I saw David today while on lunch from work. He was having a break from filming and having lunch himself. He is filming some stuff for his new special here in London and told me of two of the tricks he is doing.
One is a pickpocket type routine, which he didn't really explain, the other is an effect based on Houdini.

Basically he is taking blows to the stomach from people and not even flinching or moving etc. He wants to do this, as this is also a stunt that Houdini did, and in fact died from when he was caught off guard by a blow from a stranger.

As I was eating my pasta salad, he started chatting up this girl sitting next to us.
Now I don't know if this was a trick as no one was filming at the time but it amazed me.
He asked her where she was from and she said Germany, he then said, "This is from Germany" and pulled out a cloth. As he unfolded the cloth I realized it was a Holocaust armband with the Star of David on it and some German writing which he then put on. He then said how some of his family died in the Holocaust and pulled up his sleeve and he had a number tattoo like the Jewish prisoners did on his arm! The girl was more than a little freaked out, and it had me pretty amazed.

That’s all for now, I will let you know if I get any more info. But I doubt I will see him again before he does his stunt.

Cool story. I heard today that he was going to go without food for six weeks while suspended in a box over the Thames River in London and it will be televised and on the web. I really want to see some one-on-one magic from him rather than stunts. This will all take place on September 5th.

He has had that tattoo for a while. It is the concentration camp number of Primo Levi, the Jewish composer and author.

I don't know how much of his persona is an act, if any, but he definitely seems a little "out there."

Hm, I wish he'd do more magic and less stunts.

Thanks for that info Firedice. Every time I have met him he has been wearing a long sleeved top so I don't really know what tattoos he has. I know he has quite a few. So it wasn't a trick. I wasn't sure if it was, maybe he just jumped on the opportunity. I know I have done stuff like that before. I once noticed someone had a 2 of hearts tattoo so I used it in an effect.

Also I think the new special is going to be called 'Above the Below' or something similar.

There was an article in paper today about Blaine supposedly locking himself in a box for six days without food or water. Another stunt. *sigh*

I'm sure we'd all like to see more magic from him than stunts, but that's just because we're magicians. He is generating a lot of public interest in himself, and that's all that matters.

Let's see if this special gets better ratings than his last special, (which didn't do that well).

Reading Blaine’s book and some of his articles, I tend to question whether he is doing this for the publicity or not. Granted, there is publicity involved, but I don' think that is the main reason. Each one of his stunts he has segregated himself from the glamour of the world. Now, for 44 days, he will be completely isolated. I think it is about proving to himself that he can accomplish it. For us, the viewers, it lets us know that anything is possible. Anything.

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It's hard to complain about the stunts; after all, these are nothing new to magic. Stunts have been used to attract people to magic for longer than most of us have been alive, whether it be escaping from a locked box thrown into a river or driving through city streets blindfolded. There's nothing new about Blaine's stunts.

This stunt will achieve its purpose, it will get people watching the special. (It's already achieved the purpose of getting him attention. This story ran on CNN and the major networks.)

We've all seen what Blaine's stunts do. They get people watching, and these people end up talking about the magic the next day, not the stunts. With Blaine's last special, people tuned in to watch him leap off the pillar, and were mesmerized by Healed and Sealed.

Copperfield's specials have elicited similar responses from viewers. He went over Niagara Falls in a barrel, vanished the Statue of Liberty, and it was effects like Misled and CMH that caused jaws to drop.

I don't have much interest in the 40-days stunt, but I'll be tuning in to see what this year's Healed and Sealed will be.

Houdini was the master of the stunt, but his stunts had one purpose, and one purpose alone: To get people to come to his shows.

He would do a stunt a couple of days before his show promoting it and such. His shows would sell out almost immediately afterwards.

His stunts are all sponsored and that is where he makes his money through the contracts to do the stunts.

Has anyone EVER seen Blaine on a stage? I would be interested in seeing a stage show that he puts together.

Jeff

I don't think Blaine has ever done a stage show, has he?

Interesting side note: Once, when Houdini was dangling from a building in a straightjacket and the thousands of people watched, as a joke, his brother, Hardeen, handed out hundreds of fliers saying "The Great Hardeen! Escape Artist! See him tonight at the..." So everyone thought they were watching Hardeen up there.
Even Harry had to laugh at that.

I just think the whole armband and tattoo thing was in bad taste.

The girl was from Germany but I am sure had nothing to do with the war.

Sorry, he is really becoming a flake. (IMHO)

As Firedice said, he has had that tattoo for a while, Blaine is half Jewish. I didn't see any cameras rolling so I guess it wasn't a 'trick', just something he thought of doing at that moment. I don't see why it was in bad taste? For all we know that armband could be a family heirloom.

Sorry for my ignorance by being English I don't know what the term 'flake' means, can someone enlighten me?

Not that it’s relevant to this conversation, but Houdini died from appendicitis. There are some who speculate a blow to his stomach caused it to erupt, but he actually died from the bacterial infection in his appendix.

Just for what its worth...

I guess the closest English term for "flake" would be "dodgy". "Flake" also refers to someone who doesn't keep their promises or who is not motivated in general. So really I'm not sure what Neale might have meant.

This is a sensitive subject for Germans but it doesn't sound like Blaine was showing her the arm band and tattoo to make her feel guilty; seems like he was sharing a historical item.

Hackmonkey, that's really cool that you ran into Blaine on the street. It appears from the picture in the paper that he's gained weight for the stunt. Did you notice this? Was he eating a big meal?

I met Blaine once at his book signing in at Waterstones in London and had a chat with him. He seems very cool in person.

The director of Blaine’s new special is Harmony Korine.
Never heard that name? Let me tell you about him.
He's the guy who wrote "Kids" and wrote and directed
"Gummo", which I was present for the entire shooting.
This guy makes freak shows. The last day of filming
he was unbelievably high (so much that he was drooling
everywhere during the scene he had inserted himself
into.) There WAS a plot in Gummo. I'll give
a gummy bear to anyone who can recognize it
without reading the script. (though there
isn't much more there either) Stunts and
exploiting the underbelly of society, great
entertainment. Let’s make a magic special.

This move by both Blaine and Korine is unsurprising.
They deserve each other.

I am kind of sad he is doing pick-pocketing work now. I am going to get the, "You are copying the guy on TV." Is this special on North American TV?

Does Gummo really have a plot?

BTW, I wonder if Blaine has a whole bunch of other goodies from different countries. Are you from Mexico? I have a taco on my arm. Are you from Canada? Here is a beaver fur hat. Are you from Sweden? Take this meatball.

Lee

As far as Blaine's stunt being on United States television, it will happen; just a matter of time. They will probably eventually buy the television rights, probably in the same design as the past specials, lots of clips of him in the box, magic dispersed throughout, then his emergence. I believe he has put some weight on, just to sustain himself once his body starts feeding off itself.

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