Kuchma No Patron of David Copperfield

David Copperfield will appear with two one-man shows at Kyiv's Palace of Sports in early November. The Day will have a special story about the magician and his parents (hailing from Odesa, incidentally). For the time being, this feature is about the many strange occurrences preceding his appearance and connected with his name.

Currently you cannot spit without hitting a concert or show held under Leonid Kuchma's patronage. In fact, people are tired of seeing this line in posters and hearing it from television and radio announcers. Needless to say, all of the concerts to be staged for our impoverished electorate free of charge (about forty in all) will also be under the President's patronage, though actually arranged by noted patron of the arts Hryhory Surkis. The scope is, of course, much larger than that preceding the municipal elections, which fortunately did not turn out at our patron hoped. Now the bait is considerably bigger, befitting the no-alternative patronage. And then suddenly David Copperfield appears under the patronage of the Inter television channel. Same money but different patronage. What is it? Someone's blunder? Hostile encroachments? Very strange. Maybe the reason is that Mr. Copperfield is expected in early November, while the election is set for October 31, so Mr. Kuchma knew better than place Mr. Copperfield in an embarrassing situation. Indeed, performing under the patronage of a former President would make anyone feel uncomfortable. Otherwise, such patronage would be very advisable, considering the situation in Ukraine. Suppose Mr. Copperfield steals a jet before the very eyes of a stunned audience. So what? Kuchma & Co. have pulled off much more impressive stunts before the very eyes of our supposedly 52 million Ukrainian citizens. And it would make a fitting picture: Kuchma, Pinchuk, Volkov, and Lazarenko's doppelganger (sitting in for him in exile) presenting to Ukrainian audiences their fellow magician from overseas, one not without talent (although lacking in range, of course), as a follower of Copperfield and also being of Ukrainian parentage.