This is topic David Blaine's Drowned Alive Stunt in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=004632

---

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-08-2006, 05:05 PM:
 
I don't really understand this guy, although I do find him mildly interesting.

Anyone going to watch tonight? Too bad it's on during 24, which means that I'll probably miss it.
 

---

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-08-2006, 05:50 PM:
 
I may have to watch it purely for the entertainment factor.

David Blaine's street magic TV specials are supposedly pure BS. Everything is set up in advance and carefully controlled. Completely bogus.
 

---

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-08-2006, 09:54 PM:
 
Frankly, I don't see how it is "magic" or even "illusion."

The guy spends a week in a water-filled ball. Or a month in an elevated box. Whoopie-doo!

I have a good trick for the guy to try. Let's have David Blaine try to eat 400 pounds of powdered mildew within an hour without dying -or throwing up. That would be some trick. I might tune in for that.

I might also tune into a show where David Blaine gets beaten about the head, neck and chest by midgets wielding hard rubber mallets. Joe R. might tune into that too...at least if it's on broadcast TV. He ain't paying for any damned cable!

 

---

Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 05-08-2006, 10:20 PM:
 
Yeah -- SNL had a couple funny jokes about it on Weekend Update.

1) David Blaine is going to break the record for the world's most shriveliest penis.

2) David Blaine is going to spend X number of days in a ball filled with water. When he gets out he might actually do something magic.
 

---

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-09-2006, 11:10 AM:
 
Well, apparently he almost killed himself. He failed at holding his breath for nine minutes, and failed at escaping.

Quality TV at its finest. I have more fun watching my turtle swim in his tank.
 

---

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 05-09-2006, 11:28 AM:
 
But he succeeded at killing time between sponsors & distracting some of the nation for a week! Houdini never took a week. People must have had better things to do back then.
 

---

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-09-2006, 12:07 PM:
 
Well, that's certainly true. I wonder how the ratings shook out.
 

---

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-09-2006, 03:55 PM:
 
The human brain will begin to suffer irrepairable damage if deprived of oxygen for 3-5 minutes.

Assuming that, holding ones breath under water, a person has 2-3 miutes of reserve air, that still leaves him/her 1 minute OVER the limit.

The way I see it, Blaine could NOT have done the stunt without using drugs (to slow the heartbeat, etc. etc.) or using some secret device to supply him with oxygen.

Therefor, he MUST have known that he would (or had a significant chance to) fail.

I didn't watch because I have never seen Blaine do a stunt or an illusion that couldn't be bought at a Hank Lee's or Tannin's magic shops. I had no interest in seeing a stunt that was either doomed to fail or was a complete sham.

My first impression of Blaine was when he used a Svengali Deck to make some skanky steet ho' jump up and down and scream because she thought he read her mind after she (was forced to) picked the Queen of Spades. (This is a trick that most kids learn in 8th grade!)

The guy's a hack with a good P.R. man. Nothing more.
 

---

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 05-09-2006, 04:54 PM:
 
He did hold his breath for 7 minutes and 8 seconds.

I think he was stupid for doing this, not only did he risk brain damage, he also possibly risked nerve damage in his hands and feet (for being in the water for 7 days straight). Since he was going for a Guiness Record, it was for real - it was not magic. I prefer magic to stupidity.
 

---

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 05-09-2006, 05:20 PM:
 
If I remember correctly, he had a breathing apparatus that he wasn't trying to conceal. Either that or I just took it for granted.

Yes, its quite the feat, risking excessive prune skin & skin disease, but Blaine's stunt comes off as attention-whorish when you consider other forms of stunt entertainment.
 

---

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 05-09-2006, 05:51 PM:
 
David Blaine is a dumbass for risking his life like that for a stupid stunt.

I wonder what George would say about Blaine's "shrinkage"...?

I watched "The Apprentice".
 

---

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-09-2006, 06:22 PM:
 
I didn't see the stunt. I only saw one 15 second spot for it on TV. It didn't impress me. I didn't pay attention.

He could have use a "Window Sleep" technique, wherby he secretly substitutes a double for himself at opportune moments when nobody is watching. (Except for a "security guard" who is actually on the magician's payroll.)

The technique comes from the Vaudeville days of magic. When a new mage came to a town he would often stand in the public square and "hypnotize" a willing subject from the crowd. (Actually a paid stooge.) The stooge would be put to sleep, laid in a bed and displayed in in the front window of a department store or some other prominent building in town.

A "Security Guard" (Another stooge) was paid to sit there and make sure that the sleeping person stayed in bed. He would "swear" that the person never woke up.

Three days later, the sleeping person would be brought to the theater and dramatically reawaken in front of the audience.

It was GREAT publicity for an otherwise unknown magician or mentalist!

The secret was that all the important parties were paid off well in advance. The "sleeper" would be allowed to secretly leave his bed and could spend his/her time as he wanted as long as it was out of the public view. A body-double or a mannequin would take the place of the sleeper when the townspeople weren't paying attention. The only time the "sleeper" needed to actually be in the bed was a few hours during daylight times and at the beginning and end of the stunt.

Point being: Blaine probably could NOT have survived 7-8 days being submerged in water with little or no clothes on, even with a respirator. I don't care how warm the water is. I don't care how much food or fresh water he was given. He HAD to urinate or defecate at least once! There is NO way for a person to survive that long without sleep, yet still be sentient enough to perform a death-defying stunt like an immersion/drowning test.

I propose that Blaine never spent all that time under water and that he never inteneded to successfully complete the stunt in the first place. I believe that this is a publicity stunt for some bigger event down the road.

It's just like the way Evel Kenevel would try to jump over a row of busses at Wembly Stadium, full-well KNOWING that he wouldn't make it. He only did it so he could grandstand afterward and pitch his NEXT big stunt... Jumping over the Grand Canyon! (Which he never actually completed, either!)
 

---

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-09-2006, 06:38 PM:
 

quote: David Stambaugh

---

Everything is set up in advance and carefully controlled. Completely bogus.

---

quote: "David Stambaugh"

---

Everything is set up in advance and carefully controlled. Completely bogus.

---

quote: "Mike Blakesley"

---

You just described every magician in the history of the universe.

---

That's what magic is all about. Presenting the "impossible" as if it was possible. No self-respecting magician would try to claim that they really CAN perform illusions without some technical assistance or some psychological manipulation of the audience.

The difference is:

1) Blaine tries to claim that he isn't using tricks to accomplish his feats.

2) He's just not interesting enough that I want to watch him.

Now, when Lance Burton does his Las Vegas show and pulls a dozen scantily-clad young women out of a 12" X 12" suitcase... THAT's magic!

With Burton, I permit "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" to take over while I watch the show.

With Blaine I will not permit it.
 

---

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-09-2006, 09:03 PM:
 
What I was getting at is his more elaborate "street magic" stunts are probably completely staged. Last night I caught just a few seconds of him allegedly removing a woman's front tooth and then putting it back. As if that's not enough, he of course didn't touch her at any time. At least that's the gist of what little I watched.
 

---

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-09-2006, 09:21 PM:
 
We are in agreement on that. His so-called "Street Magic" is staged.

I did street magic. What he does is not street magic. It is phony. Magic, IMHO, means that there is some skill involved on the part of the magician. What he does is camera tricks.

(I was that goofy guy standing in Harvard Square during the summer of 1991 who stuck steel spikes made from sharpened coat hangers through his arm and swallowed sewing needles. You might not have seen me even if you were there. I only did it a few times. Street magic... REAL street magic is hard to do... VERY hard!)
 

---

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-12-2006, 05:41 AM:
 

quote: Randy Stankey

---

I believe that this is a publicity stunt for some bigger event down the road.

---

I think you are absolutely right. Before reading your last post, Randy, I was just going to say it sounded like you had some experience with legerdemain. I'm a sleight of hand enthusiast (particularly card manipulation). Not so much into coin work or silks, but I do have a decent thumb tip.
 

---

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-12-2006, 09:47 AM:
 
My wife is a better card worker than I am. I can handle the basic Hindu Shuffles and Double lifts and things like that but for Faro Shuffles and Strip-Out Shuffles, I am shit. If I am having a good day I can pull off a Mexican False Shuffle. I can't Pass to save my Grandmother's life.

Coins are a different story. I love doing French Drops to Back-of-Hand recovery. I like the "Comeback Coins" (One-Ahead) routine. Give me some bottle caps and I'll show you how to do a neat "Matrix" routine that a guy named Peter Sosna showed me. Last I saw him, two years ago, he was a busquer at Quincy Market/Faniuel Hall.

"Top Steal" or "Back Steal" on that Thumb Tip?

I used to sit on the platform at the Park Street T-Stop smoking a cigarette just to attract attention from the cops. They'd holler at me to put it out and I'd drop it into my fist. "What cigarette?!" I'd reply. They couldn't kick me out because I DID comply with their order to "Get rid of it." He just didn't specify HOW!

"Wise-Ass!" was the usual reply.
 

---

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-13-2006, 04:07 AM:
 

quote: Randy Stankey

---

"Top Steal" or "Back Steal" on that Thumb Tip?

---

Oh, you've got much more in this than I do. I've never heard these terms before. I do know it's a nice flexible rubber tip with a very close color match, not one of those cheap hard plastic ones.

My best card sleight/flourish is a back palm, but you probably know you've really got to watch your angles on that. Can also palm off the top card of a deck while holding it motionless in one hand. Good for a bunch of tricks when used in conjunction w/Hindu shuffle.

Double-lifts I'd love to be able to master, and I've never been able to smoothly pull off a fan snap-back. I can fan a pack like nobody's business, very even and pretty, but closing it with one hand has eluded me. Have spent 20 years on that one!

So, I yield to the master, sir...
 

---

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-13-2006, 08:40 AM:
 
No, it seems like we are about the same but specialize in different subjects. If you can Back Palm, you're pretty good in my book. Cards have always eluded me. I know HOW things are done but I have never been able to train my hands to do what my brain tells them.

Do you use any fanning decks? I've seen some pretty neat designs in fanning decks! (Can't fan to same my own ass!)

If you want to make double lifting easier, hold the deck in dealing position and press your fingers against the outer edge of the deck, forcing it against the flesh at the base of your thumb. The top few cards will "bevel" off the top of the deck. You can pick them up with the thumb and first finger of your dealing hand just as easily as you page through the phone book. Bend the cards just slightly so that the curve causes them to "nest" together as they come off the top of the deck. Use cards with a white border on the back design to disguise any misalignment as they come off.

When the average magician goes to steal-out the thumb tip they most often use their thumb like "Little Jack Horner" who "...Stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plumb..." That's a "Top Steal". Dead giveaway!

Picture of Top Steal. Taken from Magician's view. Fingers open to better illustrate. (Would normally be closed into a fist.)



Try a "Back Steal" instead. When you go for that final "crush" use your INDEX FINGER instead. Push it down into the fist ALMOST like you do with the "Top Steal" but MISS. Let your index finger go BETWEEN the thumb tip and the palm of your hand. Done correctly, this will cause the thumb tip to "tip" out he back of your hand. Under the misdirection of the finger going into the fist, slip the thumb into the tip and steal it out the BACK of the fist.

Picture of Back Steal. Magician's View. Fingers artificially opened to reveal the move.



I think you'll find this to be a much more effective and deceptive method for stealing-out the thumb tip.
 

---

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-20-2006, 12:17 AM:
 
Thanks for those good pix, Randy. That's it, indeed. I always did the Little Jack Horner thing, with the exception that I'd switch back to my index finger one last time after stealing the tip.

Other than a couple of Svengali decks for posterity, I don't have any special fanning decks. I just use regular ol' Bicycle Poker size, and keep them clean.

quote: Randy Stankey

---

Use cards with a white border on the back design to disguise any misalignment as they come off.

---