David Blaine's latest stunt had him hanging upside down for some 60 hours, and near the end of his special, we were treated to his version of a bullet catch.
A refreshing change, we also got to view vintage-style Blaine performing close-up magic for spectators on the street. Was it a great two-hour show? Was it great for magic? Some thoughts.
Hanging Around
Since I can't comment on the effects of hanging upside down, I'll focus on the magic. To start, I always give Blaine lots of credit for his uncanny ability to create a spectacle and sell network shows.
Since watching Blaine hang upside down for two hours isn’t exactly tense, edge-of-your-seat television, we were teased with the prospect of Blaine catching a bullet, which finally occurred near the end of the show. There was also lots of filler: Blaine's childhood, the fans, building the structure to suspend Blaine and more.
Bite the Bullet
It was a brilliant idea for Blaine to attempt the infamous bullet catch. Many magicians, the most famous having been Chung Ling Soo, have died performing this trick.
Blaine's bullet catch was not performed live - we viewed a taped version that was dressed with lots of intriguing slow-motion film footage. I felt that Blaine did not build as much tension with this segment as he could have.
Close-up
Compared against the most recent Blaine specials, this one featured more close-up magic, the type that put Blaine on the media map.
In the end, I don't think that there was anything that people will be talking about around the water cooler tomorrow morning. After all, once you've levitated, torn the head off of a chicken, thrown a card through glass, restored a beer can and reached through a store window, what more is there to do?
The close-up segments featured familiar effects and some strong variations. Blaine stretched a borrowed coin, shifted symbols on a dollar bill, predicted freely named numbers on a lottery ticket, altered the face of the president on a dollar bill, caused a cap to fall into a bottle and made a bunch of bills change denominations.
Blaine took a punch to the stomach from Kimbo Slice, a mean looking dude. He performed for celebrity victims that included Serena Williams and Orlando Bloom, as well as for a family of Katrina survivors.
Most of the tricks involved playing cards with various predictions, cards across and even some effects that were featured on his earlier specials.
Show Dives to a Death
Unfortunately, the long-awaited ending, Blaine's "dive of death," fell flat. I’m not sure if others felt cheated, but I did. The show was pretty much a long, two-hour trick that I hope Blaine won’t repeat. And overall, I think that the show did little to promote magic in the minds of lay audiences.
When Blaine's first special aired over a decade ago, I was not yet a magician and found his initial shows to be fresh and intriguing. I may now be watching Blaine's shows with the jaded eyes of a magic pro who constantly performs and sees the latest magic.
I hope that I'm wrong and that Blaine wowed the lay-masses who watched the show. I’ll find out what lay people are thinking as I return to strolling work tomorrow night.
Was anyone watching? Will Blaine be back with another special? It's all about ratings. We will soon know how his show performed. For magic, I hope that the news is good.
More Reading:
Famous Magicians
Profile: David Blaine
Comments
This is typical of Blaine. He’s the Geraldo Rivera of Magic. A long buildup to a real yawner of a stunt. The stunts are always impressive, but lacking in showmanship. I no longer watch his work.
Closeup effects were too repetitive. Little originality. Hanging up side down not magical so much as wierd. Last effect seemed like failed due to poor camera work. Can’t be sure. But certainly didn’t get the job done. David has not grown into this work, but basically does the same as beginning.
I FEEL THAT HANGING UPSIDE DOWN FOR HOURS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MAGIC. MAYBE BLAINE SHOULD JUST WORK ON BREAKING WORLD RECORDS AND STOP CALLING HIMSELF A MAGICIAN. I’VE STOPPED WATCHING HIM PERFORM A LONG TIME AGO.
BLAINE IS WORKING…AND I HOPE GETTING PAID! THAT’S WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT..! WELL, at least in these tough days..but comes across as a dark shady personality that is trying so hard, trying anything nutty..too hard to “fool you”….! Not like Doug Henning, Blackstone,Copperfield with their FUN type of Entertaining. Magic should be yeah mysterious, but FUN..! Hanging upside down? Jumping off a high perch into a glass of water, etc..that’s not Magic.That’s more like the circus dangerous stuff as the high-wire walkers, the Wallendas,..Shooting a Man Out Of A Cannon..etc! It won’t do the other Magies around the country any much good.The usual magician-performer doesn’t offer these things.. Shockers like Blaine offers…? Can we give the audience a good all-around FUN magic Show..? We need more FUN,Entertaining MAGICIANS on TV to help the trade..!
People are far too quick to criticize…David Blaine’s body of work is amazing. If we should take away lesson from the now famous flop…the Dive of Death Stunt, it’s that Magic on TV should NEVER BE PERFORMED LIVE. I’m sure David did nothing wrong….The technicians failed to accomplish the effects that were supposed to take place. David was left there dangling. The emotions he must have gone through had to be awful. And even now people want to judge him on that one show. How about we support all TV Magicians. Lay audiences love to watch magic on TV. My opinion is that it makes them hungry to see Magic performed live. This increases the amount of work for magicians all over. People want to see what else David Blaine has planned, and so do I.