LITHUANIA: TWO LITHUANIAN STUNT PERFORMERS SET NEW WORLD RECORD FOR THE LONGEST TIME INSIDE AN ICE CUBE

Record ID: 545032

  • Title: LITHUANIA: TWO LITHUANIAN STUNT PERFORMERS SET NEW WORLD RECORD FOR THE LONGEST TIME INSIDE AN ICE CUBE
  • Date: 31st March 2005
  • Summary: PALANGA, LITHUANIA (MARCH 31, 2005) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SLV STAGE WITH A GIANT ICE CUBE SURROUNDED BY SPECTATORS SLV ICE CUBE ON STAGE VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF ICE BLOCK CALLED THE "ICE ROOM" (2 SHOTS) CU CAMERA LOOKING INTO THE ICE CUBE MCU (Lithuanian) MAGICIAN, ARVYDAS GAICIUNAS SAYING: "We saw how David Blaine did his record in New York in the year 2000 and we decided to surpass his record." CU DISPLAY SHOWING 000000 BEFORE THE START SV STUNT PERFORMER ARVYDAS GAICIUNAS AND HIS SISTER DIANA GAICIUNAITE WAVING TO CROWDS BEFORE GOING INTO THE ICE CUBE TV CROWDS CHEERING SLV GAICIUNAS AND GAICIUNAITE GETTING INTO THE ICE CUBE SV/CU OF THE ICE CUBE'S ENTRANCE BEING SEALED WITH ICE (2 SHOTS) SLV SEALED ICE CUBE ON STAGE
  • Embargoed: 15th April 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PALANGA, LITHUANIA
  • Country: Lithuania
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA18TA66SDAAMSXDVME15GB7KEC
  • Story Text: Two Lithuanian stunt performers set new world record for the longest time inside an ice cube.
    Two Lithuanian illusionists set a new world record for staying the longest time within an ice block.
    The world class magicians Arvydas Gaiciunas and his sister Diana Gaiciunaite, were committed to challenge despite the risks to their health.
    The couple stayed in a sealed ice block for nearly three days - 63 hours 31 minutes and 15 seconds, setting a new world record.
    Action got started on Thursday evening (March 31), and finished on Sunday (April 3), at 13.30 (10.30 GMT) in the Palanga resort, 325 km from the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.
    "We saw how David Blaine did his record in New York in the year 2000 and we decided to surpass his record," said the thirty-six-years old magician Arvydas Gaiciunas before embarking on his stunt.
    Although many people have performed this trick at different times, the attempt by Lithuanian illusionists is the first to include a woman. The two stunt performers then proceed ed to be sealed in a 12-tonne block of ice to endure 63 hours 31 minutes and 15 seconds.
    They were outperforming David Blaine, one of the most famous magicians in the world, breaking his record by one hour and 51 minutes.
    Blaine established the previous record in the year 2000, by staying within an ice block for 61 hours, 40 minutes and 15 seconds in New York City.
    During their ordeal, Arvydas Gaiciunas and Diana Gaiciunaite stood within ice without any sleep, received only water and wore summer clothes (with the exception of wooly hats), in order to stay warm for as long as possible.
    The ice block named "The Ice Room" had a temperature of about 5 to 6 degrees below zero and it stood 1.5 meters long, 1.2 metres wide and 2 metres high with only a bio WC inside.
    The stunt in Palanga was monitored by a team of medics and psychologists, who continually, checked the pairs' pulse and other health indicators.
    The Ice Room also contained two video cameras and microphones as the only means of communication with the outside.
    A crowd of approximately 3000 people cheered as the couple exit The Ice Room, and paramedics escorted them to a nearby ambulance for transportation to a nearby hospital.
    Neither one sustained any health problems.
    Harry Hudini was the first magician to carry out the ice block trick in 1922.
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