David Plaine's Stupid PR Stunt

Terminator

At first I was impressed with this guy.

He was gonna stand on top of a tall 22-inch circular platform for 35 hours.

But after all the hype, it turns out he had handles to hold onto the whole time. I could've done that pissed drunk meself.

How pathetic is that?

Spunog UIE

those handles were for if there was any stormy high winds and such ya tosser! besides he never used them. As Jacky Chan would say...crazy...not stupid. hmmmmmmm

Terminator

He could've easily used a harness and if he fell he would've failed safely. But standing up there like a gimp holdin on to bars - thats load of bull.

rymus

Originally posted by Terminator
He could've easily used a harness and if he fell he would've failed safely. But standing up there like a gimp holdin on to bars - thats load of bull.

those handles were for if there was any stormy high winds and such ya tosser! besides he never used them. As Jacky Chan would say...crazy...not stupid. hmmmmmmm

Exactly how many times does that have to be repeated to you? the handles are there in case of high winds as are sometimes experienced when ure up that high.

As for you doing it when youre pissed..... I'd pay to see that (but only if u fell to your grizzly death)

Terminator

Originally posted by rymus

As for you doing it when youre pissed..... I'd pay to see that (but only if u fell to your grizzly death)

I was EXAGERATING - besides I don't think falling into cardboard boxes would kill me - might kill you though cos you sound kinda shrill and brittle

rymus

Originally posted by Terminator
might kill you though cos you sound kinda shrill and brittle

roflmao

Funny little man

GoneShootin

besides I don't think falling into cardboard boxes would kill me

at that height if you didnt land correctly you could die no matter what you land on or into.

also it wasnt a PR stunt. its his trade, this is what he does...

Kali

was all a bit stupid if you ask me.. all these thousands of people standing around looking at a guy standing on a pole? jesus have they nothing better to do.. and the interviews they done "oh my god hes so cool hes just so brave hes a great magician" .. err hes standing on a pole love and it aint magic... pure pr ****e... personally i hope he comes over here and trys to balance on top of our spike on oconnell st. (and subsequently impales himself)

Kix

...twa...

daveJAM

Stuntmen often use cardboard boxes for a soft landing so saying its a great feat because all he had to land on was boxes and not a net is meaningless. But anyway its pretty impressive no matter what he lands on. And the biggest part of the stunt was staying upright for 35 hours. A lot of people dismiss this and are only impressed by the jump.

conZ

blaine was meant to fake his death during that stunt, but it was leaked to the papers bout a week ago. He said he'd think of something else, that must be when he taught of the handle-bars.


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Ser

still dont know how he floats tho, anyone got ideas?

iv seen videos of him doing it in the streets to people, and they totaly freak out, he actualy coms off the floor infront of them, while they are standing around him etc, people totaly freak out with it....


ideas pls!

zAbbo

I can do the levitation thing he can do and i`m sure u can too, if you stand at a particular angle from someone and keep one foot in air and straight then use you`re other foot to raise urself it gives the impression that you are floating a couple of inches off the ground.

As for the one where he is about 2 foot of the ground, they are fake as he admitted on his Street Magic Secrets show.

rymus

he stands so the 'audience' can only see one of his feet (but both of his heels). He then raises the toe of his hidden foot while keeping his heels perfectly still which makes him look like he's hovering about 1/2 inches above the ground.. With a bit of practice (and the right shoes) you can make it look really impressive.

Some magicians go a bit further and hover a few feet off the ground but thats just the above & some handy camera work involving a crane and some invisible wires

zAbbo

It is a handy party trick i admit, and it impresses quite a lot of people when i do it.

And its mad handy

Mr. Fancypants

Just to point out that the cardboard boxes were not there until the very end. For the 36 hours if he fell he was going to fall to the street.

Dustaz

David Blaine is a complete and utter twat. Hes nothing but an attention seeking egomaniac. Nothing he does is 'magic', at least none of the Publicity Stunts (and thats all they are folks, self serving publicity stunts to boost his already massive ego).
If a magician has to rely on camera and editing tricks like he does, hes clearly not very good. Not good at something? no problem, get people to fawn over you for standing on a pole!!!

rymus

I wonder if Dustaz doesnt like David Blaine... hmmmm

darthmise

Originally posted by Gideon
those handles were for if there was any stormy high winds and such ya tosser! besides he never used them. As Jacky Chan would say...crazy...not stupid. hmmmmmmm

I saw some of the footage and he was using the handles while he was stretching his legs and shifting his weight from one leg to the other.
No big deal at all this stunt!!

Rabies

Originally posted by Dustaz
David Blaine is a complete and utter twat. Hes nothing but an attention seeking egomaniac. Nothing he does is 'magic', at least none of the Publicity Stunts (and thats all they are folks, self serving publicity stunts to boost his already massive ego).
If a magician has to rely on camera and editing tricks like he does, hes clearly not very good. Not good at something? no problem, get people to fawn over you for standing on a pole!!!

i guess you dont like him???

dustaz i'm not puting down your comment but so what if it is just an ego trip he is on. the chap has made millions of dollars over the past few years from his stunts/'magic tricks' .... i dont think he really cares what we/media think...

T.G Catter

his next stunt is 'drowned', jumping off london bridge in chains,4 minutes to emerge from the water..should be good.

Dustaz

Originally posted by Rabies

i dont think he really cares what we/media think...

Actually thats exactly what he cares about. Without the media/public attention his income would be exactly $0 p.a.

darthmise

He used to do the street magic and then a couple of years ago his mother died, and ever since he's doing all these near death type stunts, there's nothing magic about what he does anymore.
A bit of a funny fish.

prenton

Remember the TV ad he did for a car company, Peugeot I think it was, where he gets soemone on the street to pick a card and then he flings the pack of cars at the Peugeot car and the card that the guy picked is embeded in the window. Thats was pretty cool.

Probably all the cards were the same before the trick started.

At least hes better than Paul "Rug" Daniels and Debbie "Dog" Magee

Dustaz

I would be of the opinion that paul daniels is a far more accomplished magician than david blaine. Hes certainly a better showman (ok, he might not be veru funny:) ) anything is better than a guy thinking that watching "im wierd, stoned and dont say very much" is entertaining.

EL_Diablo

You can't really say whether Paul Daniels or David Blaine is better.It's like saying who's better,Man. United or the Chicago Bulls.Both play totally different sports. The two magicians do two completely different types of magic. Paul Daniels is a much more accomplished magician, but that doesn't mean he is better by any means. Paul Daniels does stage magic and is very good at it. Daivd Blaine does street magic. These tricks are a lot more in your face and can be more impressive because it is all happening right in front of you and can be a lot harder to pull off as people can study your props and actions a lot more than if you were up on a stage. You can see this when you compare audience reactions. How many times has Paul Daniels had people literally afarid of him because they were so freaked out by a trick?

As for his "weird,stoned and don't say very much" persona, I would actually prefer that. He lets the magic speak for itself rather than telling really corny jokes all throughput his act. Take Tommy Cooper for example, he was a really good magician when he did tricks but because his whole act was jokes and making it appear as if he had messed up the trick he will be remembered more for being a comedian than a magician and David Blaine wants all the focus to be on the magic being performed. Ok so David Blaine uses camera tricks the odd time but I can tell you that the vast majority are just very good sleight of hand and can be performed by anyone who knows how to do it and practices a lot to get it absolutely perfect.

As far as the stunts go, no they are not magic but it draws a great deal of attention to the magician which in turn promotes magic and in that is what a lot of magicians strive to do. And David Blaine has done a lot of magic. Val Valentino (The masked Magician) tried to bring magic to people attention again by revealing how illusions are performed. But this only worked to a certain extent. David Blaine has succeeded a lot more by making his TV specials and leting people see that magic is not something which can only be performed on a big stage with beautiful assistants and smoke and mirrors but it can also be something that can be performed right under your nose and can still astound you and can be performed by anyone who practices a little.

Ps. Has anyone seen Derren Brown? If you like street magic and mentalism, this guy combines them both and comes out with shows that leave you stuck for words. And he doesn't have any of the qualities that people here don't seem to like about David Blaine. If you get the chance look at his shows (they are shown on E4 and C4 the odd time)

Pps. prenton: that trick doesn't use a deck with all the cards the same, just some good sleight of hand and the guts to perform it for people knowing that you could mess it up and look like a total twat.


Well thats what I think anyway.

Lump

It was supposed to be a trick, I dont see anything majic about standing on a pole for 35 fúckin hours, do you?


John

Dempsey

Originally posted by Gideon
those handles were for if there was any stormy high winds and such ya tosser! besides he never used them. As Jacky Chan would say...crazy...not stupid. hmmmmmmm

I thought Keanu Reeves said that in Speed. Never heard Chan say that.......I think?

DeadBankClerk

Originally posted by rymus
Exactly how many times does that have to be repeated to you? the handles are there in case of high winds as are sometimes experienced when ure up that high.

If he had handle to hold on to the entire 'danger' element was removed. He might as well have drawn a circle on the floor in chalk and stood in it.

Anyone see him in the block of ice? His trick was to stand in a large hollow block of ice for hours, then be rushed to the hospital when he comes out to stop him dying.

And has anyone seen his interview with the guy who used to present "How do they do that" on some ITV talk show? He wouldn't talk. The entire 5 minute slot was spent with the interviewer asking this arrogant bastard questions and being ignored. The final question asked to Blaine was "You a complete tosser, aren't you?"

Terminator

Originally posted by DeadBankClerk


If he had handle to hold on to the entire 'danger' element was removed. He might as well have drawn a circle on the floor in chalk and stood in it.

And the New Yorkers probably would've said, "OMG. Wow, I've never seen that done before - quick honey turn the camcorder on."

Thorbar

I'm only impressed by stunts where there's a more then 75% chance I'll get brains splattered on my shoes.