David Blaine
David Blaine (* 4. April 1973 in Brooklyn , New York City than David Blaine White ) is a US action and magician . Half of his father is Puerto Rican and his mother is of Russian Jewish descent.
His specialties are on the one hand closeup magic, a variety that is performed in direct contact with the audience, and on the other hand spectacular stunts and sensational acts that push the limits of his physical and psychological endurance.
backgrounds
Blaine began his career doing magic on the streets of New York. There he showed passers-by a. a. Magic with cards, coins and banknotes, but also the illusion of telepathy and levitation . Filmed by a small camera crew, these screenings laid the foundation for several successful television shows such as David Blaine: Street Magic (1996) and David Blaine: Magic Man (1998).
In the course of his career he turned more and more to spectacular stunts and sensational numbers that have little to do with conventional magic, but rather are supposed to demonstrate the potential of the human will. Blaine is a founding member of the Conjuring Arts Research Center , which is devoted to the scientific research and documentation of historical magic.
Actions
Buried Alive (1999)
On April 5, 1999, Blaine was sunk in a glass coffin in a pit excavated in front of one of Donald Trump's office buildings in New York. In this “grave” he spent seven days with no apparent intake of air or food. Passers-by could watch him through the glass coffin lid 24 hours a day. With this spectacle Blaine wanted to build on corresponding stunts by Harry Houdini .
Frozen in Time (2000)
On November 27, 2000, David Blaine was locked in a block of ice in Times Square , New York. Supplied with water and fresh air from outside through hoses and fitted with a urinary catheter , he spent 61 hours, 40 minutes and 15 seconds standing and awake in this way. The largely transparent block of ice was set up on a pedestal that you could see through to prove to skeptics that Blaine actually spent the full time in the ice. According to his own statements, even a month after this stunt he was unable to run normally again. With this action Blaine set a world record, which was broken in late 2009 by the Israeli magician Hezi Dean .
Vertigo (2002)
On May 22, 2002, Blaine stood on a 90- foot (27 m) high column in New York's Bryant Park and stayed there on a platform measuring just 22 inches in diameter with no food or security for the next 35 Stand for hours. At the end of this action, he finally jumped off the pillar into a 12-foot (3.7 m) high pile of cardboard boxes.
Above the Below (2003)
On September 5, 2003, Blaine's most controversial action began: In a see-through "cell" (2.1 mx 2.1 mx 0.9 m) located nine meters above the ground in Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the Thames in Hung up in London , he spent 44 days without food, only supplied with water. A webcam made it possible to observe Blaine continuously.
Although most of the observers were peaceful and reserved, this stunt gained some media coverage through hostile and provocative actions by individuals. Eggs, lemons, sausages, bacon, bottles, bags of paint and the like were pelted at the plastic box, and to attract attention, a British newspaper organized a remote-controlled mini helicopter to fly a hamburger around the box.
A man was arrested trying to cut the supply lines to the box, and numerous passers-by showed Blaine her bare breasts and buttocks.
Blaine left the box emaciated on October 19, 2003, barely able to walk or speak. This was followed by a lengthy stay in hospital to treat severe malnutrition . In the 44 days in his crate, he lost 27 kg of body weight. For this action Blaine got, according to his biography at IMDb 2003 the title "Biggest Loser" in a British poll.
In 2007 the documentary A Hunger Artist - David Blaine's Above the Below by Christof Wolf was released on DVD.
Drowned Alive (2006)
From May 1, 2006 to May 8, 2006, David Blaine was in a water-filled Plexiglas ball in front of Lincoln Center in New York for 176 hours , supplied with air and liquid food through hoses. After about 2 days, the doctors advised him to stop because his skin was cracking, but Blaine ignored this warning. At the end of this event he tried to break the world record in holding breath (at the time 8 minutes and 58 seconds, set by Tom Sietas ), which he had to give up after 7 minutes and 8 seconds due to exhaustion.
The show almost ended in tragedy. Blaine lost control and tried to show up despite his ankle chains. He passed out while his backup divers loosened the chains.
On April 30, 2008, David Blaine repeated his attempt to break the world record for holding breath live on the Oprah Winfrey Show; this time, however, after pre- oxygenation with one hundred percent oxygen. Under observation by representatives of the Guinness Book of Records , he managed to interrupt his breathing for 17 minutes and 4 seconds, thus setting a new record.
Revolution (2006)
On November 18, 2006, Blaine announced his next stunt. He informed the press that he would be handcuffed 50 feet to a gyroscope that would keep rotating on itself. His goal was to break free from the shackles, but only after being spun around in it for 16 hours. The gyroscope spun at 8 revolutions per minute as it hung over an empty parking lot in Manhattan near Times Square. Only after about 52 hours did he loosen his bonds and jump about 12 meters down onto a wooden platform, which he broke through on landing. Blaine was unharmed. The sponsor of this promotion gave 100 children and their families shopping vouchers for $ 500 each.
Dive of Death (2008)
On September 23, 2008, David Blaine was hung upside down from a wire rope over the Wollman Rink ice rink in Central Park , New York City . He stayed in this position for over 60 hours, the last two hours of the action being broadcast live on various TV channels. The name of this action was the conclusion with a "death jump" ( Dive of Death ) into the darkness (11:15 pm local time).
Dressed for Dinner (2009)
In September 2009, Blaine jumped into the sea in just a tuxedo off the coast of Guadeloupe . He spent several days in the open water swimming with just under two dozen great white sharks . The campaign was carried out together with the men's designer Adam Kimmel.
Bullet Catch (2010)
In his television movie David Blaine: What Is Magic? , which was released in 2010, Blaine catches a small caliber cartridge (.22) fired from a pistol with a small metal cup in his mouth. The stunt was recorded in slow motion at 10,000 frames per second .
In 2015 he repeated the stunt during a live show in front of 20,000 spectators. The peculiarity of this, however, was that Blaine himself also shot the cartridge.
Electrified (2012)
On October 5, 2012, Blaine began his stunt called Electrified . He stood for 73 hours on a 22 foot (approx. 6.7 meters) high column, which was surrounded by seven Tesla coils . The coils produced a voltage of a million volts and were aimed directly at Blaine throughout the stunt. Blaine wore a 15-kilogram protective metal suit that served as a Faraday cage .
The entire action was streamed live on YouTube and had over 400 million viewers.
Trivia
Blaine appears in season 5, episode 3 of the US series South Park . In the episode The League of Super Best Friends (orig. "Super Best Friends" ), Jesus forms a team of heroes, consisting of Mohammed , Buddha , Krishna , Joseph Smith , Laozi and "Sea Man", to stop a sect that is around Blaine founded. The Blainetologists are an allusion to the Scientology religious movement .
bibliography
- Mysterious Stranger ( autobiography ), ISBN 0-7522-1989-8 .
Filmography
- 1996: David Blaine: Street Magic
- 1998: David Blaine: Magic Man
- 2000: David Blaine: Frozen in Time
- 2002: David Blaine: Vertigo
- 2002: David Blaine: Fearless
- 2003: David Blaine: Above the Below
- 2006: David Blaine: Drowned Alive
- 2008: David Blaine: Dive of Death
- 2010: David Blaine: What Is Magic?
- 2010: David Blaine: Beautiful Struggle
- 2013: David Blaine: Real or Magic
- 2016: David Blaine: Beyond Magic
Individual evidence
- ^ Budras: David Blaine: For 60 hours upside down ... In: FAZ , accessed November 10, 2008 .
Web links
- David Blaine in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Homepage (English)
- "David Blaine - the crazy magician" , Rheinische Post , May 9, 2006
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blaine, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Blaine White, David (birth name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American action artist and street magician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 4th 1973 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |