David Blaine
David Blaine (born April 4, 1973)[2] is an American magician, mentalist, and endurance performer.[3][4] Born in New York City, Blaine became interested in magic at a very young age. He gained prominence in 1997, when his first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic, aired on ABC. That year, he also appeared in Magic Man. He later starred in the television specials David Blaine: Real or Magic (2013), Beyond Magic (2016), and The Magic Way (2020).
David Blaine
April 4, 1973
1997–present
Alizée Guinochet (2008–2014)
1
2005–present
- Magic
- Stunts
1.84 million[1]
326 million[1]
Blaine is the author of Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic (2002), an autobiography and armchair treasure hunt with instructions on performing magic tricks. Known for his dangerous stunts, in 2008 he attempted to break the Guinness World Record for breath holding. He succeeded in holding his breath for 17 minutes 4 seconds, setting a new world record for oxygen assisted static apnea.
Early life[edit]
Blaine was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of a single mother,[2] 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.[5]
When Blaine was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic on the subway. This sparked a lifelong interest for him.[6] He was raised by his mother and attended a Montessori school in Brooklyn. They later moved to Little Falls, New Jersey,[7] where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School.[8]
Per one account, his mother developed cancer when Blaine was 15 and died when he was 20.[8] Per another, "When Blaine was 21, his mother was stricken with cancer and passed away in 1994."[2] When Blaine was 17 years old, he moved to Manhattan, New York City.[9]
Stunts and specials[edit]
Street Magic (1997) and Magic Man (1998)[edit]
On May 19, 1997, Blaine's first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic, aired on ABC.[10] "It really, really does break new ground," said Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller.[11] 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."[12] Time commented, "His deceptively low-key, ultracool manner leaves spectators more amazed than if he'd razzle-dazzled."[13]
In Magic Man, aired January 16, 1998, 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."[14] USA Today called Blaine the "hottest name in magic right now".[15]
Buried Alive (1999)[edit]
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 six inches (150 millimetres) of headroom and two inches (51 millimetres) on each side.
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 75 cubic feet (2.1 m3) of gravel surrounding the 6-foot (1.8-metre) deep coffin before a crane lifted the water tank.[16] 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."[17] 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."[18]
Frozen in Time (2000)[edit]
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.[19] 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.[20] 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."[21] 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.[22] 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.[23]
Vertigo (2002)[edit]
On May 22, 2002, a crane lifted Blaine onto a 100 ft (30 m) high and 22 in (0.56 m) 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.[24] He remained on the pillar for 35 hours. He ended the feat by jumping down onto a landing platform made out of a 12 ft (3.7 m) high pile of cardboard boxes and sustained a mild concussion.[25] He later said in his 2009 TED Talk that he had had severe hallucinations in the final hours of this stunt, causing the buildings and structures around him to look like animal heads.[26]
Above the Below (2003)[edit]
On September 5, 2003, Blaine began an endurance stunt in which he was sealed inside a transparent Plexiglas box. The case was suspended 30 feet (9.1 metres) in the air next to Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames in London, and measured 3 feet (0.9 metres) by 7 feet (2.1 metres) by 7 feet (2.1 metres). A webcam was installed inside the box so that viewers could observe his progress. The stunt lasted 44 days, during which Blaine drank 1.2 US gallons (4.5 litres) of water per day and did not eat.[27]
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."[28] 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."[29] A number of spectators threw food and other items towards the box, including eggs, paint-filled balloons and golf balls, according to The Times.[28] A McDonald's hamburger was flown up to the box by a remote-controlled helicopter as a taunt.[30] The Evening Standard reported that one man was arrested for attempting to cut the cable supplying water to Blaine's box.[31][32]
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.[33] 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.[34] The study reported, "He lost 24.5 kg (54 lb)—25 percent of his original body weight—and 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."[35]
Live Tour[edit]
In 2014, David Blaine embarked on his first ever live tour, in which he took his tricks and stunts on the road, wowing audiences in the Middle East and North America.
In June 2019, David Blaine brought his 'Real or Magic' Tour to the UK & Ireland, in which he performed in Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Bournemouth and London, throughout June.
David had planned to take the bullet catch trick on tour, although, after the successful/unsuccessful live attempt, in the MGM Grand Arena, in 2015, David shelved this idea and went with the main stunt of the underwater breath hold for these shows. This was the stunt he carried out in his 2006 'Drowned Alive' TV special and of which he also performed again, in a live world record attempt, in 2009, on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Las Vegas Residency[edit]
In September 2022, David began his first ever Las Vegas residency, with his 'David Blaine Live' show at the Resorts World hotel, which had an extended run through to June 2023. After the success of this stint on the strip, he then announced his 'Impossible' residency at The Encore theatre, Wynn, would begin in December 2023. This show is still running today, with David performing an array of his favourite tricks and stunts over the course of three shows, on 3 days, of each month.
Other work[edit]
Writing[edit]
On October 29, 2002, Villard published Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic,[65] an autobiography and armchair treasure hunt with instructions on performing magic tricks. The treasure hunt was created by game designer Cliff Johnson and solved by Sherri Skanes on March 20, 2004.[66]