The magical Anderson Cooper agrees: David Blaine is a scrub. [CNN]
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Magician and frequent stunt-puller David Blaine was still in Central Park’s Wallman rink hanging upside down Tuesday night for the second day. David amused himself by swinging around and posing with fans. He seems to be hanging in there. We did not catch him what some have called ‘cheating’ - he stands up on a platform once an hour or so, supposedly for only 5 minutes but there have been some reports of him allegedly standing up for 20 minutes.
Photo by Iris Zimmerman/BuzzFoto.com

David Blaine suspended upside down. He takes a break every hour to stand on a platform and often puts his head in a harness
Magician/Illusionist/Stupid-Stunt Man, David Blaine, is a fraud. I’m pretending to be stunned. Blaine is currently on the last day of his idea of a super-magic stunt, 60 hours hanging upside down in Central Park. The thing is, as pointless and uninteresting as the stunt would be even if it were actual, he isn’t even doing it. Blaine is spending 10 minutes of every hour standing upright on a crane platform.
“…ever since he started yesterday afternoon, we’ve been getting emails from bystanders saying that he wasn’t hanging upside down—instead, he was resting by standing on a platform, only to be hoisted up several minutes later.”
And they have photographic proof.
Hanging upside down is the the least interesting stunt I’ve ever heard of, but Blaine thinks it’s so profound he’s been doing interviews suspended by his feet since Monday and will have a big TV special Wednesday night on ABC, always making it appear that he has been that way the whole time. Maybe that’s the illusion, because there’s nothing else about this stunt that says “magic”.
Doctors told Blaine that hanging upside down for that long could possibly be fatal and likely could cause eye damage, leaving him blind. But Blaine has gone as far as pointing out something in a reporter’s teeth as she was interviewing him to “prove” his eyes were fine. Neither were decent enough actors to pull this off and the “something” was on the reporters side not facing the camera at any time. Nice. About as real as this whole stunt.
And of course his eyes are fine. David Blaine isn’t even completely hanging upside down for the 50 minutes he’s in the air. When not giving interviews or filming for his special, his head is actually being held up in a harness. As news of the faux stunt started hitting the internet, Blaine’s reps sent Gawker an email statement.
“Rubenstein Associates represents David Blaine and I personally have handled publicity for every one of his challenges. There has been no claim that David was going to hang upside down for 60 hours without a break. In all of his discussions with the media, he said he would have to occasionally get his head above his heart and lower his legs to correct circulation. About once every hour, David comes upright for about five minutes for a medical and equipment check. He has something to drink and he relieves himself, something even David can’t do upside down.
His doctors told him quite simply that if he didn’t correct blood flow, he could die.
David began the challenge at 8:34 am Monday and concludes at about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday. That’s about 62 hours.
Stop by the Wollman Rink, especially Wednesday night, and enjoy the spectacle. It’s free.
And give the guy a break.”
Give the guy a break? He needs to give us a break from these cheesy stunts that just keep getting less and less interesting. If the magic in this is supposed to be danger or endurance, I say again, there is no magic here. And someone is paying this guy to do this.
Note by Celebitchy: I want to dislike this guy, but I came away with a lot of respect for him after he broke the world record for holding his breath underwater on Oprah. This is a dumb stunt sure, but he does have conviction and has pulled pretty amazing masochistic public acts in the past.
The two images below are courtesy of Gawker readers and were originally posted on Gawker, where they have even more photos of Blaine standing on that platform. Header image is of Blaine on 9/22/08. Credit: WENN.


More info, photos, and a statement from David Blaine's flack have been added to our earlier post about Blaine's cheating ways.


Perezcious reader Nick from New York snapped these pictures of David Blaine hanging above the Big Apple's Central Park.
Starting at 8:30 am ET Monday, Blaine will hang above the park for 60 hours.
Doctors say Blaine could go blind from hanging upside down so long.
Crazy, crazy.
Her role as host on “Live with Regis and Kelly” has given her all kinds of unique experiences. And earlier today Kelly Ripa gave ‘hanging out’ a whole new meaning.
The talk show hottie was spotted over at the Wollman Rink in New York City suspended in a trapeze contraption as part of a segment with illusionist David Blaine.

'Magician' David Blaine is putting his health on the line for his newest stunt.
Next week, he's set to hang upside down for 60 hours above Central Park in New York City.
But, according to Blaine's doctor, hanging upside down for that ridiculous amount of time could lead to blindness.
Don't do it!!!
Hanging upside down will increases blood pressure in the head, especially in the eyes.
The doctor didn't specify how long the blindness could last.
Scary!
The doc also said there's also a risk of swelling and cramps in internal organs.
But, most importantly, the stunt could yield valuable data for doctors, according to the medical expert.
Blaine will generously play 2 roles!
Entertainer and medical guinea pig.
[Image via WENN.]

I’m confused as to whether I want to respect or mock David Blaine. He does stunts that push his body to the point where he could easily die, and they’re usually uncomfortable to watch. The guy is talented, though, and when his street magic schtick started getting old he moved on to public feats of extreme masochism so daring that almost no one else in the world would be capable of pulling them off. He also managed to break the world record for holding his breath underwater - in a live performance on Oprah this April. He had just months of preparation and was successful despite his heart rate being much higher than it was during practice sessions.
Blaine’s latest stunt seems damn near impossible for anyone else, but positively easy for him -he’s planning to hang upside down for three days. The guy has to keep his name in the news and I’m not knocking this feat, but he didspend three days in a spinning top two years ago and this isn’t that much different:
Daredevil DAVID BLAINE is preparing for a dizzying new stunt - he will hang upside down above New York’s Central Park for three days and two nights.
The illusionist will be deprived of food as he is suspended six storeys up on a highwire for his Dive of Death, which will be filmed to air on U.S. TV on 24 September (08).
He will even be forced to sleep upside down.
And members of the public will be invited to interract with the 35 year old.
He says, “There are always some crazy things. I get flashed quite often. Luckily, mostly from girls.”
Blaine’s previous stunts include spending 44 days in a glass box above London and more than two days encased in an ice block.He recently made history by holding his breath for more than 17 minutes - and is this year preparing to attempt to break the world record for sleep deprivation.
[From Contact Music via We Smirch]
The story about Blaine trying to break the world record for staying awake might not be true - he was said to be planning that last year before the news came out that he decided to go for the world breath-holding record instead. He switched seemingly on a whim, but he definitely took his training seriously.
If you’re David Blaine you don’t get a lot of rest before you have to plan your next stunt. The news cycle is fast and this guy has to do one to two big feats a year or the public forgets about him. He’s still one of the world’s foremost magicians, but that’s been done to death and with douches like Criss Angel in the same field he’s probably loathe to go back there. That’s like a successful movie actor going back to work on a soap opera. Is he ever going to be able to retire though? The guy is 35 and he’s only going to be able to push his body for so long.
Here’s David Blaine getting a manicure at fashion week on 9/6/07. Credit: MLM/Fame


Magician and illusionist David Blaine is ready to perform his latest act.
What stoopidity is he getting himself into now????
Blaine will be hanging upside down for three days and two nights above New York's Central Park.
Upside down for three days????
Won't his head explode or some shit????
As he is prone to do, David wants gawkers to "interact" with with him.
Of his previous interactions, Blaine says, "There are always some crazy things. I get flashed quite often. Luckily, mostly from girls."
As part of his act, Blaine will be hanging six stories up in the air suspended on a highwire.
He will also be deprived of food for his Dive of Death stunt.
The whole event will be filmed for television on September 24th.
Later this year Blaine will attempt to break the world record for sleep deprivation.
Good luck, fool.
[Image via WENN.]

David Blaine astonishingly broke the world record for breath holding today on Oprah. Suspended in the same sphere he used at Lincoln center two years ago for his week long stint underwater, he held out for 17 minutes and 4 seconds, a full 1/2 minute longer than the last record set less than three months ago by Swiss free diver Peter Colat.
Part of Blaine’s preparation for the stunt involved sleeping in a low-oxygen tent for a month. The tent replicates a high altitude environment and helps build red blood cells and increase oxygen transport throughout the body. He also went to the Caymen Islands and practiced free diving, which is where you swim deeply into the water without a mask. He helped his body to endure for so long without air by breathing pure oxygen for up to a half hour before he went underwater, which is allowed under Guinness rules.
The AP Reports that he told Oprah it was “A lifelong dream” after he emerged from the tank. He added: “I can’t believe I did that.”
Blaine became known for his on-the-spot magic tricks in his David Blaine: Street Magic show which aired 10 years ago on ABC. He has since moved on to public endurance feats including being suspended in a spinning sphere for two days in 2007, living in a water globe in Lincoln Center for a week in 2006, going without food in a Lucite box over the Thames River in London for 44 days in 2003, getting enclosed in a block of ice for three days in 2000, and buried in a coffin for a week in 1999. With this latest stunt he’s shown that he’s not just a masochist exhibitionist and that he really has the chops to break a very difficult world record.
I didn’t believe Blaine would be able to do this as he seemed to make it his mission just a few months ago, but he pulled through. As Ali G would say: “Respect.”
Here’s a quick video without sound. I’ll update the post with a better one that includes his remarks to Oprah as soon as it’s available. There are also two video blogs on YouTube which explain his preparation.
Update: Here’s the video of Blaine completing the challenge. His heart beat was raised throughout, and his doctor was worried that he wouldn’t be able to finish because he was using up more oxygen by not being able to lower his heart rate. Toward the end his heart rate slowed and started beating irregularly:
David Blaine is shown at the Tribeca Film Festival’s Redbelt premiere on 4/25/08, thanks to PRPhotos.
Filed under: Wacky and Weird
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David Blaine is planning his latest stunt - to break the word record for staying awake the longest.
The previous world record is 11 1/2 days.
Explains Blaine of his latest endurance stunt:
“It’s been tried before. In 1959, Peter Tripp stayed awake eight days, but it resulted in permanent brain damage. In 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner did it for a high school science project. He lasted 11½ days but recovered fully. No damage. A guy in London tried but fell short. Another did 19 hours but slept two hours each night, so that doesn’t count. Also he was seated in a rocking chair. If I do this thing, which you claim I’m doing, I’ll do it on my feet. Standing up.
After 36 hours of sleep deprivation it’s like being drunk, 72 hours and paranoia sets in, Day Four the mind goes into hallucinations and you’re dreaming while awake. The problem is there’s no way to know how to offset brain damage or to train for this because there isn’t sufficient research. I believe the first guy’s mistake was not being in great physical condition. Also he used stimulants to keep awake, which I assume did him in.
All that I do will be open and documented. My income’s going to the Brooke Medical Center, which helps kids, and my research to science. For instance, we already know dietary restriction is a retardation of aging and disease. When you overeat your body must work and it gets tired. If I eat medicinally, my body will be entire.
I’m dropping 30 pounds. I do two hours every day on the treadmill. I’m on a raw diet that includes brown rice. No red meat. No animal products besides cooked fish.”
Good luck with that.
Nutjob!
[Image via WENN.]