The endurance artist and illusionist is remembered for pushing the limits of the human body and never complaining about his sciatica.
NEW YORK — David Blaine, the endurance artist who pushed the absolute limits of the human body, died peacefully Wednesday while fully encased in a seven-ton block of solid ice. He was 51.
Known globally for fasting in a suspended plexiglass box and holding his breath for 17 minutes, Blaine is remembered privately as a quiet man who held his local neighborhood record for returning a borrowed pressure washer in under two days. Though he routinely subjected himself to high-voltage electrocution, friends noted he never once complained about the persistent sciatica he developed while assembling a living room sectional in 2018.
He could regurgitate a live frog on national television, but at home he was just a gentle guy who quietly ate the bruised bananas so nobody else had to.
He is survived by his daughter, his fiancée, and three unharmed white doves currently resting inside his jacket lining. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that mourners pick a card, any card.