Fans could get up close to the tank to see that there were no tricks to this trick, just a man holding his breath - a sight that became more amazing as the minutes ticked by.
David Blaine proves that he is more than just an illusionist.
If there was one thing more astonishing than the magic tricks performed by David Blaine last Friday, it had to be his sense of humour.
The 41-year-old American magician often appears monotonous and with a somewhat boring personality on television – yet he was quick with zingers and one-liners as he entertained thousands of his fans at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
That is magic right there for you.
It was the first show of his inaugural Real Or Magic Asia Tour 2014, and if Blaine’s showmanship that night was any indication, fans across Asia are definitely in for something amazing.
Hopefully, the man will be a little more punctual when performing at other venues during the tour, though, because the 30-minute wait fans had to endure before the start of the show here was surely not appreciated. Several impatient fans heckled, calling for the magician to appear on stage, but once he did, they seemed to have been silenced by the impressive tricks that Blaine had up his sleeve.
He's on fire!
He started the show by inviting people on stage to hand him unopened 500ml bottles of water, and after downing the sixth bottle, and with 3 litres of water in his stomach, Blaine proceeded to put out a fire. Yes, he literally projectile vomited all the water out with a strong enough force to put out a fire (which was, by the way, burning in the shape of his initials).
Blaine showed his cool and laidback side when he accommodated – heck, he was the one who invited them – fans’ request for selfies with him and did not even rush them when they were obviously cutting into his performance time.
The other fans in the arena, who might have had reason to be annoyed – hey, they paid to see Blaine in action, not to see you taking a selfie with him – were also kind enough to entertain these antics and didn’t rush the photo-happy fans to get off the stage.
Watery record: David Blaine attempting to break his previous record of holding his breath underwater. No, we don't think the fish is helping him to breathe. — Photos by S.S. KANESAN/The Star
As much as everyone surely wanted to see Blaine perform the death-defying stunts that his is famous for, they seemed to appreciate his nod to old school magic when he performed several card tricks, including the ones that made him famous through his 1997 television show, Street Magic.
“Don’t blink,” said someone in the audience as Blaine deftly shuffled the cards and performed the tricks – and no, no matter how long you keep your eyes open, you will never catch Blaine revealing the secrets of his trade.
Blaine has, famously, been buried alive for seven days in a plastic box placed underneath a water-filled tank weighing 3 tonnes, stood encased in a massive block of ice, stood for 35 hours on a 30m-high and 0.56m-wide pillar – and he didn’t disappoint his fans at this show when he did something equally crazy that night.
He got a fan to help him push an ice pick through his palm – without drawing any blood. Blaine joked: “If this goes wrong, that’ll be the end of this show. I do have other good performers who can take over the show for tonight, though.”
Of course, there wasn’t any need for replacements because Blaine was in fine form when he attempted the most dangerous stunt of the night. In 2006, he had attempted to break the then world record for holding a breath underwater, 8 minutes and 58 seconds. Unfortunately, he had to be pulled out when he lost consciousness at 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
On Friday, Blaine attempted to break his own personal record and submerged himself in a tank filled with water, which was placed among the seats in the stadium rather than on the stage. Fans had the opportunity to see him up close as he was holding his breath, and one lucky girl even got to get into the tank with him. Blaine was pulled out for his own safety at 8 minutes and 36 seconds, upping his personal best.
The obliging man took time off to allow his fans to take selfies with him on stage.
As he walked towards the stage, shivering and obviously out of breath, Blaine still took the time to take photographs and selfies with his fans before bidding them goodbye.
Like we said before, if there is anything more surprising than Blaine’s magic act, it has to be how nice he is to his fans.
> Organised by LOL Events and Livescape Asia, the show was supported by Malaysia Major Events, a division of the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) under the Tourism and Culture Ministry.
