Joleen Cope
Staff Reporter
I am sure there have been times where you have wanted to push the limits of something. In some cases that something is the human body. What is the human body truly capable of going through? Well, that is exactly what David Blaine wants to find out.
David Blaine is a street magician, illusionist, and endurance artist that is best known by his endurance stunts. Before his fame, he sent in a video of a magic performance of his to ABC. The response to this video was incredible and it just went up from there. David Blaine: Street Magic was his first television special and it went very well in 1999 with great ratings. Magic man, another street magic show of his was then made two years later. This got his name bigger and really strengthened his reputation.
Although these shows made a breakthrough, David wanted to do more than just street magic. He was determined to show he was an endurance artist too. His biggest inspiration ever since he was a kid is Harry Houdini, who would also do physically challenging stunts. David Blaine went on to perform many endurance stunts and break world records. He got himself buried alive, starved for 44 days, with only water to drink, frozen, and almost drowned. Although, once I tell you he can hold his breath for 17 minutes drowning sounds out of the picture. Clearly these stunts were very dangerous with only some permanent damage from his stunts. He is still healthy overall and continues to perform mind boggling stunts to this day, even though he has already passed the believed limits to the human body.
David Blaine still continues to blow people’s minds with his stunts and magic today. Two tricks I have seen him do quite a few times include sewing his mouth shut and throwing up frogs. This sounds crazy but it is true. For one trick, he starts it off with sewing his mouth shut with a needle and thread. Then, he tells someone to pick a card and then tear the corner off. He throws the cards into the air. The person he is performing for then cuts the thread and he reveals that the card with the missing corner is folded up in his mouth. This trick even got me mind blown. The other trick, which I think is very gross, is when he spits up frogs. He drinks tons of water then swallows some frogs like it is nothing. After that he throws the still alive frogs back up into a glass of water. Watching this one makes me feel queasy, but it amazes me just as much.
David Blaine actually performed a new stunt he has been preparing for ten years today, September 2nd. He has always dreamt of flying and he made that dream a reality. To explain, he got attached to a bunch of massive balloons filled with gas and floated into the air. Weights were in his pockets so he would be able to pick up the height once he felt like dropping them. Insanely, he ended up floating over twenty thousand feet in the air and attached the parachute to him while he was floating. He parachuted down safely once the time was right. This was a dream stunt of his for many years and he pulled it off flawlessly.
This man has done so many things that have blown my mind along with many others that I did not think were possible. I cannot wait to see what David Blaine has in store for the future and if he will ever push his body even further than he already has.
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