David Blaine back to earth after 60-hour upside down stunt
Blaine back on earth after being suspended upside down in New York
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Thursday, 25, Sep 2008 01:10
David Blaine is back on solid ground after completing 60 hours suspended upside down in New York City.
The Brooklyn-born magician was hung 60 feet above the Wollman ice rink in the Big Apple for his new stamina challenge, which he had said was his "most difficult for sure".
Having completed a number of endurance stunts - including spending seven days underwater, 44 days without food in a glass cube and 72 hours encased in ice - the 35-year-old's bat-like feat was his latest bid to emulate his hero Harry Houdini.
However, the magician has been criticised for 'cheating' in his latest feat of endurance.
Fans gathering to see the Central Park complained that the hanging stunt was a sham as Blaine had taken regular breaks, with some intervals coming every hour.
"It's cheating," Chris Pirri of Long Island told the New York Daily News.
"I've been here ten minutes and already saw him take a break."
And Joshua Yoselowitz, a 31-year-old banker, told the AFP news agency he was "totally unimpressed".
"I'd rather be at home. If his name hadn't been David Blaine I would never have come."
Blaine's spokesman Pat Smith said the breaks were necessary as the illusionist could neither drink nor urinate upside down.
"I'm not going to pee all over myself to satisfy those people. It's pretty hardcore, worse than I thought," Blaine added.
Medical experts had said the challenge - which Blaine described as his "most difficult for sure" - could cause irreparable damage on the illusionist's circulation and internal organs.