David Blaine

David Blaine (born April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records.

Early life

Blaine was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of a single mother, Patrice White, a teacher who was of Russian-Jewish ancestry, and a father who is a Vietnam War veteran of Puerto Rican and Italian descent. When Blaine was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic on the subway. This sparked a lifelong interest for him. He was raised by his mother and attended a Montessori school in Brooklyn. They later moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School. Per one account, his mother developed cancer when Blaine was 15 and died when he was 20. Per another, "When Blaine was 21, his mother was stricken with cancer and passed away in 1994." When Blaine was 17 years old, he moved to Manhattan, New York City.

Stunts and specials

''Street Magic'' and ''Magic Man'' (1997)

On May 19, 1997, Blaine's first television special, ''David Blaine: Street Magic'', aired on ABC. "It really, really does break new ground," said Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller. When asked about his performance style, Blaine explained, "I'd like to bring magic back to the place it used to be 100 years ago."If He Can Conjure Magical Ratings, That's Some Trick
''The New York Times'', May 11, 1997 ''Time'' commented, "His deceptively low-key, ultracool manner leaves spectators more amazed than if he'd razzle-dazzled."

In ''Magic Man'', Blaine is shown traveling across the country, entertaining unsuspecting pedestrians in Atlantic City, Compton, Dallas, the Mojave Desert, New York City, and San Francisco, recorded by a small crew with handheld cameras. Jon Racherbaumer commented: "Make no mistake about it, the focus of this show, boys and girls, is not Blaine. It is really about theatrical proxemics; about the show-within-a-show and the spontaneous, visceral reactions of people being astonished." ''USA Today'' called Blaine the "hottest name in magic right now".

''Buried Alive'' (1999)

On April 5, 1999, Blaine was entombed in an underground plastic box underneath a 3-ton water-filled tank for seven days, across from Trump Place on 68th St. and Riverside Boulevard, as part of a stunt titled "Buried Alive". According to CNN, "Blaine's only communication to the outside world was by a hand buzzer, which could have alerted an around-the-clock emergency crew standing by." BBC News reported that the plastic coffin had of headroom and on each side.

An estimated 75,000 people visited the site, including Marie Blood, Harry Houdini's niece, who said, "My uncle did some amazing things, but he could not have done this." On the final day of the stunt, April 12, hundreds of news teams were stationed at the site for the coffin opening. A team of construction workers removed a portion of the of gravel surrounding the deep coffin before a crane lifted the water tank.Breen, Virginia
Magician is in deep for week-long stunt
''Daily News'' (New York), April 6, 1999. Accessed April 27, 2012. Blaine emerged and told the crowd, "I saw something very prophetic ... a vision of every race, every religion, every age group banding together, and that made all this worthwhile."Magician surfaces from watery grave after weeklong burial
, CNN, April 12, 1999 BBC News stated, "The 26-year-old magician has outdone his hero, Harry Houdini, who had planned a similar feat but died in 1926 before he could perform it."

''Frozen in Time'' (2000)

On November 27, 2000, Blaine performed a stunt called ''Frozen in Time'', where he attempted and failed to stand in a large block of ice located in Times Square, New York City for 72 hours. It was covered on a TV special. He was lightly dressed and appeared to be shivering even before the blocks of ice were placed around him. A tube supplied him with air and water, while his urine was removed with another tube. He was encased in the box of ice for 63 hours, 42 minutes, and 15 seconds before being removed with chainsaws. The ice was transparent and resting on an elevated platform to show that he was actually inside the ice the entire time. He was removed from the ice and taken to a hospital due to fears he might be going into shock. ''The New York Times'' reported, "The magician who emerged from the increasingly unstable ice box seemed a shadow of the confident, robust, shirtless fellow who entered two days before." Blaine later said it took a month to fully recover and that he had no plans to attempt a stunt of this difficulty in the future. In 2010, a magician from Israel named Hezi Dean broke Blaine's record when he was encased in a block of ice for 66 hours.

''Vertigo'' (2002)

On May 22, 2002, a crane lifted Blaine onto a high and wide pillar in Bryant Park, New York City. He was not harnessed to the pillar, although there were two retractable handles on either side of him to grasp in the event of harsh weather. He remained on the pillar for 35 hours. He ended the feat by jumping down onto a landing platform made out of a high pile of cardboard boxes and suffered a mild concussion. He later said in his 2009 TED Talk that he had suffered from severe hallucinations in the final hours of this stunt, causing the buildings and structures around him to look like animal heads.

''Above the Below'' (2003)

On September 5, 2003, Blaine began an endurance stunt in which he was sealed inside a transparent Plexiglas box. The case was suspended in the air next to Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames in London, and measured by by . A webcam was installed inside the box so that viewers could observe his progress. The stunt lasted 44 days, during which Blaine drank of water per day and did not eat.

The stunt was the subject of public interest and media attention, ''The Times'' reported that "1,614 articles in the British press have made reference to the exploit."Illusionist and the facts of life
October 20, 2003 Then-US president George W. Bush referred to Blaine's stunt in a speech at the Whitehall Palace in London, saying, "The last noted American to visit London stayed in a glass box dangling over the Thames. A few might have been happy to provide similar arrangements for me." A number of spectators threw food and other items towards the box, including eggs, paint-filled balloons and golf balls, according to ''The Times''. A McDonald's hamburger was flown up to the box by a remote-controlled helicopter as a taunt. The ''Evening Standard'' reported that one man was arrested for attempting to cut the cable supplying water to Blaine's box.

On September 25, BBC News reported that "if his endurance test is real rather than an elaborate illusion", then Blaine's claim of tasting pear drops indicates he is advancing through the first stage of starvation. A medical doctor said that the taste is caused by ketones, which are produced when the body burns fat reserves.

The stunt ended on October 19, and Blaine emerged in tears saying "I love you all!" and was subsequently hospitalized. The '' New England Journal of Medicine'' published a paper that documented his 44-day fast and stated his re-feeding was perhaps the most dangerous part of the stunt. The study reported, "He lost 25 percent of his original body weightand his body mass index dropped from 29.0 to 21.6. His appearance and body-mass index after his fast would not by themselves have alerted us to the risks of refeeding. Despite cautious management, he had hypophosphatemia and fluid retention, important elements of the refeeding syndrome."

''Drowned Alive'' (2006)

Blaine performing the ''Drowned Alive'' stunt in May 2006
On May 1, 2006, Blaine began his ''Drowned Alive'' stunt, which lasted seven days and involved a submersion in an diameter, water-filled sphere containing isotonic saline in front of the Lincoln Center in New York City. During the stunt he sustained kidney and liver damage. At the end of the stunt, Blaine attempted to free himself from handcuffs and chains after exiting the sphere. After the stunt, Blaine entered into an agreement with researchers at Yale University to monitor him in order to study the human physiological reaction to prolonged submersion.Cnn.com – David Blaine out of hospital

''Revolution'' (2006)

On November 21, 2006, Blaine began his ''Revolution'' stunt, where he was shackled to a rotating gyroscope without food or water, intending to escape within 16 hours. Blaine completed the stunt 52 hours later.

''Guinness World Records'' (2008)

Blaine appeared on the April 30, 2008 episode of ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for oxygen assisted static apnea, following his failure to break the then-current record of ''unassisted'' static apnea in his previous attempt ''Drowned Alive''. The previous record was set by Peter Colat of Switzerland on February 10, 2008.

Before entering the water tank, Blaine spent 23 minutes inhaling pure oxygen. Blaine held his breath for 17 minutes 4-1/2 seconds, surpassing Colat's previous mark of 16 minutes 32 seconds, setting a new Guinness World Record that stood until September 19, 2008, when it was surpassed by German diver Tom Sietas who during an episode of the American talk show '' Live with Regis and Kelly'', held his breath for 17 minutes, 19 seconds.

''Dive of Death'' (2008)

On September 18, 2008 Blaine announced his ''The Upside Down Man'' performance with Donald Trump. Blaine planned to hang upside down without a safety net for 60 hours. On September 22, Blaine began his stunt ''Dive of Death'', hanging over Wollman Rink in Central Park and interacting with fans by lowering himself upside down. He pulled himself up to drink fluid and restore normal circulation. Reportedly, Blaine risked blindness and other maladies in the stunt. He was criticized when, only hours into the endurance challenge, he was seen standing on a waiting crane platform, not upside down as expected. During the stunt, he came down once an hour for a medical check and to use the bathroom.

''What Is Magic?'' (2010)

In this 42-minute television special that aired in 2010, Blaine performed an illusion of catching a .22 caliber bullet fired from a rifle into a small metal cup in his mouth. The special also features 2008 footage of Blaine in New Orleans performing for people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

''Electrified: One Million Volts Always On'' (2012)

On October 5, 2012, Blaine began performing a 72-hour endurance stunt called ''Electrified: One Million Volts Always On'' atop a 22-foot high pillar on Pier 54 in New York City, which was streamed live on YouTube. During the stunt, Blaine stood on the pillar surrounded by seven Tesla coils producing an electric discharge of one million volts or more continuously. The coils were directed at Blaine for the entirety of the endurance stunt, during which he did not eat or sleep. He wore of gear, including a chainmail Faraday suit, designed to prevent electrical current from traveling through the body.Alexander, Harriet (October 6, 2012)
"David Blaine's 'electrifying' New York stunt"
''The Daily Telegraph''. Accessed October 16, 2012. John Belcher, a physics professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reportedly said, "He has a conducting suit, all the current is going through the suit, nothing through his body. There is no danger in this that I see."

At night, Blaine shivered uncontrollably from the inclement weather. ''The New York Times'' published an article describing the science behind Blaine's stunt. Members of the public were able to control the pattern of electric current by accessing screens, and musicians Pharrell Williams and Andrew W.K. performed solos on a keyboard which controlled the electric discharge.

The event concluded on October 8, 2012, at 8:44 pm. Blaine was able to walk away with assistance and was transported to a hospital for a medical check. Blaine donated two of the Tesla coils to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey

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