David Blaine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| David Blaine | |
|---|---|
| Image:Mrdavidblaine.jpeg | |
| Born | April 4 1973 Brooklyn, New York |
| Occupation | Illusionist Stunt performer |
| Height | 6'0" |
David Blaine (born David Blaine White on April 4, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.) is an American illusionist and stunt performer. He made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
His father was half Puerto Rican and his mother, Patrice Maureen White, was of Russian Jewish origin.[1] Blaine grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn.[2] He moved to New Jersey and attended Passaic Valley Regional High School in Little Falls.[3] David Blaine was raised and adopted by his stepfather John A. Bukalo, and his legal name was changed to David Blaine Bukalo. He has a half-brother from his mother's marriage to John, named Michael James Bukalo.
[edit] Magic career, endurance artist
[edit] Street Magic
David Blaine began his career by bringing street magic to the public, performing card tricks and illusions such as levitating and bringing dead flies back to life. His first television appearance was on Conan O'Brien, where he also performed card tricks, and promoted his Street Magic special. He used a small camera crew to record his act live in front of everyday people providing the basis for his television specials, David Blaine: Street Magic and David Blaine: Magic Man. His first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic revolutionized the way magic is performed and portrayed on television.[citation needed]
With its strong focus on spectators' reactions and showmanship, Blaine entertained unsuspecting pedestrians with standard sleight of hand magic props such as coins, cigarettes and a deck of cards.
[edit] Buried Alive
On April 5 1999, Blaine began a stunt called "Buried Alive". He was entombed in an underground plastic box underneath a 3-ton water-filled tank for seven days.
An estimated 75,000 people visited the site on Manhattan's Upper West Side where Blaine was buried in a 6-foot-deep hole in the sidewalk. He was in a cramped plastic coffin offering six inches of headroom and two inches on each side.
He ate nothing and drank only two to three tablespoons of water a day. He emerged on April 13 after 7 days in the coffin.
[edit] 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 closet 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. 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.[4] 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.
[edit] Vertigo
Blaine's next stunt was called "Vertigo." On 22 May 2002, Blaine performed the stunt in Bryant Park, New York City, where a crane lifted him onto a 105 ft (27 m) high and 22 in (56 cm) wide pillar. He remained on the pillar for exactly 35 hours. 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.
[edit] 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 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. Blaine claimed he went 44 days without any food or nutrients and just 4.5 litres of water per day. However, this was not verified and the water he was given was never inspected for added nutrients. 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.[citation needed]
The stunt became the subject of much media attention and a large degree of derision and ridicule. For example, 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 [1]. It caused speculation when eggs that had been thrown from the crowd were cleared from the box, as he was not meant to communicate with anyone.
Blaine emerged on schedule on October 19, murmuring "I love you all!" and was quickly hospitalized. He appeared gaunt and he claimed to have lost 54 pounds (24.5 kg) during his fast.
[edit] Drowned Alive
On May 1, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an 8 feet (2.4 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. 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.[5] He seemed to have trouble escaping from the last of the handcuffs. Blaine failed in his attempt, holding his breath for 7 minutes and 33 seconds before showing signs of distress and being pulled up by the support divers.[6] 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.[7] During the stunt, doctors witnessed skin breakdown at the hands and feet, and liver failure.
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.
[edit] Revolution
On November 19 2006, Blaine announced his next stunt. 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.[8]
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.
[edit] Preparing a new show
In the News section of his official website, Blaine announced on August 20, 2007 that he is currently preparing for a new stunt slated to air live on May 2008. Regarding the stunt, Blaine stated, "If you thought my previous stunts were intense, this new one will leave you speechless. I can’t reveal any details (yet) but I’ve started preparing and training for the most dangerous and death-defying challenge of my career."
Several news outlets have reported that Blaine's 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- 12.5 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.
[edit] 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.
The treasure hunt, Blaine's $100,000 Challenge, was devised by game designer Cliff Johnson, creator of The Fool's Errand, and solved by Sherri Skanes on March 20 2004, 16 months after the book's publication.
[edit] Personal life
| Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- He has dated Fiona Apple, Madonna, Josie Maran, Lonneke Engel,[9] and Daryl Hannah.
- He has Primo Levi's concentration camp number, 174517, tattooed on his left forearm.[10]
- He is commonly referred to as the "Git Wizard" by comedian Marcus Brigstocke, with it first being mentioned on popular BBC Radio 4 The Now Show.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ 20 September 2003, "Life's a magic box of tricks: Saturday Profile: David Blaine". Johnston Press Digital Publishing
- ^ Ryan, James. "If He Can Conjure Magical Ratings, That's Some Trick", The New York Times, May 11, 1997. Accessed October 18, 2007. "Mr. Blaine, who spent his early years in Park Slope, had a mother who was a teacher and a waitress and a father who was a Vietnam veteran and, the magician says, taught me to play chess when I was 3 and then vanished.... At 11, he moved with his mother to Passaic, N.J. It was there during his high school years, when he cared for his mother after she became ill with cancer, that Mr. Blaine developed his talent, but he kept his hobby a secret from his peers at Passaic High School."
- ^ 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."
- ^ David Blaine - Fearless (DVD), Buena Vista Home Entertainment, shows footage of his hospitalization including the exclamation "He is going into shock!"
- ^ 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
- ^ Liquid Lust, New York Post, 2006-07-04
- ^ Jews With Tattoos - Boston Globe Aug 15, 2004.
- ^ "Series 11, Episode 3". The Now Show. 2003-10-24. No. 3, season 11.
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
- David Blaine's official website
- David Blaine Gyroscope Image Gallery
- Below The Above official website
- David Blaine at the Internet Movie Database
- Official David Blaine myspacede:David Blaine
es:David Blaine he:דייוויד בליין lt:David Blaine nl:David Blaine pt:David Blaine fi:David Blaine sv:David Blaine
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since December 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since November 2007 | Articles with trivia sections from December 2007 | 1973 births | American magicians | American performance artists | American buskers | Autobiographers | People from Brooklyn | People from Passaic County, New Jersey | Living people | Puerto Rican-Americans | American Jews
