"T here is almost nothing as captivating as a good magic trick. Watching something that defies gravity, odds, and the basic principles of physics and mathematics happen before our very eyes gives us an infusion of awe that feels incredible. Even knowing that it is an illusion, a well-executed trick, can cause a rush of astonishment that titillates both mind and body; it is a flat-out betrayal of expectations that"
"And there is almost no one who captivates audiences with a good magic trick quite like David Blaine. Arguably the most renowned magician of his time, he can make his audience believe that it can't be an illusion-his tricks appear as real as they are inconceivable. Blaine was four years old when he first felt the spark of awe for magic. Standing on a subway platform in Brooklyn with his mother, a nearby busker performing simple pocket magic piqued the young boy's curiosity."
Magic produces awe by violating expectations while posing no real danger. David Blaine captivates audiences with sleight-of-hand and street performances that appear both real and inconceivable. He first felt wonder at age four watching a busker on a Brooklyn subway platform. His street card tricks and intimate performances established widespread recognition. He shifted into dramatic endurance stunts, beginning with being buried alive for seven days in 1999. Subsequent feats grew more extreme and high risk. He stood thirty-five hours on a fifty-five-centimetre pillar thirty metres above Bryant Park. He endured forty-four days of self-imposed starvation inside a transparent Plexiglas case suspended above the River Thames.
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