DAVID BLAINE

He is a magician to some, illusionist to others, and an inspiration to so many more. He is always on the mind of young and old people around the world who are just waiting to see what he is going to do next. David Blaine has stunned the world over and over again since the year his TV special “Street Magic” aired in 1996 and “Magic Man” soon followed. David pushed the beliefs of people all over the world with his unbelievable magic acts. Currently though, David has taken a liking to surprising everyone with his death-defying stunts – involving endurance and a strong determination to succeed. On “Street Magic” and “Magic Man” David would walk the streets of his hometown-New York City -and other cities in “Magic Man”- stop people on the street, in stores and in restaurants and perform magic acts for them. He levitated in mid-air, pulled apart two prison bars until they curved, and amazed everyone with his exciting card tricks, you just never knew where your card would turn up from. But the acts on “Street Magic” and “Magic Man” are miniscule compared to his latest kick of performing death-defying stunts starting in the year 1999. All of his stunts were to prove that the human body could survive a lot more than people give it credit for. He also fasts for about a week up to the day when he starts any of his stunts, meditates daily, keeps strong mentally, and is under constant medical supervision. To date, David Blaine has successfully completed 5 long, endurance stunts.

David Blaine’s first stunt was “Buried Alive” which took place in New York City. He came up with the idea to do this stunt because his long-time inspiration-the well known Houdini- had died days before starting a similar stunt, and David wanted to complete what someone he admired was not able to do do. On April 5th 1999, just a day after his 26th birthday, David was placed into a clear glass coffin-barely long enough to fit his 6 ft. 2 inch frame- which was covered with 3 tons of water, for 7 days. He had fasted a few days previous up to the day of his stunt and during the stunt lived on a limited supply of water. David wore only a pair of pants and sunglasses and consumed approximately 2-3 tablespoons of water per day, and relied only on a hand-buzzer if an emergency were to occur, and a tube to “relieve” himself. During the course of “Buried Alive” about 75,000 people came to visit the young New Yorker. Some visitors came to give him support and others came to boo him. David had to endure cold weather and loneliness, but succeeded with what he started. On April 12th “Buried Alive” ended. David came through completing his stunt and at the same time stunned many people around the world; he had really lived in a coffin for seven days surviving only on water-proving that the human body is capable of so much more than we normally expect. “Buried Alive” was only the first of 4 more stunts that would await David Blaine’s future.

The next in David Blaine’s bold tasks was “Frozen In Time” which began on November 27th, 2000, in Times Square, New York City. This time, Blaine had long passed his 27th birthday and planned to do something even more unimaginable than “Buried Alive.” He was going to be entombed inside of a 30o, 8ft x 6ft x 6ft block of ice for about 3 days. He trained for long hours for about one year and did as much as he could to prepare for what could be one of the hardest stunts in his life. David had only a pair of pants, boots, and a knit cap on during the stunt and left his upper body bare with just a quick smear of Vaseline. The ice was cut in half and enough space for him to stand without touching the ice was carved into both sides. Once he was put inside the ice, the ice was welded together and David’s latest challenge had begun. He was unable to sit or move around much with little space between his body and the ice. He had to rely on his 24 hour medical staff in case of if an emergency occurred. Again, David started his challenge with a 4 day fast and relied on a catheter to relieve himself and a tube running through the ice providing him with water and air. This stunt was much harder than “Buried Alive” as it involved direct contact with ice, which could cause hypothermia, frostbite, and muscle pains, among other things. Many people came to support him, but again there were sceptics, this time they claimed that warm-air was being pumped into the ice so David would keep warm. 3 days later, David stunned the world again as he emerged from his block of ice after non-stop shivering and cold pain in his body. Sore muscles and stiffness ran through his body, but he waited it out and completed what he had set out to do. After 58 hours – just a couple shorter than what he’d expected – David was cut out of his ice tomb after non-stop shivering and pain. A month later, David’s feet were still hard to walk on but he was in high spirits as always. Awhile later, David Blaine told “Reuters” he planned to leap from the Brooklyn Bridge as his next stunt, but as many people already knew, David had a way of surprising people and jumping off a bridge was not his next challenge.

David Blaine decided soon after that his next stunt would be called “Vertigo,” it would take place in New York City’s Bryant Park. He would stand on a 22-inch circular platform based on top of a 100-foot flag pole for 36 hours… without a safety harness or net. This was in a way, one of his easier stunts-but less recognized. He also trained for a few moths prior to starting but nothing could prepare him for the pain he felt while trying to complete “Vertigo.” David risked the harm of easily losing his balance and falling off, but still went through with the task. He started on November 21, 2002, barely a year after his previous stunt at the age of 28. He used a catheter to flush out fluids, and again he fasted for a few days prior to beginning his stunt. Many people who visited him claimed that he looked almost like a like statue atop an enormous platform. He passed this task easily and on the evening of November 22nd, David jumped from the top of his platform onto a cube of 12 ft. high cardboard boxes. He survived with a concussion and added another victory to his list.

David Blaine’s next task would be the one to challenge him more than anyone-even David-had ever imagined. David’s next challenge was being stuck inside a clear 2½ foot wide and 6ft. 4 inch tall plexi-glass box, hanging from a crane, near the Thames River in London, England. This would be his first big stunt overseas and away from his home in New York City. He first came up with the idea after receiving a gift of a butterfly framed in clear plastic, and thought of how amazing it would be to see a human the same aspect. Similar to his other stunts, he was motivated with the possibility of being able to push the boundaries of the human body, and to surprise everyone at how a human could survive in such an environment. The main problem David would have while in the box would be keeping his body warm, as only a third of normal heat is retained while a human is in starvation mode. He started off his stunt at around 200 – 205 lbs. and expected to lose approximately 40 lbs. On September 5th, 2003 – barely a year after completing “Vertigo” at age 30 - David Blaine entered his box and got ready to change the idea of what so many people thought was a hoax and could never happen with his new challenge “Above the Below”. While in the box, Blaine was supplied with two tubes, and diapers. One tube supplied him with water and the other was to remove urine while the diapers were to use until his body had cleared itself of solid waste. He also had a journal and pens to document his time in the box, lip balm as he had learned from experience that it was a necessity, and a pad and pillow to lie down on. Many spectators thought his pillow was stuffed with marshmallows to keep his energy up, but it was just a horrible myth. David wore only a thin long-sleeved shirt, sweatpants, and a thin shawl to wrap himself in if he got too cold. London also had the worst crowds than any other of his stunts. People threw eggs, golf balls and lemon at him, barbecued under the box so he would be tempted to eat, and someone tried to point a laser at his eye, one person even tried to sabotage his water supply. David also ran the danger of many health threats. Hypothermia, organ damage, kidney failure, and worst of all – brain damage from not having a steady supply of glucose were just a few of the problems David could have run into during the stunt, also knowing that this could be one of the last stunts in his life considering all the risks. David endured so much during his stunt. On day 19 his weight loss became greatly noticeable, on day 24 David’s body started to go into starvation mode to converse what it could, on day 27 he started to lose the pigment in his skin and on day 38 he became noticeably weaker and was rarely seen standing up anymore or stretching as he did before. “Above the Below” was starting to take a large toll on Blaine, nevertheless, he went on to complete the stunt and finished just in time on October 19th. In the end, David suffered from liver damage, lost 55 lbs. - 15 more than he’d planned - and ended his task just as hallucinations, heart palpitations, and breathing difficulty started to occur and after dealing with blackouts and bad headaches. He claimed that he valued this challenge as the most important experience in his whole life and now knew how strong human beings were and that he appreciated everything in life so much more. Same as before though, David had turned many more people into believers – and was even responsible for police officers skipping duty to watch him all day long - yet there were still others out there that believed it was all a hoax and claimed he was using a stunt double, even though that would be impossible as he was under 24 hour surveillance while inside his box.

After completing “Above the Below,” David Blaine took a long hiatus of about 3 years. In 3 years, many people began to wonder what had happened to the young magician. Had he drifted away from magic? Did he have another surprise stunt in the making? Everyone’s questions were finally answered on April 13th, 2006 at a press conference in New York City. Just days after his 33rd birthday, David announced he would be living in a human aquarium for 7 days and nights in front of New York City’s Lincoln Centre for his latest stunt “Drowned Alive.” After the seven days and nights of living in water, David claimed he would take out his oxygen tube and try to hold his breath for 9 minutes, 2 seconds longer than the world record. The human aquarium would consist of a custom built 8 ft. acrylic sphere to contain David’s 6 ft. 2 in. frame and be kept at a balance temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. To prepare for his latest challenge, David trained with the U.S. Navy Seals starting in December and also got some help from a world class free diving team – “Performance FreeDiving International. He also fasted 5 days previous to beginning the stunt just as he did with all of his other feats and lost 50 lbs. so his body would require less oxygen. On May 1st, 2006, David Blaine entered his new home wearing only a pair of pants and a diving helmet with him. He learned to adjust to his new environment and felt that this was the most interactive stunt than all his previous ones. His fans and visitors could come up to the glass and wave at him and show him their undying support. Like before, they were a number of health problems that could occur, the worst of which being brain damage. David even stated that he was more prepared to die than to live with brain damage. He would hate not being able to know who his family, friends, and fans were. During his stay in the ‘human aquarium’ David had a oxygen tube in his mouth at all times and drank water and other sports drinks mixed with water approximately 12 times a day to keep his body under control and as before he relieved his body of any waste through tubes just like before. He could also conduct interviews and keep in-contact with his 24 hour support team through a diving helmet. The water in the ‘manbowl’ was also filtered daily and kept clean. David and his newest challenge were going very well, he had even started to steal a few hours a sleep whenever he could until about day 3 when some problems started to occur. Blaine’s hands and feet – the places of the body without hair tend to be ones to be ‘attacked’ first – started to wrinkle and prune up like they usually do if you are under water for long periods of time. The skin had started to turn grey and white, and began peeling and the pain was described as if there were a million paper cuts on his hands every time he touched something. David’s support team was quick to come up with a solution. Two times a day, David would let out his hands and his feet – at the hole at the top of the fishbowl – while his team would try to dry them out as much as possible then massage them with beeswax and cover them with gloves and slippers. On Friday May 5th, David was given a blood test to monitor how his body was coping with living in an unfamiliar environment without proper food or clothing. It turned out that his body was starting to react to his previous task in London, where he had suffered from some liver damage, and was coming back to haunt him. Even though David Blaine’s body was taking a rough beating, he completed his task and on the evening of Monday, May 8th, Blaine took out his oxygen tube and got ready to break a world record – while being chained down with 150 lbs. of hand cuffs and chains. The event was televised on abc, and when it finally came down to David’s breath-holding, the volume went from pin-drop silence to chaotic support from his fans who were gathered to watch him in what was his hardest stunt of all. Unfortunately, David Blaine was pulled out of the water at 7 minutes, 8 seconds, just after he started to let out some bubbles and his face had started to contort in pain. He was losing consciousness but was taken out just in time. After regaining a bit of strength, he thanked the crowd and despite all the pain in his body, he walked down the steps to a stretcher waiting to take him to the hospital. The next day, David was released from the hospital at noon and the day following he had his first TV interview where he claimed to feeling like he had failed but at the same time felt very proud of what he accomplished. Even though he did not break one world record, he had broken another. David Blaine was under water for the longest time than any other human being in history, just over 177 hours. Only 2 days after completing his latest feat, the young magician appeared on “Good Morning America.” David showed the world that his hands were completely healed and explained that the hardest part was the magnifying of the glass-sphere hitting down on his back causing painful blisters and burns to his skin. He also mentioned in another interview on Larry King Live that night that he had already thought of another stunt while in his sphere, but was not ready to reveal any of its details yet.

Overall, David Blaine has proven himself to be one of the most inspirational and thought-provoking people of our time. Even those who don’t want him on their mind, will still remember as someone who has pushed the boundaries of the human body and survived through it all. Through his strong determination to succeed, meditative and calm attitude, David Blaine is truly an inspiration and the Houdini of our time.

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