David Blaine again!

[Erik]

I like lamp!

 

[drea]

lamp as in lights? well, electricity is practical. im sure everyone agress with that, both those who have it and those who dont.
maybe they can put a lamp into whatever contraption mr. blaine will be doing his stunt in on oprah. that would be fun.

 

[Blue Straggler]

He's done it according to the BBC.

Come on, bring on the next wave of "he's not a real freediver" and "he cheated" and "the record doesn't stand" and "I could do that if I could afford several months of pure training with Kirk and Mandy".
I need my fix

 

[Parapsycho]

David Blaine breaks world record for holding one's breath - Yahoo! News

 

[Fondueset]

I wanna hold my breath on OPRAH!! Er..uh...that didn't sound right..

 

[trux]

Any video available? I found just those where he is in his hypoxic tent, and the one where they tell "he's risking heart failure, brain damage…even death!"

 

[FREEK]

I just saw it on Oprah. Pretty impressive. Do you guys considering being on O2 "cheating"?? I do......Maybe it will make to YouTube and everybody will be trying it..roflLike their aren't enough already....

 

[trux]

Well, if you use O2 at a competition, then it is certainly cheating. If you use O2 for setting an O2 apnea record then there is nothing wrong with it (unless you pretend you are doing an air breath-hold, like it was the case at the last Blaine's stunt).

 

[FREEK]

Hmmm..I wonder if the record he set makes that distiction..I think it would, right??

 

[Blue Straggler]

Loving the way that nobody's being congratulatory!
If it had been Tom Sietas doing the exact same thing, on Oprah, there'd have been a more postive vibe here, I bet.

 

[trux]

Well, Tom does this O2 records three times a year (I exaggerate little bit, but it is pretty often), each time setting it a couple of seconds higher. It is a good source of revenue for him. Just the last time the Guinness O2 record was taken by the Swiss Peter Colat. I do not remember anyone congratulated them either. It is really more a stunt than discipline. And additionally there were already unofficial O2 breath-holds of 20 minutes, so from performance point of view it is not that amazing. Though all of these performances are certainly respectful anyway (including Blaine).

EDIT: Martin Stepanek did a Guinness record in underwater apnea beer drinking relay, and nobody here on DB congratulated him either. Now, if Blaine beats that record, then I am willing to support him much more

 

[JackSpearo]

He shouldn't have been allowed to use the pure oxygen, it said in a previous attempt without anything, he failed to hold 7 minutes...

 

[trux]

Hmm, how do you want to set a new record in oxygen apnea when you are denied to use oxygen?

 

[chrismar]

He shouldn't have been allowed to use the pure oxygen, it said in a previous attempt without anything, he failed to hold 7 minutes...

7 Minutes is not to be sniffed at! He is determined, skilled and trained hard. I don't think anyone would deny that. The lack of congratulations has been covered by Trux; O2 statics are a stunt.

 

[trux]

Yes, I agree with Chrismar - the 7 minutes he did in fact just after a few days of training with PFI before his first stunt, were very respectable, and amazing for a beginner.

The 7 or 8 minutes he did during the glass ball stunt were less respectable because he cheated by breathing oxygen while pretending to be beating a plain-air record, and because he finished in bad convulsions. On the other hand he did it after spending a week underwater and while removing chains, so it is certainly not something everyone can do, and it deseres some respect anyway. (If only there were not the stupid lies around it)

 

[JackSpearo]

nah i'm just saying, when the average person goes to work tomorrow, they will say "wow did you see blaine broke the world record for holding his breath" the average person won't pay attention to the pure oxygen part..

for example FOXNews.com - David Blaine Breaks World Record for Holding One's Breath - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

the talk about pure oxygen doesn't come until the 6th paragraph...
average person just reads the first 2-3...

gimmick

 

[trux]

Yes, you are rigth about that, but unfortunately it was exactly the same case at all previous oxygen apnea stunts and records in TV shows too (most of them done by Tom Sietas). However, most of us won't come even remotely close to the plain-air record of ~10 min, and an average person will do just 40s, so they will be still amazed if you show them how long you can hold your breath. So you do not need to fear that Blaine steals some of our fame

 

[chrismar]

Same thing happens with all the records. Be it Tom or Mister Blaine doing an O2 static or Herbert doing a no limits. There's very little point in getting agitated over public perceptions of these records, it is an unfortunate fact of life. The records themselves are impressive, but skew peoples opinions of what we do and what is possible.

sp. I know Herbert's dive was done under AIDA, but trying to explain why an 86m CNF dive is impressive to the layman when they've heard about some guy going to 214 is complicated.

 

[Blue Straggler]

Yes, I agree with Chrismar - the 7 minutes he did in fact just after a few days of training with PFI before his first stunt, were very respectable, and amazing for a beginner.

Beginner?

Blaine was comfortable at 5+ minutes way before the first stunt was even conceived. It's what quite a few performance magicians do - inspired by Houdini's training regimes etc.

 

[ickledevil]

Well just heard it on the BBC too 17min i think they quoted. True it was on O2 etc etc but I couldn't do it... at least Im fairly sure I couldn't so fair play to the bloke and congrats too. Mind you don't stop me thinking the guys a pleb... sort of bloke that really makes you want to slap his silly face.

Sorry rant over
Joe