Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

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Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Magic Newswire » April 29th, 2008, 11:17 am

Tomorrow, David Blaine will appear on the Oprah show where he'll attempt to break the world record for holding his breath. We've found a couple of videos in which he vlogs from a Hypoxic tent where he has been sleeping and one in which he discusses free diving. Both can be fond at the site below.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Randy » April 29th, 2008, 2:24 pm

Yeah, my kid can hold her breath for a while too when she doesn't get what she wants............boooorrrrriiiinnnngggg.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Rene Clement » April 29th, 2008, 5:06 pm

Silly Walter wrote:


This should probably be moved to the "Who gives A [censored]" forum. [/quote]

Probably should....but don't hold your breath.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby The Magic Apple » April 29th, 2008, 9:40 pm

ha ha ha! That is funny!

didn't he already do this stunt but it was underwater? and I am pretty sure he said he'd rather die than not beat the record...and he didn't beat the record...
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby David Alexander » April 29th, 2008, 9:50 pm

So, watching a guy holding his breath is now considered entertainment and is sufficient to get on Oprah?

Producers are starting to dig into the bottom of the barrel for material.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby castawaydave » April 29th, 2008, 10:41 pm

Doesn't brain damage start when the brain is out of oxygen for 6 minutes or so? If he's repeadtely trained for this thing, going over 10 minutes regularly... What kind of brain does the poor guy have left?

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby David Alexander » April 29th, 2008, 11:30 pm

It has to do with super-saturating the body with oxygen. Breathing pure oxygen for some time before a deep dive. Even with practice and professional instruction, it's dangerous. I suppose the "attraction" is that he could die on camera, which, of course, they wouldn't broadcast.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby castawaydave » April 30th, 2008, 12:00 am

That's too scary for me.

Can't we have him back in a block of ice, or up on a stick like the good old times?

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby The Magic Apple » April 30th, 2008, 12:56 am

I like the "take a bite out of a quarter" David Blaine better than the "I can hold my breath underwater" David Lame
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby MaxNY » April 30th, 2008, 7:47 am

I love everything this guy does, until he does it. I also love the smell of Oprah in the morning....it smells...like..nepalm.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby David Alexander » April 30th, 2008, 9:29 am

You might find this site of interest:

http://www.performancefreediving.com/team/index.html

Of course, what this has to do with entertainment is beyond me.

Now I see that Blaine is being referred to as a "Magician and endurance artist."

http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/200 ... gen-habit/

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Adrian Kuiper » April 30th, 2008, 11:43 am

On a similar topic some horn players, notably the sickening Kenny G, have pioneered a form of breathing called "circular breathing".....I have no idea how they do it, but it allows them to hold really long notes. I don't know if "pioneered" is the right word or not....maybe "discovered" is better.

The aforementioned G is supposed to hold the record for a sustained note. The performance group "Blast" has a few horn players that can also hold notes beyond what we mere mortals can do.

Where was this technique when I needed it way back when!

Just some info...
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Magic Newswire » April 30th, 2008, 12:13 pm

Blaine broke the record this morning holding his breath for 17min 4 secs

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Naphtalia » April 30th, 2008, 12:23 pm

As Rogers and Hart may have said, "Poor Adrian One Note."
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Randy » April 30th, 2008, 12:25 pm

You know, when Houdini did the Milk Can Escape, he knew how to entertain by creating drama and emotion. Reports are that audience members were truely freaking out to the point of panic when Houdini did this. Just wondering if he was able to actually entertain Oprah's audience for the 17+ minutes holding his breath. Entertainment IS the point......correct?

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Jonathan Townsend » April 30th, 2008, 12:25 pm

Was there some sort of afterwords message? A vision perhaps?

Waiting to see how this spins on the news and the late night comedy commentaries.
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby John LeBlanc » April 30th, 2008, 2:05 pm

Jonathan Townsend wrote:Waiting to see how this spins on the news and the late night comedy commentaries.


I'll be interested to see who can abstain from using the phrase, "...but don't hold your breath."

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby David Alexander » April 30th, 2008, 5:17 pm

John LeBlanc wrote:
Jonathan Townsend wrote:Waiting to see how this spins on the news and the late night comedy commentaries.


I'll be interested to see who can abstain from using the phrase, "...but don't hold your breath."


Actually, this fits into pop culture perfectly. A "Blaine" can be 17 minutes of boredom while someone else does something. So instead of a "New York Minute," we can have a "Blaine."

"How long will I have to wait for my car to be fixed?"

"Two Blaines."

"How long will this dental procedure take?"

"Four Blaines, but it will feel like six."

Others will doubtless come up with better uses than I have.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Brad Henderson » April 30th, 2008, 5:21 pm

Circular breathing has been around a long time before Kenny G.

Imagine (or actually try this) taking a mouthful of water. Don't swallow it. Now, if you expand then contract your cheeks you can force the watter to spit out of your mouth.

This is the basic idea behind circular breathing.

You breath in through your nose as you continue to expel air, not by using your lungs but with the cheek muscles. The nose breath fills your lungs so they take over again. The "cheek" expell just covers the transition.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Magic Newswire » April 30th, 2008, 5:23 pm

Ha!

I have to say that I was surprised not to hear David talk about his fall special beyond mentioning his next endurance stunt in which he plans to stay awake.

The current record is 11.5 days. Blaine mentioned that 11.57 days is 1MIL seconds.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Dustin Stinett » April 30th, 2008, 6:01 pm

Randy wrote:You know, when Houdini did the Milk Can Escape, he knew how to entertain by creating drama and emotion. Reports are that audience members were truely freaking out to the point of panic when Houdini did this. Just wondering if he was able to actually entertain Oprah's audience for the 17+ minutes holding his breath. Entertainment IS the point......correct?


The Harry Houdini of the early 20th century could not hold today's audiences with his early 20th century style. People then had a much longer attention span than they do today. That being said, Houdinilike him or notwas a genius at knowing what an audience wanted. If he were around today, he would be adapting as needed.

Dustin

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Ian Kendall » April 30th, 2008, 6:10 pm

I remember watching Randi do the Milk Can escape on a Paul Daniels show when I was a kid. As instructed I held my breath for as long as I can and got quite concerned when I had to breathe long before Randi came out. I can even remember his line - 'when you, if you were in my place, would suffer a drowning death'.

A couple of times I saw the Gandini Project, Sean Gandini's amazing juggling show. One year they had a live band, and during one routine the sax player stayed on one note for about five minutes. I kept looking over at his cheeks puffing in and out. Circular breathing is very hard to get right, but when mastered it looks and sounds amazing. Even more so if you know what is happening!

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Joe Pecore » April 30th, 2008, 8:45 pm

After he broke the record, I think that was the most I have ever seen David smile. Was nice to see.
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby MaxNY » April 30th, 2008, 8:50 pm

Congrats to David Blaine! That was no easy task. It was the perfect venue. I didn't really care that they cut away to commercials twice, and had a wrap around montage, once...but he was motionless, so I guess the directors had to keep the clock rolling somehow.
I wouldn't expect any more magic from him. I got the feeling that he's finished with that form of entertainment, (even though he said that he works all year long doing gigs just to pay off the stunts). It was great to see him happy and joking. He came off afterwards as a very nice guy, great smile. Oh yeah, Oprah opened her show saying Stedman was in the audience...and that he only showed up for one other taping, her 50th Birthday party show (probably wanted a car from that show!)

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 30th, 2008, 9:06 pm

More on the Guiness-record-breaking event here at the New York times:
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/200 ... ex.html?hp

David will be doing magic on his next special.
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby MaxNY » May 1st, 2008, 1:10 am

Pretty funny barbs from the Late Nighters. (Forgive me if I get the exact wording wrong) Letterman said that Blaine was trying to beat the old record that was set by Houdini, who hasn't taken a breath since 1927....Craig Ferguson said that Blaine was probably holding his breath because Oprah farted...

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby JimChristianson » May 1st, 2008, 6:09 am

I really enjoyed the whole thing. It wasdevoid of the bombast that usually accompanies a Blaine endurance event. And you have to admire the guy's dedication to training and preparation. It's hard to see how he could have made any money off of this particular stunt, so why does he do it?

Simply because he thinks it's cool and wants to achieve something no one else has. What BETTER way to spend your TV money? (Well, I guess you *could* by an island in the Bahamas, invite a girl out, and.....)

His smile afterward looked VERY genuine, and there was no "collapsing and being rushed off in an ambulance". It was well-done, and Oprah was a FAR better host of the event than anyone who's hosted any of Bline'sprevious stunts.

Oh, and, circular breathing was a technique used by Glenn Miller, and ancient aboriginal Australians before him. It goes WAAAAAAAY back.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Gord » May 1st, 2008, 10:44 am

I found the interview segments refreshing. Blaine seems very normal and approachable, as opposed to his specials where he seemed aloof.
The stunt itself was well managed. It was much more exciting than the actual special.
One thing I found interesting was how normal Blaine seemed right after. He wasn't out of breath.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Brandon Hall » May 1st, 2008, 6:48 pm

Are we convinced that what we saw was real and not an illusion?
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby MaxNY » May 1st, 2008, 10:55 pm

Brandon are you serious? Yes it was real..they all were real, and I witnessed 4 of his stunts, sometimes at 4am.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby mrgoat » May 2nd, 2008, 4:16 am

MaxNY wrote:Brandon are you serious? Yes it was real..they all were real, and I witnessed 4 of his stunts, sometimes at 4am.


Well the only one I witnessed (the riveting 'sit in a box in London' one) certainly wasn't 'real'.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Travis » May 2nd, 2008, 11:39 am

Brandon,

I don't think Guinness awards people with the world record for something if they don't actually do it.

mrgoat, how was the starvation endurance not real? Are you claiming that he was secretly consuming food?

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Brandon Hall » May 2nd, 2008, 5:26 pm

Travis,
At the risk of sounding skeptical...lol, Mr. Blaine IS a magician. Now, which is the greater trick, holding your breath for that length of time, or CONVINCING everyone that he can hold his breath for an incredible length of time? Remember, we're not SUPPOSED to know how it's done.

Oh, and yes, Max.
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Pete Biro » May 2nd, 2008, 8:53 pm

If I was to advise on something like this I'd have a surgeon implant a breathing tank/system under my skin that pumped doses of oxygen into and out of my lungs.
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Brandon Hall » May 3rd, 2008, 2:18 pm

Well, Pete, that's certainly one method...
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Rennie » May 4th, 2008, 12:57 am

As Silly Walter said.."This should probably be moved to the "Who gives A [censored]" forum."

I totally agree with this..
Who really cares ????
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Tony Riveral » May 4th, 2008, 2:08 am

I give a [censored]! Why should we not?

It's common now a days to see magicians performing illusion's that people know are not real or performing things that our imaginations can only dream of.

However, David Blaine is turning fiction into fact and is a step towards our evolution that he's exposing our weaknesses and proving that we can turn them into strengths or changing our fears into our favor.

If we look at these things in terms of 'positive messages or self-improvement' and not just a form of showmanship, we'll see that there is much more value to his stunts of defying the odds.

David Blaine is a one of a kind hero and athlete. Period.

Tony

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby mehtas » May 4th, 2008, 9:07 am

It seems Davids hair are dry when he comes out of that tank. the hair should be dripping wet if you ask me.

Looks very odd.

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Rennie » May 4th, 2008, 12:24 pm

Tony Riveral wrote:It's common now a days to see magicians performing illusion's that people know are not real or performing things that our imaginations can only dream of.
Tony

Tony,
The problem with David Blaine is he is not performing magic. He is doing Circus & Sidshow stunts. Maybe he should be in a Carnival and he would fit in.
Let me ask a question, would you rather see a magic show by a known performer or someone sitting in a tank of water holding their breath? Now answer that truthfully.
David Blaine has rapidly become a big bore...
Rennie
The effect is the important thing, how you achieve is not !!

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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby JimChristianson » May 4th, 2008, 3:41 pm

David's hair was dry after they came back from commercial. Clearly, they took a break after the stunt for him to get made-up for the interview segment. It's TV. That's what they do. It's no indication of fraud.


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