I’m confused as to whether I want to respect or mock David Blaine. He does stunts that push his body to the point where he could easily die, and they’re usually uncomfortable to watch. The guy is talented, though, and when his street magic schtick started getting old he moved on to public feats of extreme masochism so daring that almost no one else in the world would be capable of pulling them off. He also managed to break the world record for holding his breath underwater – in a live performance on Oprah this April. He had just months of preparation and was successful despite his heart rate being much higher than it was during practice sessions.

Blaine’s latest stunt seems damn near impossible for anyone else, but positively easy for him -he’s planning to hang upside down for three days. The guy has to keep his name in the news and I’m not knocking this feat, but he didspend three days in a spinning top two years ago and this isn’t that much different:

Daredevil DAVID BLAINE is preparing for a dizzying new stunt – he will hang upside down above New York’s Central Park for three days and two nights.

The illusionist will be deprived of food as he is suspended six storeys up on a highwire for his Dive of Death, which will be filmed to air on U.S. TV on 24 September (08).

He will even be forced to sleep upside down.

And members of the public will be invited to interract with the 35 year old.

He says, “There are always some crazy things. I get flashed quite often. Luckily, mostly from girls.”
Blaine’s previous stunts include spending 44 days in a glass box above London and more than two days encased in an ice block.

He recently made history by holding his breath for more than 17 minutes – and is this year preparing to attempt to break the world record for sleep deprivation.

[From Contact Music via We Smirch]

The story about Blaine trying to break the world record for staying awake might not be true – he was said to be planning that last year before the news came out that he decided to go for the world breath-holding record instead. He switched seemingly on a whim, but he definitely took his training seriously.

If you’re David Blaine you don’t get a lot of rest before you have to plan your next stunt. The news cycle is fast and this guy has to do one to two big feats a year or the public forgets about him. He’s still one of the world’s foremost magicians, but that’s been done to death and with douches like Criss Angel in the same field he’s probably loathe to go back there. That’s like a successful movie actor going back to work on a soap opera. Is he ever going to be able to retire though? The guy is 35 and he’s only going to be able to push his body for so long.

Here’s David Blaine getting a manicure at fashion week on 9/6/07. Credit: MLM/Fame