Yesterday, on 24^th Sept 2008, they were broadcasting David hanging upside down in the central park, New York, from the height equivalent to 6 stories of a building, where he had been hanging for about 60 hours starting on Monday at 8:30 am. He finished his stunt safely on Wednesday at around 11:08 pm EST. Doctors and physicians were standing by to keep a medical check on his body. He was smiling all along, describing the enormous push of blood that made it feel as though his head was about to explode. Another stunt of his, where he takes a bullet from a rifle into a metal cup in his mouth, was broadcasted as well.

Some of blog posts have expressed that he is a cheater and his illusion has been revealed by explaining what actually happened. You can read more here, with numerous comments from readers.

Who is David Blaine? According to wikipedia, David Blaine is an American world record holding magician and endurance artist. He made his name as a performer of street and close up magic. 

His previous stunts – After reading more about him, this is what I found out. The “dive of death” is not the first stunt he has ever done. He has done many.

• Buried Alive – In 1999, Blaine was confined in an underground plastic box under 3 ton water filled tank for seven days.
• Frozen in Time – In 2000, Blaine did the “Frozen in Time” stunt where he was encased in a block of ice in New York.
• Vertigo – In 2002, Blaine was lifted to a 90ft high, 22in wide pillar in Bryant Park, New York where he remained for exactly 35 hours. Despite the high winds and cold weather, he endured the bad weather conditions.
• Above the below – In 2003, Blaine did 44 day endurance stunt where he was sealed inside a transparent Plexiglas case suspended in the air. He went on for 44 days without any food or nutrients and survived on just 4.5 litres of water per day in that case.
• Drowned Alive – In 2006, Blaine was submerged in a water filled sphere in New York for seven days and seven nights, using tubes for air and nutrition. He held his breath to break the then record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds, but not sure if he could break it.
• Revolution – In late 2006, Blaine was shackled to the rotating gyroscope, and he attempted to escape from his shackles after the gyroscope has been spinning for 16 hours.
• Dive of Death – In 2008, Blaine held the “dive of death” stunt in central park, New York City. Donald Trump financed this and other events. Blaine was hanging upside down for about 60 hours, with no food and drink. But he was criticized as he was seen standing on a waiting crane platform, and not upside down. It was reported that he would come down once an hour to receive a medical checkup and stretch etc. By the end of the event, however, Blaine came down from the platform, and rose back into the air and disappeared in to the atmosphere, to everyone’s amazement. Nobody knows what happened.

You can check out his videos on dbTV

What’s your take in David Blaine’s stunts?