HE DID IT! David Blaine’sAscension was short on magic (there was only one brief card trick in the entire presentation as I recall) but high on good, old fashioned adventure yesterday. I do not know if you all are old enough to remember the golden age of televised stunts like Evil Knievel jumping over stuff but I am and that is exactly what I thought about as I watched yesterday’s presentation. The only drawback was that it was a Tuesday morning… I wonder why they didn’t aim for this weekend? Chicago’s WGN TV,Austin’s KVUE, USA Today and, of course, The Independent were just a few of the media outlets to cover the event.
In possibly related, but also not magic, news yesterday there were reports of a federal investigation into pilot sightings of a man flying a jetpack near LAX!
Xavier Mortimer joined Las Vegas CBS 8 to talk about Vegas performers and the pandemic shutdown.
Fine Books and Collections takes a peek at some of the circus and sideshow items going on the auction block over at Potter and Potter at the end of the month. Do not not forget about their online only magic auction on the 12th, too!
Finally the big news is David Blaine’s balloon stunt is, as of time of writing, on for this morning… 8:55 AM Eastern Time. You can check in and watch on the Ascension YouTube page.
As David Blaine explains, his balloon flight over New York has morphed instead into a balloon flight over Arizona and been postponed. Speculation is the Gonzo-style stunt will now take place Tuesday or Wednesday, but Arizona weather conditions will be the deciding factor.
David Blaine’s Ascendant will go live on YouTube next Monday (you can purchase it or watch it free with ads here) and this update describes some of the issues he has already faced in arranging his balloon flight over the Hudson.
Zach King is the, well, king of video editing magic and David Blaine is, well David Blaine. Put them together and you risk breaking YouTube…. but that is what happened yesterday.
David Blaine made an appearance with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show last Thursday… and, of course, folks are still covering his announced attempt to fly over New York using a bunch of helium balloons. CBS New York and WLNS both posted stories on the stunt while while KFSN has coverage of what was probably a practice run for the flight!
