By Daniel Gonzalez
Earlier this month, a small clip was teased on David Blaine’s YouTube channel regarding a possible stunt that could occur. People began to consider the idea of Blaine’s comeback beforehand due to clips being of the present day rather than decade-old footage from his old specials. The stunt will take place in New York City, nearly a decade since his last extremist stunt. It will consist of Blaine “trying to float holding on to a cluster of helium-filled balloons” across the Hudson River which is planned to happen on August 31, 2020.
For anyone growing up in the early aughts, you might have known of a magician by the name of David Blaine. He was like a worldwide sensation that was beloved by essentially the entirety of the globe. Blaine went into the mainstream with his first television special in 1997, entitled David Blaine: Street Magic, after a series of successful television appearances.
What had made Blaine stand out in a large crowd of magicians at the time was his personality when it came to performing public tricks. He was calm and low-key, unlike the corny and cliche acts that made up contemporary magic. Blaine was considered one of the biggest names in magic after the airing of the 1997 special on ABC, but that was not enough for him.
Inspired by his hero, Harry Houdini, he decided to get into the art of extremist performances. In 1999, Blaine buried himself alive for a week straight with no food and a limited supply of water. At the start of the new millennium, Blaine attempted to stand in a large block of ice for three days straight but failed only getting to 63 hours. However it was a feat regardless, but this stunt took the largest toll on Blaine’s body. After these two initial stunts, he went from domestic fame to worldwide stardom.
His last major stunt was in late 2012 where Blaine endured more than a million volts of electricity for 72 hours straight without food or sleep. Before every stunt Blaine plans and performs, he is known to study and prepare intensely. He had endured some damage like usual, but Blaine had decided he would not seek another extreme stunt for the foreseeable future. However, that was until now. Make sure to check out David Blaine’s Youtube Channel on August 31st, as it will be a YouTube Original exclusive.
Daniel Gonzalez, a Senior at Ukiah High, likes to write about the political discourse that happen within the United States. He is also interested in obscure pop culture events that happen daily on a domestic scale. He plays tennis and is apart of the SEAPERCH program on campus. He also likes messing with people on Twitter.
