Dive of Death - Afterthoughts and Discussion

j.bayme

ceo / theory11
Team member
Jul 23, 2007
2,848
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New York City
So the special is over, and as I write this still from the set, fresh off of a live iTricks interview, I wanted to post a quick note with my thoughts on the whole shebang. It was the first time I had seen the special altogether, and we all watched it live here on the big screen.

What did I think? I think it's inarguably the best magic I've seen him do. There was a lot of it, and it was all off the hook. eXile kicked off the show with a huge bang, and the magic carried through. The bullet catch was the most insane thing I've seen in a long time - and being on the scene and seeing how much hell they went through to get ABC to permit that segment to air - it was well worth it.

Regardless of what one may think of the finale, DB went through hell all week to stay suspended and complete the endurance challenge, and I support him for it. The magic rocked the house, and the special will without a doubt go down as the most memorable yet in my mind. Kudos to DB, and seeing the crew here live all week - cheers to everyone that made it happen.
 
Favorite Tricks: Top Five (in order)
1. Lit - A spectator is asked to take a match out of a matchbook, and ignite a match to verify its validity. The matchbook is then held tightly in their closed fist.

A card is selected in the deck - then visually vanished under impossible conditions. The spectator slowly opens their hand to find the matchbook has visually transformed into a twisted hybrid of playing card and match pack.

2. Lottery Trick - Blaine had random spectators call out random numbers. He then pulled out a lottery ticket with each of the chosen numbers.

3. Exile - From the award-winning mind of Mathieu Bich comes eXile - an effect that literally takes place on the spectator's own hand. Three small X's are drawn on someone's open palm. A quarter is placed in the center of their hand.

Slowly, you slide your finger over each X and it vanishes. No residue. No sign of ink to be seen. Nothing. When the quarter is lifted, there are three perfect X's directly in the center of their palm.

4. George Washington - Blaine had a man take a cell phone picture of another man, then struck an outstretched dollar bill with the phone. The second man’s face appeared on the bill, in place of Washington’s face.

5. Cap through and from bottle - Blaine had a man drain a glass bottle. Blaine took the cap, slapped it on the bottom of the bottle… and the cap jumped inside the bottle. He then had another spectator hold his hands near the bottom of the bottle, which drops off by itself.
 
I have to admit that I felt the magic was fantastic. I particularly enjoyed how the magic felt fundamental again. It refocused the attention on the audiences rather than the material. One has to appreciate that, because these days, it feels like certain performers' egos can sometimes get in the way of the intent of what they wanted magic to mean in the first place. DB's humility and sincerity shined in this showcase. The choice of material was simple and raw and highlighted the connection he developed with people of all backgrounds. It was very reminiscent of his debut so many years ago. My favorite effect was the hands-off revelation, where spectators instantly cut to their card. Simply put, I loved the content of the show. The conclusion to the stunt, however, was very... awkward to say the least. It didn't matter much to me though. I was already fully satisfied and entertained to see Blaine doing more quality magic again.

RS.
 
Sep 1, 2007
648
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30
Canada
Everyone.

I consider myself a sensitive person. Over the years I've discovered that the things that make me feel the most, are the things that I have absolutely no control over. David Blaine's Dive of Death is a perfect example of this. Watching Blaine's finale and being puzzled absolutely destroyed me. Because I know that most of the world is going to understand, and there is nothing that I can do about it. But I think there is a message to be learned here. I firmly believe that we are sent certain situations such as this one to learn from them, and apply the lessons to our lives. For those of you who have read The Alchemist... "Maktub" is the word.

I had a busy afternoon, so I hit pause on my PVR on several occasions during the special. Because of this, I could fast-forward through parts of the special that I didn't feel I needed to watch. In the back of my mind I knew that I still had some math homework to do. I decided to fast forward through all the magic parts to get to the "Dive of Death" which is what I really wanted to see! By doing this I missed all of the amazing pieces of magic and various film along the way... The message itself fits in perfectly with the following quote.

It's about the journey, not the destination.

I personally am very satisfied with the finale of David's special. It's helped me realize a lot of things, and will hopefully make me a better person. I can think of several ways that this message applies to my life right now, and if it wasn't for David, I probably never would have been reminded of it. Thank you.

I hope this message can find it's way to David. He needs our support, and should be reminded that we'll always appreciate the incredible things he has done for the art of magic, and art in general. He's an incredible human being, with an amazing view on life. Definitely someone that we should all look up to and admire. It's time to look forward now. Godspeed.
 
Sep 25, 2008
2
0
It was fun and....weird

What I love about Blaine is two things. He is sincere and he performs extremely well, which he needs to since he has zero personality :)

As for the ending, well, I am just confused. He jumps and just hangs there and then I think he flew away. The camera operators for ABC were terrible for this and they really blew it.

and those poor announcers, they were like pro wrestling announcers trying to gloss over a missed wrestling spot :)
 
Sep 1, 2007
648
0
30
Canada
What I love about Blaine is two things. He is sincere and he performs extremely well, which he needs to since he has zero personality.

Wouldn't "sincere" be a part of his personality? As I've mentioned before, at the core of it all, he's an incredible human being, with an incredible personality.
 
Jul 10, 2008
122
0
Seeing as David speaks with a monotonous voice, I think my favorite part of the special was him riding the back of the pimped out lawn mower yelling "WOOOOO WOOOO WOOOOO!!!!!" I was cracking up and nearly choked on my water during that segment. As for the magic.... I was happy to see him perform Fraud. The card stab with the dart was TIGHT! I found it exciting to watch his performance of his effect Strange Traveler, as I have not seen it performed so smooth ( he taught me a lesson there). Overall I'm pleased to see he still keeps it simple at times and blows people away, his strength and determination are an inspiration.

Favorite quote of the night....

"I don't see any dumbwaiters or pulleys." John Mayer

Peace, John
 

jonraiker

vp of development
Team member
Aug 5, 2007
1,330
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Florida
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I enjoyed the special immensely. I dare say my favorite to date. I felt like we were given more insight into DB's life and character through the short speaking interludes. It allowed us to see what shaped him and his magic, and answered the question on everyone's mind - why does he do these things? DB looked off camera in one of the segments and asked, "Do you think I'd be doing these things if my mother was still alive?" - felt like an extremely personal and real moment.

The magic was - as expected - ridiculously bad ass. Word.
 
Jan 18, 2008
104
0
somewhere
was that supposed to be the ending? everything was cool except the ending. it didnt make sense. didnt look like a dive of death to me. more of a dive + security wires.
 
Jul 10, 2008
122
0
My thoughts exactly. The guy who started that thread has his head way up his own corn hole. Especially with his "actors in on the matchbook card trick" comment. What a douche.
 
Aug 31, 2007
54
0
So do we know if he was supposed to vanish in the midst of the fall (hence the lights dimming), or was the crowd just supposed to see him fly upward and into the night?
 
Aug 23, 2008
18
0
before i start let me say that David Blaine, to me, like most others, is the reason I got into magic. Never before had I seen tricks done so close, and have so much impact, and the 'Dive of Death' in that respect did not all let me down.

i think we all agree however, that the ending was a little anti-climatic. there was certainly a time when it seemed liked things didnt actually happen according to plan, but hopefully the next few days may shed a little light on what did or did not happen.

all said and done, the effects were great, David is an excellent performer, and a ballsy one at that. he has earned his place in magic history.
 
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