David Blaine's latest stunt

I think he's an idiot. He's been advised there is a high chance of permanently damging his eyesight - why risk it?

I can't stand that man! No idea why, he just really gets on my nerves ?

I'm surprised that anyone could understand him & his mutterings on the interview I heard on radio 1 this morning.

The man is a fool ...Shazzam

I loved the reaction to his glass box over the Thames stunt - he expected us all to be awestruck, but we took the piss instead. I especially liked the people who made a point of eating gigantic hamburgers in front of him while he starved for a month.

This is the kind of thing that makes me intensely proud to be British.

Why does he keep doing these stupid, dull things? Who is it that encourages him, and where can we find them?

The only possible entertainment value in such a thing is if his head actually explodes.

L
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I think the only possible attraction is that he might damage himself. The more I think about it the more he winds me up.

All I can think about is how he will have a wee.

I don't "get" him.

I don't understand his motivation for doing these things at all.

THings is, there's no real risk then is there because who cares anyway if he does hurt himself? He'll still be dull.

Are peple able to go along and watch and throw things at him? And by 'things' I mean 'knives'

L
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I hope so Lois, that would liven it up a bit. Maybe bricks might do the trick too.

That would be a FAR better test of his endurance. How many pints of blood he can live without

L
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Through a catheter it would appear.....

Blaine said he has prepared for the challenges of the 2½-day hang by losing some weight, performing special exercises and practicing dangling upside down.

But there are certain health considerations that simple conditioning cannot address. During his ordeal, Blaine will not eat or sleep. He will urinate through a catheter. And doctors not involved with the stunt say there are definite risks involved with his attempt.

"He's practiced a lot, but I'm not sure how long he has done it," Ruden said. "I'm pretty certain that the longest he has done it so far is around six hours."

In particular, Ruden and other physicians agreed that Blaine will face multitude of risks associated with the unusual increase in blood pressure that Blaine will experience.

"The heart is centered pretty close to the head, so it does not have to pump blood very high," Ruden said. "When you flip it around, though, the toes are four and a half feet from the heart. So the heart has to pump blood to a higher altitude than what it is used to."

This, in turn, means a higher blood pressure. With this risk come a number of possible problems -- not the least of which are stroke and possible blindness as the blood pressure in his eyes increases.

Blaine said doctors will be on hand during the stunt, checking for brain hemorrhaging and stroke and making sure his vision stays clear.

"Certainly, [the stunt] could potentially be very dangerous because the brain relies on gravity to allow blood to flow out of the skull," said Dr. Wendy Wright, assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

"Hanging upside down could cause blood to pool in the skull and pressure could build up inside the brain and eyes," Wright said. "This may result in congestion in the blood vessels causing stokes, or even rupturing of blood vessels causing bleeding. Seizures or death may also result."

The lower extremities have no such problem, of course; as long as we're up and about, our leg muscles do yeoman's work in squeezing the blood back to the heart.

"The lower extremities of man are endowed with constrictor mechanisms that protect the small arteries and capillaries from damage when we stand up," said Dr. Jay Cohn, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.

"The brain does not have such constrictor mechanisms," he added. "Therefore, prolonged position with the head down may increase pressure in the small arteries and capillaries and lead to blood vessel rupture or blood leakage."

So as Blaine quite literally turns millions of years of evolution on its head, he will also be tempting injury and death. And any pre-existing health conditions could make the stunt even more risky.

"This could be worse if he has high blood pressure to start with," said Dr. Richard Smalling, director of interventional cardiovascular medicine at the Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

"If he had any previously undiagnosed vascular abnormalities in his brain the risk would be magnified substantially. Hopefully these issues have already been investigated and he has been cleared medically."

Cardiovascular issues are only part of the picture. Wright said Blaine will also have to contend with a restricted ability to breathe, because his diaphragm will be upside down, with the weight of his intestines pushing upon it. And a lack of proper blood flow to his legs, if profound, may cause muscle tissue to die off as it is starved of oxygen.

I have a headache just thinking about it - the man is just odd.

Where's he doing this one? In the UK?

Above central park in new york

I didn't think he actually did anything and it was all just cameras/illusion/trickery etc.

My son shares a birthday with David Blaine.

He was born in the small hours, so if he'd been just a little bit faster he could have shared it with Doris Day and Tony Benn.

Gutted isn't the word.

I remember that - too funny! ?

Didn't people keep throwing things at him too!!

Well, of course they did - I mean, wouldn't you? ?

Women seemed quite keen on baring their breasts at him as well.

I wonder why he's not doing it in London again ?

But the box stunt did spawn the game: https://www.yooplus.com/blainegame.htm

? at git wizard.

? excellent!

Git wizard indeed ?

brilliant - ?

Absolutely brilliant - and if you play it properly, you're rewarded with a vision of Hell that rivals anything in Dante's Inferno. ?

And I've just edited tags on all my posts so they read "git wizard".

He is just an attention seeking cokc really, isn't he?

Brilliant, I killed the git wizard!

Mr JK, you're ace.

I hope he falls off.

My husband was one of the editors who worked on the Drowned Alive show (the one in the bubble). He was, unsurprisingly, difficult to work for, in fact at one point my husband didn't come home from work for 3 days. Slept in the office. I met DB at the aftershow party at the producer's house. I can't really say a lot about him other than he is very quiet and reserved but very polite.