# David Blaine: Drowned Alive **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991 "2006-05-09T00:51:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/41 "2006-05-11T20:34:16Z")
But the thing is… who cares? Holding one’s breath is not an especially impressive or amazing feat. It’s certainly not compelling to watch. It’s not exactly an Evel Kenieval type stunt where there’s an actual risk of death. So whether he’s doing it for real or not… who cares? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/42 "2006-05-11T21:27:00Z")
I’m confused. I thought if the brain doesn’t receive oxygen for 5-6 minutes it starts to die. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/43 "2006-05-11T21:31:40Z")
There’s significant evidence that if you’re David Blaine, it doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/44 "2006-05-11T21:37:12Z")
> [@mstay](#): > > I’m confused. I thought if the brain doesn’t receive oxygen for 5-6 minutes it starts to die. That’s what they said in the Schiavo case. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/45 "2006-05-11T21:50:28Z")
I think Letterman put it best on his show last night when he said “The only world record David Blaine set last night was for World’s biggest dumbass.” ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/46 "2006-05-11T21:51:24Z")
I only wish he’d have done his latest one in London. There’d have been live eels in his tank within two hours. After a day, a small shark. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/47 "2006-05-11T22:09:34Z")
> [@McNew](#): > > I was a stagehand for Penn & Teller when they performed the water tank trick in Atlantic City for a couple of weeks, and I can tell you that theirs is a trick. An illusion. Teller is decidedly not holding his breath for ten minutes- no mystery there, I’m sure. I actually have to give Teller more props for that than I would Blaine, though. In P&T’s book “How to Play With Your Food”, Teller describes the first time they were on SNL. They were doing the water tank trick, and _just_ before they went on air, Teller noticed a problem with the breathing apparatus. It was still working, but it _might_ be able to sustain him for the duration of the act…and it might not. But he elected to go ahead with the act, knowing that if it came to it, he could give a signal to their tech guy, who would then open a valve that would release hundreds of gallons of water onto the stage and into the audience. Which would be much more dramatic than simply bowing out of their first national TV appearance. So he went ahead with it, staying very still to conserve his oxygen, praying that the audience wouldn’t laugh too long, and for once, looking terrified because he really was. The act finally ended when he was literally five seconds away from giving the emergency signal. So I’d say that beats Blaine. No preparation; it was definitely not planned that way; but he did it. Sure, the breathing apparatus must have been refined since then, but when it counted most, he really was risking his life. (And if the tech guy had had to open the valve, that would have been an acceptable payoff.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/48 "2006-05-11T22:22:00Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I only wish he’d have done his latest one in London. There’d have been live eels in his tank within two hours. After a day, a small shark. _David Blaine: Fear Factor_ ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/49 "2006-05-11T22:39:56Z")
Oh Yea, Angel and Penn and Teller really have room to talk. The Laurel and Hardy of Magic and The Ed Wood of magic weren’t impressed because Blaine did something that’s not hackneyed. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991/50 "2006-05-12T03:36:26Z")
It’s not? At the very least it’s banal. Toddlers submerge themselves until they’re all wrinkly, hold their breath until they turn blue, and and are enthralled by the wonder that is themselves every day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-blaine-drowned-alive/355991.md?page=2)