david blain (currently in a block of ice) was on conan last week. he claimed his next stunt would be to jump off a bridge (i forgot which one).
Said bridge height would normally kill a normal person. conan asked how he could possibly survive this stunt. blain said that if something hits the water just before you do, and breaks the surface, you will survive.
The example he used was a shoe. conan said “so you are hoping a shoe lands in the water just before you do?”
this of course sounds like total crap.
i apologize for not remembering specifics such as which bridge, the height, etc.
but is it possible to “break the surface” with another object and survive where most people would hit the water like a brick wall?
First, for the record, he is not in a block of ice. It’s reasonable to conclude that. He is either in a block of something other than ice, or something other than him is in the block of ice.
Secondly, he is not going to jump off that bridge and hit the water. It’s reasonable to conclude that.
Third, nothing as simple as he explained about breaking the water surface is going to work, if he were to actually be falling the distance he claims into the water.
The surface tension might be broken, so it might sound impressive to some, but that’s hardly the reason the fall would kill him. Water still maintains certain properties and density, surface tension or not.
This is typical illusionist crap: Make it sound like you’ve worked out the details of the actual fall and impact, when in fact, he has no fall and impact to worry about. By doing so, he is planting the seed in a million minds, and those minds begin to picture him falling, and re-running it in their heads, making the event all the more believable when it “happens”.
He has you, me, and others who know it’s crap, picturing him doing it. That’s part of the sell. You have to get the mind to accept something in advance, and it will be more convinving when the illusion starts. It’s similar to the power of suggestion.
The fall would kill him if he were to do it. But that’s a moot point.
Why is he not in a block of ice? I’ve seen him in the block of ice. The damn thing is melting on him…he’s soaked. Non-ice doesn’t melt. It’s not that hard to believe. People do this sort of crazy crap all the time. He’s just a little nuts. Plus, I highly doubt ABC news would be covering it if it was all a fake.
IIRC, the “trapped in a block of ice trick” is not an illusion – he’s really in a block of ice, despite Philster’s skepticism. He survives because of the “igloo effect,” whereby David Blaine’s own body heat keeps his small space in the ice at a bearable temperature. It’s the same reason why, if caught in a blizzard, you should dig a hole under the snow to wait out the storm; it’s really not so cold in there. Not my idea of fun, but to each his own.
I just read this article which explains more about the ice stunt. Apparently, there’s airspace inside the ice, and he’s not touching the ice block with most of his body. They’re also pumping air and water in for him. I thought it was a solid block frozen around him (ala Demolition Man). Like the fly in the ice cube.
And the buried alive thing was only a week and he was supplied with water, so I guess it’s possible.
The bridge he plans on jumping off of is the Brooklyn Bridge. Assuming that he jumps from the roadway section, the height is 135 feet to the water. This is not necessarily a deadly height, as cliff divers jump from greater heights regularly.
If Blaine were to jump from one of the towers (271 feet), that might be a bigger deal, but I doubt very seriously that he would be allowed to do this.
