David talks about doing many ill-advised things in his life, being obsessed with Houdini, his new National Geographic show “David Blaine: Do Not Attempt,” combining very real things with magic, kissing a King Cobra, having an ambulance on standby, the possibility of another big stunt, his daughter inspiring him and keeping him in check, and performing in Las Vegas.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Our next guest was buried alive for seven days.
00:03He was encased in ice for 63 hours.
00:05He held his breath for 17 minutes.
00:08He does ridiculous things.
00:09He has a new series called David Blaine, Do Not Attempt.
00:12It premieres March 23 on National Geographic.
00:15Please welcome David Blaine.
00:17What am I supposed to do about this?
00:39Well, I found these backstage in case you need them.
00:41OK, great.
00:42I'll do this myself.
00:42Yeah, I don't want you taking my finger off or anything
00:45like that.
00:45This is a crazy trick.
00:47I mean, this hanger is really serious.
00:49I mean, it's not like a trick hanger.
00:51It's a real hanger.
00:52It's twisted up good.
00:54Do people ever get mad at you when you, like,
00:57take their stuff and do weird things with it?
00:59So it's funny, because I did this at a wedding in India.
01:04Really?
01:05I did the ring.
01:07And at the end, Guillermo wasn't there with that good tequila.
01:14So she didn't want to take it back.
01:16Oh, she wanted a new ring?
01:18Well, I don't know.
01:19It was a nice one.
01:20Yeah, I think you got caught in between some kind
01:22of marital dispute there is what happened.
01:25You've done many, many, many ill-advised things.
01:28And now you're traveling the world
01:29and finding other people who do ill-advised things
01:33in other countries.
01:34Well, I have to say it's a little different.
01:36So as a kid, I was obsessed with Harry Houdini.
01:39And he wrote a book called Miracle
01:41Mongers and Their Methods.
01:43And he was able to search around the vaudevillian
01:46circuit and these incredible performers that
01:48had these amazing skills.
01:51And he was able to document it in this book.
01:53So I read these things.
01:54I was like, this can't be real.
01:56And for the first time, I've been
01:59lucky enough to travel the world and find
02:01those people that inspired lots of great magicians.
02:05Because the things that I like the most in magic
02:07is when you take something that's so hard to believe,
02:11but it's actually real, and then combine it
02:13with magic.
02:14That's my favorite stuff.
02:15Interesting.
02:16So these are people that are, they've
02:18put thousands of hours into learning these unique skills.
02:21They're very passionate about it.
02:22Yes, some are dangerous.
02:24But they do it to the point that I consider them magicians.
02:28Yeah, and you show up and do it in like half an hour.
02:31You practice for a little bit.
02:32Yeah, that's a problem, right.
02:33I saw a guy on the Southeast Asia show.
02:36There was a guy who eats hot coals, which is a.
02:39So you're right.
02:43All of this was a fast learning course.
02:46So I tried to eat the hot coal, but I
02:48didn't realize he drinks the water pretty quickly.
02:50So I was eating the hot coal, and then swallowing them.
02:53And I burnt my esophagus, my mouth, and everything.
02:55So it was pretty crazy.
02:56Yeah, yeah, pretty crazy.
02:57But by the way, within the course of, I would say,
03:01a couple of weeks, I learned how to kiss a king cobra,
03:04eat hot coals, eat razor blade.
03:07I was swarmed by a few hundred thousand bees
03:10and covered by a bunch of scorpions.
03:12So that's just one episode.
03:13How old was Houdini when he died?
03:15He died when he was 52.
03:17And how old are you now?
03:18I'm 51.
03:19OK, all right.
03:21So maybe sit it out for the next year or so.
03:24Yeah, yeah, season two isn't happening anytime soon.
03:26I do want to ask you about the king cobra,
03:28because that is an amazing thing to watch.
03:32You kind of training to kiss this king cobra.
03:35Can we show this clip?
03:37Yeah.
03:37OK, here you go.
03:39In this moment, nothing else exists.
03:45OK, that's enough.
04:06Oh, what was that, huh?
04:09That was absolutely the most stressful kiss of my life.
04:17I would hope so.
04:18By the way, the king cobra has enough venom
04:20to kill a full-grown elephant.
04:22That's what you said in the special.
04:23Yeah.
04:24Yeah, an elephant, yeah.
04:25And how far away were you from the hospital?
04:27Well, we had an ambulance on standby,
04:29but you can't administer antivenom
04:31until you're in a hospital.
04:33So that was about 20 minutes away.
04:35So that could have been dicey.
04:37Did you ever think about maybe doing
04:38it in the parking lot of the hospital instead?
04:41Yeah, of course.
04:42But it was beautiful.
04:44We're in the most beautiful places in the world,
04:46meeting the most incredible people in the world.
04:48So I was so excited.
04:49Can you really trust a snake handler with your life?
04:52I mean, that guy has thousands and thousands of hours.
04:56And I watched him carefully.
04:58And I studied him.
04:59I trusted him.
05:00And I was so excited to be a student of his and learn.
05:03Is he annoyed at the end when you take to this so quickly
05:07and are able to kiss his snake?
05:08No, I can't do it like him.
05:10No, when you see what he does, he's a master.
05:13He has everybody on the show, they're
05:15masters at what they do to the point
05:17that I consider them magicians.
05:19And what they do is so specific.
05:22It's their passion.
05:23It means everything.
05:24And yes, their life is on the line.
05:27But they love it so much.
05:30And that's what they're driven by.
05:32And it's amazing to see them do it.
05:34No, no, I'm doing a fast course learning.
05:36But when you see them do it, you're like, whoa.
05:40When I see you doing it, it's like, whoa.
05:43It seems less well-advised for you to do it.
05:46Are you planning another big, giant stunt
05:48that the world is watching it?
05:50Not next year.
05:51Not next year.
05:52Not when I'm 52.
05:54But I do have one more thing that I've been thinking about.
05:56You have an idea?
05:57Yeah, I have one that's a culmination of everything
05:59that I've ever done in my life.
06:00And it's probably even more ridiculous than everything.
06:03Is there anyone in your life who tries to talk you
06:05out of doing these things?
06:07Well, that's a good question, by the way.
06:08So I have a daughter that's 14 years old.
06:11And I stopped doing stunts when she was one and a half
06:15because something went wrong with the electricity.
06:18And then I came back, and I did one thing for her, which
06:21was I flew away on balloons because I wanted
06:23her to see something beautiful.
06:25And now, anything that I do, I have to get her approval of.
06:29And this thing you're thinking of,
06:30has she given it the green light yet?
06:32No, not yet.
06:33He has not.
06:34Maybe when I'm 53.
06:36Wow.
06:37What if she starts doing stuff like this?
06:38How are you going to feel?
06:39No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, but her dedication
06:44and her passion and her focus is mind-blowing.
06:47I watch her, and I'm inspired by her.
06:49OK.
06:50There's nothing as amazing to see somebody
06:53that is that passionate and dedicated.
06:55And watching her is the greatest experience of my life.
06:59She sounds great.
07:00Maybe I'll adopt her when you're killed in your next thing.
07:05Yes, right.
07:06You have a show in Vegas now, which is fun.
07:08You know, I'm from Las Vegas.
07:10I grew up in Las Vegas.
07:10And you have to come see it then.
07:11I would love to come see it.
07:12And now you know my favorite trick of it.
07:15Yeah, now your favorite trick.
07:16But I love the idea of you in Las Vegas.
07:18Do you hang out with the other magicians?
07:21Do you have a-
07:22All my best friends forever have been magicians.
07:24So I'm surrounded by these incredible magicians
07:28that are artists at work, thousands of hours
07:31on one card move that will work repetitively.
07:35Every time I call, some of my magician friends
07:38you just hear.
07:38At any time, you hear, and that's cards being
07:41shuffled and played with.
07:43Yeah.
07:43So yeah, I think magicians, like comedians,
07:46I think have like this camaraderie.
07:48Like, we're all connected.
07:49Yeah, sure.
07:50And we all, and I'm lucky to be surrounded
07:52by people that inspire me.
07:54And yeah.
07:55Let me just show you my trick real quick.
07:57And I know it's a common one.
07:58But I'm pretty good at it.
07:59I, you know.
08:00Yeah, that looks really good.
08:02Not bad, right?
08:03Let me do it slowly.
08:06That looks great.
08:08Wow.
08:09All right, thank you very much.
08:10By the way, that has my digestive track
08:12information on it as well.
08:13Oh, great.
08:14I'll look it up on the app.
08:17I'll let you know what your sleep score is tomorrow.
08:20David Blaine, do not attempt March 23
08:22on National Geographic.
08:23Streams the next day on Disney Plus and Hulu.
08:26And new dates for his Vegas residency at the Wynn
08:28go to Ticketmaster for the details.
08:30David Blaine, everybody.
08:31We'll be back with Steve.