Name	David Blaine
Height
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	April 4, 1973
Place of Birth	Brooklyn, New York, USA
Famous for

“(I want to bring magic) to a level where Houdini had it a hundred years ago. When you thought of magic, you were intrigued. You were emotionally moved by it. It had a meaning and a purpose.” David Blaine

Looking at magician Harry Houdini as an idol, David Blaine began his career with street magic and performed card tricks and illusions like levitating himself. The news about his magical skills spread after he performed at the parties for such celebrities as Mike Tyson, Al Pacino and David Geffen. His magical performances were then recorded on TV, in “The Great Magic of Las Vegas” (1995, miniseries), David Blaine: Street Magic (1996, performed Levitation) and David Blaine: Magic Man (1998).

On April 5, 1999, Blaine began his “Premature Burial” stunt act, in which he was supposed to be buried inside a glass coffin for seven days. On the top of the coffin, which was at the bottom of an open pit in front of a New York City building, there was another coffin of the same size filled with water. Watched by those passing by, the magician eventually came out of the coffin on April 12.

Blaine also did the televised stunt “Frozen in Time” (2000), performed on November 27, 2000, in New York’s Times Square. For the event, he stood in a block of ice sculpted to fit his body. To support his life, he was provided with a tube filled with air and water and another tube to remove his urine. The performer stayed in the transparent ice for 61 hours, 40 minutes, and 15 seconds before being removed.

Two years later, Blaine did a stunt called “Vertigo,” in which he stood on a 90-foot, 22-inch pole without food, water or anything to lean on. Performed on May 22, 2002, in New York City’s Bryant Park, the live-televised stunt ended with Blaine’s jump on a landing platform made of cardboard boxes. The magician remained on the pole for 34 hours and 23 minutes.

In 2003, Blaine had a 44-day performance where he was in a glass box suspended by a crane by the River Thames in London. The feat was called “Above the Below.” Despite the cynical response and abuse from British spectators, the magician did his performance well and emerged on schedule on October 19, 2003. Blaine, who murmured, “I love you all” during his appearance, was then quickly hospitalized and claimed to lose 54 pounds during his 44-day fast.

After canceling a stunt called “Dive of Death” (was suppose to be performed on April 4, 2004), Blaine wowed once more to perform the “Drowning Alive” (2006, TV) stunt. On May 1, 2006, in front of New York’s Lincoln Center, he was submerged in an 8-foot, water-filled sphere with tubes for air and nutrition. Blaine finished the feat by trying to break the world record of 8-minute, 58-second, underwater breath holding. At the same time, he also tried to free himself from handcuffs and chains. Unfortunately, Blaine could only hold his breath for 7 minutes and 30 seconds before passing out. Blaine will next try to suspend himself from the Brooklyn Bridge, 135 feet above the East River.