David Blaine: A Reporter's Notebook

Feb. 16 -- The media is often drawn to cover events that capture spectacle: rescues, acts of God, car chases, certainly car crashes.

It would seem to be this appetite that is sated by David Blaine. When I listen to his plans for future stunts, I find myself laughing at the ridiculousness of them; when he delivers his reasons for attempting such stunts, I feel as though it is unfortunate that he would need to risk so much just to be seen.

However, when I am told that he is in a coffin, or the ice, or if he is dangling in some hapless effort, cuffed and bound as he suggests may happen — I will be there. I will read and watch the coverage, and I will try to be present, simply because I am amazed that someone like me (in most respects) would/could endure things as bizarre as he does.

To see someone actually undertake something that would only be considered in a moment of drunken temerity — and succeed — that is something to see, and that is the attraction to David Blaine.