David Blaine again!

[trux]

There is a teaser with Blaine for the coming Oprah Show on April 30th

YouTube - David Blaine Risks His Life on The...

[Adrian]

All the hyperventilation side posts have been moved here: http://forums.deeperblue.net/safety/...ntilation.html

[Fondueset]

On balance I see nothing negative about this.

[trux]

Originally Posted by Fondueset

On balance I see nothing negative about this.

I agree - the stunt is really not what disturbs me at all. Same for the regular O2 stunts of Tom Sietas in TV shows around the world (I think he did already at least around 10 similar apnea stunts in diverse shows - in Germany, Italy, France, USA, Japan,...). It is nice he is able to gain some money with his skills and I think he deserves it. The only thing that disturbed me at Blaine, were the explicit lies and disinformation surrounding his last stunt in the glass ball.

[Fondueset]

Unlike the rest of us, Blaine's trip involves a certain amount of deception.

He has stepped out of the realm of pure illusion but the whole appeal of what he is doing is partly based on it. From that perspective they are not any more lies than the fact that Johnny Depp is not really a pirate. He can say he is trying to beat the world record - but if he does he won't have a new world record - just a successful stunt. Even the drama of failure is part of his show - though he does really push himself. The difference between breathing 02 to artificially extend a breath-hold and using a mechanical lift and sight angles to make it look like you are levitating is, for his profession, pretty much nonexistent. (Blaine is extremely disciplined however - and theres no doubt he works very hard to maximize his physical and psychological ability)

I think its all fine and its absolutely brilliant PR for PFI - people who are moved to explore freediving by Blaine's publicity will also, hopefully, be moved to get the proper training since they are in exposed to both at the same time.

[trux]

I am sorry, but you need to differ between deception or illusion and an outright lie. In case of the last Blaine's stunt, it was full of the later, and there was very little of the former. Telling that you are going to beat the longest ever breath-hold while telling it is 9 instead of 10 minutes, is not a deception, it is a bold lie. And telling you are going to beat the record while doing it after breathing oxygen, and hiding the fact (hence not measuring with the 10 minutes longest air apnea, but rather with the 16 or even 20 minutes O2 apnea) - that's also no illusion or deception, that's a lie and a fraud.

EDIT: back to your example with a lift - finally magicians who levitate also do not claim they are beating high-jump records

[Pastor]

this is a great thread!

[Fondueset]

pastor - where'd ya get the bug? Its really cool.

Trux - I understand and respectfully disagree. I think you are holding Blaine to a higher standard than the one under which he is working. The best historical parallel to what Blaine does is the Middle eastern Fakir - these guys are usually a combination of sleight of hand and sometimes particular yogic abilities they've worked on - like standing on one leg for a week, staring at the sun all day etc.

Blaine's unqualified announcement of holding his breath longer than the world record is just that. He doesn't say anything about how and he adds a whole bunch of theatrical qualifiers (ie- doing it after hanging out in a bubble for a couple weeks, fasting etc.). Its just old-school showmanship - the event IS the purpose. Its not a real record attempt - theres a whole different set of rules for that - and a different purpose. The context makes deception and vagueness part of the performance.

[monkeyhatfork]

"I wouldn't be doing my predecessors justice if I didn't lie, cheat, and embellish liberally,"- Jim Rose (Jim Rose Circus)...... Just part of the genre

[apneaboy]

particular yogic abilities they've worked on - like standing on one leg for a week, staring at the sun all day etc.

Why would they do that? Silly Fakirs

I notice that Eric and Trux moved there technical discussions elsewhere. I think my 'how did he get that card in the basketball' question finally stumped them.

[wes]

All,

From what I have read looking forward to this stunt and ignoring the past stunt, David Blaine seems to be much more transparent and upfront about his goals. According to his press releases:

"David Blaine will try to break the Guinness World Record for underwater breath holding during a live appearance on Oprah April 30th. The Guinness World Record is currently sixteen minutes and fourteen seconds."

To me this is very clear and "true". He will try and do this stunt on live TV and the Guinness Book people will decide whether it is an "official guinness world record or not". The only detraction I can think of from this is that he might be doing something unsafe or showing people to do unsafe things and I don't think he is, he will have two (very good and experienced) safety divers with him and I am pretty sure there will be EMT medics etc on the set just in case.

What I hope for is that during the 16 minute breath hold, people get a little bored of Blaine and get to hear some of Mandy and Kirk's story which to me is much more interesting.

Cheers Wes

[trux]

Originally Posted by wes

"David Blaine will try to break the Guinness World Record for underwater breath holding during a live appearance on Oprah April 30th. The Guinness World Record is currently sixteen minutes and fourteen seconds."

To me this is very clear and "true".

I am sorry, but again that is not true. The current Guinness World Record in oxygen apnea is 16:32 and it was done under Guinness and AIDA judges supervision by Peter Colat (Switzerland) in February 2008. More info about it here: Spezial 08

Well, it is not a big difference, but one would expect Blaine puts the facts together correctly this time before doing the record attempt!

[azapa]

who will judge the attempt? personally I would like to see Trux there to make sure there is no "funny business"

[Pastor]

Fly me over and buy me some beer and I'll judge it. I'll even wear my "Never believe what an illusionist shows you!" Tee shirt!

[trux]

Originally Posted by azapa

who will judge the attempt? personally I would like to see Trux there to make sure there is no "funny business"

Personally I do not think there will be any fraud during the attempt. Now, it is a completely different question, what chemical/medical preparation will precede the attempt. There are far too many substances that are not on any anti-doping watch list and can help with apnea. Besides it, I do not think Guinness unlike AIDA performs any anti-doping tests.

And since Blaine, unlike freediving champions who set previous records, is not a sportsman, but rather an illusionist with a record of previous lies, and with likely much higher budget available for his preparation, I have much less confidence about the fairness of his preparation, than I have for the attempts of our fellow freedivers.

I may be wrong, but finally as others already wrote, it has really little importance - it is just a show