talkmagic.co.uk

Where does this leave david blaine now? will he retire gracefully

I doubt it.

We're not that lucky...

hopefully he'll go back to magic

I think he is crazy! What he did is not magic.

David Blaine is attempting to leave a lasting image upon the world. Like those of Houdini. He wants the images to be almost artistic pieces.

Gotta give him credit for making it to where is now, millions of people love the guy. Wether you like what he's doing now or not, he's good at what he does.

I personally, prefer the early magic, but as a figure there is nobody better at the moment. Still up there in my mind

linda wrote:Where does this leave david blaine now? will he retire gracefully

Why the presupposition that he should retire? He's a good magician. It's just these physical endurance stunts that get a bit boring when there's nothing to watch.

How can you call the man a failure? could you do what he done and stay under water for 7 days and hold your breath for over 7 minutes? he may of not stayed in the water for as long as he wanted too but he is in no way a failure. that took a lot of courage strength and determination to do what he done and i think he’s great to come out alive, he was just short of breaking the world record so how can he be a failure?

linda wrote:Where does this leave david blaine now? will he retire gracefully

Considering the millions he earned from this stunt, I guess he can afford to.

Sky321 wrote:How can you call the man a failure? could you do what he done and stay under water for 7 days and hold your breath for over 7 minutes? he may of not stayed in the water for as long as he wanted too but he is in no way a failure. that took a lot of courage strength and determination to do what he done and i think he’s great to come out alive, he was just short of breaking the world record so how can he be a failure?

Well he'd undergone extensive training with the Navy SEALS.

If the Marine Commandos were kind enough to train me for this sort of thing, then yeah I could probably do it.

He went in with a goal. He did not acchieve that goal.
Ergo he failed.

Not slamming him as a person, just saying that what he set out to do didn't happen. That is a failure.

Whether he is a failure or not depends on your POV. From what I can see; he's a performer, he performed, he got paid.

He didn't fail. He got what he wanted. Millions of people watched the show. As far as him retiring, what are you talking about, he's not a boxer. He tried a publicity strunt , that didn't work quite the way he thought. I think he has done alot to popularize magic and I'm thankfull to him for that.

I know I'm new here but I've been in the magic realm for 11yrs now and remember David Blaine coming into Magic Max in Times Square to buy his props. I personally sold many items to him and he was not at all the nicest person in the world. I've met many magicians in my lifetime including David Copperfield when he was in Orlando last year. They were all so different than Blaine. Don't get me wrong, he's pretty good at what he does, but if anyone of you has ever been to Tannens in N.Y. and had the pleasure of meeting Magik Balay, you know that there are others way better that just do it for the fun of it.

If the whole "Get him out of there" was real, I wish him a fast recovery. if it was just a way to get more attention, then he should be ashamed of what he did. There are alot of people that are mesmerized by what we do, and you should not take advantage of them. They put money in some of our pockets (not mine, I'm not THAT good..lol)

We as magicians owe those who don't have the kowledge alot. I don't know about you but nothing akes me happier than to see someones face after doing something like McDonalds Aces, Red Hot Momma or even Further Than That. That's why we do what we do..

The hype was that he would be drowned alive. It was the name of the special if he didn't make to the record they should have let him drown. Then he would have gone down in history as dying trying to do an impossable stunt. Now he's just another Geraldo Rivera opening an empty Al Capone's vault. If he couldn't pull it off, he shouldn't have wasted people's time.

There is two ways of describing this 'stunt', and neither of which are anything near what I'd call failure...

1. He attempted to stay underwater and hold his breath etc. etc. He set himself goals, but didn't achieve them. He didn't fail, he just didn't make achieve his goal. However, the MAIN reason behind his stunt was publicity and limelight, and the rather small matter of being back in the public eye and being paid quite a lot of dollars. Can't be a failure, surely?

2. The following he has will now see him as more genuine. IMHO, what he has actually done is dispelled all previous assumptions that he's a 'self confessed miracle man' and shown a human element, the element of dissapointment. He's finally broken himself down into a humble mortal, and for that, he's gained my respect (at last).

I see what he has done as being perfectly planned. It not only gives him credability as a performer again (as opposed to a flawless stuntman) in the eyes of the world, but it also has given him an ample opportunity for a possibly re-try.

In marketing terms, he's pulled his trump card. Rather than the stunt being a total success, he's actually caused more gossip by not completing it. Very clever. It is a brilliant piece of marketing. If he'd been successful, we'd all have said "OK, he's done it again" and there would have been a bit of a calm after the storm.

The 'so what' attitude has now been lifted. So what if he got buried alive and survived? It must have been a clever illusion. So what if he was locked in ice? It must have been an illusion.

But... now he's not done what he set out to achieve, he has become more human, and a lot more people may possibly warm to him. This is no way a failure. He's achieved possibly exactly what he set out to do.

Aside from the +++$$$$ he's going to be paid, he's now back in our thoughts, and he'd be a fool to waste his opportunities now. (And I am willing to bet he won't be wasting a single moment of them!)

Failure?

Not even a word that enters my head.

linda wrote:Where does this leave david blaine now? will he retire gracefully

Nope he is going to do it again!! This time without the week in the bowl first.