Magician David Blaine is set to launch a new stunt — literally. The magician on Wednesday announced his first live event in nearly 10 ye...
Magician David Blaine is set to launch a new stunt — literally.
The magician on Wednesday announced his first live event in nearly 10 years — Flying above New York City as he holds onto a cluster of helium-filled balloons.
The event, titled “Ascension,” will “bring wonder, hope, and untethered possibility as he launches from New Jersey and journeys across his native New York City skyline to tackle his most ambitious and revolutionary feat yet,” the magician said.
“This stunt has been 10 years in the making. Let’s turn worry into wonder and take magic to new heights. #DavidBlaineAscension, August 31st only on @YouTube.Join me on the ascent,” Blaine wrote on Twitter.
Blaine will fly from New Jersey across the Hudson River to New York City. It’s unclear where he will touch down. “Watch in disbelief as David Blaine magically ascends above Earth, in his biggest live performance yet,” YouTube said during its announcement.
In a video, actor Sylvester Stallone chatted with Blaine after he announced his latest stunt, later sharing the clip on his Instagram page.
“I must admit I’m getting jaded; it’s hard for me to get impressed, but when this guy shows up, time stands still,” Stallone said as the two stood in the backyard of his home smoking cigars. Stallone said Blaine told him about his “strange idea” about a year ago and that he thought he was going “cuckoo” when he learned the logistics of the stunt.
“It’s the most, what would you say, the most ambitious thing probably ever accomplished by a human being,” the “Rocky” actor said before asking Blaine if he was nervous.
“No, I’m excited. This is all I’ve been thinking about since I was a little kid,” Blaine said with a big smile.
“You’re always so calm; I’d be freaking out man,” Stallone said.
The magician has done a slew of stunts. In 1999, Blaine was buried without food inside a box under a three-ton water tank in New York. In 2002, he stood on a pillar in New York City for 72 hours while he was supposedly subjected to 1 million volts of electricity. The next year, he was sealed inside a Plexiglas case in London, and in 2006, the magician spent a week submerged in a water-filled sphere in New York.
Blaine was once everywhere, but he has “been reportedly accused of sexual assault by several women,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
“In 2016, Blaine was accused of rape by a woman he met at a London party in 2004. The illusionist denied the claim and said the two had consensual sex. In May, detectives told The Sun newspaper they decided not to take any further action in the case. In 2019, the NYPD reportedly also opened an investigation against Blaine stemming from two complaints, which the magician likewise denied. It is not clear whether the New York-based investigations are ongoing; no charges have been brought,” the website wrote.
No comments