Tag: Buried Alive

Magic on TV

David Blaine Returns to TV for Sweeps Magic

Inside Magic Image of David BlaineABC Television is putting their sweeps hope on magician David Blaine this fall.  Mr.  Blaine’s special “David Blaine: Real or Magic,” is slated for Tuesday, November 19 at 9:30 p.m., Eastern.

As we have come to expect, he will have several A-List celebrities on-hand to be amazed and serve as a defacto committee for viewers at home.

Among the stars will be Jamie Foxx, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Ricky Gervais, Katy Perry, Woody Allen, Robert DeNiro, Kanye West, Harrison Ford, Will Smith and Olivia Wilde.

He will even check in with Stephen Hawking whilst in the UK.

It seems fitting to review some of the stunts from past episodes:

1.   He’s been buried alive in New York City for a week

2.  Encased inside a six-ton block of ice for three days and nights,

3.  Perched atop a 100-foot-tall pillar in Bryant Park for 36 hours without a safety net

4.  Ate nothing but nothing and drank only water whilst inside a transparent box in London for 44 days,

5.  Spent one week in a sphere-shaped pool at Lincoln Center and almost broke the world record for holding his breath.  He ultimately broke the record on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” by not breathing for 17 minutes and 4 seconds.

6.  Hung upside down for five days in New York’s Central Park.

7.   Stood in the middle of a million volts of electricity for 73 consecutive hours.

We cannot wait to see what he has planned next — especially if it is magic-related.

Escape Artistry News, Latest Magic News, Magic of Canada

Dean Gunnarson Survives ‘Pure hell’

We told you about his plan to survive two days below ground.  Locked in a coffin, buried under tons of dirt, and, to make it harder, a committee would bind his arms and legs with shackles before placing him in the aforementioned coffin in the ground.

He hoped to escape where many have failed.  Even Houdini believed the escape was too dangerous.

Well, he made it out alive and convinced he does not want to be buried when the time comes for the divine recycling.

“I know one thing for sure, when my soul is done with my body I don’t ever want to be buried again,” Dean Gunnarson said. “I’m going to see Pete (Kilcollins) to cremate me and they can sprinkle my ashes on some flowers.”

Pete Kilcollins brought Dean to the Buried Alive stunt site in a hearse used in the Kilcollins’ cremation business.

Dean wanted to erupt from the freshly packed soil at precisely 1:26 p.m. on October 31st to link his emergence from the grave with Harry Houdini’s passing from this life in 1926.

According to The Sun, after Dean dug through the topsoil to daylight, he collapsed momentarily.

His estimation of the stunt matched Houdini’s: “It was pure hell digging my way up,” a dirt-covered Gunnarson said. “The weight was crushing and I couldn’t breathe. It was tough.”

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