He has described it as an \u2018overly ambitious idea\u2019 and \u2018one of the craziest things that I ever dreamed up.\u2019
\nNevertheless, illusionist and endurance artist David Blaine stepped out onto a 20ft pillar at Pier 54 on New York City\u2019s west side on Friday night to stand amidst a million volts of electric current for three days and three nights. <\/p>\n
As promised, the 39-year-old daredevil sported a chain mail bodysuit, a wire helmet and visor to act as a barrier for the electric currents.
\nThe currents will be streamed by seven metallic orbs called tesla coils that surround the 20 foot column. <\/p>\n
He spoke to his fianc\u00e9e and daughter before the stunt began, but arrived nearly 45 minutes later than the planned time of 7.30pm.
\nAfter being elevated to a tiny platform, he waved to the assembled crowd, but looked more quietly confident than nervous. <\/p>\n
However, earlier this week, Blaine admitted that there are unknown risks in standing in his own lightening storm for so long.
\n\u2018Seventy-two hours or more in an electromagnetic field can do… anything to the brain,\u2019 he said. \u2018There are a lot of unknowns here\u2019.
\n\u2018I don\u2019t know how I could ever top this. This is an overly-ambitious idea, and I\u2019m literally shocked that it came together.\u2019<\/p>\n
And when asked recently by Wired.com what it felt like to be electrified by tesla coil, he described the sensation as: \u2018Like somebody is punching you as hard as they can at the back of your head.\u2019<\/p>\n
The star\u2019s stunt, called Electrified: One Million Volts Always On, is open to the public, and the performance will be streamed live on the internet at www.youtube.com\/electrified.<\/p>\n
Over the next few days, spectators and members of the public will also be able to type messages to Blaine – which he says he\u2019ll try to answer – control the electricity around him and help keep him alert. <\/p>\n
Unable to eat, Blaine has a tube to drink water through his open helmet and another tube for water out.
\nBlaine said he would be preparing for the stunt by: \u2018Mostly relaxing, meditating and playing with my daughter, and trying not to deprive myself of sleep.\u2019<\/p>\n
His chain mail suit weighs a hefty 27 pounds and is designed to allow the fierce currents to dance over his body, without ever touching his skin.<\/p>\n
The magician, who practised at home by giving himself constant mild shocks, added: \u2018The chain metal suit brings all the electricity around, not through, so this protects me from feeling any pain.<\/p>\n
Safety is more of a concern to Blaine these days as he now has a 20 month-old daughter Dessa with his fianc\u00e9e, French model Alizee Guinochet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He has described it as an \u2018overly ambitious idea\u2019 and \u2018one of the craziest things that I ever dreamed up.\u2019 Nevertheless, illusionist and endurance artist David Blaine stepped out onto a 20ft pillar at Pier 54 on New York City\u2019s west side on Friday night to stand amidst a million volts of electric current for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[688],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infotainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}