You can’t talk about magic and illusion and not about David Blaine. He was described by Howard Stern and Penn Jillette as the greatest magician to walk the face of the earth. Who can blame Stern and Jillette for their awe of the magic tricks and stunts of this endurance artist?
David Blaine has been consistent in his breathtaking performances since 1997 when he came on stage as a 23-year-old young man with his first magical victim David Blaine: Street Magic, which was widely acclaimed with outstanding ratings.
Although he was raised by a single mother, Patrice Maureen White, a Russian Jewish woman who died of cancer in 1995, he was also born on April 4, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of an absent father, William Perez, a war veteran. He is of mixed descent – Puerto Rican and Italian on his father’s side and Russian Jew on his mother’s side. His mother remarried John Bukalo in 1983, and from this union, Blaine has a half-brother, Michael Bukalo.
After his mother married John Bukalo, the family moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, where Blaine attended Passaic Valley Regional High School. His interest in the magical arts was awakened when, at the age of four, he saw a magician display his magic box of magic tricks on the subway. This left a lasting impression on the child, and when he decided to pursue a career as a 20-year-old, his mother gave her blessing and fully supported him until her death a year later.
David Blaine has established himself as a world-renowned illusionist, attracting thousands of fans with his magic that has revolutionized the industry as it is today. He has broken several records held by former magicians and created new ones in the process.
He has also had the honor of performing for U.S. presidents – George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump – and other top celebrities such as Al Pacino, Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Beckham, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lawrence, Steph Curry, Stephen Hawkings, to name a few.
Magic Career
Blaine began as a street magician who performed his tricks on the streets of Manhattan, New York, to the amazement of the audience. Soon he became popular and gained a large following. His success on the streets encouraged him to make a recording of his tricks and illusions, which he sent to ABC, hoping to get a shot in their show. It worked, and he was invited to a show that became his first performance in front of a live audience. It happened on May 19, 1997, and the show was called David Blaine: Street Magic.
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Two years later, his second show, David Blaine: Magic Man” was broadcast on ABC. As an endurance artist, his first stunt was called “Buried Alive”, which was performed in April 1999. Blaine dived into a huge tank filled with water and stayed there for seven days.
In November 2000 it was the endurance stunt Frozen in Time. Blaine was trapped in a huge block of transparent ice for 63 hours, 42 minutes, and 15 seconds (this record was later broken by the Israeli magician Hezi Dean, who outlasted Blaine by three hours). The large block of ice hung in Times Square in New York City.
His next performance was called Vertigo in Bryant Park, New York City, where he stood on a 30-meter high column for 35 hours. This happened in May 2002, and in September 2003 Blaine started another stunt called Above the Below. He hung for 44 days without food – only water – in a transparent glass box about 30 feet high.
In May 2006, David Blaine was submerged underwater for seven days during another endurance stunt he called “Drowned Alive. After this stunt, he underwent research at Yale University on how human psychology responds to being submerged in water for long periods of time. On the Oprah Winfrey show in April 2008, he tried to break the Guinness World Record for holding your breath underwater, which the Swiss Peter Colat held at 16 minutes 32 seconds.
He broke the record set on February 10, 2008, by holding his breath for 17 minutes and 4 seconds. His record lasted 4 months and two weeks before being beaten on September 19, 2008, by Tom Sietas, who held his breath for 17 minutes and 19 seconds. Other stunts performed by David Blaine include Revolution (2006), Dive of Death (2008), Bullet Catch (2010), Electrified (2012).
How Exactly Does David Blaine Levitate?
One of the magic tricks David Blaine used to captivate his audience in his very first special, David Blaine: Street Magic was the point where he floated. Nobody saw it coming, so the audience was shocked when he stood up and floated in the air before he came down again. How could he do that from the blues and live television just like that?
Since she has been on stage, many have rejected the idea that she was staged. If this was not the case, what happened then? What happened was the Balducci levitation. First of all, you have to understand that Blaine is not the first to use this trick. It is actually an ancient trick, an illusion used by several magicians and illusionists to stun their audience.
Wife, Girlfriend
According to the available information, David Blaine is not married and therefore has no wife. However, he has moved closer to the shores of marriage, as he and the French model Alizée Guinochet, with whom he has been dating since 2008, got engaged to get married. This happened on April 4, 2009, on Blaine’s 36th birthday, and lasted 5 years before the marriage was dissolved in 2014.
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In the meantime, the relationship produced a beautiful daughter named Dessa, who was born on January 27, 2011. The story around her birth is a funny one: Guinochet went into labor at a time when a heavy snowstorm with strong winds had hit the area where they lived and Blaine had to do magic or become the midwife. He did neither, but chose the unconventional and transported a very pregnant Guinochet to the hospital with a snowplow. Magic? We do not believe that!
Before his relationship with Alizée Guinochet, the handsome magician had been associated with several ladies, especially models. Blaine is said to have had an affair with Madonna and the model Bijou Phillips. His first confirmed relationship, however, was with the actress Fiona Apple in the 1990s. Others are the model Josie Maran (2000), Daryl Hannah (2002), Manon von Gerkan (2002), Mallory Snyder (2004), and Lonneke Engel (2006).
David Blaine Net Worth
The magician, performer, illusionist, and endurance artist has used his craft to acquire wealth for himself. Often referred to as the modern Harry Houdini, a 19th-century magician whom David himself calls his hero, his fortune is tied to his magical performances and shows. The royalties from his book “Mysterious Stranger” also play a role in building his financial base to $12 million.
Other Facts About David Blaine
David has received rave reviews since the beginning of his career, with many describing him as a revolutionary in the world of illusion. He is also credited with shooting his cameras to capture the (usually enchanted) audience during the performance.
He published his autobiography entitled Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic, published by Random House. The book was officially published in 2002 and also contains keynotes on performing magic stunts.
In January 2010, he hosted a 72-hour show in Times Square in New York for the victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which raised thousands of dollars (nearly $100,000).
Blaine was accused of rape in the UK by former model Natasha Prince. Although he denied the 2017 accusation, Prince stated that the incident took place in a private home in London in 2004. However, the charges were dropped in September 2018.
David Blaine is an average height of 1.80 m and currently weighs 81 kg. His body mass shrinks with each stunt, especially in the endurance sports he performs. He has brown eyes with dark brown hair.