by dat8962 » May 28th, '06, 23:59
Blaine isn't interested in what other magicians think of him or his stunts. Judging by the press coverage the majority of his following, and those who become interested in the stunt rather than Blain himself, are lay people and it's to this audience that Blaine projects himself. I'll also add that he does this successfully too and will no doubt have raked in a few million Dollars.
Mrs dat asked why he did these stunts after watching him being dragged out of the water in a poor state of health. My rather cynical response was "the money of course".
He sure knows how to play to a crowd and personally, I'm not sure if he knew that he couldn't make 9 minutes. If the record was that important then why not attempt it at the start when your energy is high and why on earth change your plan at the last minute and add all of those chains. I rather suspect that the answer is simply show business.
Nice touch being wheeled a few hundred yards through the crowds to the nearest ambulance.
Overall, I didn't expect too much from the show so I wasn't that disapointed. I watched more for the shoe lace trick than for the underwarter knife fighting and I'm not too sure about that either.
Seven minutes holding your breath is good going by anyone's standard, 70+ hours under water is also a mean feat of endurance whether you're a Blaine fan or not. A few million Dollars - His bank manager was most probably in the front row.
Member of the Magic Circle & The 2009 British Isles Close-Up Magician of the Year
It's not really an optical illusion - it just looks like one!