David Blain

David Blaine


David Blaine (born David Blaine White on April 4, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York City, USA) is an American illusionist and stunt performer. He made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. His father was Spanish-Puerto
Rican and his mother, Patrice White, was Jewish of Russian origin.


Magic Career


Blaine began his career by bringing street magic to the public, performing card tricks and illusions such as levitation or bringing dead flies back to life. He used a small camera crew to record his act live in front of everyday people providing the basis for his television specials, David Blaine: Street Magic, David Blaine: Magic Man, and David Blaine: Mystifier. David's first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic revolutionized the way magic is both performed and portrayed on television. With its strong focus on spectator's reactions, David brought wonder to unsuspecting pedestrians without the use of the typical magic props used by other magicians. Since its initial airing in 1997, magicians all over the world have tried to emulate and duplicate David Blaine's raw approach to the art of magic. With the copycats close behind, and a goal of changing people's perceptions of what is possible, David turned his attention to stunts and feats of endurance:

Premature Burial

Beginning on April 5, 1999, Blaine spent seven days buried inside a glass coffin at the bottom of an open pit in front of a New York City building provided to him by Donald Trump. Water was poured in, filling the hole, before an acrylic glass top was placed over it as a cover. The surrounding area was covered in dirt. Passers by could watch him 24 hours a day. He emerged on April 12 on schedule. In a homemade video, a shadow on top of the coffin forms a cross, which Blaine comments on in his book.

Frozen in Time

On Monday, November 27, 2000, Blaine began a stunt called "Frozen in Time," which was covered on a TV special. Blaine stood in a closet of ice located in Times Square, New York. A tube provided him with air and water while his urine was removed with another tube. He was encased in the box of ice for 61 hours, 40 minutes, and 15 seconds before being removed [1]. The ice was on a stand, with space between the ground, and the ice was transparent, to prove he was inside the ice the whole time. He was taken to the hospital immediately after being removed because doctors feared he was going into shock.


Vertigo

Blaine's next stunt was called "Vertigo." He was to have started training for this particular stunt in Los Angeles, California, and was scheduled to board an American Airlines flight from JFK Airport to Los Angeles on September 11, 2001 at noon.[citation needed] Due to the terrorist attacks earlier in the day and a nationwide shutdown of airports, Blaine was forced to delay his training.[citation needed] On Monday 22 May 2002, Blaine performed the stunt in Bryant Park, New York City, where a crane lifted him onto a 90 ft (27 m) high and 22 in (56 cm) wide pillar. He remained on the pillar for exactly 34 hours and 23 minutes without food, water or anything to lean on. With his legs weak from standing atop the pillar for so long, he ended the feat by jumping down onto a landing platform made of a 12 foot (3.7 m) high pile of cardboard boxes.


Mysterious Stranger

On October 29, 2002, Random House published David Blaine's Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic. Part autobiography, part history of magic, and part armchair treasure hunt, the book also includes instructions on how to perform card tricks and illusions.
The treasure hunt, Blaine's $100,000 Challenge, was devised by game designer Cliff Johnson, creator of The Fool's Errand, and solved by Sherri Skanes on March 20, 2004, 16 months after the book's publication.

Above the Below

On September 5, 2003, Blaine began his 44-day endurance stunt sealed inside a transparent Plexiglas case suspended 30 feet (9 m) in the air over Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The case, measuring 7ft by 7ft by 3ft (2.1 x 2.1 x 0.9 m), had a webcam installed so that viewers could observe his progress.The stunt became the subject of much press and media attention, due to many people going to the site to watch and engage with Blaine. For example, Page 3-style girls from various male-oriented magazines flashed him. It got big attention from the media when eggs that had been thrown from the crowd were cleared from the box, when he was meant to not communicate with anyone. British documentary makers Richard Gordon and Lauren Hannon reported in their documentary Below the Above that five people lived below Blaine to show their support for what he was doing.Blaine emerged on schedule on October 19, murmuring "I love you all!" and was quickly hospitalized. He appeared gaunt and he claimed to have lost 54 pounds (24.5 kg) during his fast.

Drowned Alive

On May 1, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an 2.4 metres (8 feet) diameter, water-filled sphere (isotonic saline, 0.9% salt) in front of the Lincoln Center in New York for a planned seven days and seven nights, using tubes for air and nutrition. He concluded this event by attempting to hold his breath underwater to break the world record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds. Blaine also tried to free himself from handcuffs and chains put on him upon coming out after the week in the sphere. He seemed to have trouble escaping from the last of the handcuffs. Blaine failed in his attempt, only holding his breath for 7 minutes and 2 seconds before showing signs of distress and being pulled up by the support divers. Even if Blaine did hold his breath for longer than 8 minutes and 58 seconds, his attempt would not have been recognised because AIDA officials were not invited to the event, nor did the conditions meet their requirement for a official world record. Also, experienced freedivers, including former world record holder Eric Fattah, have commented that it is likely Blaine performed the stunt on a breathhold of oxygen-enriched air, instead of regular surface level air. Fatah points to video evidence (the sphere was closed prior to Blaine submersion and a loose SCUBA breather floating inside) and the lack of visible contractions typical with oxygen-enriched breathhold.
Blaine did claim to have succeeded in setting a record for being fully submerged in water for more than seven days straight (177 hours), however this record is as yet unrecognized by any record-keeping institution.
Blaine underwent multiple short hospital visits after the stunt ended and has entered an agreement with doctors from Yale University to monitor him in order to study the human physiological reaction to prolonged submersion. During the stunt, doctors witnessed skin breakdown at the hands and feet and liver failure.
In an interview on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius satellite radio, Blaine spoke of the week-long fasting he did before the "drowning alive" stunt, to avoid having to be concerned with defecation. For urine, he wore an external, condom-style catheter.

Revolution

On Sunday, November 19, 2006, Blaine announced his next stunt. He told reporters that he would be suspended 50 feet in the air while strapped by shackles inside a giant gyroscope. His goal was to escape from his shackles after the gyroscope had been spinning for 16 hours. The gyroscope was constantly spinning at a rate of eight revolutions per minute while hanging above an empty lot in Manhattan near Times Square.
Blaine's latest stunt began Tuesday November 21, 2006, with Blaine declaring, "This one's exciting for me. This one's a fun one." After spinning in shackles in the gyroscope for two days, Blaine emerged with a crash only a half hour after being allowed to try. As a result of his success, Blaine led 100 children selected by The Salvation Army on a shopping spree at Target. Each child received a $500 gift certificate from the retailer.
Blaine said the stunt was particularly important since The Salvation Army had provided him with clothing while he was growing up.
"This challenge is close to my heart," Blaine said.