David Blaine

David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic.  He has set and broken several world records. Theatre owner James Nederlander as well as The New York Times have referred to Blaine as a modern day Houdini.

Blaine was born David Blaine White in Brooklyn, New York and is of Puerto Rican descent on his father’s side, and Russian Jewish on his mother’s. His mother, Patrice Maureen White (1946–1995), was a school teacher living in New York, and his father William Perez was a Vietnam veteran. When he was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic on the subway.

This sparked an interest in Blaine. He was raised by his single mother and attended many schools in Brooklyn. When he was ten years old, his mother married John Bukalo and they moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School. He has a half-brother named Michael James Bukalo. When he was 17 years old, Blaine moved to Manhattan, New York.

On May 19, 1997, Blaine’s first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic aired on the ABC network. According to The New York Daily News, “Blaine can lay claim to his own brand of wizardry. The magic he offers in tonight’s show operates on an uncommonly personal level.” When asked about his performance style, David explained, “I’d like to bring magic back to the place it used to be 100 years ago.”’   Time Magazine commented, “his deceptively low-key, ultracool manner leaves spectators more amazed than if he’d razzle-dazzled.”  The concept of focusing on spectator reactions changed the way that magic has been shown on TV. The New York Times wrote, “He’s taken a craft that’s been around for hundreds of years and done something unique and fresh with it.”  He is also tied up with Filipino Magician Timothy Patrick Navarro, a.k.a. B, for close up magic. They share magic tricks and do street magic in U.S. and other countries.

In Magic Man, Blaine is shown traveling across the country, entertaining unsuspecting pedestrians in New York City, Atlantic City, Dallas, San Francisco, Compton, and the Mojave Desert recorded by a small crew with handheld cameras. Jon Racherbaumer commented, “Make no mistake about it, the focus of this show, boys and girls, is not Blaine. It is really about theatrical proxemics; about the show-within-a-show and the spontaneous, visceral reactions of people being astonished.”  USA Today calls David “The hottest name in magic right now”

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