David Blaine Injured Himself on Stage Again
Of course he did. Here's what happened along with what magicians can learn from Blaine's painful mistakes.
David Blaine injured himself on stage again at the weekend. He did so in front of an audience in Las Vegas. Is this a story worth covering? Well, that’s what’s odd about it. It was only recently that Blaine accidentally messed up a trick with painful consequences.
One Ahead wrote about how Blaine injured himself on stage, and the conclusion was something of a — meh.
And that’s what’s wild about this story. Blaine’s injuries have been a constant source of press for his twice-monthly show at Resorts World. He’s said the show is so infrequent due to how dangerous it is to perform. This is a shame because Blaine would surely drop everything and move his life to Vegas to perform twice a night if the show was less hazardous.
But it is dangerous. Whether that’s Blaine messing up a smash and stab or doing what just happened at the weekend, the show is living up to its brand of dangerous hype… see David Blaine maybe die every month.
So how is this story of value to One Ahead readers? Maybe it’s a lesson on how to lean into mistakes and embrace them. But maybe there’s something else we can take from this — something no one is talking about.
Part 1. The Hard Shoulder
A friend of One Ahead, Steven Bridges, saw Blaine’s show at the weekend. In his words, “It’s not a show. It’s a man on stage who can do incredible things, doing them. You feel like he could die in the show. Best opener I’ve seen.”
And what was the opener? Blaine climbs up incredibly high and freefalls into a pile of cardboard boxes alongside the audience. It’s a significant fall; his team says it's nine stories high. Blaine’s site says the theatre is 85 feet tall in total.
Nate Staniforth, acting as a member of Blaine’s creative team, was backstage at the show when Blaine lept from the platform and landed severely, suffering a “horrific shoulder injury”.
