david blaine
David Blaine and Kelly Ripa Hang Out
7:50AM Defamer Hollywood | Today on Live With Regis and Kelly, pint-sized Kelly Ripa strapped herself into a harness and ventured skywards to awkwardly join illusionist David Blaine in the midst of his latest attention-whoring stunt: hanging upside down for three days in New York’s Central Park. He stopped eating a week ago so he won’t have to go to the bathroom and is using a catheter, plus, he’s been warned the feat may leave him blind. Fun! But nay, fear is not a factor for Blaine – who told Ripa he’s only scared of beatles and spiders. Ripa, on the other hand, had her greatest fear realised while vocalizing it: “looking like a basset hound on TV.” [Live With Regis & Kelly] More »
David Blaine’s ‘A-Ha’ Moment Comes After 17th Oxygen-Deprived Minute
8:25AM Seth | Extreme endurance artist David Blaine has certainly stunned the world before with his well-publicised stunts—from spending three weeks journeying through an (unfortunately impacted) Blue Whale’s digestive system, to the time he was flash-frozen inside a block of carbonite atop the Arc de Triomphe. But it was the seemingly simplest of tasks that eluded him: breaking the world record for breath-holding, previously held by a centenarian fisherman from Tanzania rumoured by villagers to have been sired by a frog. All that changed today on The Oprah Winfrey Show of all places, where the low-talking illusionist was deprived of oxygen for an amazing 17 minutes and 4 seconds. We’ve included video of the final two, during which an increasingly agitated Oprah grips the thigh of the monitoring physician beside her, asking reasonable enough questions along the lines of, “OK, his eyes just crossed, his skin turn blue, and he slowly floated to the surface. Is that considered a bad sign?” Oprah.com More »
The Force Is Strong In This Nerd Screaming At Briefcases
11:00AM Seth | We think we have a worthy successor to the Star Wars Holiday Special for the most blasphemous use of the property, like, ever. That said, that Darth Banker’s a hard-arse, isn’t he? $49,000? But there’s five large amounts still left in play—including the million! [Deal or No Deal] “Organizers of a major California music festival are offering a $10,000 reward and four festival tickets for life in exchange for ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters’ two-story inflatable pig.” [Reuters] David Blaine will try to break the 17-minute world record for breath holding on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which is fine and all, but it’s no Criss Angel mindfreaking her brains out. [AP] Her new six-hour-a-day workout regimen sometimes requires that Britney Spears walk around the gym wearing nothing but a towel. [Daily Mail] Paramount takes a heavy swig of the Blu-Ray Kool-Aid (which, oddly enough, tastes like raspberry with a slightly bitter after-taste). [THR] More »
5:55AM Molly Friedman | The always-surprising, always-annoying David Blaine plans on staying awake for 13 days for his next “stunt,” and Keith Richards has some anecdotal advice for him. As Richards’ latest bout of playing Dr. Phil proves, Blaine’s newest idea isn’t so original; Keef already decided to see what would happen by forcing himself not to sleep for 9 consecutive days back in the ’70s. As Richards told the SF Gate, “On the ninth day…I fell asleep and crashed headfirst into a JVC speaker, smashing my nose apart. I just lay there and let it bleed. It was a chemical thing.” While we’re sure these rocker words of wisdom won’t deter Blaine’s masterful and magical plans, we do suggest he avoids snorting ashes and takes Keith’s advice to nose-proof whatever fish tank he envisions pulling this off inside of. [SF Gate] More »
