In reality, David Copperfield enjoys filling his life with great ...

Illusionist David Copperfield is a busy man, what with performing more than 500 shows a year; keeping an eye on his charitable Project Magic foundation; adding new toys to his magic museum; and making sure the "sugar sand" beaches of his ultra-exclusive Caribbean island resort, Musha Cay at Copperfield Bay, are kept free from trash and controversy.

Copperfield, who appears Saturday at the Palace Theatre for two shows, is known for making unexpected things -- the Statue of Liberty, for example -- disappear.

He's had a little harder time making some serious legal problems evaporate. In October, Copperfield was the target of an investigation into a Seattle woman's claims that she was raped and assaulted by Copperfield at Musha Cay; the FBI confiscated computers and cash from Copperfield's warehouse in Las Vegas. Copperfield has denied any wrongdoing.

He was subsequently sued by a group of promoters who claim the magician backed out of performances in light of the controversy. Copperfield has countersued.

But in an e-mail interview with the Times Union, Copperfield again showed off his skills, answering almost all of our questions but making all our queries about these cases vanish from our list. Presto!

Q: Does the world still have a sense of wonder?

A: The ability to amaze and create a sense of childlike wonder in an audience, no matter what the age, is to me, the basic tenet of the art of magic, and this I believe is still very much in existence. I would hope that children still want be magicians. I still have young kids in my audiences at my shows that meet with me after the show and tell me their dream is to someday perform on stage like David Copperfield. As long as you allow yourself to imagine the impossible, the world will always have a sense of wonder.

Q: What effect has the Internet and sites like YouTube had on the world of magic?

A: My show is constantly evolving. ... New tricks are added, old ones are dropped ... so it stays fresh. It's the randomly selected participants from the audience that make it fresh each and every show, and also provide some of the best comic relief. I believe that seeing illusionists in person will beat watching an illusion on a computer screen any day.

Science and technology have often been used by the magician before they came into the marketplace on a mass basis. For example, prior to the moving picture going into theaters, magicians were using the technique of images in motion as illusions in their shows. At that time the process was so new an audience perceived it as magic. ... You always need to stay one step ahead of the technology game to wow the audience.

Q: You founded the International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts as a cache of magic memorabilia and as a resource for fellow magicians. With so many objects in the collection, have you had time to inspect and enjoy them all?

A: As a hobby, I wanted to give back to the magic world, offering an amazing resource of historical material to those serious about the art of magic. So when one giant collection became available 15 years ago, I bought it all and began my quest for bringing some of the greatest illusions, books and related art all under one roof at a secret location located in the Nevada desert for scholars and other magicians to study and view.