David Blaine: Drowned Alive

[The C]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

How weird would it have been to see Stu Scott's eye enlarged by the fishbowl Blaine was in?

Anyways, how wrinkley was Blaine when he got out.

[skitch]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

I don't really know why, but I watched this. It's unbelievable to see the stuff this guy does. I was kind of disappointed he didn't set the record, but it was a damn good effort. The entire time, I was just hoping I wouldn't see a guy drown.

[Crucial Mike]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

"Drowned Alive"- It could just be that I'm posting this too late at night, but isn't everyone alive when they drown? Can you be drowned dead? lol

[snepp]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

Boy did they get the perfect guy to host this crappy thing. Stu Scott is the Efffing king of hyperbole.

I probably would have watched a bit of it, but the instant I heard his voice...CLICK!

[bryan_05]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ap/index.html

Blaine pulled from water short of goal
New York stuntman fails in bid to hold breath nearly 9 minutes

Monday, May 8, 2006; Posted: 11:04 p.m. EDT (03:04 GMT)

David Blaine was trying to remove his chains before the divers came in.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stunt artist David Blaine was pulled from an aquarium by divers Monday nearly two minutes short of his goal of setting a world record for holding his breath underwater.

Blaine was trying to free himself from chains and handcuffs while bidding to break the record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds for holding one's breath underwater. The stunt, following a weeklong endurance challenge underwater, was televised live by ABC.

With Blaine's face contorted in pain and bubbles rising to the surface, divers went in to release him from the chains and pull him out. Blaine held his breath for 7:08.

After being given oxygen, Blaine addressed the large crowd that had gathered around the 8-foot snow globe-like tank on the plaza of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

"I am humbled so much by the support of everyone from New York City and from all over the world," Blaine said. "This was a very difficult week, but you all made it fly by with your strong support and your energy. Thank you so much, everybody. ... I love you all."

After a 100-minute television preamble that showed his training techniques -- including holding his breath in a tank of sharks -- Blaine had sucked in his last breath before going under. Kirk Krack, his trainer and a diving expert, offered encouragement as Blaine remained nearly still for the first five minutes of his dive.

Then, methodically, he removed two of his handcuffs and was trying to remove chains that held him before the divers came in to save him.

ABC was hoping that curiosity over his stunt would attract viewers during a ratings sweeps month.

Dr. Murat Gunel, who heads Blaine's medical team and is an associate professor of neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine, said before the attempt: "He is pushing his body insanely to the limits."

Gunel and other medical experts had been monitoring Blaine's condition 24 hours a day from an adjacent tent filled with medical equipment and machines.

Gunel said the challenge had taken a toll on the magician's body, including liver damage, the sensation of pins and needles in his feet and hands, some loss of sensation elsewhere, and rashes all over his body, which glistened pale white in the tank.

On Sunday, Blaine, 33, wearing a diver's helmet with a two-way communication system, told AP Television News he would "give it my best shot" to complete the feat despite peeling skin, sharp pains in his joints and a severe earache.

Blaine started training in December, with some help from Navy SEALS. He lost 50 pounds so his body would require less oxygen.

As early as the second day of his challenge, Gunel said, there was evidence that Blaine was suffering liver failure; the medical team consulted with medical experts at NASA before stabilizing his condition. Blaine's underwater environment was similar to the weightlessness experienced by astronauts in outer space, he said.

"I told him he needed to get out of the water, and he refused me," Gunel said. "He said he did not want to let the people down."

The doctor said Blaine had agreed to allow researchers at Yale to examine him after the stunt to see what they can learn about how the body responds to an underwater environment.

All day, curious onlookers lined up to walk past the sphere.

Linda Brady, of New York City, brought along a boom box and loudly played Jennifer Lopez's "My Love is All I Have." Blaine appeared to respond by bopping to the beat.

"I just love him," Brady said. "He has a creative mind just like me, and he's crazy just like me."

Another spectator, David Linker, said Blaine symbolized "man's strength to go beyond what normal people can do."

Blaine's previous feats included balancing on a 22-inch circular platform atop a 100-foot pole for 35 hours, being buried alive in a see-through coffin for a week and surviving inside a massive block of ice for 61 hours.

All those stunts were performed in New York. In 2003, he fasted for 44 days in a suspended acrylic box over the Thames River in London

[mjb2124]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

i dunno, am i the only one who kinda thinks all the "He's in bad shape" stuff we've read in the news is all just publicity spin to get people to watch?

I agree. Remember when he stayed in a block of ice for a while? They said he was in terrible shape then as well. Later we found out that he was escaping to an area underneath the ice where he had a bed to sleep in and someone else that looked like him took his place.

[Skerik]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

I agree. Remember when he stayed in a block of ice for a while? They said he was in terrible shape then as well. Later we found out that he was escaping to an area underneath the ice where he had a bed to sleep in and someone else that looked like him took his place.

Well he is an "illusionist." That's what confused me about this latest stunt - there didn't really seem to be an element of illusion to it since he was actually subjecting himself to those conditions. Plus, if it were all some kind of illusion and his condition was fine, why fall short of the record? Especially on live national television.

The whole thing seemed pretty legit. Which is weird, because it's not really a magic trick if you're actually doing the stunt, you know?

[rubisco43]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

Well he is an "illusionist." That's what confused me about this latest stunt - there didn't really seem to be an element of illusion to it since he was actually subjecting himself to those conditions. Plus, if it were all some kind of illusion and his condition was fine, why fall short of the record? Especially on live national television.

The whole thing seemed pretty legit. Which is weird, because it's not really a magic trick if you're actually doing the stunt, you know?

i don't think he ever claimed it to be magic. he's been talking about taking human endurace further and further.

as for the ice thing, i don't think it's ever been proven that he had a trap door, etc... it's just one magician's idea of how it could've been done.

[mjb2124]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

as for the ice thing, i don't think it's ever been proven that he had a trap door, etc... it's just one magician's idea of how it could've been done.

That might be.

I'm just a skeptic. I think Blaine is merely an entertainer and most everything he does is some form of an illusion. Maybe he actually does do these things and is pushing human endurance to it's peak, but I think I'll always be skeptical.

[Graphik]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

That might be.

I'm just a skeptic. I think Blaine is merely an entertainer and most everything he does is some form of an illusion. Maybe he actually does do these things and is pushing human endurance to it's peak, but I think I'll always be skeptical.

Some of the things he does is magic or illusion like the floating on air thing and the various card and coin tricks he does but the stunts he's been doing lately like stading on top of a platform for days and the water globe thing are mere stunts.

Personally, I like the guy. When is the last time the world has been fascinated by a magician? David Copperfield? Penn and Teller? Its been a while and this guy has outdone them all. He's our generations Houdini.

[mjb2124]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

Some of the things he does is magic or illusion like the floating on air thing and the various card and coin tricks he does but the stunts he's been doing lately like stading on top of a platform for days and the water globe thing are mere stunts.

I'm even skeptical of these stunts.

I find his magic/card tricks more interesting than these stunts. The stunts just don't interest or impress me too much. I haven't really watched his stuff in a few years though. When I first saw him 5-6 years ago, I did think his card tricks were impressive. He's got the slight of hand down perfectly.

[fishepa]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

So the man can fast in a box for a month, whooooooptyyyyyy dooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

[gschwendt]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

His street magic is amazing, unexplainable in many accounts (although the floating is explainable and has been shown). These stunts do not interest me at all... give the average joe months to train and he can do all of these stunts as well.

[Beantown]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

Yeah...I prefer the smaller, random street stunts, more than these over-hyped, idiotic ones.

[rubisco43]

Re: David Blaine: Drowned Alive

I find his magic/card tricks more interesting than these stunts.

completely agree. 2 hours of mind-blowing card tricks is much more fun than watching him hold his breath for 7min.