David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, i

llusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of
endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic.[1]
He has performed all over the world and has set and broken several world record
s.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Stunts and specials
2.1 Street Magic and Magic Man
2.2 Buried Alive
2.3 Frozen in Time
2.4 Vertigo
2.5 Mysterious Stranger
2.6 Above the Below
2.7 Drowned Alive
2.8 Revolution
2.9 Guinness World Records
2.10 Dive of Death
2.11 May 2012 show
2.12 Electrified: One Million Volts Always On
2.13 David Blaine: Real or Magic
3 Charity and private appearances
3.1 Charity
3.2 Magic for Haiti
3.3 Private appearances
3.4 TED Talks
4 Personal life
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Early life[edit]
Blaine was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Patrice Maureen Whi
te (1946 1995)[2] and William Perez. His father was a half Puerto Rican and half I
talian veteran of the Vietnam War, and his mother was a school teacher of Russia
n Jewish descent.[3] When Blaine was four years old, he saw a magician performin
g magic in the subway. This sparked a lifelong interest for him.[4] He was raise
d by his single mother and attended many schools in Brooklyn. When he was 10 yea
rs old, his mother married John Bukalo and they moved to Little Falls, New Jerse
y,[5] where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School.[6] When Blaine was
17 years old, he moved to Manhattan, New York.[7]
Stunts and specials[edit]
Street Magic and Magic Man[edit]
On May 19, 1997, Blaine's first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic a
ired on then NBC. According to the New York Daily News: "Blaine can lay claim to
his own brand of wizardry. The magic he offers in tonight's show operates on an
uncommonly personal level."[8] When asked about his performance style, David ex
plained, I'd like to bring magic back to the place it used to be 100 years ago. '[9
] Time magazine commented, "his deceptively low-key, ultracool manner leaves spe
ctators more amazed than if he'd razzle-dazzled."[10] The concept of focusing on
spectator reactions changed the way that magic has been shown on television. Th
e New York Times wrote: "He's taken a craft that's been around for hundreds of y
ears and done something unique and fresh with it."[9] Penn Jillette of Penn & Te
ller stated: "The biggest breakthrough done in our lifetime was David Blaine's S
treet Magic, where his idea was to do really simple tricks but to concentrate...
to turn the camera around on the people watching instead of the people doing. S
o to make the audience watch the audience, which that first special Street Magic
, is the best TV magic special ever done and really, really does break new groun
d." Many people watched the show.[11]

In Magic Man, Blaine is shown traveling across the country, entertaining unsuspe
cting pedestrians in Atlantic City, Compton, Dallas, the Mojave Desert, New York
City, and San Francisco, recorded by a small crew with handheld cameras. Jon Ra
cherbaumer commented: "Make no mistake about it, the focus of this show, boys an
d girls, is not Blaine. It is really about theatrical proxemics; about the showwithin-a-show and the spontaneous, visceral reactions of people being astonished
."[12] USA Today called Blaine the "hottest name in magic right now".[13]
Buried Alive[edit]
David Blaine buried underneath a 3.5 ton tank of water in New York
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 Drive. According to CNN, "Blaine's only communication to the outside w
orld was by a hand buzzer, which could have alerted an around-the-clock emergenc
y crew standing by." BBC News reported that the cramped plastic coffin offered s
ix inches (152 mm) of headroom and two inches on each side. During the endurance
stunt Blaine ate nothing and drank only two to three tablespoons of water a day
.[14] An estimated 75,000 people visited the site, including Marie Blood, Harry
Houdini's niece, who said, "My uncle did some amazing things, but he could not h
ave done this."[15] On the final day of the stunt, April 12, hundreds of news te
ams were stationed at the site for the coffin-opening. A team of construction wo
rkers removed a portion of the 75 cubic feet (2.1 m3) of gravel surrounding the
six-foot-deep coffin before a crane lifted the water tank.[16] Blaine emerged an
d told the crowd, "I saw something very prophetic ... a vision of every race, ev
ery religion, every age group banding together, and that made all this worthwhil
e."[14] BBC News stated, "The 26-year-old magician has outdone his hero, Harry H
oudini, who had planned a similar feat but died in 1926 before he could perform
it."[17] During the preparation of the stunt, Jonathan Demme told Time Out New Y
ork, "He's the most exciting thing in America... and I'm not just talking entert
ainment."[18]
Frozen in Time[edit]
David Blaine encased in a block of ice for Frozen in Time in Times Square, New Y
ork
On November 27, 2000, Blaine began a stunt called "Frozen in Time," which was co
vered on a TV special. Blaine stood encased in a massive block of ice located in
Times Square, New York City. He was lightly dressed and seen to be shivering ev
en 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 cha
in saws. The ice was transparent and resting on an elevated platform to show tha
t he was actually inside the ice the entire time. CNN confirmed that "thousands
of people braved the pouring rain Wednesday night to catch a glimpse of Blaine a
s workers cut away at the ice."[19] He was removed from the ice in an obviously
dazed and disoriented state, wrapped in blankets and taken to the hospital immed
iately because doctors feared he might be going into shock.[20] The New York Tim
es reported, "The magician who emerged from the increasingly unstable ice box se
emed a shadow of the confident, robust, shirtless fellow who entered two days be
fore."[21] 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 at
tempt a stunt of this difficulty.[22] 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.[
23]
David Blaine stands on a 100 ft (30 m) pole for Vertigo in the middle of Bryant
Park in New York

Vertigo[edit]
On May 22, 2002, a crane lifted Blaine onto a 100-foot (30 m) high and 22-inch (
0.56 m) wide pillar in Bryant Park, New York City. He was not harnessed to the p
illar, so there were two retractable handles on either side of him to grasp in t
he event of harsh weather.[24] The Evening Standard's James Langton wrote, "He w
as battered by high winds and unusually cold May weather during his first night
and would have been killed or seriously injured if he had fallen."[25] He remain
ed on the pillar for exactly 35 hours. The New Yorker s Adam Gopnik wrote, David Bl
aine, standing up there, is actually as good a magical metaphor for the moment a
s Houdini, fighting his way out of the straitjacket of immigrant identity toward
prosperity, was for his."[26] 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 mild concussion
.
Mysterious Stranger[edit]
On October 29, 2002, Random House published David Blaine's Mysterious Stranger:
A Book of Magic.[27] Part autobiography, part history of magic, and part armchai
r treasure hunt, the book also includes instructions on how to perform card tric
ks and illusions. Editing director, Bruce Tracy, explains that David Blaine is th
e most exciting and creative magician since Houdini, and now, readers have the o
pportunity to enjoy Blaine's unique book about magic, and they can participate b
y testing their own ability to discover and interpret clues. [28]
The treasure hunt, Blaine's $100,000 Challenge, was devised by game designer Cli
ff Johnson, creator of The Fool's Errand, and solved by Sherri Skanes on March 2
0, 2004, 16 months after the book's publication.[29]
Above the Below[edit]
David Blaine in the box for Above the Below in front of thousands at City Hall (
London)
On September 5, 2003, Blaine began his 44-day endurance stunt sealed inside a tr
ansparent Plexiglas case suspended 9 metres (30 ft) in the air next to Potters F
ields Park on the south bank of the River Thames, the area between City Hall and
Tower Bridge in London. The case, measuring 3 feet (0.9 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m) by
7 feet (2.1 m), had a webcam installed so that viewers could observe his progre
ss. During the 44-day period, Blaine went without any food or nutrients and surv
ived on just 4.5 litres of water per day.[30]
The endurance stunt became the subject of much media attention. The Guardian wro
te, "Blaine has created one of the most eloquent and telling visual images of ou
r time."[31] The Times reported that "1,614 articles in the British press have m
ade reference to the exploit."[32] Then U.S. President George W. Bush referred t
o Blaine s stunt in a speech at the Whitehall Palace in London, saying, The last no
ted American to visit London stayed in a glass box dangling over the Thames. A f
ew might have been happy to provide similar arrangements for me. [33]
A number of spectators were mischievous or hostile towards the endurance artist.
The Times reported that eggs, lemons, sausages, bacon, water bottles, beer cans
, paint-filled balloons and golf balls had all been thrown at the box.[32] The E
vening Standard reported that one man was arrested for attempting to cut the cab
le supplying water to Blaine's box.[34] According to BBC News, a hamburger was f
lown up to the box by a remote-controlled helicopter as a taunt.[35] Some sites
were also asking people to taunt Blaine and one man was caught tampering with Da
vid's water line.[36]
On September 25, BBC News reported that Blaine announced via webcam that he was
feeling the taste of pear drops on his tongue.[37] A medical doctor, Adam Carey,
performed an examination of Blaine before he entered the box and said that the

taste was produced by ketones produced by the body burning fatty acids, which ar
e themselves produced from fat reserves.
Blaine emerged on schedule on October 19, murmuring "I love you all!" and was qu
ickly hospitalized. The New England Journal of Medicine published a paper that d
ocumented his 44 day fast and stated that his re-feeding was perhaps the most da
ngerous part of the stunt.[38] The study reported, He lost 24.5 kg (25 percent of
his original body weight), and his body mass index dropped from 29.0 to 21.6. H
is appearance and body-mass index after his fast would not by themselves have al
erted us to the risks of refeeding. Despite cautious management, he had hypophos
phatemia and fluid retention, important elements of the refeeding syndrome. [39] T
he event was filmed by director, and close friend of Blaine, Harmony Korine.
Drowned Alive[edit]
David Blaine prepares to hold his breath on the final night of Drowned Alive at
Lincoln Center, New York
On May 17, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an 8 feet (2.4 m) diameter, water-fille
d 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 nutriti
on. During the stunt, doctors witnessed skin breakdown at the hands and feet. Th
e New York Times' Kenneth Silverman wrote "his feat of endurance brought a diver
se crowd of thousands of New Yorkers together, renewing for a while the city's w
aning spirit of democratic community."[40]
He concluded this event by attempting to hold his breath underwater to break the
then-current world record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds held by Tom Sietas for stati
c apnea holding one's breath without the aid of breathing 100% oxygen beforehand,[
41] although Blaine's attempt would not have qualified as static apnea under AID
A International rules.[42] Due to his producers' request to make the show more e
xciting, Blaine attempted to free himself from handcuffs and chains put on him u
pon coming out after the week in the sphere.[43] He seemed to have trouble escap
ing from the last of the handcuffs. Around the 7 minute mark, he showed some sig
ns of distress. He was pulled up and out of the water by his support divers afte
r 7 minutes and 12 seconds underwater one minute and fifty seconds short of his go
al.[44] Although he did not take home the record for breath holding, he was call
ed an everyday hero for an everyday age, by The Boston Globe,[45] and The Washingt
on Post stated, Blaine represented an opportunity to see something unbelievable. [4
6]
Blaine has since broken the record for holding one's breath using oxygen beforeh
and (as permitted by the Guinness Book of Records).[47]
Blaine underwent multiple short hospital visits after the stunt ended and has en
tered an agreement with doctors from Yale University to monitor him in order to
study the human physiological reaction to prolonged submersion.[47] In an interv
iew 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 co
ncerned with defecation.
Revolution[edit]
On November 19, 2006, Blaine announced his next stunt: he would be shackled to a
rotating gyroscope. His goal was to escape from his shackles after the gyroscop
e had been spinning for 16 hours. The gyroscope was constantly spinning at a rat
e 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 excitin
g for me. This one's a fun one." 52 hours later, without food or water, a dehydr
ated and weakened Blaine landed on a wooden platform 30 feet (9.1 m) below after

jumping from the hanging gyroscope.[48]

As a result of his success, Blaine led 100 children selected by The Salvation Ar
my on a shopping spree at Target, after each child received a $500 gift certific
ate from the retailer. Blaine said the stunt was particularly important since Th
e Salvation Army had provided him with clothing while he was growing up. "This c
hallenge is close to my heart," Blaine said. Unlike many of his endurance stunts
this one was never televised as a unique show.
Guinness World Records[edit]
After failing to surpass the then-current record of unassisted static apnea in h
is previous attempt Drowned Alive,[49][50] Blaine appeared on the April 30, 2008
episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, announcing that he would attempt to break th
e Guinness World Record for oxygen assisted static apnea set by Peter Colat of S
witzerland on February 10, 2008.
Before entering his eighteen-hundred gallon water tank, Blaine spent 23 minutes
inhaling pure oxygen; up to 30 minutes of "oxygen hyperventilation" is allowed u
nder guidelines.[51] His heart rate remained above one hundred beats per minute
during much of the attempt, rising to one hundred and twenty-four bpm in the fif
teenth minute. This faster heart rate increases oxygen consumption leading to pa
inful carbon dioxide buildup.[51] In the final minute, his heart rate became err
atic and Blaine became worried he might blackout. In order to assist the medics
in case he would lose consciousness, he unhooked his feet from the sphere's bott
om and floated closer to the surface ;[51][52] however, he kept his head submerg
ed for a half minute longer than the previous record. Ultimately, Blaine held hi
s breath for 17 minutes 4 seconds, surpassing Colat's previous mark of 16 minutes
32 seconds. This was Blaine's first Guinness record[52] and it stood for almost
four and a half months, until surpassed by Tom Sietas on September 19, 2008.
During the following interview, Blaine stated: "I really thought I was not going
to make it,"[52] claiming that he did so by staying in a meditative state which
was helped by the studio lights reflecting off the sphere.[51] According to Bla
ine, besides the pressure of performing on television, the heart-rate monitor ha
ppened to be close enough to his ear so that he heard its beeping, and he had to
keep his feet locked in holds at the bottom of the sphere
instead of just float
ing freely, as he did in the pool on Grand Cayman months earlier. Back then he s
aid he was so relaxed he "wasn t even there" during most of the breath-hold. But w
hen he emerged from the sphere today, he told Oprah, "I was pretty much here the
whole time."[52]
Dive of Death[edit]
Donald Trump with David Blaine announcing Blaine's next event in the atrium of t
he Trump Tower
On September 18, 2008, Donald Trump and Blaine held a press conference at the Tr
ump Tower in New York City to announce his latest feat, The Upside Down Man . Blain
e was to hang upside down without a safety net for 60 hours above Central Park s W
ollman Rink, with a predicted end for 10:45 p.m. on September 24. Reportedly, Bl
aine risked blindness and other maladies in the stunt.[53] Trump has helped fina
nce this and other Blaine events. Blaine hung over the Wollman Rink and interact
ed with fans by lowering himself upside down. At the press conference, Blaine st
ated he had already gone without food for over a week and would continue to do s
o throughout the act. In order to drink fluid and restore circulation, he would
pull himself up, all the while contending with muscle spasms and lack of sleep.
Blaine began the stunt on Monday September 22, but was widely criticized when, o
nly hours into the endurance challenge, he was seen by fans to be standing on a
waiting crane platform, and not upside down, as expected.[54] He reportedly woul
d come down once an hour to receive a medical check, stretch and relieve himself
.[55]

When the "Dive of Death" took place, Blaine came down from the platform on a cab
le, and lightly touched the stage. He was then pulled back up into the air, and,
in the words of the Daily News (New York), "hung in the air like a sack of pota
toes with a goofy grin on his face, occasionally kicking his legs as though he w
ere running."[56] The plan had been for Blaine to be pulled up into the air by h
elium balloons and disappear into the atmosphere.[56] Blaine attributed the prob
lem to changes in weather conditions that occurred after the stunt was delayed d
ue to an address by President Bush.[56]
May 2012 show[edit]
On June 17, 2011, Blaine announced on a live video chat that he would be doing a
show in May 2012. During this video chat he also demonstrated a few of his new
tricks, showed a video of him swimming with Great White Sharks[57] and announced
his new card deck called the white lions. He stated that the show will be 100%
street magic and full of completely new material. However, due to no real public
enthusiasm for such a project he decided to perform an endurance stunt titled '
Electrified: One Million Volts Always On'.
Electrified: One Million Volts Always On[edit]
David Blaine was the target for the electrical discharge produced by seven Tesla
coils on Pier 54, New York City
On October 5, 2012, Blaine began performing a 72-hour endurance stunt called "El
ectrified: One Million Volts Always On" atop a 22-foot high pillar on Pier 54 in
New York City, produced by Intel and Vice and livestreamed via YouTube.[58] Arc
Attack built a system of seven Tesla coils producing an electric discharge of at
least one million volts continuously for the duration. These seven Tesla coils
were directed at Blaine for the entirety of the endurance stunt, during which he
neither ate food nor slept. He wore 34 lbs of gear, including a chainmail Farad
ay suit. John Belcher, a physics professor from the Massachusetts Institute of T
echnology, reportedly said, He has a conducting suit, all the current is going th
rough the suit, nothing through his body. There is no danger in this that I see.
I would do it, and I am 69 years old and risk-averse."[59] At night, Blaine was
visibly shivering uncontrollably from the inclement weather. The Science Times
of The New York Times published an article describing the science behind Blaine s
stunt and featured it on page one of nytimes.com.[60] A number of notables visit
ed the event, including performance artist Marina Abramovic, film director Darre
n Aronofsky,[61] comedian Chris Rock,[62] musician Pharrell Williams,[63] and ro
cker Andrew W.K.,[64] with the latter two musicians performing solos on a keyboa
rd controlling the electric discharge.
At the conclusion of the event on October 8, 2012 at 8:44 PM, Blaine was weary,
but was able to walk with assistance and kiss his fiance, Alizee Guinochet.[65]
An ambulance transported him to a hospital for checkups.[66]
David Blaine donated two of the Tesla coils to the Liberty Science Center, in Je
rsey City, New Jersey to be exhibited on permanent display as part of a public l
earning experience.[67]
David Blaine: Real or Magic[edit]
Blaine starred in a 90-minute ABC television special, "David Blaine: Real or Mag
ic", on November 19, 2013.[68] The special was directed by Emmy Award winning di
rector Matthew Akers and featured Blaine performing magic for his favorite celeb
rities and public figures including Woody Allen, Robert De Niro, George W. Bush,
Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Harrison Ford, Kanye West, Jamie Foxx, Ricky Gervai
s, Woody Harrelson, Stephen Hawking, Lenny Kravitz, Macklemore, Olivia Wilde, Ka
ty Perry, Michael Phelps, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jon Stewart, Psy, Emmy
Rossum and Jason Sudeikis.

In "Real or Magic" David Blaine blurred the lines between reality and illusion a
nd elicited a range of reactions from both celebrities and impromptu street crow
ds.[69] At one point Blaine's performance even caused Harrison Ford to say, " Get
the f out of my house. [70] Real or Magic aired from 9:30-11:00 PM, drew a 2.5 rati
ng with the 18-49 age bracket, won its time slot, and posted the best numbers in
the time slot for ABC's 2013 season.[71]
Charity and private appearances[edit]
David Blaine performs for President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Cli
nton as well as President George W. Bush
David Blaine performs for Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger and Michael Bloomberg
Charity[edit]
Every year, David Blaine has traveled all across the country and the world to pe
rform magic for children s hospital wards, burn units and juvenile wards, includin
g Spofford, Bridges, Horizon, and Crossroads. Blaine has spent time performing m
agic for Paul Newman and the children diagnosed with serious illnesses at the Ho
le in the Wall Gang Camp.
Magic for Haiti[edit]
On Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9 A.M. David Blaine started performing "Magic for
Haiti" in Times Square until Monday, January 18, 2010 at 9 A.M, performing for
the course of 72 hours and raising nearly one hundred thousand dollars.[72]
Private appearances[edit]
David Blaine has traveled internationally performing magic privately for Preside
nt Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President George W. Bush
,[73] Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, Governor Arnold Schw
arzenegger, Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He has also
performed magic for the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, the President of G
eorgia Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Ukraine Victor Yanukovych, and the
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Additionally, David Blaine has per
formed for Lakshmi Mittal.
Blaine has performed for many other public and private entities, including Googl
e founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Stephen Hawking, Woody Allen, Jack Nichol
son, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Muhammad Ali. Blaine has also performed magi
c alongside Michael Jackson.
TED Talks[edit]
Blaine first appeared on TED's list of the 20 most popular TED Talks in 2013.[74
] In this talk he describes his journey toward holding his breath for over 17 mi
nutes.[75]
Personal life[edit]
Blaine has one half-brother. Blaine and Alizee Guinochet have one daughter, Dess
a, born on January 27, 2011.[76] At the time that Guinochet went into labor, the
re was a massive blizzard where they lived in New York. Due to the intense weath
er, no cars or taxis were on the road, so Blaine had to hail a snowplow, which t
ransported the couple to the hospital.[77]