Hangman

Yesterday I met Eric at his office after work, and we walked over to Central Park to see the latest David Blaine spectacle! If you are not familiar with David Blaine, he is a street magician, who is well-known for some of his highly-publicized stunts such as freezing himself in a block of ice in Times Square for 60+ hours, standing on a 90ft pillar over Bryant Park for 35 hours, and his "Drowned Alive" stunt, in which he submerged himself in a big ball of water in Lincoln Center for 7 days and 7 nights. 

I've seen David Blaine on TV before, both doing his street magic and doing these stunts, but never really realized that he was almost always in NYC. Well, now he's doing his latest stunt in Central Park! So, Eric and I went to check it out.

The latest stunt is called "Dive of Death" and involves him hanging upside down for 60 hours, and will end tonight with a 44ft fall to the ground. He is able to lower himself to interact with fans as he hangs.

The whole set-up at Wollman Rink in Central Park

There he is! He was posing for pictures with fans and signing autographs while he hung upside down.

Doesn't look fun to me, personally.

However, word on the street is that many people aren't so impressed with this stunt, because he takes frequent breaks to stretch, and gets down from his hanging spot once an hour for medical checks and to use the bathroom. 

We didn't see him get down and walk around while we were there, but he did take his legs out of his harness to stretch and pulled his head up a little bit.

However, by staying upside down for so long, he could risk blindness and internal organ damage. So, do you think taking these breaks makes the stunt less impressive? Personally, I prefer to watch David Blaine doing his street magic, rather than these endurance stunts. Below are a couple videos of his magic!

Just another crazy thing we've seen in NYC so far!