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If it wasn't for David Blaine we would never hear comments like:

'' OMG!! YOU are better than David Blaine!! ''

" Thats better than anything I've seen on the telly! ''.

So maybe he's not all bad?

Before anyone starts, this isn't a 'showing-off' type reply!

I went along to that LG Shine night and (you'll probably boo and hiss me for this) I actually MISSED the Blaine stunt. I arrived late. Ooops.

So this the first time I've seen what he did. I'd heard about it, but didn't see it.

At the end of the day, what you have to remember is that he was doing this for LG. It was a promotional stunt. So, somehow he had to get across their strapline of "Born To Shine" and somehow incorporate the phone. So, with this in mind, I think he did a pretty good job.

Ok, so the process was quite boring, but to the lay person, they obviously enjoyed participating. However, the visual hologram was well planned.

Personally I'm a fan of Blaine. Like a couple of posts say, he's got that 'mysterious' aura about him - and magic is all about the performance, not the gimmicked deck you have, etc.

P.S. - I met him very briefly - he was rat-a**sed!

Just watched that clip

Absolute rubbish!!

Nota bad effect, one our of RRTCM maybe presentation.. ?? I went backto watching alan partridge before the audience started dealingthe first pile!!

There is NOTHING new with him!!

Michael Jay falled for the old argument.
Neither of us don't have to be as good singers as the kids on The Idols, but we still judge them.

I dont envy David at all, because he did work for his show alot and was the first to hit the guerilla style streetmagic-genre in mainstream big time. Lot of us owe something for him, maybe an spark of interest on magic or just promoting magic in general.

But Blaine really aint much of a magician. He has really dull style as he doesnt drag the laypersons to the wonderful world of magic, and his handling and manipulations arent top-of-the-notch either.
He should get more creative and study some acting or something, or just forget about it and enjoy the wealthy lifestyle he has earned himself.

It seems to me like he is bored with magic..

Maybe he has no qualifications and would not get a job so feel he has to do this now to earn a living?? Being bored with this aint gonna wash, he should quit.. or get inventive!!

Get excited Dave.. you are in the best career going and you act like its a burden!!

And ... what a way to prove that your magic isnt phoney.. using a prestige!! Great one David.. now everyone watching that can confirm to those annoying runts that like you.. your a fraud, dull, lifeless and most embarassingly.. nothing more than an average magician who hit it lucky

I'm not a massive fan of David Blaine's style, but I do really feel he has brought magic into the public eye again, especially to a younger audience. The main place I perform (at school) people are always saying to me 'can you do that trick that David Blaine does with the card going through the window' and 'when he bites a coin.'

People are more interested in magic and I think this makes it easier for me to perform as people are always willing to watch.

I used to do magic (not very seriously) when I was about 8. I remember getting a Marvins Magic Set for a present and it went from there. I got bored with it after about a year. I remeber then seeing David Blaine performing on TV about two years ago and it really stuck with me. Since then magic has been my main hobby, taking up all my christmas and birthday money! Now, when I watch Blaine I can think of so many better magicians, and performers - but he was the one that got me into magic again and I am sure I am not alone in saying that for people my age.

Tss. I now recall that I was invited to that launch too. I didn't go, and binned the invitation with flamboyant contempt, to confirm that I was still not so lost as to think a new mobile phone 'an event'. This action - from a nobody, alone in his house - sent shockwaves through the entire PR world, obviously. And, I sort of wish I had gone now. Great.

But, more relevantly: Blaine. I have a few issues with the man, certainly, but I think the points in question here as in his favour.
1) His persona. According to his book, it's a very calculated persona. He and some actor actually went away and worked out what it should be, deciding on "a kind of urban shaman." This clearly works, as (a significant number) of people buy into it, and he appears 'mystical' even when he's simply doing a card trick. If that's the role you've decided to play (successfully) than joking around a la Sankey isn't really an option. You need to appear ethereal, distracted and other worldly. Gags destroy a sense of the mystic - as has been pointed out, 'Have you ever seen a picture of Jesus laughing?'
2) He made a massive change to magic. D Brown, in fact, said something like, 'David Blaine was key. He changed everything.' This wasn't the 'street' aspect per se, it was the turning the camera on the specs. It's impossible to over-state the significance of this. Instead of TV magic being a film of bloke doing something and you watching trying to work out how, it was now the human experience of magic that was the thing: the interaction, how it affected people, the vicarious sense of awe. That's a powerful idea, and I massively tip my hat to the man for introducing it.