David Blaine Hangs Out

Fri., Nov. 17, 2006 2:55 PM PST by Josh Grossberg

Things are starting to look up for David Blaine...or down, depending on his point of view.

For his next feat, the illusionist/performance artist/masochist will dangle from a hook five stories above Times Square while shackled to a spinning gyroscope. He has three days to escape.

The challenge, sponsored by Target to kick off the holiday shopping season, will get underway at 10 a.m. Tuesday, when Blaine is slated to be hoisted by crane to his destination, 40 feet above West 46th Street near Eighth Avenue.

There, he will be strapped in to a giant three-ringed gyroscope—said to be inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's famous "Vitruvian Man" drawing and akin to the crazy carnival contraptions that make people sick on sight—and spin continuously, without protection from the elements. (Blaine has apparently lucked out, weather-wise: The extended forecast calls for mostly sunny days with temperatures in the low 50s, before rain moves in at week's end.)

His task: to make it safely out of the gyroscope by 6 a.m. on Nov. 24, aka Black Friday.

Should he make it out in one piece and be able to stand upright, Blaine will then escort 100 children and their families—chosen by the Salvation Army—on a shopping spree at the Times Square Target store.

"This is my chance to give back to the Salvation Army and to [help] benefit other families," Blaine said in a statement, giving a nod to the organization that helped clothe him as a child. "It's my goal not only to successfully complete this challenge, but to help give others an extraordinary holiday season."

And an extraordinary sight. The last time the 33-year-old performer cheated death was during a seven-night stint last May in a water-filled acrylic ball outside Manhattan's Lincoln Center. The stunt was capped with an unsuccessful bid at breaking the world record for holding his breath underwater.

Blaine's previous endurance tests include encasing himself in a block of ice for 61 hours, fasting for 44 days in an acrylic box, being buried alive for seven days and perching himself on a tiny platform overlooking the Big Apple's Bryant Park for 35 hours.