David Blaine

Magician

Showman David Blaine's original specialty was "street magic" -- close-up magic done for small groups on city streets. He became better known after starring in a series of TV specials in the late 1990s. (He also became known for his hipster style, uptown-casual clothes, and friendship with celebrities like actor Leonardo DiCaprio.) Over time Blaine moved from small-scale stunts to much-publicized set pieces that were as much endurance tests as feats of legerdemain. In 1999 Blaine was buried in a glass coffin for a week in a New York City stunt, and the next year he spent three days encased in a block of ice in Times Square. He attempted his next stunt in May of 2002, standing atop a 90-foot pillar in New York's Bryant Park for two days before falling into a cushion of cardboard boxes. In September 2003 he was suspended in a glass box near the Thames River in London for 44 days. In May of 2006 he spent seven days in a water-filled glass sphere outside New York's Lincoln Center in a stunt he called "Drowned Alive."

Extra credit: At the end of "Drowned Alive," Blaine tried but failed to set a world record for holding one's breath, while also attempting to escape from shackles at he bottom of his sphere. Divers pulled him from the water after seven minutes.

Other famed illusionists include Houdini and Wolfgang Von Kempelen.

Fans of the unusual may also enjoy our loop on TV Psychics.