Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

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JimChristianson
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Joined: March 20th, 2008, 6:26 pm

Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby JimChristianson » May 4th, 2008, 3:43 pm

As for being a "big bore", well, watching David set a world record was a heck of a lot more interesting than a certain "illusionist" at WMS the other day.

David Alexander
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Location: Aurora IL

Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby David Alexander » May 4th, 2008, 4:46 pm

While David's next endurance stunt will reportedly be staying awake for 11 days or some ridiculous amount of time, my mornings paper announced that a local endurance athlete will attempt to regain his world record for time spent on a stationary bicycle. Hes going for over 130 hours, so Blaine is far from unique in the endurance department. He just gets better press.

David Alexander
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby David Alexander » May 4th, 2008, 8:45 pm

Tony Riveral wrote:
David Blaine is a one of a kind hero and athlete. Period.

Tony


I'll acknowledge that Blaine is a certain kind of athlete, but for him to be a hero requires a huge change in the definition of the word.

JustinRYoung
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby JustinRYoung » May 4th, 2008, 8:55 pm

Hey gang, some additional reading about the stunt:

Here's the scene from one of our readers who was in the studio during the stunt, tense stuff...
http://itricks.com/news/?p=3663

Here are links to Time Magazines photo essay, interview with Blaine and story about the record...
http://itricks.com/news/?p=3664
Magic News, Rumors and Culture -iTricks.com

Jacqueline
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Joined: May 2nd, 2008, 10:21 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Jacqueline » May 5th, 2008, 2:32 am

he he he you beat me to it Jim, as an Australian, but most importantly an indigenous Australian, I was going to say that the traditional didgeridoo players used the circular breathing technique, lucky I read ahead :)

Brandon Hall
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Brandon Hall » May 5th, 2008, 11:21 am

Rennie wrote: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.

Like Houdini?
"Hope I Die Before I Get Old"
P. Townshend

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Tony Riveral
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Tony Riveral » May 6th, 2008, 4:53 am

Rennie,

at your request I will answer you and everyone here fully and with honesty.

Let's put it this way. If I only had a choice between watching David Blaine on the Oprah show and watching David Copperfield perform a grand illusion on the "Fox" channel, I would unhesitatingly watch David Blaine pull off his stunt.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching David Copperfield and I am also a big fan of his. However, David Blaine brings something unique to the table whether he is performing a stunt or an illusion. People are always looking for something different, dark (yes, people are naturally attracted to the unknown) and unperdictable and that is what makes him attractive to his audience.

Also, if David Blaine did fake the stunt, he's impressed me even more. That is true showmanship. He led me into believing it was something real and not an illusion. Let's take a movie for instance: Why do you laugh, get scared, get angry or excited? Because the illusion the cast brought to you carried over to your feelings. David Blaines performances always carry over into our feelings. I'll admit it: I got really nervous when I saw his heart rate was still up while the doctor emphasized that it was supposed to go down. I'm sure most people (especially laymen) felt the same way.

I think the real question you should ask is, "If we I were to see David Blaines stunt and David Copperfields stunt, who's would be more memorable?" I believe most laymen and myself included would go with David Blaine because he emphasizes reality which is what people relate to every day where as everyone knows David Copperfield is performing an illusion and therefor would not be as powerful.

All in all, he was/is either performing an illusion or not. Whichever way we put it, that's pretty amazing if you ask me!

Tony

Brandon Hall
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Brandon Hall » May 7th, 2008, 6:03 pm

Please don't confuse my accusations of "trickery" as a slight (pun intended). I believe he pulled it off either way.
"Hope I Die Before I Get Old"

P. Townshend

Bill Mullins
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Re: Blaine's Breathless Stunt on Oprah

Postby Bill Mullins » February 4th, 2018, 10:43 pm

Decent article about extreme breath-holding.


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