David Blaine talks about his limits in the new series ‘Do not attempt’

David Blaine has made the habit of blowing the spirit of people. The magician and mentalist are known for such performance of endurance as himself buried for seven days alive and hold his breath for more than 17 minutes. But he has also become viral with his filmed magic tricks, often shot on the street while strangers observe and respond to them. When expressing their disbelief, it is known that people are running away or even cracking in tears while Blaine maintains his dead pan, Stoic Facade. Their reactions are often as memorable as the trick itself – like when Harrison Ford pulled his playing card from a freshly cut orange and the illusionist immediately said, “Damn my house.”

But now it is Blaine who reacts with a lot of disbelief to what he calls ‘real-life magic’ in his new six-part ‘David Blaine: Do Not Try’ on March 23 on National Geographic before he touches Disney+/Hulu the next day. (After the premiere of the first two, the subsequent episodes will be broadcast every week.) In the series produced by Imagin Entertainment, Blaine travels all over the world to meet people from different cultures that perform remarkable performance of endurance, from eating nails to relieving themselves on fire. After a crash course with the masters, Blaine tries a few stunts itself-including herself in scorpions, inserting a knife into a nostril and kissing a King Cobra on his head. But perhaps the most surprising of all, the series reveals a much more personal and vulnerable side of the artist while his travels unfold.

People have strong reactions to your tricks, but in this series you are on the other side – you are the one who is awe in total.

Exactly, I am the one who walks away screaming and goes, “That’s crazy!” That is what is different about this show. And so I am really when I see that my favorite magicians are doing things – I scream and go crazy. But if I would do magic for others, I should not respond. You can sometimes see the real ego peeping. In my first show, ‘Street Magic’, there are girls who run away who are shouting at Times Square, and if you look closely, you see me cracking a smile. But I am so hard not to do it.

Do you consider this stoic, serious persona as a different character of the real David Blaine? How is that developed?

When I was six or seven, my mother was a single mother in Brooklyn and she gave me a deck with tarot cards. I would do magic for her friends, and they would go crazy. I thought to myself that if there was a real magician, he would not go: “Ta-da!” He would be the opposite; He would do something great and let it sit, let them wonder what I was thinking about. So when I started filming and making TV programs, I just kept it. It was a “less more” approach. But at that time many magicians were really angry because magicians would be supposed to be chattered. I would say nothing; I would almost mutter. It just felt good.

But we see a very personal side of you in “Don’t try.” Was you prepared for how revealing it would be?

No! Absolutely not, and I am still not. The funny thing is, all my friends, they like this show because this is a side they know from me. They all love the Goofy, ridiculous side of me. But for me it is super uncomfortable to show that.

Have you ever considered editing or censing yourself around it?

If you do these things, you don’t really think too much in that part of it. You are focused on learning something that is the case, you don’t filter yourself, which is rare for me. So again, this was that part of me that stepped outside my comfort zone, more than sitting with the black mambas.

I think the most important question that people might want to ask you is simple: “Why?” Why would you stand out because of these frightening experiences? I have my own answer to that, but I would like to hear from you.

Let me hear what your answer is.

Why not? I do not pursue experiences, but if you have the chance, why would you not hire it?

Precisely. And there is also something to be said for testing your limits. When you see our Brazilian episode, you will meet Karina. She is an er -doctor who walks on lava and we did not get into her entire background story, but she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Her doctor told her that she could not function normally. She couldn’t get out of bed. And it got worse and worse, and doctors said we can’t do anything right now. So in her mind she said: “Do you know what? Since they can’t do anything, I will do the craziest things I have ever dreamed of. I’m going to climb Mount Everest. I’m going to walk on lava.” And she feels that she pushes herself to that level and extreme, she frees herself from the effects of Lyme disease and not only normal again, but feels better than ever. So I think there is a large part of me that believes to go outside and push yourself, don’t be comfortable.

But comfortable can be fun.

It’s funny, when Imagine came to me, they were talking about different ideas and actions. I said: “Here is your parameter. If you say it to me, you have to feel uncomfortable to explain what you want me to do. And if it makes you uncomfortable to say it to me, then it’s probably good.” So I have to push myself.

And have these endurance tests proven to be useful in real life?

That is really how it started while I tried to overcome simple problems. You know, the last name of my family is Weiss and that was the last name of Harry Houdini was good. So I felt this weird connection. And when I was five or six years old, I found a book in the library and read how he could hold his breath and do all these things. It ensured that I wanted to push myself with things that were specific to me. I was in the YMCA swimming team and was not as fast as the other children, so I thought I would try not to turn my head to breathe. The coach would say, “You have to turn your head and breathe!” And I would say, “Why?” And in the end I could do several laps, go back and forth and then compete against the older children. So I started building this love to use my mind to overcome physical limitations.

There was a period in which you were parodied in media or characters seemed to be inspired by you – I think of Jim Carrey in “The Incredible Burt Haldone” or the episode “South Park”. What did you think?

I love everything! Of [“Burt Wonderstone”]They actually asked me about it. I said, “Well, don’t do me exactly …” so they left a little and made it a kind of mix of people. But I love those spoofs, and they make me laugh. The YouTube “Street Magic” parodies used to be great – that was Mikey Day before he was on “SNL”. Again, those are the things that my friends find hilarious. The only thing I wondered was “South Park” because they would let me tell “twah” at the end of the sentences. So I asked them: “Where did the ‘twah’ come from?” And [Matt Stone] I said: “Oh, there is a man with whom I went to high school who always said ‘twah’ and I had to use it, so I threw it in there.”

Clear but sincere question: Do you believe in real magic?

Every time I see my daughter doing something, that is real magic. That is absolutely, real magic.

This interview has been edited and condensed.