Blaine wants to try again
12 May 2006 by Tomas. M.
Magician David Blaine is said to be "unconsoleable" after his latest stunt went wrong. The illusionist's safety team had to intervene after he repeatedly failed to lose consciousness whilst trying to drown.Divers dragged the star from his specially designed goldfish bowl during the routine at the Lincoln Centre, New York. However, it's now believed that he was only seconds away from death. The team are believed to have misunderstood Blaine's convulsions for a special hand signal which triggered the team to abort the attempt.
Sources close to Blaine said that it's hard to tell if he's deeply upset and terminally depressed over the incident, or if he's just being normal. A spokesman for the star said: "It's unfortunate, but David is undeterred. He knows that the vast majority of the public were 100% behind him in his bid for televised death. The rest of the guys in the team know that too – we wanted him to die as much as anyone else out there."
The spokesman went on: "David feels like he's let people down and he's keen to stress that he's planning to attempt the feat again very soon. We're making a few modifications for the next attempt, but they won't impede the view or enjoyment of onlookers!"
Previous stunts by the star were criticised for being too safe and not placing him in sufficient danger. On one occasion he stood on top of a 90ft pole in Times Square, New York, but had loads of mats and bouncy things in case he fell. Another event saw him suspended in a Perspex box in central London, but later confessed to having requested that it was bullet proof, to the anger of the UK public.
Suggestions for future televised stunts gathered on www.davidblaine.com include: standing in front of a really fast train, stripping naked and setting himself on fire at an oil refinery, headbutting metal spikes, shooting himself in the mouth with a powerful handgun, eating a tonne of broken glass and skydiving without a parachute. Blaine's spokesperson added: "David's elated with the response. We think."
