ENGLAND: ILLUSIONIST DAVID BLAINE SPENDS HIS FIRST FULL DAY OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT INSIDE A GLASS BOX HUNG FROM A CRANE

Record ID: 190194

  • Title: ENGLAND: ILLUSIONIST DAVID BLAINE SPENDS HIS FIRST FULL DAY OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT INSIDE A GLASS BOX HUNG FROM A CRANE
  • Date: 6th September 2003
  • Summary: (EU) LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 6, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV TOWER BRIDGE AND THAMES RIVER 0.09 2. TILT DOWN FROM CRANE TO GLASS BOX 0.18 3. CU DAVID BLAINE LYING INSIDE GLASS BOX, STIRRING UP, GETTING UP, SITTING IN CORNER OF GLASS BOX, COMBING HIS HAIR WITH HIS FINGERS, LOOKING AT CROWD, WAVING TO CROWD 0.43 4. LV GLASS BOX, WITH TOWER BRIDGE IN BACKGROUND 0.50 5. MCU CROWD WATCHING 0.58 6. SLV BLAINE STANDING UP, STRETCHING 1.10 7. MCU BLAINE LOOKING DOWN AT CROWD 1.17 8. CU SIGN SAYING: "DAVID BLAINE ABOVE THE BELOW" 1.22 9. SV PULL OUT LV BLAINE USING TUBE TO FILL UP WATER BOTTLE 1.48 10. SV BLAINE PUTTING WATER BOTTLE DOWN, TURNING AROUND, GRIPPING TOP OF GLASS BOX, TATTOO ON HIS BACK 2.06 11. SLV FAMILY WATCHING 2.11 12. MCU (English) NICKY HAYWARD, FROM NEWBURY, BERKSHIRE, OUTSIDE LONDON, SAYING: "I don't know, I think he is quite troubled, I think he is very mysterious, no one really knows him, do they. I think he has a lot of inner demons that he needs to get rid of, may be this is his way of doing it, I don't know. He is very mysterious, isn't he. I don't think anyone will know the real David Blaine (laughs). " 2.26 13. LV BLAINE LYING DOWN, WITH MAKESHIFT CURTAIN AGAINST SUN 2.40 14. SV UNION JACK (BRITISH FLAG) OVER TOWER BRIDGE 2.46 15. MCU (English) ALEX INGRAM, CIVIL SERVANT, SAYING: "I would imagine it is very boring, but probably the novelty will wear off at some point, so, good luck to him, I think. And I admire him, definitely." 3.00 16. SLV BLAINE SITTING IN GLASS BOX, WAVING TO CROWD 3.11 17. LV CROWD MILLING AROUND, WITH TOWER BRIDGE IN BACKGROUND 3.20 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA44MHX6QDGINH5NPP3A7TLGORW
  • Story Text: Illusionist David Blaine spends his first full day
    of solitary confinement inside a glass box hung from a
    crane.



    Illusionist David Blaine on Saturday (September 6)
    started the first day of his most daring stunt -- 44 days
    of starvation and solitary confinement in a glass box hung
    from a crane.

    Suspended for more than six weeks in a plexi-glass
    prison beside London's River Thames, the "modern-day
    Houdini" will eat no food and have just one tube for water
    and another for urinating.

    The American escapologist, who has buried himself alive
    in a glass coffin, been encased in a giant block of ice and
    thrown himself off a 10-storey pillar onto cardboard boxes,
    believes this is the most dangerous feat he has ever
    attempted.

    The 30-year-old New Yorker stepped into a glass box
    before hundreds of rain-soaked fans on Friday night
    (September 5).

    Hundreds of curious tourists gathered around Tower
    Bridge on Saturday. David Blaine looked down at the crowd
    and sometimes waved at fans from his glass prison. After a
    cool night, he basked under a warm autumn sun, and did
    precious little -- trying to save energy for his 44-day
    ordeal.

    He spent most of his time lying on a sleeping bag,
    occasionally rising to wave at his fans. At one stage, he
    filled a water bottle with the help of a tube.

    The crowd around Tower Bridge was mixed -- fans who had
    travelled hundreds of kilometres (miles) to see him, as
    well as baffled tourists.

    Nicky Hayward travelled with her husband and children
    from Newbury in Berkshire, outside London. She said she was
    a great fan of David Blaine, and found him very mysterious.

    "I don't know, I think he is quite troubled, I think he
    is very mysterious, no one really knows him, do they. I
    think he has a lot of inner demons that he needs to get rid
    of, may be this is his way of doing it, I don't know. He is
    very mysterious, isn't he. I don't think anyone will know
    the real David Blaine. "
    Alex Ingram, a civil servant living in London said he
    admired Blaine.

    "I would imagine it is very boring, but probably the
    novelty will wear off at some point, so, good luck to him,
    I think. And I admire him, definitely."
    The magician, who plans to keep a journal during his
    isolation, is worried about how the self-imposed ordeal
    could harm his body and affect his mind. He says he
    expects the first three weeks to be hard, but expects the
    final week to be a terrible ordeal.

    Bookmakers William Hill believe the illusionist is an
    odds-on hot favourite to complete his 44-day ordeal but the
    Guinness Book of Records has rejected his stunt as it does
    not encourage starvation record attempts.

    London Mayor Ken Livingstone said Blaine's stunt could
    prove offensive to the relatives of Irish Republican Army
    (IRA) extremists who starved themselves to death in protest
    over British rule in Northern Ireland.




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