Top David Blaine stunts will terrify mere mortals

David Blaine is a crazy man (there, we said it). When not encasing himself between two walls of ice, he is standing atop a metal pylon while being electrocuted.

David Blaine is a magician, mentalist and endurance athlete. And over the years he has done some truly harrowing feats.

Ahead of his first live stunt since 2012 – dubbed Ascension – we’ve put together a round-up of David Blaine’s 5 best tricks.

Buried Alive

This was Blaine’s first big stunt, and also one of his most dangerous. The magician was entombed in a plastic box, while three tons of water was poured over the top of him. Blaine stayed in there for seven days, with no food and very little water.

Less of a trick and more of a feat of endurance, it would go on to influence the type of stunts he would do for the rest of his career.

Vertigo

The opposite of being buried alive, David Blaine stood atop a 35-metre pillar high above New York. The Pillar was just 22-inches wide, and the magician did not wear a harness. Instead, he only had two retractable handles to help him protect against sudden gushes of wind.

In total, he spent 35 hours atop the pillar before jumping down and landing in cardboard safety boxes.

Drowning Alive

Not really a trick at all; David Blaine encased himself in a glass sphere filled with water and held his breath for 17-minutes. He earned a Guinness World Record for his troubles, and it apparently took more than six months of training before he could do it.

The Glass Box

Another feat of mental strength, this time David Blaine encased himself in a glass box that hung above London. He did 44 days with no food and minimal water.

Perhaps the hardest thing about this challenge was not the lack of sustenance, however. As Blaine had to endure weeks of taunting from the British public.

Frozen in Time

This time around David Blaine encased himself in a huge block of ice in New York’s Times Square. He battled severe cold and sleep deprivation before being released by chainsaws after 63 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds. 

Ascension

Soon, David Blaine will be attaching himself to 40 weather balloons and attempting to rise to 3.5-miles above the earth. You can read more about that right here.

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