Okay, so my David Blaine interview for today wasn’t killed … just chopped into a two-sentence brief. Bleah, it wasn’t like I had the print exclusive … oh wait, I did.
Anyway, no sour grapes, here’s the story I had written:
By DEREK ROSE
David Blaine admitted yesterday he botched the preparation for his boy-in-the-bubble stunt — saying he should have ate before he swam.
The Brooklyn-born daredevil told the Daily News he lived on fruit for the two weeks before he entered the water-filled sphere in a misguided attempt to slow his metabolism and use less oxygen.
“They all told me it wasn’t going to work, but I thought I had uncovered a secret that would take me to the next level,” said Blaine, 33
Instead, Blaine was left “weak,” with a “bad feeling in my gut” on Monday, when he attempted to break the world’s record for holding his breath underwater after a week under water.
Problems with chains, a last-minute addition, were also a “disaster,” Blaine said. “I was completely not prepared … I got more than I’d bargained for.”
The illusionist passed out after seven minutes — nearly two shy of the record — and told staff immediately afterward it was a “total failure.”
“Look, I dreamed up this crazy idea and even though I didn’t do it exactly how I wanted, because I am competitive with myself, I was still lucky to be able to create this magic,” Blaine said. “Now in retrospect, I’m not unhappy.”
Blaine said his hands and feet have recovered, but he’s still experiencing shooting pains in his muscles, and his skin is burned and blistered from his week in a human aquarium outside Lincoln Center.
He said he plans on attempting the record again, not as a media stunt but in a controlled setting for Yale University scientists.
Right now Blaine said he’s dealing with “lots of bills” and said he’s currently “out of pocket” from the event. But he’s already dreaming up a new stunt, which sounds even more dangerous.
“It’s from point A to point B,” Blaine said. “Either you make it or you don’t.”
-30-
nice exclusive!!!
(darn print limitations.)
still, good going getting it!!!!!!!!!
I’m confused – Blaine had to pay to do that stunt? Do you know how much it cost? Does ABC foot the bill at all? How does he earn money? Has he done well off of all this?
Well Blaine’s production company sold ABC a license to broadcast it. But there are a lot of costs involved: making the sphere, renting the space at Lincoln Center, and salaries for the 40-person staff. Blaine told me he was hoping to make more money on “foreign sales,” I guess of the special or maybe DVDs. I had planned to revisit this topic later in the interview and ask him specific details, but it didn’t work out that way.
The Times had a few financial details in this story, including the fact he bought a $1.67 million apartment in Tribeca in April.
David Blaine is the best and I hope whatever his next stunt is—he works hard to make sure NOTHING GOES WRONG!!!!!!!!!!! I will totally be pissed of and depressed if David Blaine doesn’t succeed. I will still love him no matter what he does. KEEP GOING DAVID!!!!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!