Slog - Comments on David Blaine Can Suck My Ass http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc Continuining a lifelong tradition of ignoring legitimate horror to obsess over stupid flurries of nothing, I fucking hate David Blaine. The "endurance artist"/magician/masochistic exhibitionist with a Jesus complex has been on my shitlist since I first learned of his creepy existence, and my scorn has grown with each of his self-serving public grotesqueries. What's "magic" about spending half a week inside a closet of ice at Lincoln Center, or going without food while standing atop a 90-foot pillar for 36 hours? Nothing, and the driving force behind all of Blaine's stunts has always seemed some perverse combination of a need... Copyright 2008 Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:45:36 -0800 Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:09:06 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Andrew Well, he does look good with his shirt off, so that's one redeeming quality.

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496205 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496205 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:02:47 -0800 Comment by monkey Not really Andrew, that's just a trick he does with some string and mirrors.

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496206 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496206 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:06:34 -0800 Comment by David Schmader I'd be much more accepting of David Blaine spending a week tied up in Andrew's apartment than any of the public shit he's done.

]]> David Schmader http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496207 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496207 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:10:12 -0800 Comment by amen
Amen, brother. Can't stand that guy. Plus, I can't stand the whole fretful girlfriend routine either. It's garbage.

However, I thought Andrew's post was really funny.

]]> amen http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496213 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496213 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:16:32 -0800 Comment by David Schmader Amen: What's the "fretful GF" routine?? Do Blaine stunts actually feature such a thing?

]]> David Schmader http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496224 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496224 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:19:22 -0800 Comment by Ivan Cockrum Twaaaah.

]]> Ivan Cockrum http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496227 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496227 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:22:38 -0800 Comment by seattle98104 at least he's not dane cook.

]]> seattle98104 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496235 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496235 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:33:03 -0800 Comment by SB WTF is a sub bottom?

]]> SB http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496289 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496289 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:45:05 -0800 Comment by Mistress Matisse I think I would call Mr. Blaine a masochistic attention-whore. He's the spiritual brother of Steve-O and the Jackass boys. It's just that Mr Blaine tries to clothe his tendencies in more lofty circumstances and rationals.

Masochistic attention-whores can sometimes be entertaining in small doses. However, I don't think Blaine is one bit *submissive*...

]]> Mistress Matisse http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496350 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496350 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:10:17 -0800 Comment by Gabriel Do you guys get Darren Brown over there? Maybe on BBC America or whatever. He's a British magician who's way better than Blaine and doesn't get into all that cod mysticism that Blaine does. Brown is interesting because he stresses that it is illusion and nothing magical, and goes as far as explaining how his tricks work and how he uses suggestion to get the desired result to happen. Much more interesting and refreshing than having to sit through Blaine's mumbo-jumbo.

]]> Gabriel http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496351 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496351 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:10:31 -0800 Comment by abracapocus I don't quite get the hostility. Weren't most of Houdini's "magic" tricks similarly exhibitionist (or at least highly public) stunts and spectacles?

I guess Houdini was an "escaper" rather than a "sufferer", but still ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houdini#Magic

]]> abracapocus http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496360 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496360 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:33:12 -0800 Comment by Gabriel I've heard Blaine say basically the same thing about his big publicity stunts, that he thinks they're relatively lame and not as interesting as his real tricks, but that they're essential for marketing himself and that Houdini did the same thing. But even his small-scale magic, like card tricks and the like, is not well respected among other magicians. He's apparently not very smooth to the trained eye.

]]> Gabriel http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496361 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496361 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:40:01 -0800 Comment by gillian Dave, I am totally with you. That guy completely sucks and is an annoying attention hog! Just thinking about him makes me aggravated.

]]> gillian http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496369 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496369 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 16:15:59 -0800 Comment by You Put Cigarettes Out On Your Inner Child, Schmader. No you don't get it! He's spotlighting common assholes (no proctologist intended). Waint no, I thought we were talking abut Borat. My bad.

]]> You Put Cigarettes Out On Your Inner Child, Schmader. http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496376 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496376 News Wed, 22 Nov 2006 16:31:10 -0800 Comment by Jamey I agree with Schmader's assessment that Blaine's stunts are "some perverse combination of a need for attention and a need to suffer." It's true. But the difference is that I don't judge Blaine for it. He seems like a pretty morose guy that has some dark days in his past. This is his warped way of working through it. I find it interesting.

Blaine has spoken many times about his admiration for Harry Houdini. He is basically doing the same thing as his hero. Death-defying stunts. Houdini provided some bizarre entertainment a century ago, and Blaine is doing it now. I don't get too chafed about it.

]]> Jamey http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496562 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496562 News Thu, 23 Nov 2006 09:20:08 -0800 Comment by David Schmader Yeah, my chafing is weird and personal and stems almost entirely from the final footage of any Blaine stunt, where our hero is shown in dire physical/mental condition—trembling, dehydrated, almost in shock—and yet he still manages to give a weary wave to all those people who are presumably being saved through his suffering. It's just gets so tortured and Jesusy, and when you realize that any and all suffering he's endured was entirely self-inflicted and self-serving, it just leaves a bad, bad taste in my mouth, one I try to get rid of by spitting at Blaine over the internet.

But I'm sure he's an otherwise fine human being. I'm just tired of ignoring the huge white elephant in the middle of the room that is Blaine's weird, driven masochism.

]]> David Schmader http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496581 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/david_blaine_can_suc#c496581 News Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:09:06 -0800