Known as a modern-day Houdini, David Blaine has awed thousands of viewers all over the world with his magic and mentalism skills.
Through his television specials, he was the first to popularize the combination of filmography and magic tricks to create illusions and get into people’s minds.
With 15 earth-shattering stunts, 1 Guinness World Record, and a career spanning over two decades, Blaine has become a legend in the new generation of magicians – continuously pushing the boundaries on what is possible.
Read on to learn more about David Blaine, his mentalism story, and how you can do some of his tricks!
The Man Behind the Magic
Born in New York on April 4, 1973, David Blaine’s love for magic started at the age of four, when he saw a street magician for the first time.
As he grew older, he started to take inspiration from some of the most legendary magicians, including Max Malini, Alexander Herrmann, and Houdini. These magicians influenced him and steered him towards the complex, shocking performance style he is known for today.
Over time, Blaine began to develop his street magic act, and one of his card tricks eventually led to his first television deal with ABC. This launched his career as a magician, with USA Today calling him the “hottest name in magic”.
Setting Stunts and Records
Throughout his career, David Blaine has performed 15 stunts that have tested his endurance and skill, including:
- Buried Alive – a live stunt where he was entombed for seven days with no food.
- Frozen In Time – a TV special where he escaped from a block of ice.
- Drowned Alive – a live stunt where he was trapped inside a sphere of water for 7 days.
- Electrified – a live stunt where 1 million volts were discharged at him for 72 hours.
- Ascension – a live stunt where he flew 20,000 feet into the air using only balloons.
- Guinness World Record – a live stunt where he held his breath for 17 minutes and broke the then Guinness World Record.
Blaine has traveled all over the world, performing live for thousands of people for the last twenty years.
He has also done private performances for internationally known figures, such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali, Stephen Hawking, and many others.
In 2017, Blaine began to experiment with a new level of magic by utilizing tools like video calls and live streams to increase the shock factor of his stunts.
These online stunts went on to become a staple in his 2020 TV special, The Magic Way, where he performed through video calls for both citizens and celebrities.
Check out the video below to see him perform through FaceTime!
Cultivating the Next Generation of Magicians
Although Blaine spends most of his time planning and performing new stunts, he has also created materials to help inspire more people to become magicians.
In 2002, he published Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic, in which he covered his life, the history of magic, and how to perform illusions and card tricks.
The book also incorporated clues to a $100,000-prize treasure hunt, which was solved 16 months later by Sherri Skanes.
What’s more, Blaine has created several lines of special playing cards, including a collaboration with the card company Bicycle, to encourage more people to learn and experiment with card tricks.
Giving Back Through Magic
As a popular magician, Blaine’s stunts gain views from all over the world, leading to much profit for him and the platforms that stream his stunts.
Knowing this, Blaine has used his popularity to raise money for several causes, including his 2006 Revolution stunt in Times Square.
As part of the stunt, he was shackled to a spinning gyroscope for 52 hours before escaping. The proceeds then went to the Salvation Army, a cause dear to his heart since they had clothed him in his childhood.
In 2010, Blaine came back to Times Square for Magic for Haiti, where he performed street magic for thousands of people over the course of 72 hours. By the end, the event had raised almost $100,000 for the 2010 Haiti earthquake relief services.
David Blaine’s Tricks and Techniques
Although Blaine is most known for his extreme stunts, he is also an accomplished street magician with a specialty in close-up magic.
As you can see here, Blaine baffles Jeff Bezos with card ‘magic’.
But of course, it’s all mentalism and sleight of hand – which you can easily learn by following the guides below!
The Ambitious Card Trick
As you saw in the video above, the first card trick baffles Jeff Bezos as Blaine continuously makes the signed card appear at the top of the deck.
This is called the Ambitious Card trick, which you can do by following these steps:
- Shuffle your deck.
- Have a spectator choose a card face down or face up.
- Have the spectator sign the card.
- Get a pinkie break below the top card while they sign.
- Pretend to put the signed card in the middle of the deck by pushing out some cards.
- Lift the top card using your pinkie to get a shadow underneath it.
- Slide the signed card under the top card. These three movements will make it seem like the signed card is in the middle of the deck.
- Reveal the signed card by doing a double lift, which means you’ll lift the top two cards as one.
- Flip the two cards back down
- Take the top card and insert it in the middle of the deck face down.
- Reveal the signed card, which is now truly at the top.
It might take a bit of practice to master the pinkie break and double lift, but once you’ve got these basics down, you’ll be making cards appear in no time!
The Jumping Card Trick
The second part of Blaine’s act builds upon the Ambitious Card trick by bending the signed card – thus convincing the audience even more of its impossibility!
This is called the Jumping Card Trick, which you can easily do with these steps:
- Tell the spectators you’ll put the card in the middle again.
- Take the signed card and pretend to slide it into the middle using the same technique as earlier.
- Do another double lift to show the signed card.
- Keep the two cards square as you lift them up and bend them both while only showing the signed card.
- Place the two bent cards on top of the deck and hold them down so they’re straight.
- Cut the deck in half and slide the top (unsigned) card to the middle of the deck.
- Make sure to hold down the signed card with your index finger so it appears straight.
- Square the deck and grip it with your thumb on one side and three fingers on the other side.
- Apply pressure so that the signed card doesn’t show its bend.
- Tell the spectators that you’ll make the card jump to the top of the deck.
- Snap your fingers and release the pressure to let the signed card bend.
Finding the right amount of bending and pressure might take a while, but this is definitely achievable once you’ve got the basics of the Ambitious Card Trick down!
Wrapping Up
In the new generation of television magicians, David Blaine stands out as one of the most skilled, determined, and shocking – a true legend in the making.
Fortunately, he is still going strong, and we can expect to see even more amazing performances from him in the next few years.
Although many of his big stunts do involve complicated setups, there are many tricks you can learn from him, especially from his street magic acts.
Admittedly, it will take some practice to learn the techniques, but this is more than worth it if you want to impress your friends or become like Blaine one day.
No matter where your journey takes you, just remember: it took years for the greats to hone their craft, so take your time and enjoy the ride!