Posted on 09/01/2003 10:33:19 AM PDT by nwrep
American magician David Blaine stands on the London Eye Thursday Aug. 28, 2003, as part of his latest challenge for the programme David Blaine- Above The Below. Blaine aims to spend 44 days starting in early September suspended in a clear glass box over the River Thames without food, communication or distraction of any kind. (AP Photo/Tim Anderson and Chris Lobina, HO)
Magician Blaine Drenches British Press in Blood
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LONDON (Reuters) - American illusionist David Blaine shocked a group of journalists Monday when he appeared to cut off part of his ear at a news conference to promote a forthcoming stunt.
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The daredevil U.S. magician apparently drew blood after he was asked whether he could show the assembled reporters any new tricks. He borrowed a pocket knife and screamed as he applied it to his left ear.
He left the room holding a bloodied handkerchief to his ear before reappearing and walking past journalists with his ear and the top of his shirt covered with what appeared to be blood.
The event was aimed at publicizing Blaine's next major feat on Sept. 5, when he will be suspended in a clear plexi-glass case by the River Thames in London for 44 days.
The 30-year-old New Yorker will be sealed in a space about seven feet high, seven feet long and three feet wide, hung from a crane near Tower Bridge.
Blaine will eat no food and will have one tube for water and another for urinating.
It will be his first major stunt outside the United States.
Previously he has been entombed in a block of ice for 61 hours, buried in a coffin for a week and spent 35 hours standing on top of an 80-foot pillar in Manhattan. "I consider this to be the most difficult thing I'm ever going to do in my lifetime," he said.
Blaine will be allowed to take diapers, a journal, some pens, lip balm, a pillow and a pad to lie on into the box. He said he currently weighs about 205 pounds and expects to lose about 45 pounds during the stunt.
Last week Blaine marked his arrival in London by perching on the roof of a capsule of the London Eye -- the world's tallest Ferris wheel.
What does he need water for? What a wimp.
Distraction is the name of the game and people who are slight of hand can easily pickpocket a distracted viewer.
There isn't much that separates a street magician from the guy who plays 3 card monty or asks for a dollar (to leave you alone). And people want these entertainers close enough to take their watches? You know that they still ask for a tip afterwards. It takes a lot of trust to believe that everyone will get their items back and that there isn't a second "performer" stealing some additional "tips".
He cheated. It involves a technique well understood and duplicable, but his TV presentation also included a cut, insertion of a scene filmed at another time, and a recut back to the street scene. The scene inserted was Blain's feet literally off the ground... which was done with the benefit of an unseen lifting device, without the presence of the audience of witnesses.
"Drenches" suggests something out of the movie "Carrie." This looks more like a light sprinkling, if anything. British journos are even more self-centered than 'merican ones. They probably don't even realize how ridiculous they are.
It's called the Balducci Levitation. Like most magic, it's simple and is a bummer once you know how to do it. It does work though. Blaine also uses alot of video cuts and plants. If you want to know how to do it go HERE
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