David Blaine - Never Ceases to Amaze

[flippyshark]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

No, he's not a bad magician at all, but he's not the greatest of all time, which is what he seems to think. Nor does he actually perform paranormal acts, which is what he seems to want people to think.

On this one, I'm not so sure. I think he's playing the real/unreal line pretty cagily, just to keep people wondering, but I think he avoids making outright claims of any real powers. He even sells "how to" videos at ellusionist.com. (And he obviously knows that this same site sells instructions on how to do the levitations he does when seen live. Anyone can do them. Well, I can do them badly.)

Loudmouthed fraudbuster Penn Jillette has no problems with David Blaine. On his radio show (Radio Penn) he devoted an entire episode to Blaine, and that didn't even come up. So I take that to mean Blaine hasn't overtly pretended any higher powers and is not really seeking a cult. Penn would have been all over that. (Penn has nothing but harsh things to say about Kreskin, who does the same kinds of mentalist tricks, but most certainly wants you to believe.)