If you have watched NBC at all this week, you have probably seen excerpts of David Blaine’s latest stunt, “Dive of Death.” The 35-year-old magician is known for doing death-defying stunts, including a stunt in which he was suspended over London in a clear cube for 44 days without food and only minimal water each day and one where he was submerged into a sphere filled with water for seven days straight.
(Photo by Nelia Schrum and as a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.)
This week, he hung upside down over Central Park for 60 hours. Doctors had advised him against the stunt, saying not only could the stunt increase the blood pressure in his head, causing blindness, but it could also put stress on his internal organs and blood circulation.
At the end of the 60 hour stunt, David had promised an “amazing ending.” He had planned to dive, harness attached, from a 44 foot platform then just about 10 feet off the ground, he would be dramatically lift up by helium-filled balloons. He told Regis & Kelly that he was disappointed with the ending. Due to high winds, Blaine dove, and then hung there for a minute, kind of reminiscent of a public hanging from the 1800s. After an awkward wave, he was slowly lifted up in the air by the balloons.
Even with the less than exciting ending, some are calling the whole stunt a sham. Some web sites have complained that Blaine didn’t really hang upside down for 60 hours because he took hourly breaks. His reps said “There has been no claim that David was going to hang upside down for 60 hours without a break. In all of his discussions with the media, he said he would have to occasionally get his head above his heart and lower his legs to correct circulation. About once every hour, David comes upright for about five minutes for a medical and equipment check. He has something to drink and he relieves himself, something even David can’t do upside down. His doctors told him quite simply that if he didn’t correct blood flow, he could die.”
In addition to all that, the ratings weren’t great. Blaine had to contend with both the President making his speech about the economy and the highly rated “Dancing with the Stars.” Blaine’s stunt drew in only 7.7 million viewers.