September 24, 2008

Witnesses have complained that David Blaine is not quite as bat-like in the flesh

Veronica Schmidt

David Blaine’s attempt to hang upside down for 60 hours is being rubbished after curious New Yorkers arrived at Central Park’s Woolman Rink to witness the unusual event and found him standing upright.

The sometimes magician and self-described “endurance artist” has been reguarly caught standing, being looked over by a doctor, during the three-day-long “Dive of Death”.

After discovering the 35-year-old with feet firmly on a platform, and seemingly breaking his promise to drink through a straw while hanging and urinate through a catheter, journalists and bloggers have brought back memories of the disdain surrounding his 2003 London stunt, in which he spent 44 days in a Perspex box, by penning scathing criticisms of his effort.

Entertainment Weekly blogger Vanessa Juarez posted an account of an unsatisfying lunch hour spent in Central Park: “When I got there, Blaine was taking a break. He was thirsty. And it was time for the doctors on hand to check his vital signs. So there he was: standing upright, drinking bottled water.”

“Finally, after 15 minutes or so, Blaine went back to being upside-down. There wasn’t much to see. He just hung.”

Similarly unimpressed witnesses filled internet pages with bilious comments labelling him a cheat alongside pictures of Blaine the right (or wrong) way up.

“This is like being on a hunger strike for 22 hours a day. You know, taking two hours off for lunch and dinner break. Oh, and coffee and snacks,” wrote one.

Another fumed: “I arrived at 9am this morning to find him on the platform, and he stayed there for 20 minutes. I watched the time. And while this was happening, I asked a security guard what he thought about it. He told me, ‘yeah, it's kind of cheap, isn't it?’ I asked him how many breaks he'd seen him take this morning, and the guard told me ‘Three, maybe four, since Eight when I arrived.’”

But the stuntman's spokesperson, Pat Smith, has shrugged off the criticism, telling Manhattan gossip website Gawker.com: "There has been no claim that David was going to hang upside down for 60 hours without a break. In all of his discussions with the media, he said he would have to occasionally get his head above his heart and lower his legs to correct circulation.

"About once every hour, David comes upright for about five minutes for a medical and equipment check. He has something to drink and he relieves himself, something even David can't do upside down."

Before being hung from his ankles, Blaine, who has previously spent 72 hours encased in ice and a week under water, said it would be his most difficult stunt to date. "The others, you could get into them soon after the start, but this one is tough from the get-go," he said after being lowered to head-height to give an interview.

Doctors warned that hanging upside down for so long would increase his blood pressure and raise the risk of stroke or blindness. They also warned gravity could also restrict the blood flow to his lower extremities.

Blaine is due to end the stunt tonight, with a TV special beginning at 9pm local time (2am BST).