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 is Afro-Puerto Rican and his mother, Patrice White, was Jewish of Russian descent.

Magic career

Overview

David Blaine began his career with street magic, performing card tricks and illusions such as levitating or bringing dead flies back to life. He started doing magic at a very young age, encouraged by his mother every step of the way. His mother later died due to ovarian cancer. Later in life he used a small camera crew to record his act live in front of everyday people. This act provided the basis for his television specials, David Blaine: Street Magic, David Blaine: Magic Man, and David Blaine: Mystifier.

He later turned his attention to feats of endurance; these included being buried alive for seven days, spending 61 hours encased in ice, standing on a tiny, 22 inch (56 cm) wide platform at the top of a 90 foot (27 m) high pole for 35 hours, living in a transparent box for 44 days without food, and living underwater for 7 days.

Though not the first entertainer to perform street magic or survive endurance stunts, Blaine's unique contribution to magic is his charismatic use of video and television to reach the MTV Generation in a decade where magicians were out of touch with younger audiences.

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 office building. Passersby could watch him 24 hours a day. He was reportedly fed only 44 tablespoons of water each day. He emerged on April 11 on schedule.

"There were Jewish Hasids standing next to Muslim cabdrivers who were next to Black kids. Businessmen in designer suits stood beside heavily pierced street kids. It was really fun and made me incredibly happy," recalls Blaine in his book Mysterious Stranger. "I saw something truly incredible. I saw every race, every age-group, and every religion gathered together smiling, and that made everything worth it. I saw magic!"

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. The ice was sculpted to fit his body, with little room to move. A tube provided him with air and water while another his urine was removed with another tube. He was encased in ice for 61 hours, 40 minutes, and 15 seconds before being removed. The block of 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. He said that he could not walk normally a month after the stunt.

Vertigo

On Monday 22 March 2002, Blaine began a stunt he named "Vertigo." A crane lifted Blaine onto a 90 foot (27 m) high pillar in Bryant Park, New York City. He claimed to have been scheduled to start training for this particular stunt on September 11th, 2001, by flying on American Airlines from Kennedy airport at noon to Los Angeles. As Blaine lived in New York City, he delayed his training. He remained on the pillar, which was 22 inches (56 cm) wide, for exactly 34 hours and 23 minutes without food, water or anything to lean on. Blaine appeared to be without safety harnesses and had no safety nets underneath him for almost the duration of the stunt. He ended the feat by jumping down onto a landing platform made of a 12 foot (3.7 m) high pile of cardboard boxes. He suffered a minor concussion on the way down after hitting his head on the boxes, but he fully recovered from the injury. Vertigo. Magic Directory.

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 Challenge" target="_blank" >^*, 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. During this period the magician reportedly received no food but only water, a feat of endurance inspired by "A Hunger Artist" by Kafka.Magic is lost in Blaine’s bland stunt The Stanford Daily, Oct 7, 2003 It was often asked if he did receive food and water at night because the case he was in, was covered at night. The stunt co-ordinators said this was so that he could sleep without distractions.

As with his New York City stunts, the vast majority of London visitors were generally supportive, seeking little more than a wave from the magician. Spectators have a change of heart Guardian Unlimited, Sep 21, 2003 However, the stunt became the subject of much press and media attention, due to a raucous minority who were mischievous or outright hostile to Blaine's presence.

Newspapers reported that eggs, lemons, sausages, water bottles, beer cans, paint-filled balloons and golf balls had all been thrown at the box; a hamburger was flown round the box by radio-controlled model helicopter; one man was arrested for climbing the scaffolding supporting Blaine's box and attempting to cut the power and water supply to the box; and the magician was treated to numerous displays of bare bottoms and breasts.

"You've picked the wrong town to be hung in, Mr Blaine," wrote The Sunday Times. "What is clear from the start is that Londoners are not taking Blaine quite as seriously as he takes himself. ... Really, it makes you proud to be British."

A gaunt Blaine emerged on schedule on October 19, murmuring "I love you all!" and was quickly hospitalized. A subsequent letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, co-written by Blaine, described his nutritional recovery, revealing similar symptoms often exhibited by the malnourished who are being reintroduced to liquid and solid foods. The letter reported that Blaine had lost 54 pounds (24.5 kg) during his fast.

Drowned Alive

On May 1, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an 8 foot (2.4 m) 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. During his time in the sphere, he attracted large crowds and many visits by celebrities including Chris Rock, Kelly Ripa, and Courteney Cox. He concluded this event by attempting to hold his breath underwater to break the world record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds. In a change to the original stunt plans, while attempting to break this record, Blaine also tried to free himself from handcuffs and chains put on him upon coming out after the week in the sphere.Blaine Out For Record, Sky News, 2006-05-01 Blaine apparently held his breath for 7 minutes and 8 seconds before showing signs of unconsciousness and being pulled up by the support divers, thus failing in his attempt.

Blaine did nonetheless succeed in setting a record (as yet unrecognized by any record-keeping institution) for being fully submerged in water for more than seven days straight (177 hours).

It is expected that Blaine will suffer medical problems as a result of his stunt. Blaine has undergone 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. Cnn.com - David Blaine out of hospital 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 prevent the need for solid waste issues. For urine, he wore an external, condom-style catheter.

Cancelled stunts

After Above the Below, Blaine told media that one of his stunts would be a "Dive of Death" from a helicopter hundreds of feet above a river.CNN Larry King Live transcript, CNN News, 2003-11-03 The jump was scheduled for his 31st birthday on April 4, 2004, but on April 1, three days before the jump was to take place, his publicist announced that the stunt had been cancelled.Blaine cancels dive of death stunt, ITN News, 2004-04-01

Upcoming stunt

David Blaine tells Larry King about his next stunt saying, "there will be no safety involved. It will be from point A to point B. Either you make it or you don't." King responds, "In other words you could die?", to which Blaine replied, "I'm not going to die because I'm going to prepare and train and be as serious as I can."Blaine plans stunt without safety measures Digital Spy, May 16, 2006

2006, June 19, David Blaine was challenged by a new up-comer Curtis Eugene Lovell II. Lovell is calling him on his lackluster performances by challenging him to a dual face-off to test his skill level and entertainment value. ^*

His next challenge will be that he will dangle 135 feet from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Personal life

He has a brother named Michael who graduated from New York University on May 8, 2006.

He dated Madonna and Fiona Apple.^* David Blaine & Madonna

He attended Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls, New Jersey. Blaine graduated in 1991.

Trivia

During his appearance in Last Call with Carson Daly, he "pulled" his heart out and fainted. The segment was staged but NBC almost cancelled the illusion. It was told that the audience was completely shocked and some members ran away crying or screaming.
His unofficial rival is Criss Angel.
He had the concentration camp number of Primo Levi tattooed on his left forearm.

Notes

References

Mysterious Stranger, Blaine's autobiography published by Vilard Books and Channel 4 books. ISBN 0752219898.
BBC news pages on Blaine's time in London - 1 2 3
Korbonits M., Blaine D., Elia M., Powell-Tuck J., "Refeeding David Blaine: studies after a 44-day fast", New England Journal of Medicine 2005;353:2306-7. PMID 16306536.
2006, June 19, DAVID BLAINE was challenged by a new up-comer Curtis Eugene Lovell II here ^* Curtis Eugene Lovell II, is calling him on his lackluster performances by challenging him to a dual face-off to test his skill level and entertainment value.

External links

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