David Blaine has risen above the title of “magician,” at least in my book. I think dude has reach “wizard” level because some of the stunts he pulls nowadays would even have the great Gandalf shaking his head in disbelief.
I’ve been following him for awhile not and it seems that throughout the years Blaine has evolved from street magic, impressive card tricks and levitation, to endurance performances, standing in a block of ice for days, holding his breath for nearly 9 mins, to reckless acts of incredulity, like shooting himself with a .22LR — in the mouth!
Whatever he has in store for his audiences, Blaine has certainly moved beyond the threshold of what one would expect from a run-of-the-mill magician. Like, when he stabbed a needle through his arm — that’s a whole new level, right?
Don’t get me wrong, Blaine still enjoys pedestrian card tricks, but he has also shown an uncanny ability to push the boundaries of what is real and what is possible. The swallowing the frog on Jimmy Fallon was an interesting spectacle.
Anyways, as with any video that depicts one shooting oneself or allowing a bystander to shoot oneself, we highly recommend that you do not try this at home. Remember, David Blaine is a magician wizard. He’s spent a lifetime perfecting his wizardry. Plus, he’s probably got an excellent insurance plan if something does go wrong.
So, again, do not try his wizardry at home! You haven’t been to Hogwarts and you’re not insured!
Slight of hand has now become slight of mouth! No one catches a bullet in the mouth. No one. I once witnessed an old Oriental gentleman who could deflect arrows shot at his chest with his hands. That was real. This charlatan is not.
Watch closely, the “projectile” is fired from his mouth. Not into his mouth. The yellow disc, the focus point of the shot, to the cup in his mouth, is forced away from his mouth, not forced into the mouth cup as you would expect. If shot from a rifle from a frontal direction, the disc would be forced toward his mouth, not away from it!
Sooner or later Mr. Blaine will go tooooooo far. Just give him time. I must admit he is pretty brave to attempt these bizarre stunts but He is a real clever illusionist and has quite a following.
Penn & Teller did this trick 20 years ago and did it better.
You beat me to it, Ivan! Penn & Teller did it at the SHOT Show Industry dinner about 3 years ago.
Though he did a good job, the “bullet catch in a he mouth” has been done by illusionists for many decades. I saw one do it on Wide World of Sports back in the 70’s, in a boxing ring shooting from opposite corners.
You do know that he performs tricks, right? He does not perform magic. No one does. Point in fact, his levitation trick is performed by standing on the ball of one foot. He just performs it at an angle where you cannot see his foot on the ground.
“Illusionist” is correct, nothing more. Just entertainment. I read a book, “Jadoo” 55 to 60 years ago as a child. All the tricks, etc. were explained. The only one I can remember that was not a trick was when people were buried alive. These people managed to learn how to reduce breathing and heart rate pretty successfully. Most snake charmers de-fang the snakes. Snakes eventually die and the charmers go catch a new one. The bullet trick is shown to also be the “magician” ALREADY has a bullet in his mouth. Lots of clever illusions.
Never liked the guy! After his failed attempts at many magic tricks that other performers have done flawlessly, I could never get interested in the guy. His store plots are always so boaring also. Penn and Teller did this trick about 2 years ago, and they are just more interesting to watch. Sorry just can’t give this guy the credit!