The Mysterious David Blaine

David Blaine is at it again with his latest stunt in New York in which he 'hangs upside down' for 60 hours. There's been quite a few people to have written about the fact that he's been taking breaks frequently and has been seen standing upright whilst he drinks water and whatever. For that, I'm not sure what to think. It seems to defeat his initial purpose and I thought his stunts should have gotten more and more difficult and not easier and easier.

His first endurance test, in 1999, was to be Buried Alive for 7 days. Then, he stood in a block of ice the following year for 63 hours. In 2002 he stood on that huge pillar for 35 hours before jumping off it. In 2003, he came to London (where I went to see him) to sit in a box over the Thames without any food for 44 days. He waited until 2006 for his next stunt - being submerged in water for 7 days and 7 nights. This was followed later that year (and I hadn't heard of this until just now) he was strapped to a gyroscope for 19 hours then had to escape his shackles?

I've read at least two different articles in which he's picking up a lot of criticism and not just for the latest break thing and have even had (my only?) negative comments on this blog regarding David Blaine. It sounds like a lot of people are hung up on his title as a magician. I don't have a problem with his stunts, because they're obviously endurance tests rather than magic. Sure, I loved his Street Magic series, and I'd love it if he went back to that full-time instead and I'd enjoy anything more if I thought it would be done for a charitable reason. But I still find it interesting watching someone push themselves to their limits, especially such a strange person like David Blaine who seems to enjoy cultivating a strange and creepy persona.

What do you think? David Blaine - trying to entertain us with his wacky stunts or out to make a buck and some undeserved publicity?