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Who Are Jim Carrey, Steve Carell Mimicking In 'Burt Wonderstone'?

The two comedians share their experiences working with actual magician, David Copperfield.

Though the Las Vegas magicians at the center of the new Steve Carell-Jim Carrey comedy, "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," are fictional, both have clear real-life corollaries. Carell's Burt Wonderstone is an old-school, big-stage type not unlike David Copperfield, while Carrey takes on the street magician style popularized by Criss Angel and David Blaine.

When the two stars sat down with MTV News' Josh Horowitz for "MTV First: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," they shared their experiences working with Copperfield, who makes cameos in the movie, and their takes on the humor of other magicians and comedians alike.

"David Blaine said that he's going to watch this movie on a loop for four months without eating," Carrey joked. "That's crazy."

Though Cooperfield may be the clearest target for parody in "Burt Wonderstone," Carell thought that the iconic illusionist could take a joke. "David Copperfield definitely has a sense of humor about himself," he said.

"Really, you think so? Ok, that's not my experience," said Carrey, sarcastically.

"He absolutely does," Carell said. "He really does."

In all seriousness, Carrey had a similar experience with Copperfield, and he understood the relationship between real-life magicians. "He's very cool. I don't think him and Criss Angel are going out to dinner together, necessarily," he said. "Coke doesn't hang with Pepsi kind of thing, but there's definitely a competitive edge. I think we captured that in the movie a little bit."

Similarly, comedians can find themselves locked in competition. According to Carrey, whether a comedian helps out a peer depends on his or her self-esteem. "Root for each other. It depends how secure you are about yourself," he said. "People who are secure about themselves like to see others win."

Check out everything we've got on "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone."

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