David Blaine before catching a bullet in his mouth
in September 2008 for Dive of Death TV Special.
The Magic and Extraordinary
Feats of David Blaine
In three decades, David Blaine has succeeded in transforming the world of magic and magic around the world. Born of humble beginnings in Brooklyn, New York, Blaine's earliest exposure to magic was watching a street performer in a New York subway. He was just four years of age at the time; however, the experience had a profound impact on the youngster. After learning his first trick, the "Pencil through Card," which he purchased at a Disney shop, Blaine continued to practice and refine his skills. Tricks with cards became the logical choice for a young man of limited financial means. What's more, Blaine found he had a natural aptitude for card manipulation. Soon he carried a deck with him everywhere he went - taking advantage of every opportunity to perform for friends and strangers alike.
When Blaine was ten, his mother, Patrice White, remarried and they moved to New Jersey. He continued to dream of being a master magician. At the age of 17, he moved back to New York. It was here on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen; Blaine began to polish the skills and unique performance style that would later help him astonish TV audiences around the globe. These hard-won performances honed his skills to a razor sharp edge.
He was becoming an accomplished performer. Yet his approach was different. It was more hip, more contemporary. In addition, while Blaine did not fit the image most people had of a magician - his street audiences accepted him, because he looked like them. He was an "everyman," but an everyman that could perform seeming miracles. An urban shaman, as card man and magic columnist Jon Racherbaumer would later put it.
In 1994, at the age of 21, David Blaine's mother died of cancer. With this devastating loss came a renewal of self-purpose. Blaine’s drive to succeed against the odds became stronger than ever. He worked harder to promote himself. His performances began to attract the attention of top celebrities around New York. Soon he was performing his "in-your-face" miracles at fast, inner circle parties for the rich and famous. Places you might see Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro. Blaine also became a good friend of Leonardo De Caprio around this time. Blaine's pals in the entertainment business encouraged him to send a video tape of his magic to ABC-TV.
David Blaine Street Magic
In 1997, his first special, "David Blaine: Street Magic," aired. Audiences in the United States were so impressed; ABC syndicated the special worldwide. The impact of David Blaine’s magic transcended all cultural barriers.
David Blaine performs Card Thru Window. Extreme Magic was the first publication
to teach many of the effects performed on Blaine's Street Magic TV Special accurately
and in full detail including the Twisting Arm Illusion, Balducci Levitation, Ash on Hand,
Number Predictions, and more.
David Blaine Magic Man
David Blaine's second TV special aired in 1999. Called "David Blaine: Magic Man," it featured some more exotic locales than the first special, including Haiti and South America. The focus of the magic was even more offbeat than the first - interspersing close-up tricks with mentalism and some obscure Eastern magic effects. To promote the special, Blaine was buried alive for seven days in New York.
David Blaine Magic Man
David Blaine Buried Alive
In 1999, David Blaine performed a publicity stunt that would have made Harry Houdini proud...he was "Buried Alive" in a plastic box underneath a 3.5 ton tank of water across from Trump Plaza. Houdini's niece, Marie Blood, visited the site. The BBC reporting on the stunt said, "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."
David Blaine Frozen in Time
In 2000, David Blaine was encased inside a solid block of ice for his "Frozen in Time" TV special. More of a stunt than a magic trick, it took place in Times Square in New York and generated a huge amount of publicity and inevitably some controversy for being over hyped.
David Blaine Vertigo
In 2002, David Blaine's "Vertigo" aired. Blaine, known for his headline-making daring and his death-defying feats of physical and emotional endurance, put his life on the line by balancing on a small circular platform one hundred feet above the crowd for 35 hours. He finished the stunt by falling into cardboard boxes - live - on the special. Viewers were also treated to pre-recorded segments of David Blaine performing his unique brand of in-your-face style street magic to astonished onlookers.
David Blaine Mysterious Stranger
Later that same year, publishing giant Random House released Blaine's official autobiography, "Mysterious Stranger," which included a section on how to do magic as well as a $100,000 treasure hunt challenge.
More Endurance Feats
Since the release of his autobiography, David Blaine has strived to stay in the media spotlight with news coverage and TV specials that incorporate his extraordinary endurance feats. These feats include: "Above the Below" where he was suspended in a Plexiglas box over the Thames River in London for 44 days; "Drowned Alive" in 2006 where he spent seven days and nights underwater in a water-filled, 8' diameter sphere in front of New York's famous Lincoln Center; later that same year, Blaine performed "Revolution" where he was shackled to a rotating gyroscope and escaped after it had been spinning for 16 hours; and Blaine's last major publicity stunt, "The Upside Down Man," where he hung upside down without a net for 60 hours in Central Park.
Performing for Celebrities and Charity
Blaine has performed privately for a range of celebrities and U.S. and foreign political figures and dignitaries, including Presidents Clinton and Bush. He also performs for charity, including a benefit in 2010, "Magic for Haiti" in Times Square that raised nearly $100,000.
Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger and Michael Bloomberg
watch Blaine do a card trick at a private function.
What comes next?
We're waiting to see!
Article/Photo Credits: ABC-TV, Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, et al
In 1999, David Blaine performed a publicity stunt that would have made Harry Houdini proud...he was "Buried Alive" in a plastic box underneath a 3.5 ton tank of water across from Trump Plaza. Houdini's niece, Marie Blood, visited the site. The BBC reporting on the stunt said, "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."
