David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, mentalist, and endurance performer. 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).
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. He is the author of Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic (2002), an autobiography and armchair treasure hunt with instructions on performing magic tricks.
Early life Blaine was born David Blaine White on April 4, 1973, in Brooklyn, the son of a single mother, Patrice White, a teacher who was of Russian Jewish ancestry, and father William Perez, 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.
According to one account, his mother developed cancer when Blaine was 15 and died when he was 20. According to 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.
Stunts and specials Street Magic (1997) and Magic Man (1998) 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.What Will Magic Be Like in the Future? Big Think, July 8, 2010 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."The Wizard of Grunge, Time, May 19, 1997
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." USA Today called Blaine the "hottest name in magic right now".He's a nice guy, that David Blaine, USA Today, November 20, 2000
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".
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. 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."Americas Magician emerges from grave, BBC News, April 12, 1999
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.David Blaine0 – Fearless (DVD), Buena Vista Home Entertainment, shows footage of his hospitalization including the exclamation "He is 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."McKinley, Jesse. Magician Emerges From Icy Stunt , The New York Times, November 30, 2000. Accessed April 27, 2012. 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 an high and wide pillar in Bryant Park, New York City.BBC NEWS.Blaine ends pillar thriller 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.Burkeman, Oliver. New York's pillar-dweller jumps, The Guardian, May 23, 2002. Accessed April 27, 2012. 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 sustained a mild concussion. 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.
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 media attention, The Times reporting 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."Remarks by the President Bush at Whitehall, "From 9-11 to the Iraq War 2003", November 19, 2003 Despite the media coverage, the British public were less impressed than previous American audiences and a number of spectators threw food and other items towards the box, including eggs, lemons, paint-filled balloons and golf balls. A McDonald's hamburger was flown up to the box by a remote-controlled helicopter as a taunt,2003: David Blaine ends glass box stunt, BBC News, October 19, 2003 drums were played at night to prevent Blaine from sleeping, and the Evening Standard reported that one man was arrested for attempting to cut the cable supplying water to Blaine's box.Blaine cage attack, Evening Standard, September 16, 2003 One critic claimed Blaine suffered from a God complex and described the stunt as "really poor [...] it's embarrassing to other magicians".
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.What's going on inside David Blaine's body? , BBC News Online, September 25, 2003 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."Refeeding David Blaine: studies after a 44-day fast" , David Blaine Library
Drowned Alive (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.Blaine Out For Record, Sky News, May 1, 2006 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 on April 18, 2010, Blaine performed an illusion of catching a .22 caliber bullet fired from a rifle into a small metal cup in his mouth.
Electrified: One Million Volts Always On (2012)