David Blaine
David Blaine | |
|---|---|
| File:Davidblaine.jpg | |
| Born | April 4, 1973 |
| Occupation(s) | Magician, endurance artist |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Website | David Blaine |
David Blaine (born David Blaine White on April 4, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.) is an American magician and endurance artist of Puerto Rican and Caucasian heritage. He made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic.
Early life
David Blaine was born in Brooklyn, New York to a school teacher, Patrice Maureen White and a Vietnam veteran, William Perez. He was raised by his single mother. He attended many different schools in Brooklyn. At the age of 10, David Blaine's mother married John Bukalo and they moved to New Jersey. He moved to Little Falls, New Jersey[1], where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School.[2] He has a half-brother named Michael James Bukalo.
Career
Street Magic and Magic Man
On May 19, 1997, Blaine's first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic, introduced his unique brand of street magic to the world when it aired on the American Broadcasting Company network. With its strong focus on spectators' reactions and showmanship, Street Magic revolutionized the way magic is performed and portrayed on television. According to The New York Daily News, “Blaine can lay claim to his own brand of wizardry. The magic he offers in tonight’s show operates on an uncommonly personal level.”[3]
In Street Magic, Blaine is shown traveling across the country, entertaining unsuspecting pedestrians in New York City, Atlantic City, Dallas, San Francisco, Compton, and the Mojave Desert only recorded by a small crew with handheld cameras. Many magicians respect Blaine's choice of material and give him credit for creating an image of the contemporary magician distinct from other magicians in recent television history. 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."[4]
Buried Alive
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 Drive. The New York Daily News' Virginia Breen wrote, "Developer Donald Trump, who donated use of the space, tossed a shovelful of gravel into the grave in mock solemnity."[5] 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."[6] BBC News reported that the cramped plastic coffin offered six inches of headroom and two inches on each side. During the seven days of the endurance stunt, Blaine ate nothing and drank only two to three tablespoons of water a day.[7] An estimated 75,000 people visited the site, including Marie Blood, Houdini's niece, who said, "My uncle did some amazing things, but he could not have done this."[8] On the final day of the stunt, April 12, hundreds of news teams were stationed at the site for the coffin-opening ceremony. A team of construction workers removed a portion of the 75 square feet of gravel surrounding the six-foot deep coffin before a crane lifted the 3-ton water tank.[9] Blaine emerged from his underground coffin 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."[10] Reiterating Marie Blood's remarks, 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."[11]
Frozen in Time
On November 27, 2000, Blaine began a stunt called "Frozen in Time", which was covered on a TV special. Blaine stood encased in a massive block of ice located in Times Square, New York. He was lightly dressed and seen to be shivering even before the blocks of ice were sealed 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 chain saws. The ice was transparent and resting on an elevated platform to show that he was actually inside the ice the entire time. CNN confirmed that "thousands of people braved the pouring rain Wednesday night to catch a glimpse of Blaine as workers cut away at the ice."[12] He was removed from the ice in an obviously dazed and disoriented state, wrapped in blankets and taken to the hospital immediately because doctors feared he might be going into shock.[13] 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."[14] Blaine said in the documentary follow-up to this feat that it took "a month" before he was able to walk again and that he had no plans to ever again attempt a stunt of this difficulty.
Vertigo
On May 22 2002, a crane lifted Blaine onto a 105 ft (27 m) high and 22 in (55.88 cm) wide pillar in Bryant Park, New York City. Although he was not harnessed to the pillar, there were two retractable handles on either side of him to grasp in the event of harsh weather.[15] The Evening Standard's James Langton wrote, "He was battered by high winds and unusually cold May weather during his first night and would have been killed or seriously injured if he had fallen."[16] He remained on the pillar for exactly 35 hours. The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik wrote, “David Blaine, standing up there, is actually as good a magical metaphor for the moment as Houdini, fighting his way out of the straitjacket of immigrant identity toward prosperity, was for his."[17] With his legs weak from standing atop the pillar for so long, he ended the feat by jumping down onto a landing platform made out of a 12 foot (3.7 m) high pile of cardboard boxes and suffered a concussion.
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 next to Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames, the area between City Hall and Tower Bridge in London. The case, measuring 3ft by 3ft by 7ft (0.9 x 0.9 x 2.1 m), had a webcam installed so that viewers could observe his progress. During the 44 day period, Blaine went without any food or nutrients and survived on just 4.5 litres of water per day.
The endurance stunt became the subject of much media attention. The Guardian wrote, "Blaine has created one of the most eloquent and telling visual images of our time."[18] The Times reported that "1,614 articles in the British press have made reference to the exploit."[19] U.S. 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.”[20]
While the majority of visitors were supportive, a minority were more mischievous or hostile towards the endurance artist. The Times reported that eggs, lemons, sausages, bacon, water bottles, beer cans, paint-filled balloons and golf balls had all been thrown at the box.[21] The Evening Standard reported that one man was arrested for attempting to cut the water supply to Blaine's box.[22] According to BBC News, Page 3 girls and glamour models from various men's magazines flashed at him and a burger was flown up to the box by a remote-controlled helicopter as a taunt.[23]
On September 25, the BBC News reported that Blaine announced via webcam that he was feeling the taste of pear drops on his tongue.[24] Dr. Adam Carey, who performed a medical examination of Blaine before he entered the box, said that the taste was produced by ketones produced by the body burning fatty acids, which are themselves produced from fat reserves via glycerol.
Blaine emerged on schedule on October 19, murmuring "I love you all!" and was quickly hospitalized. The New England Journal of Medicine published a paper that documented his 44 day fast and stated that his re-feeding was perhaps the most dangerous part of the stunt.[25]. The study reported, “He lost 24.5 kg (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.”[26]
Drowned Alive
On May 1, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an Template:Ft to m diameter, water-filled sphere (isotonic saline, 0.9% salt) in front of the Lincoln Center in New York City for a planned seven days and seven nights, using tubes for air and nutrition. During the stunt, doctors witnessed skin breakdown at the hands and feet, and liver failure. The New York Times' Kenneth Silverman wrote "his feat of endurance brought a diverse crowd of thousands of New Yorkers together, renewing for a while the city's waning spirit of democratic community."[27] 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.[28] He seemed to have trouble escaping from the last of the handcuffs. Around the 7 minute mark, he showed some signs of distress. He was pulled up and out of the water by his support divers after 7 minutes and 8 seconds underwater -- short of his goal, but an impressive feat nonetheless.[29] Blaine did claim to have succeeded in setting a record for being fully submerged in water for more than seven days straight (177 hours).
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.[30]
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 November 19 2006, Blaine announced his next stunt: he would be shackled to a rotating 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.
The stunt began on 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 a half hour after being allowed to try.[31]
As a result of his success, Blaine led 100 children selected by The Salvation Army on a shopping spree at Target, after 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.
Preparing a new show
David Blaine is currently preparing for two new stunts. On April 30th he tries to break the world record for breath-holding on pure oxygen and on the second stunt at a later date he will supposedly try to break the world record for sleep deprivation.
On April 30th Blaine attempts to hold his breath live on the Oprah Winfrey show for over 16 minutes using 100% oxygen in front of a panel of Guinness World Records judges. Current record for holding one's breath using pure oxygen is 16 minutes 14 seconds held by Tom Sietas.
Several news outlets have reported that Blaine's other new show will involve him trying to break the world record for sleep deprivation, presently held by Englishman Tony Wright. Wright found that the record (11.5 days without sleep) left him with hallucinations - for example, dreaming while awake - and that Guinness World Records refused to list or cite his record because of the grave risk to mental health.
Though this has not been officially confirmed, a posting on Blaine's site says, "The idea came to me during a sleepless night." and in a November 1 posting, Blaine stated that he has altered his diet to mostly raw food, a practice which is advocated by Wright.
However, according to the Magic Stars podcast in their March 30th edition, claimed Blaine confirmed his stunt was attempting the sleep deprivation world record. While originally planned to happen in May, Blaine claims the stunt will happen in mid-September.
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.
In his chapter, Discovery of Magic, Blaine tells stories of his childhood, of how he became interested in magic, and of his devotion to his late mother.
In The Three Magi, he acknowledges Robert-Houdin, Max Malini and Alexander Herrmann as major influences; in Confidence, he cites Orson Welles and Titanic Thompson as inspiration for his street magic persona; and in Ehrich Weiss, he celebrates the man we know as Houdini.
In The Man Ain't Right, Blaine describes the evolution of his street magic act and how a masterfully timed card trick cinched his television deal with ABC.
In Premature Burial, Frozen in Time, and Vertigo, Blaine details his grueling regime in preparation for each of his stunts of endurance, respectively, being buried in a glass coffin for seven days, standing inside a block of ice for sixty-one hours, and standing atop a 100-foot pole in high winds for thirty-five hours.
Scattered throughout the book are clues to Blaine's $100,000 Challenge, an armchair treasure hunt of visual ciphers and logic deduction devised by game designer Cliff Johnson, creator of The Fool's Errand. The Challenge was solved by Sherri Skanes on March 20 2004, 16 months after the book's publication.
Personal life
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (December 2007) |
- He has Primo Levi's concentration camp number, 174517, tattooed on his left forearm.[32]
References
- ^ Finn, Holly. "Through the Plexiglass darkly: David Blaine exposes Britain's nasty underbelly", The Times, September 25, 2003, p. 20. "Home to Blaine is Little Falls, New Jersey - where there is a museum honouring Yogi Berra, the legendary Yankee baseball player. He's the one who said 'It ain't over til it's over.' It sure ain't."
- ^ Behrens, David. "THE ART OF WONDER / From performing death-defying stunts to launching readers of his new book on an old-fashioned treasure hunt, David Blaine delights in surprises", Newsday, November 7, 2002. Accessed September 18, 2007. "Later, they moved to New Jersey, where he attended Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls."
- ^ Magic special turns out to be both, New York Daily News, 1997-05-19
- ^ Bingo Bango!
- ^ Magician is in deep for week-long stunt, New York Daily News, 1999-04-06
- ^ Magician surfaces from watery grave after weeklong burial, CNN, 1999-04-12
- ^ Magician surfaces from watery grave after weeklong burial, CNN, 1999-04-12
- ^ Magician makes it out alive, New York Post, 1999-04-13
- ^ Magician is in deep for week-long stunt, New York Daily News, 1999-04-06
- ^ Magician surfaces from watery grave after weeklong burial, CNN, 1999-04-12
- ^ Americas Magician emerges from grave, BBC News, 1999-04-12
- ^ Illusionist freed from icy confines after 62 hours, CNN, 2000-11-30
- ^ David Blaine - Fearless (DVD), Buena Vista Home Entertainment, shows footage of his hospitalization including the exclamation "He is going into shock!"
- ^ Weak From His 62 Hours in Ice, Ice Man Exits to an Ambulance, The New York Times, 2000-11-30
- ^ New York's pillar-dweller jumps, The Guardian, 2002-05-24
- ^ Blaine drops from 100ft pole, Evening Standard, 2002-05-23
- ^ Up in the Air, The New Yorker, 2002-06-03
- ^ People are not cartoons, The Guardian, 2003-09-27
- ^ Illusionist and the facts of life, 2003-10-20
- ^ Remarks by the President Bush at Whitehall, "From 9-11 to the Irag War 2003", 2003-11-19
- ^ Illusionist and the facts of life, 2003-10-20
- ^ Blaine cage attack, Evening Standard, 2003-09-16
- ^ 2003: David Blaine ends glass box stunt, BBC News, 2003-10-19
- ^ What's going on inside David Blaine's body?, BBC News, 2003-09-25
- ^ Refeeding David Blaine: studies after a 44-day fast", New England Journal of Medicine, 2005-11-24
- ^ Refeeding David Blaine: studies after a 44-day fast", David Blaine Library
- ^ When the City Was Magical"
- ^ Blaine Out For Record, Sky News, 2006-05-01
- ^ David Blaine: Drowned Alive? Part VII "Curtain Down" Deeper Blue
- ^ Cnn.com - David Blaine out of hospital
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/23/AR2006112300753.html
- ^ Jews With Tattoos - Boston Globe Aug 15, 2004.
Sources
- Mysterious Stranger, Blaine's autobiography published by Vilard Books and Channel 4 books. ISBN 0-7522-1989-8.
- 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.
External links
