Seen the animated film ‘Up’? Watch it in real life with this live stream
American illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer David Blaine is bringing his stunts to YouTube. Blaine has announced that his first major live event in a decade will be exclusively live streamed on his YouTube channel. The stunt called Ascension will have Blaine attempt to cross the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York by floating—he will attach himself to helium balloons, similar to what happened in the 2009 tearjerker film Up. Here’s to hoping Blaine’s show won’t have anyone crying though.
Ascension will be Blaine’s second special amid the pandemic, his first being the magic tricks video call he performed in an ABC special in April.
“This stunt has been 10 years in the making,” Blaine wrote on Twitter. “Let’s turn worry into wonder and take magic to new heights.”
Normally, Blaine’s high-stakes stunts are broadcast on television. In 1999, he was buried beneath a three-ton water tank for a week, subsisting only on a couple tablespoons of water a day.
A year later, he tried to encase himself in ice for 72 hours but failed. He was also submerged in a sphere filled with water for seven days in 2006. Meanwhile, the last public stunt he did was in 2012, when he was continuously shocked by electric coils giving off one million volts as he stood on a pillar for 73 hours.
In more recent years, he has released magic specials that involved him performing tricks for celebrities such as Margot Robbie, Drake, and Jimmy Fallon.
The weather permitting event will take place on Aug. 31 across various hours. Verizon is sponsoring the show, which was made possible in partnership with YouTube Originals.