The Magic, Misdirection, and Mindset of David Blaine
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“I never look at anything really as a success. I always look at it as a work in progress.”
– David Blaine
David Blaine (@davidblaine) is a magician, illusionist, and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records.
A while back, he taught a group of TEDMED attendees (and me) how to hold our breath for longer than Harry Houdini’s lifelong record of three minutes and thirty seconds — which still pales in comparison to David’s own record of just over seventeen minutes.
This episode comes from the premiere of my new television show Fearless. If you want to watch the entire first episode, you can see it for free at att.net/fearless. (To watch all episodes, please visit DIRECTV NOW). Don’t worry if you’ve seen the episode or plan on seeing it because we recorded three hours of material and only one hour was used for the show. This episode is almost all bonus content that you won’t see anywhere else. Please enjoy!
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Want to hear another podcast with a talented performer? — Listen to this episode with Jamie Foxx where we discuss Jamie’s workout routine, what he learned during In Living Color, and he shares some of his best impressions (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
Connect with David Blaine:
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Fear{less}
The premiere episode of Fear{less} with David Blaine
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
How to Hold Your Breath Like David Blaine, World Record Holder (and Now, Me)
If This Is a Man and The Truce by Primo Levi
Laird Hamilton, The King of Big Wave Surfing (Plus: Gabrielle Reece and Brian MacKenzie)
“The Iceman,” Wim Hof
The “Wizard” of Hollywood, Robert Rodriguez
A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka
Aortic Valve Stenosis
David on TED Radio Hour: Is It Possible to Be Fearless?
Souen
Cervantes by Jean Canavaggio
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
The Secret Connection Between Cervantes and Shakespeare by David Kipen, Los Angeles Times
The Macrobiotic Way: The Definitive Guide to Macrobiotic Living by Michio Kushi and Stephen Blauer
Searching for Bobby Fischer: book and movie
Saint-Tropez
Reuben’s Restaurant
Grigory Perelman, the Maths Genius Who Said No to $1M by Luke Harding, The Guardian
Mirin Dajo: The Man Who Could Survive Being Impaled by a Sword
Naked by David Sedaris
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
How to Survive a Nuclear Attack by Irwin Redlener, TED
Scientists, Politicians Take the Threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse Very Seriously by Dan Vergano, USA Today
How I Held My Breath for 17 Minutes by David Blaine, TEDMED
Watch Domenico DeMarco Make Legendary Di Fara Pizza by Hillary Dixler, Eater
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
15 Things You Might Not Know About Michelangelo’s ‘David’ by Kristy Puchko, Mental Floss
Show Notes
Numbers that make you go “wow.” [07:07]
Why I had to remove David’s section from the second edition of The 4-Hour Body. [08:03]
David explains the story behind his Primo Levi tattoo. [08:47]
What Wim Hof taught David about cold that he couldn’t learn by himself. [13:24]
On fasting inspired by a Franz Kafka story. [17:42]
David’s heart condition may give him an (albeit risky) edge in endurance performance. [19:23]
Growing up, how did David interact with his teachers and other kids? [20:18]
David talks about running barefoot in the snow and exposing himself to the elements as a kid. [21:42]
We talk obsession, chess, and misdirection. [23:43]
The balancing points of salesmanship and magic — how does David pick subjects for his tricks? [25:34]
When David was a waiter, why would he make patrons’ tips magically reappear in their wallets? [26:34]
David has an obsession with Don Quixote and its author Miguel de Cervantes. [27:29]
Being a loner as a kid gave David time to practice magic. [30:07]
David talks about his mother’s fight against cancer. [30:47]
Why David hopes his daughter doesn’t pursue a career in magic. [33:06]
David’s summer in Saint Tropez that changed his career, and what he learned from Jeffrey Steiner and Jack Nicholson. [35:16]
How David struck up an acquaintance with Bobby Fischer. [44:06]
David’s needle-through-the-arm trick was inspired by human pincushion Mirin Dajo. [46:54]
What advice would David give to his twenty-five-year-old self? [48:31]
We discuss our own experiences with sleep deprivation. [49:27]
A favorite short story by David Sedaris. [51:10]
What does it take to divert someone’s attention while performing magic tricks? [51:44]
David’s TED Talk if he had to speak about something for which he’s not known. [56:30]
Are there any quotes David lives by or thinks of often? [1:00:10]
What ninth-grade class would David teach? [1:00:19]
How does David take failure? [1:01:41]
What’s next for David Blaine? [1:03:42]
People Mentioned
Primo Levi
Philip Roth
Italo Calvino
Marcus Aurelius
Laird Hamilton
Gabrielle Reece
Wim Hof
Robert Rodriguez
Patrice Maureen White
Franz Kafka
Bryan Callen
Miguel de Cervantes
William Shakespeare
Michio Kushi
Josh Waitzkin
Jeffrey Steiner
Jack Nicholson
A. J. Benza
Mickey Rourke
Frank Garcia
Bill Kalush
Bobby Fischer
Denise Albert
Grigori Perelman
Mirin Dajo
David Sedaris
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Herbert Hoover
Galileo Galilei
Domenico DeMarco
Abraham Lincoln
Michelangelo
Winston Churchill
