberg has been a magical ride so far.

— Erica Emrath, ’00