David Blaine: Do Not Attempt MEGA Episode | Arctic Circle, Brazil, SE Asia | National Geographic
National Geographic
0:06 mysterious music playing] -As a magician,
0:17 I’m always searching for secret knowledge.
0:27 Wow.
0:29 I'm searching for secrets that shatter my perspective on what's possible.
0:33 This looks incredible.
0:35 So that something dangerous might become magical.
0:45 And something terrifying could become beautiful.
0:55 I’m searching for performers who will teach me things
0:57 that are daring and way out of my comfort zone.
1:02 Wow.
1:03 That’s crazy.
1:12 And that search has brought me to Southeast Asia.
1:16 Where I will experience one of the most intense moments of my career.
1:33 upbeat music playing] [David Blaine] Some people travel
1:37 to Thailand for the amazing beaches and food,
1:43 but I'm here searching for something slightly different.
1:47 Something dangerous, challenging, even surprising.
1:55 A playing card can cut like a knife.
1:57 [crowd] Ooooh!
1:58 [David Blaine] A chopstick can be used as a weapon.
2:03 Or teeth can become a vice grip.
2:26 [David Blaine] He was a magician?
2:27 -Yeah.
2:27 I know him.
2:28 The person that taught him.
2:30 [David Blaine] I've met Tong through Patrick Kun.
2:33 Patrick is a local magician, and he has incredible insights to the kinds
2:38 of magic I'm most interested in here.
2:41 [Patrick Kun] He learned from his master, how to train like a tiger.
2:44 He learned everything: chopsticks.
2:49 [David Blaine] Tong makes this look easy.
2:55 [Tong] Open.
3:04 [David Blaine] I wasn't surprised that Patrick would nail it right away.
3:09 He's one of my favorite magicians and he's created
3:12 magic that performers around the world use every day.
3:18 And I'm lucky to experience Thailand through his eyes.
3:22 -Do you guys want to see magic?
3:24 -Ma-ma-magic?
3:24 -Magic.
3:25 [overlapping affirmations] -Look.
3:28 In Thailand, not many people have experienced magic in person.
3:31 -What!
3:32 Woah.
3:36 [David Blaine] Like Patrick, everywhere I go,
3:39 I have to pull out a deck of cards.
3:41 So, you remember this one?
3:42 We’re going to use it after.
3:44 -Whoa!
3:45 -Which did you want?
3:46 -Seven.
3:46 -And you shuffled all the cards?
3:48 Look under your watch.
3:50 -Whoa!
3:53 -Thank you, thank you.
3:55 -Whoa, it's a miracle, it’s not magic.
3:58 [David Blaine] But this isn’t why I’m here.
4:02 -Blaine.
4:03 -Cooked scorpions?
4:07 -Do you wanna try?
4:09 -Wow.
4:10 I came to see things I've never seen.
4:13 -Just like salt and fried.
4:16 [David Blaine] And try things I've never tried.
4:22 -It’s not bad?
4:23 -It tastes good.
4:25 [David Blaine] But I’m not here to just eat some fried scorpions.
4:30 Patrick is going to have to challenge me a little more than that.
4:34 -I think coming here is going to really push him with his boundary
4:38 and take him out of his comfort zone a little bit.
4:43 In Thailand, the urban environment and the wild,
4:45 they’re closer than a lot of places in the world.
4:51 [David Blaine] Patrick tells me that here,
4:53 in a humid tropical climate, people live among many wild creatures.
5:00 And that inspires some very unique acts.
5:05 So, I’m starting my journey in northern Thailand to meet a courageous
5:08 performer who has broken world records
5:11 by closely interacting with venomous scorpions.
5:22 [reporter] She’s been dubbed Thailand’s “Scorpion Queen.” After
5:24 performing with scorpions for more than 6 years.
5:45 [David Blaine] Throughout history,
5:47 magicians from around the world have worked with dangerous
5:49 animals to demonstrate their fearlessness and a connection to nature.
6:20 [David Blaine] Something I’ve kept hidden for most of my life
6:23 is that I have a serious phobia of things that crawl.
6:27 As a kid, if I would have seen a scorpion in my bedroom,
6:31 I'd run out and probably never return.
6:49 [David Blaine] With this many scorpions, I was prepared to get stung.
6:54 Ah, I got stung.
7:08 [David Blaine] The challenge is to not react.
7:10 Because as soon as you move,
7:12 they may perceive a threat and are likelier to attack.
7:21 The oil helps with the pain, but not with the odor.
7:25 -Okay.
7:27 [David Blaine] The scorpions smell like rotting meat.
7:33 And they're crawling all over my body.
7:38 It’s an overload of weird sensation.
7:41 And I know that I have to stay still.
7:59 -Thank you.
8:00 Kanchana taught me the importance of staying
8:02 calm and in control especially while getting stung.
8:08 And this skill will be essential when dealing with insects that could be deadly.
8:12 Especially when they number in the hundreds of thousands.
8:19 [bee's buzzing] [David Blaine] Gan has been a beekeeper for more than ten years.
8:40 [David Blaine] At this time of the season,
8:42 he is in the north of Thailand where the flowers are best for his bees.
9:31 [David Blaine] Bee bearding is a classic act that was first documented
9:34 in the 1830s by a beekeeper to demonstrate his connection with bees.
9:43 It's so compelling to watch hundreds of thousands
9:45 of bees transform into one single organism around him.
9:52 -It looks incredible.
9:55 It’s so striking, that after seeing it just once,
9:58 I know I need to try it myself.
10:04 Last night, I kept having these dreams over
10:06 and over of these swarms of bees everywhere, which is pretty crazy.
10:12 It really does affect a certain part of my subconscious.
10:16 So I’m going to do it here?
10:17 -Yeah.
10:18 [David Blaine] Gan taught me you have to respect the bees.
10:21 They have a highly sophisticated method of communication.
10:25 [speaking foreign language] -Tuck your shirt in.
10:28 [David Blaine] If a swarm of bees wants to sting you,
10:31 they will keep attacking you until they’re done...
10:34 Looks okay.
10:36 ...cause they're willing to die to protect their colony.
10:39 The bees are attracted to black.
10:41 And I was advised by Gan not to do this.
10:43 -Yeah.
10:43 -But since I always wear black, I'm wearing black.
10:49 [David Blaine] The first step is locating the queen bee,
10:52 the largest in the hive.
10:59 Now I should sit down, Gan?
11:00 -Yeah.
11:02 [David Blaine] He's going to put the queen bee around my neck.
11:05 Should I hold my hands like this?
11:07 [Gan] Yeah.
11:09 [David Blaine] The queen bee has a pheromone
11:11 which is going to attract these bees.
11:14 They follow and protect her.
11:16 [Patrick Kun] Good?
11:17 -Ready.
11:18 [speaks foreign language].
11:21 [bee's buzzing] [speaking foreign language] [David
12:00 Blaine] I’m getting a few stings.
12:02 I’d say we’re up to about ten.
12:07 I know how important it is to keep my composure even while being stung.
12:15 The amount of venom could easily become deadly.
12:33 Okay.
12:34 [speaking in foreign language] -Go.
12:47 [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] -Yeah,
12:59 I got tons of stings.
13:00 Look.
13:01 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.
13:06 The black, ah.
13:08 The mistake was the black.
13:13 They’re removing the stingers so they don’t keep pumping venom into me.
13:19 I do have to say the vibration is amazing.
13:23 -Yeah?
13:23 -Oh, yeah.
13:24 When they're first like "zzz" and your whole body begins to vibrate.
13:28 That is crazy.
13:31 Thank you.
13:33 It’s fascinating, to see your connection to nature and to the bees.
13:37 It was truly one of the most amazing experiences.
13:52 [David Blaine] You really feel the power of the bee swarm.
13:57 It's something that words can never, ever explain.
14:04 The feeling is almost like, like bliss.
14:06 It's almost like a, I guess, like magic.
14:10 [laughs] [cheering] Throughout my career,
14:24 I’ve been putting myself in extreme situations
14:26 where I’ve had to maintain my composure.
14:29 Just pull it right out.
14:33 [announcer] It’s been 7 minutes in.
14:34 [David Blaine] It’s a skill set that I’ve been working on for years.
14:38 And here in Southeast Asia, I want to see what techniques they can teach me.
14:45 So my next stop is in Indonesia, where there is an incredible group
14:49 of people who perform a practice called Debus.
14:54 Their skill set is demonstrating that they have a superhuman pain tolerance.
15:03 I've been invited to a Debus performance in the ruins of Banten Palace,
15:08 an area destroyed by the Dutch colonizers in the 19th century.
15:20 The Indonesians couldn’t match the firepower of the Dutch colonizers.
15:25 So as an act of resistance, they honed a martial art called Debus,
15:30 demonstrating their unique ability to resist pain.
15:42 Now, eight generations later, Debus practitioners commemorate this history.
15:52 For many, their discipline comes from a deep faith in God.
16:01 [metal clanging] [David Blaine] The second bite is even bigger.
16:37 [David Blaine] For Debus practitioners,
16:39 their magical acts often involve showcasing
16:41 the strength of the body with sharp objects.
16:46 That’s crazy.
16:47 I cut the paper, right, if you take real razor blades,
16:50 slice it and then eat ‘em.
16:52 This is so dangerous, I’ve never even seen this before.
17:22 -I love what you did with the razor blades.
17:23 -Oh yeah.
17:24 -I love the eating...
17:25 [makes chewing sounds] -Thank you.
17:29 [David Blaine] This next practitioner is
17:31 performing under circumstances that are unpredictable.
17:37 mysterious music playing] [crowd exclaims] [speaking in foreign language]
18:30 [crowd chatter] [crowd screams] [David Blaine] Are you seeing this?
18:47 A king cobra can deliver so much venom
18:49 in a single bite that it can kill a full-grown elephant.
18:54 Wow.
18:59 It’s mesmerizing to watch Fiitz perform with the king cobra.
19:03 He’s unbelievable.
19:04 I can’t think of anything equal to it, a performance where the risk is so high.
19:11 I might have just found my next obsession.
19:23 [applause] With the snakes, it's like a great white shark,
19:28 like its eye’s like, dead.
19:31 You know, it's like you can't connect to it.
19:34 Or at least I've never felt that connection.
19:39 Fiitz has the most incredible snake act that I've ever seen.
19:44 He appears to have a special trust in these deadly creatures.
19:48 And I want to understand his methods.
19:52 I’m traveling east from Banten to Fiitz’ home in Sumedang.
20:00 Wild snakes are common here and Fiitz often rescues them
20:04 from hunters who would otherwise sell them for their meat and skin.
20:11 -You ready?
20:12 -Mm-hmm.
20:13 First, Fiitz wants to test me.
20:17 To see how well I can follow his directions
20:19 with snakes that can strike at incredible speed.
20:34 -I’m not in love with the concept of the medium venom.
20:45 -That's crazy.
20:47 Is there a position that it can't bite?
20:49 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] It's hard with this snake.
20:54 He bit like we munch.
21:02 [David Blaine] It just keeps biting.
21:20 -Holy!
21:21 Damn!
21:24 I'm ready.
21:26 -Hold here.
21:27 -Hold here?
21:29 Like this?
21:30 Here?
21:31 -Okay, good.
21:34 [speaking in foreign language] [David Blaine] Now just let go?
21:38 [translator] Let go of the head.
21:39 Just let go of the head.
21:44 [speaking in foreign language].
21:47 [translator] You can move your, uh, right hand.
21:50 -Slowly.
21:51 [translator] Closer to the head.
21:52 -Yes?
21:53 -Good, good, great.
21:59 [David Blaine] I'm told not to react even
22:01 knowing that this venomous snake could easily bite me.
22:06 And if I can't handle this, then I'm not going any further.
22:13 [Doug] He's saying it's, like, not the best time to play with it.
22:15 [translator] Because it's nocturnal.
22:18 Maybe we continue tomorrow.
22:19 -Yeah.
22:37 -Thank you.
22:45 The king cobra?
22:46 -Yeah, king cobra.
22:47 -Blindfolded?
23:05 [David Blaine] These are your daughters?
23:06 -Yeah.
23:07 -Beautiful.
23:08 Are your daughters afraid when you do this?
23:17 -I understand that very well.
23:21 I also have a daughter and so I’m
23:24 much more calculated when it comes to life-threatening risks.
23:28 Fiitz believes that he can teach me how to interact with king cobras.
23:33 But I have a long way to go.
23:43 -Can you, uh, sunglasses?
23:45 -Put the glasses on?
23:46 -Yes, now.
23:55 [David Blaine] From far distances the spitting
23:57 cobra can shoot its venom with precise accuracy.
24:01 Should I move away a little bit?
24:02 -Yeah.
24:03 [David Blaine] If it gets in your eyes you can easily go blind.
24:12 [speaking foreign language] [translator] If you know
24:16 the attraction in India, with the flute.
24:19 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] It focusing not
24:21 to the sound but to the movement of the flute.
24:24 -Ah.
24:25 So when they play the flute, they're looking at the movement.
24:27 -Yeah.
24:27 -I see.
24:32 What Fiitz has mastered is his use of misdirection.
24:35 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] If
24:38 you can just distract him in front, Fiitz will go around him and touch his.
24:42 -Head.
24:43 [translator] Head from behind.
24:56 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] You want
24:57 to try to touch the back of his head?
24:58 -Back of the head?
25:00 -Yes.
25:00 -Yeah.
25:01 -Okay.
25:02 Okay.
25:03 Okay.
25:10 Okay, okay.
25:17 -I got to mentally prep for that.
25:22 So if I touch the snake, I touch him here?
25:25 -Yeah.
25:26 -Like this?
25:28 -Yeah.
25:29 But you don’t move.
25:39 Okay.
25:41 Slowly.
25:43 Slowly.
25:59 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] Go on.
26:02 Go on.
26:03 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] You can go on, David.
26:07 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] Go on.
26:10 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] The snake is focusing on Fiitz.
26:18 -Here?
26:18 -Yeah.
26:25 [speaking in foreign language] [laughs] -I will see you guys in a little bit.
26:43 Okay.
26:43 That was great.
26:45 I think for today we're good with the spitting cobra.
26:47 [laughs] -Are you stop?
26:49 Are you stop?
26:50 [David Blaine] What's funny about what's happening today?
26:51 Very good for now.
26:53 [laughs] Is the learning curve is happening in front of everybody,
26:56 which makes me super awkward.
27:21 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] The king cobra can straight away,
27:26 um, move around his head.
27:28 [David Blaine] Pivot very fast.
27:29 And this is a wild one, so it's not used to handling.
27:34 It’s imperative that I learn from Fiitz
27:36 how to understand the king cobra's behavior.
27:40 They’re among the most intelligent of snakes.
27:43 They have fangs as sharp as hypodermic needles
27:45 and their strike can be faster than a human’s reaction time.
27:51 Wow.
27:53 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] If
27:55 we stood still, it will not attack.
27:58 It will only observe.
27:59 And then he will go away.
28:04 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] You see?
28:50 [translator] You have to, like, trust, trust that the snake will not attack.
28:58 [David Blaine] I like what Fiitz does so much because it’s primal.
29:01 It’s just him and the King Cobra.
29:34 -That's crazy.
29:35 Wow.
29:53 [David Blaine] To watch Fiitz perform is both beautiful and terrifying.
30:06 I’ve got this image of Fiitz kissing the king cobra
30:09 in my head and once I get stuck on the idea,
30:12 like it becomes, it becomes this internal obsession
30:16 where I can’t take it out of my mind.
30:20 And against all common sense,
30:22 I know that I’ll regret it if I don’t at least give it a try.
30:28 Incredible.
30:28 You're an incredible teacher.
30:29 -Thank you.
30:31 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] Thank you for trusting him.
30:34 -Thank you.
30:36 [David Blaine] I definitely trust Fiitz.
30:38 Unfortunately, his home country of Indonesia does
30:41 not produce anti-venom specifically for a king cobra.
30:45 But he tells me that Thailand does.
30:48 If the snake bites me, at least I’ll have a fighting chance of survival.
30:55 [David Blaine] Before I leave...
30:56 [fireworks explode] ...the Debus practitioners have
31:04 invited me to one last performance.
31:16 One of the acts involves walking on red hot coals.
31:25 And for one of the men, eating them.
31:38 Is he ok?
31:40 [speaking in foreign language] [translator] For today it will not hurt.
31:48 [David Blaine] For years I've read about performers eating red hot coals.
31:53 [speaking in foreign language] [David Blaine] I quickly
32:15 learned that there was no trick to this.
32:17 And for days after my mouth, throat,
32:19 and esophagus were burned, making it difficult to swallow.
32:26 But I need to focus, because I can’t afford even the slightest mistake.
32:35 [crowd cheering] [whistle blowing] [announcer]
32:52 Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
32:53 [David Blaine] Thailand is one of the only countries
32:55 in the world that produces anti-venom for the king cobra.
32:59 [announcer] The venom of the king cobra...
33:00 [David Blaine] It's an extremely dangerous job,
33:02 because even after they milk the snake, it can still kill.
33:07 The anti-venom can be lifesaving.
33:11 Bangkok has a remarkably high snake population for an urban area.
33:16 On average a snake encounter is reported to emergency services every 15 minutes.
33:21 [newscaster] Bangkok fire stations receive more than 34,000 calls.
33:26 [David Blaine] I'm here in Bangkok to meet Chris Shannon,
33:28 a snake handler who actually worked at one of these facilities and was bitten.
33:34 The anti-venom saved his life.
33:36 Yet his love of snakes is so strong that he’s
33:39 willing risk his life to educate people about them.
33:43 -Hey little buddy.
33:44 Snakes are so misunderstood.
33:47 I've made it my life goal to do what I can when it comes to conservation,
33:51 protecting the numbers.
33:56 [speaking in foreign language] [David Blaine]
34:00 This is Fiitz’s first time leaving Indonesia.
34:05 I asked him to join me in Thailand so we can continue our training.
34:09 Terima Kasih.
34:10 -Sami.
34:10 -Thank you for coming.
34:13 I think the two of them together can help me better understand the king cobra.
34:22 Fiitz, look.
34:23 Chris lives with about 100 venomous snakes.
34:26 This is incredible.
34:27 -All right.
34:28 This is the king room.
34:29 -Oh, my— Some of them are rescues.
34:33 Wow.
34:35 -That’s Skittles.
34:36 -Skittles?
34:36 Being around him, it’s easy to forget that even
34:39 one scratch from a fang can kill you.
34:42 -Hi Skittles, it’s me again.
34:44 [David Blaine] It’s very rare to see someone handle
34:46 a king cobra with this level of confidence and ease.
34:49 Wow.
34:50 -And right outside.
34:53 [David Blaine] By coincidence, Chris’ near-fatal snake bites happened exactly
34:57 one year apart and on my birthday.
35:00 -One was April 4th, 2014 and another April 4th, 2015.
35:06 And this one, I was like, okay, I'm probably going to die now.
35:10 My heart stopped for seven seconds at the hospital
35:13 and I felt like I was falling through this black abyss.
35:16 And then I woke up.
35:18 I didn't even know.
35:35 He’s starting to realize we mean him no harm.
35:38 [David Blaine] Seeing Chris’ level of comfort and ease
35:41 around the king cobras is helping me mentally prepare.
35:44 -Now, you can touch him.
36:01 When I talk to snake performers, there's no real,
36:05 like, retirement in our line of work.
36:09 You just keep going, keep peddling, until one day you don't.
36:13 But I don't know, a mentor of mine,
36:15 he did all of this and he was kissing venomous snakes, over 23 years.
36:21 And he got to the age of 42 and he died of diabetes.
36:25 So in my mind, I'm like,
36:26 I'm just going to do what I love doing and share what I love doing.
36:30 And when my time comes, it's my time.
36:32 I guess I don't think too much into it.
36:37 [David Blaine] For thousands of years magicians have
36:39 tried to demonstrate their powers by performing with serpents.
36:45 It's almost like they're showing their ability to defy
36:47 death or to face death and control it.
36:50 And there's a beauty to that.
36:57 [David Blaine] Nothing in my career compares
36:59 to my experience with these cobras in Southeast Asia.
37:06 It’s the first stunt that I’ve ever done where I
37:08 feel like one false move can easily lead to death.
37:13 -Can you stand back.
37:15 Okay.
37:16 [David Blaine] I’ve spent the last several months mentally
37:18 and physically preparing myself to engage with a king cobra.
37:24 Woah!
37:26 Studying the king cobras behavior and learning
37:29 to be able to try this for myself.
37:32 -Maybe like this.
37:33 [David Blaine] Fiitz and Chris have been teaching me different approaches.
37:36 -Move your leg, yes like that.
37:38 [David Blaine] And my confidence is slowly increasing.
37:43 Fiitz shows me how to first gently push down on the cobra's head.
37:47 Touch here?
37:49 -Yeah.
37:50 [David Blaine] To see if it is focused enough
37:51 for the kiss and less likely to turn away.
37:54 -Yeah.
37:55 -Okay.
37:56 -Snake like this.
37:57 -If you’re leaning down for the kiss.
37:59 No second thoughts.
38:00 If you move wrong, that one mistake could be your last.
38:05 [David Blaine] Heart rates going, I walk out.
38:07 -Okay.
38:08 -Okay.
38:09 [exhales and laughs] [David Blaine] What was really powerful...
38:13 -Wanna try?
38:14 [David Blaine] ...Was giving the water.
38:17 When I gave the cobra water to drink, I felt a connection.
38:22 He’s drinking it.
38:23 -Yeah.
38:24 -That’s amazing!
38:26 [laughs] -Like all animals, I think they're very sensitive.
38:30 I feel that.
38:31 [Chris] Exactly.
38:32 [David Blaine] I feel confident that I am surrounded by the best team possible,
38:38 but I’m losing sleep over what I have to do.
38:41 -Slowly.
38:50 Ready for tomorrow?
38:51 -Yes.
38:52 -Okay.
38:53 -Thank you for keeping me safe.
38:54 -You’re welcome.
39:06 [David Blaine] Even though I’ve been obsessing over this moment,
39:09 I know I’ll never be ready.
39:12 -But, you’re good.
39:27 -Good Fiitz?
39:28 -Good.
39:37 Here.
39:39 Yeah.
40:04 Okay.
40:10 Yeah.
40:11 Can you move closer, slowly.
40:27 Don’t forget your leg, yeah.
40:33 This time, you try touch.
40:43 Okay.
40:44 Slowly.
40:45 Slowly.
40:50 Slowly.
40:50 Yeah.
40:51 -Yep.
40:52 -Take a breathe.
41:04 -Good?
41:05 -Good.
41:11 Okay.
41:12 Right, right, yeah.
41:17 Good, okay.
41:19 Slowly.
41:21 Yeah, yeah.
41:25 Wait, wait, wait.
41:34 Slowly.
41:38 [exhales] [David Blaine] In this moment...
41:58 -Slowly.
41:59 Slowly.
42:00 [David Blaine] ...Nothing else exists.
42:02 -Okay, this is good.
42:09 [exhales] -Go.
42:25 Good.
42:30 Okay, stand back.
42:32 Okay.
42:35 -That was the most stressful kiss of my life.
42:37 [laughter] -It’s good.
42:41 -Fiitz.
42:42 -A little...
42:43 [makes heartbeat sound] -That one my heart was racing.
43:14 [David Blaine] I couldn't have done this without
43:15 the teachers I’ve met along the way.
43:19 And I am forever grateful to them for sharing
43:21 their traditions and knowledge that kept me safe.
43:30 This was one of the most terrifying moments of my entire life.
43:34 And yet somehow, one of the most beautiful.
43:40 triumphant music playing][♪ music plays through credits]
45:01 [David Blaine] When I was 5 years old, I held my first deck of cards.
45:06 I never wanted to let them go.
45:10 I was doing basic tricks but I believed that I
45:13 could make my mother's day by doing a simple magic trick.
45:17 Just give it one hit like that and again.
45:19 [crowd] Ohhh!
45:23 [David Blaine] So I learned another one.
45:26 And another one.
45:28 [crowd] Wow!
45:29 [David Blaine] And another one.
45:30 [crowd screams] [David Blaine] But then I began
45:35 to realize that magic could be so much more.
45:48 Now for the first time, I'm searching all around the world,
45:54 to seek out the most extraordinary people,
45:59 with the most incredible skills, performing things that seem impossible.
46:07 Real feats that look like magic.
46:11 theme music playing] [David Blaine] They're giving me
46:21 a crash course and letting me into their world.
46:34 And I'm trying things that I could have never imagined to be possible.
46:40 [cobra hiss and spit] I will see you guys in a little bit.
46:43 This will be the most intense journey of my life.
46:52 That look so good!
46:59 theme music playing][♪ distant street traffic] [David Blaine] You
47:18 can tell a lot about people just from their reactions.
47:25 Brazilians are so expressive.
47:30 And that's why Brazil has always been
47:31 one of my favorite places to perform magic.
47:36 Just being here inspires me to try things that I only ever dreamed of.
47:43 -How are you doing, David?
47:44 -How are you doing, brother?
47:45 -It's good to see you.
47:46 [David Blaine] I'm lucky to have friends
47:47 all over the world who are great magicians.
47:52 Bernardo is one of them.
47:54 He grew up here, doing magic all over Rio.
47:58 He's brought me to a place most visitors,
48:01 and even many Brazilians, would not enter.
48:04 [Bernardo Sedlacek] So here is the biggest favela in Rio.
48:07 It’s called Rocinha.
48:08 I spent most of my childhood here, with so many friends.
48:12 [David Blaine] People often think of favelas
48:14 as places filled with crime and violence.
48:18 But Bernardo doesn't see them that way at all.
48:25 [Bernardo Sedlacek] There are hundreds of thousands of people
48:26 living here in less than one square mile.
48:28 [speaking in Portuguese] It's like a city within a city.
48:35 I feel like you can find all forms of magic here,
48:38 in the places you would least expect.
48:54 [David Blaine] I’ve always been drawn
48:55 to performers whose acts are authentic and unpredictable.
49:01 [David Blaine] The street is a tough stage,
49:02 and I respect anyone who can build an audience and keep them there.
49:12 [applause] [David Blaine] Wow.
49:30 These are sharp.
49:30 [Ligeirinho] Yes.
49:35 [David Blaine] No!
49:58 [applause] [speaking in foreign language] [Bernardo
50:15 Sedlacek] I'm going to break this coconut.
50:16 [speaking in foreign language] [Bernardo Sedlacek] But before I break it.
50:18 [speaking in foreign language] [Bernardo Sedlacek] I
50:20 will peel it off using my teeth.
50:30 [David Blaine] I love this!
50:35 [thuds] -Wow!
50:41 -Damn.
50:43 [cheering] [drumming] [William] I present to you, Super Maluco!
51:02 [cheering] [cheering and laughter] [Super
51:19 Maluco screams] [William] Super Maluco!
51:34 [crowd] No, no, no!
51:38 [David Blaine] No, no, no.
51:39 I'll stay back here.
51:40 Some of my favorite performers don't even realize that they're magicians.
51:47 [David Blaine] No, no, no.
51:48 Where did he learn this?
51:57 [David Blaine] That’s crazy.
52:09 [David Blaine] Wow!
52:19 [David Blaine] This is crazy.
52:31 Wow.
52:38 [David Blaine] Arteval.
52:40 Mestre Ligeirinho.
52:41 And Super Maluco.
52:43 They were doing things that I hadn't seen before.
52:47 It's amazing how they make everything just look so vibrant.
52:50 [Bernardo Sedlacek] Yeah.
52:51 People are very proud.
52:52 Many live here their entire life.
52:56 [crowd cheering] Oh my God.
53:07 [David Blaine] Oh, wow.
53:08 [Bernardo giggles][♪ suspenseful music playing] [David Blaine]
53:29 Walking hundreds of feet above Rocinha is Rafael.
53:35 He’s a masterful slackliner who performs his stunts worldwide.
53:51 inspirational music playing] [Bernardo Sedlacek] Ah look at the kids.
54:01 Oh, that’s crazy.
54:15 [clapping] [Bernardo laughs] [David Blaine] Nice to meet you, Rafa.
54:26 [Rafa Bridi] Nice to meet you.
54:26 [David Blaine] That was incredible.
54:27 -Hi Bernardo.
54:28 -How are you doing?
54:29 -It has always been a big dream of mine to rig a line
54:32 over a favela because I think it's a good representation of Brazil.
54:37 The resilience.
54:38 The ways Brazilian people strive in their lives.
54:47 I've been talking with the community, going to different rooftops.
54:55 I've always wanted to connect in a very deep and meaningful
54:59 way with people here and rig a highline that would inspire curiosity.
55:06 [David Blaine] I’ve always loved bringing things
55:09 that people would never see into unexpected places.
55:12 And this is exactly that.
55:13 -I feel a privilege.
55:14 You know, it's like, it’s fulfilling.
55:22 [David Blaine] Take one.
55:26 Look at it.
55:29 And it landed under your watch.
55:30 Turn your wrist over.
55:42 [David Blaine] Do you think I can learn it?
55:51 -Yeah.
55:53 So, this is an extremely dangerous act that I would
55:57 only learn from Mestre Ligeirinho
56:00 who shared his secret techniques behind-the-scenes.
56:34 [David Blaine] People often don't believe that what I'm doing is real.
56:44 Whoa.
56:47 -That looks insane!
56:49 The problem is, I sometimes get so consumed with something...
56:58 [David Blaine] That I don’t even think about the repercussions.
57:02 [David Blaine] I'm usually willing to accept pain and extreme danger.
57:10 And sometimes even a little embarrassment.
57:13 -Stay centered and calm and relaxed, you know?
57:16 -Yeah, as opposed to— -Yeah, as opposed to...
57:18 [David Blaine] But it's all worth it because
57:20 I get to meet remarkable people like Rafael.
57:28 [David Blaine] Now he's taking me to a bridge in Rio that is
57:31 a sacred spot for two powerful women who are pioneers of high diving in Brazil.
57:46 [cheering] [announcer] Jaki Valente, the wild card diver of Brazil.
57:53 -My name is Jacqueline Valente.
57:55 [announcer] A nice dive, Jaki Valente...
57:57 Jaki Valente from Brazil performing the Women's World's most difficult dive.
58:05 Sensational.
58:07 The bravery required is supreme.
58:10 [Jaki Valente] The second athlete in Brazil is, coincidentally, my sister.
58:14 [announcer] Diver Paty Valente!
58:20 It’s been challenging over the years.
58:21 Brazil doesn’t quite have the training facilities to train at these heights.
58:26 [Jaki Valente] The highest platform here is ten meters high,
58:29 but our competition is double, so exactly 20 meters.
58:40 So, exploring Rio de Janeiro,
58:41 we found this bridge where we could train: The Joatinga Bridge.
58:49 -That was beautiful.
58:53 So when did you first do a high dive?
58:55 [Jaki Valente] Back in 2007.
58:59 Let's show you the place where we stand.
59:03 Do you want to watch?
59:04 [David Blaine] Yeah!
59:05 Great.
59:06 [Jaki Valente] Ready, set, dive.
59:14 [David claps] [David Blaine] They make it look effortless,
59:27 but I know the obstacles they’ve overcome to be world-class divers.
59:38 [announcer] The hardest dive in the world.
59:40 Valente on top of the leaderboard.
59:41 Oh, she looks emotional.
59:43 -When we are training, there is a lot going on that you can't really prepare
59:49 for, because you never know what’s gonna be under the water.
59:54 And the bridge itself,
59:55 it's something that brings the concentration which we needed
1:00:00 to keep competing no matter what difficulties we face.
1:00:09 -I'm obsessed with people that do real
1:00:11 things that most people think are impossible.
1:00:14 I see all the challenges that you've face
1:00:16 and despite that you've pioneered the sport here, that's amazing.
1:00:20 And you're pushing yourself and you're doing things that nobody should do,
1:00:24 and you will feel the impact of it,
1:00:26 but you're creating what's real magic, and that's the beauty of it.
1:00:31 -Sorry.
1:00:32 -Why did you cry when I said that?
1:00:34 -Because I heard this from a lot of people who compete with me,
1:00:40 and they say the same words,
1:00:44 like that I make things, what seems impossible without training,
1:00:50 with these kinds of conditions make true and push the sport which.
1:00:57 Yeah, it's.
1:01:02 -You're gonna make me cry.
1:01:05 -Sorry.
1:01:06 -No, it’s beautiful.
1:01:08 You're both very special.
1:01:10 Very poetic.
1:01:12 Finding you has been a blessing.
1:01:16 -Thank you.
1:01:17 That’s right.
1:01:18 -The best way.
1:01:19 -Yeah, I think so.
1:01:20 [David Blaine] Yeah, of course.
1:01:31 Brazil is the fifth largest country by area, with over 200 million people.
1:01:37 One of those people is a conservationist, ER doctor,
1:01:42 and a fearless explorer who's going to lead me into the Brazilian wild.
1:01:47 She's currently in Bonito,
1:01:49 a small town that's considered the gateway to the Pantanal,
1:01:53 the largest tropical wetland in the world.
1:01:56 -Beautiful jungle.
1:01:57 -Perfect.
1:02:00 Karina is inspirational.
1:02:02 [Karina Oliani] Don’t worry about the jaguars.
1:02:03 [David Blaine] I'll follow you.
1:02:05 In the past decade, she's summited Everest and K2.
1:02:08 She's also free-dived with countless apex predators.
1:02:12 And today, she's invited me to join
1:02:14 her search for one of Brazil's most elusive creatures.
1:02:23 -Juca, he’s going to be driving the boat for us.
1:02:28 [Karina Oliani] Let’s go!
1:02:33 [David Blaine] We are traveling down the Rio Formoso,
1:02:35 one of the only rivers in the world where you can find anacondas.
1:02:39 [Karina Oliani] Juca is the most experienced guy around Anacondas in the world.
1:02:44 [David Blaine] Juca is tracking anacondas that exceed
1:02:46 25 feet and weigh more than 500 pounds.
1:02:50 He believes that the legends people tell here carry an important
1:02:54 message about the consequences of disrupting the balance of nature.
1:03:17 [David Blaine] Wow.
1:03:20 [David Blaine] The female anaconda significantly outsizes the male,
1:03:24 and Juca is on a search for one in particular.
1:03:28 -Big Mama.
1:03:28 -Big Mama is nice.
1:03:36 [David Blaine] Hidden in these waters lies an almost mythological creature.
1:03:47 [Karina Oliani] She can be anywhere.
1:03:59 [David Blaine] Anacondas are ambush predators.
1:04:05 Sometimes laying in wait in the branches of trees for whatever prey passes by.
1:04:14 They’ve even been known to eat wild pigs and jaguars.
1:04:26 [Karina Oliani] I’m seeing her!
1:04:50 [♪suspenseful music playing][♪ inspirational
1:05:12 music playing][♪ inspirational music
1:05:31 playing][♪ inspirational music playing] [Karina Oliani] Incredible, huh?
1:05:54 [David Blaine] It's just unbelievable.
1:05:55 If anybody experienced what I just saw,
1:05:58 I feel like they can't be afraid of them.
1:06:04 [Karina Oliani] Part of diving, for me,
1:06:07 it's to show and raise awareness why they need to be
1:06:11 preserved and why we are not right when we kill those animals.
1:06:17 [David Blaine] She's magical.
1:06:19 And you're in her river, in her natural environment.
1:06:22 -It’s true.
1:06:23 -I felt a complete sense of wonder.
1:06:27 Karina knows this feeling firsthand.
1:06:30 It's driven her to achieve incredible feats.
1:06:34 In 2017, Karina became the first person
1:06:37 to traverse a more than 2,000-degree lava lake.
1:06:42 What do you think led you to do these things?
1:06:45 -People ask me and then I’m like, "Life is just one and it's now.
1:06:48 And you don't want to have it ordinary.
1:06:50 You want to be spectacular." [David laughs] Crazy, huh?
1:06:56 -Whoa!
1:06:58 [Karina Oliani] I called the best volcanologists
1:07:00 in the world, and they are like,
1:07:02 “No, I'm not going to help a girl kill herself in a lava lake.
1:07:05 I'm like, “No, it's possible, we can do it.” It was so magical.
1:07:15 [David Blaine] That image!
1:07:18 I feel like it's not even a daredevil.
1:07:20 I feel like what you do, it's like an exploration.
1:07:23 -Yeah.
1:07:24 [David Blaine] I'm sure Houdini would've been fascinated by Karina.
1:07:28 He also created unforgettable, death-defying images.
1:07:33 Of all the magicians I studied, Houdini impacted me the most.
1:07:38 And it was his stunts that would spark my imagination.
1:07:47 -For years, I've had this idea in my head of jumping from a bridge on fire.
1:07:53 Igniting my body and then just jumping into the water.
1:07:57 That would be, for me, the most amazing.
1:08:01 [Karina Oliani] I understand your passion.
1:08:04 Oh, man.
1:08:06 [David Blaine] My most challenging stunts have involved water, air, earth.
1:08:13 But the one element that I've avoided is fire.
1:08:18 Houdini, only attempted one fire stunt that nearly ended in disaster,
1:08:22 calling fire "the most terrible of elements." I wanna do this fire stunt here,
1:08:30 but I'm definitely going to need some help.
1:08:36 [Karina Oliani] A friend of mine is the guy for fire.
1:08:39 [David Blaine] Karina’s taking me to meet one
1:08:40 of the only people that believed in her volcano mission.
1:08:44 [Karina Oliani] Let’s go down here.
1:08:45 [David Blaine] I'll follow you.
1:08:46 [Karina Oliani] Okay.
1:08:48 [David Blaine] He's a veteran stuntman who loves fire.
1:09:12 -Tell him he better protect my hands
1:09:13 because to a magician the hands are everything.
1:09:16 -And to a doctor, as well.
1:09:37 [David Blaine] Yeah!
1:09:52 Fire is so mesmerizing.
1:09:57 It's the only thing that matters in the moment.
1:10:01 It's all-consuming, and you can't take your eyes off of it.
1:10:29 intense music playing] [rushing water][♪ introspective music
1:10:46 playing] [David Blaine] I feel like in Brazil,
1:10:53 there is an energy to make anything happen.
1:10:56 This environment of curiosity, passion, unpredictability.
1:11:06 Everybody that I've met, they're all doing things that are unique and different.
1:11:14 This is the perfect place to try to bring a bridge jump to life.
1:11:20 But I have a lot to learn.
1:11:41 -Let's warm up a little bit.
1:11:42 Normally, what kind of stretch do you do?
1:11:44 -No flexibility whatsoever.
1:11:45 -No flexibility?
1:11:47 [David Blaine] No.
1:11:49 I'm back in Rio to meet with high divers Jaki and Paty Valente.
1:11:54 I want to do the jump using their bridge.
1:12:02 I trained 20 years ago to jump into boxes,
1:12:07 and then the last jump that I did, the shoulder ripped out.
1:12:13 Let me explain...
1:12:14 so I have a show in Vegas, and I thought the best way to start.
1:12:19 [crowd] Three, two one.
1:12:23 [David Blaine] Would be to jump 8 stories into a pile of empty cardboard boxes.
1:12:27 And the least risky way to do this is to land flat on your back.
1:12:37 Don't pull my arm.
1:12:38 We need a doctor here.
1:12:41 I made one slight misstep in the execution of my jump
1:12:44 that caused me to dislocate my shoulder on impact.
1:12:48 Luckily, there happened to be an orthopedic surgeon's convention that weekend.
1:12:55 They popped my shoulder back into place and I finished the show.
1:13:00 But I never fully recovered.
1:13:03 [Jaki Valente] So, in your conditions, why you want to still do that?
1:13:08 [David Blaine] I get it stuck in my head, and then.
1:13:10 -You remind me when I was younger.
1:13:16 -Where do you think you got that mindset?
1:13:18 -That's what I love to do.
1:13:20 -Cause it was in your mind?
1:13:21 -It was in my mind to do it.
1:13:23 -Yeah.
1:13:24 Well, what can happen?
1:13:25 -I’ve seen people in competitions.
1:13:27 -Smack themselves?
1:13:29 -Get knocked out.
1:13:30 Knocked out.
1:13:31 -Yeah?
1:13:31 -It's like crashing a car.
1:13:32 Pretty much the same impact.
1:13:34 And that's why we try the most to get
1:13:37 into a vertical line and to disappear in the water than...
1:13:40 [forceful splash] This is the line which you want to hit in the water.
1:13:45 Don't look down.
1:13:47 -Position here and step.
1:13:50 -Arms to the side because it gives you balance.
1:13:55 The first mistake you did it: the leg.
1:13:59 Straight.
1:14:00 The feet need to be flexed.
1:14:03 Straight.
1:14:05 Pushing forward.
1:14:06 Straight.
1:14:09 -You have to try to keep your head straight.
1:14:12 -If you want to look, the water don't want to go away.
1:14:14 She's gonna be always there.
1:14:15 [Paty Valente] Next we go up to 5 meters.
1:14:18 [David Blaine] Super tight.
1:14:19 [Jaki Valente] Super tight.
1:14:20 Squeeze your bum.
1:14:23 Let's go once again.
1:14:25 -You cannot do this.
1:14:28 -Your chest forward.
1:14:36 [David Blaine] Shall we try a last jump?
1:14:38 -Never last, one more.
1:14:40 -Yeah, yeah, yeah, shall we do one more?
1:14:44 [Jaki Valente] From 10 meters.
1:14:48 Keep your head straight.
1:14:56 [David Blaine] But the dive is only half of the picture.
1:15:10 -What if we just use a Zippo lighter?
1:15:13 This looks amazing.
1:15:15 [Dana Kunze] You've got to be extremely careful about this, David.
1:15:18 It's a very dangerous maneuver from a bridge on fire from that high.
1:15:22 [David Blaine] I called Dana Kunze.
1:15:24 He’s a dear friend.
1:15:25 [announcer] Dana Kunze will be the fifth man up the ladder, Dana’s only 22.
1:15:28 [David Blaine] Who broke the world record for the highest dive at 172 feet.
1:15:33 [announcer] Alright, the new champion!
1:15:35 [David Blaine] He also trains fire divers.
1:15:39 I started working with him about 15 years ago.
1:15:42 [Dana Kunze] I want you to remember too,
1:15:43 that when we were training in Florida before,
1:15:45 you were bruised purple from your ankles to your wrists.
1:15:50 [David Blaine] I also ended up shattering my tailbone,
1:15:53 which put a hard stop to everything.
1:15:55 What are your thoughts, Dana, on the main things that I should pay attention to?
1:15:59 [Dana Kunze] You know, typically in our shows we’re jumping from 32 feet.
1:16:03 My concern for you, because you’re diving from twice as high,
1:16:07 you’ve got twice the exposure for getting burnt.
1:16:11 In fact, we had a diver that got burnt up pretty bad.
1:16:14 I've got this picture here of what happened to him
1:16:18 when he caught the wind in the wrong direction.
1:16:26 [David Blaine] I'm so lucky to be surrounded
1:16:27 by some of the best experts in the world.
1:16:33 André somehow secured us exclusive access to this abandoned
1:16:36 fort to train for the fire jump.
1:16:52 [David Blaine] He wants to test what I'm capable of and assess
1:16:55 what I need to learn to see whether the bridge jump is possible.
1:17:00 [overlapping chatter] Thank you He wanted to do
1:17:09 this test at a location that's meaningful and historic.
1:17:13 So he brought me to the place that the French
1:17:15 use to call "the rat trap," or "le ratier." Incredible.
1:17:19 It's like a maze.
1:17:22 In 1555, France invaded modern-day Rio, fortifying the coast.
1:17:30 The fort later served as a maximum-security prison,
1:17:34 before falling to ruin over two decades ago.
1:17:38 So that goes to the roof?
1:17:40 Wow!
1:18:10 [David Blaine] André wants me to connect with fire.
1:18:14 [David Blaine] To respect it.
1:18:15 Ah.
1:18:16 Great.
1:18:17 -Yeah [David Blaine] But I need to learn
1:18:24 how much I can withstand before I get burned.
1:18:28 [Leo] You are the only person who can tell what the limit is.
1:18:30 -Yeah.
1:18:33 [Leo] Don’t let it cross the limit.
1:18:35 Three, two, one.
1:18:56 [David Blaine] It’s critical to hold my breath
1:18:58 starting the second I’m lit on fire.
1:19:04 -Yeah.
1:19:05 And to keep my eyes closed for the entire jump.
1:19:14 [David Blaine] I get it.
1:19:15 Time is the crucial factor.
1:19:31 [David Blaine] Take it off.
1:19:32 Yeah.
1:19:37 [David Blaine] I waited and it burnt.
1:19:40 [Leo] Let him put this on your arm real quick.
1:19:43 [David Blaine] Burn remedy.
1:19:48 [David Blaine] Yeah, yeah.
1:19:49 Let’s go outside.
1:20:06 -Yeah, and the key is that there are still
1:20:08 so many unknowns in this stunt that you’re doing.
1:20:10 And we got away with it.
1:20:13 -If this is our worst problem, we’re good.
1:20:14 -Yeah, we got away with it.
1:20:15 So far.
1:20:16 The amount of heat you felt there.
1:20:28 [Bas Pot] If we burn you, now, yeah?
1:20:31 We don’t get to our objective.
1:20:34 -Yeah.
1:20:40 I now know that from the moment they light me on fire,
1:20:43 I'll have less than 20 seconds to make it into that water...
1:20:48 [David Blaine] ...Before I’m in trouble.
1:20:50 [Leo] We’re moving, guys.
1:20:52 We’re moving.
1:20:55 -Everyone’s ready!
1:21:07 Go!
1:21:12 intense music playing] [Dana Kunze] Yeah, a fire burn,
1:21:34 with a 60-foot dive, is nothing to play with.
1:21:38 [David Blaine] I’m gonna walk on fire.
1:21:40 [Dana Kunze] Yeah.
1:21:41 [David Blaine] Up a platform which will go to the edge of the bridge.
1:21:43 [Dana Kunze] OK.
1:21:45 [David Blaine] I’ll only have 20 seconds.
1:21:46 [Dana Kunze] Yeah.
1:21:47 [David Blaine] And this is four times the height of my jump at the fort.
1:21:50 The bridge jump was just sifting in my brain for years.
1:21:54 I never would have imagined this stunt would happen in Brazil.
1:21:59 And it's all driven by this incredible crew.
1:22:02 -Where are you going to look?
1:22:03 -From a medical point of view, we'll be ready for anything.
1:22:06 [David Blaine] Yeah.
1:22:09 Her dream is the fire because she does the volcanoes.
1:22:12 And your dream is a high dive.
1:22:14 So I found the two of you to combine my dream and make it a possibility.
1:22:20 [Karina Oliani] For sure.
1:22:25 [David Blaine] Let’s get ready.
1:22:44 [Bas Pot] There she goes 7.7, 8.8.
1:22:51 [André Franco] Bas.
1:22:52 Bas.
1:22:53 Bas.
1:22:53 [Bas Pot] We are at 40 knots.
1:23:19 -No.
1:23:21 [Bas Pot] No jump.
1:23:26 -In this moment.
1:23:27 -No.
1:23:28 -No.
1:23:29 [Bas Pot] Go tell David that we’ve got to call it now.
1:23:33 -You need to find calm and peace within the chaos.
1:23:37 This is what André taught me.
1:23:40 Playing with fire, you're never fully in control.
1:23:47 But we're not giving up.
1:23:51 -Perfect -It's now what I love.
1:23:57 No one is here.
1:23:58 It's beautiful conditions.
1:24:01 And there's no wind.
1:24:07 At about 6:15 when the sun rises, I'm gonna do the jump.
1:24:27 -Woo!
1:24:30 -Wooooo!
1:24:36 [cheering] [Zippo flicking] [rippling flames]
1:25:04 [rippling flames][♪ intense music playing] [rippling
1:25:22 flames][♪ intense music playing] [heartbeat][♪ intense
1:25:57 music playing] [cheering] [David Blaine] Obrigado.
1:26:11 [cheering] I came to Brazil hoping to create one image that would tell a story.
1:26:27 But what we've done here tells many.
1:26:30 We've built something.
1:26:31 Together.
1:26:34 With Jaki and Paty, who bring grace and heart to everything they do.
1:26:40 And Karina, who stares down the impossible.
1:26:48 [David Blaine] And André, who put all of the pieces together.
1:26:51 That was a life-changing experience.
1:27:05 [David Blaine] It’s a country with an energy that just sweeps you away.
1:27:12 The discoveries, the beauty, the people, and their generous spirit.
1:27:21 I’ve learned so much from so many.
1:27:23 And I will never, ever, ever forget this.
1:27:41 dramatic music playing][♪ dramatic music
1:28:00 playing][♪ dramatic music playing] [David
1:28:49 Blaine] Growing up I never felt like I fit in.
1:28:53 I wasn't the fastest or the strongest.
1:28:57 But I found a skill that set me apart...
1:29:01 endurance.
1:29:05 It all began with extreme cold.
1:29:13 This became my lifelong obsession.
1:29:22 To discover things that seem impossible, magical, death-defying.
1:29:35 [thud] [thud] I'm traveling to the Arctic Circle in the middle of winter.
1:29:50 This is Lapland where Finland meets Norway, Sweden, and Russia.
1:29:56 It's a punishing environment.
1:29:59 During this time of the year,
1:30:00 temperatures can drop to negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
1:30:06 It's sparsely populated.
1:30:09 And in this part of the world, there are more reindeer than people.
1:30:13 -One, two, three.
1:30:21 upbeat music playing] [David Blaine] It's
1:30:24 an unusual place to go searching for magic.
1:30:27 In this snow-covered wilderness.
1:30:30 It's what you would imagine the ultimate winter wonderland to be.
1:30:35 But I'm on a search for people who
1:30:37 endure this freezing environment to perform superhuman feats.
1:30:45 [screams] -All right.
1:30:51 Don't die!
1:30:54 Yeah!
1:30:58 intense music playing] [thud] Oh, yeah!
1:31:06 [Ken screams victoriously] [David Blaine] Oh!
1:31:09 Damn!
1:31:09 -That was good.
1:31:11 -Oh my God!
1:31:12 -That was so fun.
1:31:14 -What?!
1:31:15 Whoa!
1:31:18 -I look up at like 1,000 feet of just flat rock with snowy tops,
1:31:22 and it's just so mighty, and I feel stronger every time.
1:31:27 [screams] [David Blaine] Ken has been called the last Viking on earth.
1:31:33 [Ken Stornes] I draw my power from the Vikings.
1:31:38 They would scream their way into battle.
1:31:41 They would run towards death without fear.
1:31:43 [thud] Wooo-hooo!
1:31:47 [David Blaine] He’s from Norway where the "Death Dive" was created.
1:31:51 -A Norwegian death dive,
1:31:52 it looks like you are going to land flat on your stomach.
1:31:54 But in the last millisecond, you tuck in and protect yourself.
1:31:59 [David Blaine] In 2023, Ken broke the world record for the highest death
1:32:03 dive when he jumped 132 feet into a fjord.
1:32:08 -The hard thing for that jump was definitely the mental barriers because it's,
1:32:13 it's high enough to definitely kill you.
1:32:20 You have to be OK with the outcome.
1:32:37 Did my first, like, backflip on the ground, when I was 15, around then.
1:32:41 -And then did you have dive training?
1:32:43 -No, that was something we did, like a result of many years of gym,
1:32:48 like doing tricking and parkour and gymnastics and then it just like evolved.
1:32:54 [David Blaine] Ken transforms the landscape into his own playground.
1:33:04 -This is the ancient art of getting to know
1:33:06 the snow before you jump in it, you know?
1:33:09 You got to befriend the snow so it doesn't hurt us tomorrow.
1:33:12 It's been something we've, like, made jokes about.
1:33:14 But I kind of feel it's true, too.
1:33:15 I feel like to get to know the snow and get to know the nature and pay respects.
1:33:20 You ready for this?
1:33:21 -Yes.
1:33:21 -Let’s go!
1:33:23 triumphant music playing Richard Wagner "Ride of the Valkyries"]
1:33:48 [snowmobile approaching] [David Blaine] We found an area
1:33:56 with high cliffs and enough snowfall for Ken
1:33:58 to teach me a bit of his jumping techniques.
1:34:02 -No rocks.
1:34:02 Should be good.
1:34:03 -Yeah?
1:34:04 -Make sure your face is protected.
1:34:06 You wanna use your elbows to shoot in.
1:34:09 When you feel like you’re flying, try to meet the ground.
1:34:12 -Yeah.
1:34:13 -Meet the ground and smack it.
1:34:21 [David Blaine] When I get up to the top it actually looks and feels much higher.
1:34:25 And for Ken, this isn't even a warm-up jump.
1:34:28 I suddenly understand how much mental discipline his jumps demand.
1:34:33 [Ken Stornes] 3, 2, 1.
1:34:35 Go!
1:34:43 [thud and grunt][♪ inquisitive music playing] You good?
1:35:00 [David Blaine] Yeah, I took a neck shot.
1:35:07 I'm just kidding.
1:35:11 -There's one more thing I want you to see.
1:35:20 -This is crazy.
1:35:29 dramatic music playing] [splash] Whoa!
1:35:44 [Ken screams victoriously] Watching you, that's something I really respect.
1:35:51 That, like, commitment to one idea.
1:35:53 Magic is that.
1:35:55 Cause everything else disappears.
1:35:57 -Yeah, like you have to know the risk and you have to feel the fear.
1:36:01 -Yeah.
1:36:01 -But before it’s like,
1:36:02 you just have to remove every like, limitations in your mind.
1:36:07 To be able to overcome it.
1:36:09 -Yeah.
1:36:12 Ken's right.
1:36:13 It's important to understand the risks and be prepared.
1:36:18 For my first televised stunt, I wasn't.
1:36:22 I failed on live TV when I tried to remain encased
1:36:25 in a block of ice for three days and three nights.
1:36:29 It started with the initial idea of I just love
1:36:32 how ice looks and then I started thinking what if,
1:36:37 what if I can be inside of it?
1:36:42 I committed to doing it in the most public place possible.
1:36:50 I wanted to break myself out of the ice at the end.
1:36:54 But at 63 hours my safety team ended the stunt
1:36:57 early because I was hallucinating and on the brink of collapse.
1:37:03 [reporter] He’s been held together by spit and adrenaline inside...
1:37:05 the adrenaline is now gone.
1:37:07 We gotta make sure he doesn’t go into shock.
1:37:12 [David Blaine] I was destroyed.
1:37:14 The ice had done more damage to me than any stunt that I've ever done.
1:37:19 Being in the block of ice changed my outlook on everything.
1:37:23 I pushed my mind and body to the breaking point.
1:37:32 That failure is what led me to this search.
1:37:37 For people who are mentally tough in the most extreme environments.
1:37:44 Now I'm going to meet Inka Cagnasso, a world-class Finnish skydiver.
1:37:50 Watching Inka dance in the sky,
1:37:53 it's easy to forget the risks involved especially in this climate.
1:37:59 Wow.
1:38:00 Jeez.
1:38:04 That is unbelievable.
1:38:06 [Inka Cagnasso] When I was a kid, I went through the dark,
1:38:09 cold winters like walking to school when it's like minus
1:38:12 30 Celsius and you really need to find a mindset.
1:38:18 You just need to toughen up.
1:38:23 [David Blaine] It takes real endurance to train
1:38:24 for hours on end in the wind tunnel,
1:38:27 let alone to fly in subzero temperatures as Inka does.
1:38:33 One of my favorite activities is jumping out of airplanes.
1:38:36 I've done it more than 500 times; the feeling is exhilarating.
1:38:42 But I've never done it in these freezing conditions,
1:38:45 which makes it much more dangerous.
1:38:50 Wow.
1:38:52 -Hey.
1:38:52 -Nice to meet you.
1:38:53 -Nice to meet you.
1:38:55 -How many hours do you have?
1:38:56 -I have like over five and half thousand hours now.
1:39:00 -Wow!
1:39:01 -Yeah it's a lot.
1:39:02 You ready to play?
1:39:05 [David Blaine] Inka is taking me on an Arctic skydive,
1:39:08 where I'll experience the coldest natural environment that I've ever been in.
1:39:13 But first, she wants to test our ability to jump together.
1:39:17 Inka's longtime collaborator, Lauri, is joining us.
1:39:21 -When we’re watching beautiful videos of skydiving we
1:39:26 don’t see the part that’s just so important, which is the camera flyer.
1:39:34 [David Blaine] Lauri’s camera is strapped to his helmet,
1:39:36 and it's heavier than a bowling ball.
1:39:39 -Stacking those nine kilos to your head and then jumping
1:39:42 out of the plane and going 300 kilometers towards the ground...
1:39:48 ...is a bit nuts.
1:39:52 [wind gusts] -It's a huge airfield.
1:39:58 -But I see these patches of ice.
1:40:00 -The runway and all the bit, like, that's very slippery.
1:40:04 [David Blaine] Three years ago I had a bad landing and I broke my ankle.
1:40:10 I broke the bone in multiple places.
1:40:12 Ripped three ligaments and, I never really recovered the ankle.
1:40:16 And because of this accident, I stopped skydiving.
1:40:20 [Inka Cagnasso] I can see that it's at the back of his head,
1:40:22 like is this going to happen again?
1:40:25 Am I potentially going to hurt my ankle again?
1:40:27 [David Blaine] The longer I didn't skydive,
1:40:29 the more difficult it has become to get back into the sport.
1:40:32 But jumping with Inka here presents a rare and beautiful opportunity to build
1:40:36 back both my confidence and push my ability to tolerate the cold.
1:40:42 But any time you skydive in freezing
1:40:45 temperatures you need to consider other risks.
1:40:48 Your equipment is more likely to malfunction and your response
1:40:52 time is much slower because the cold numbs your extremities.
1:40:59 [Inka Cagnasso] Let’s do it!
1:41:00 -Do it!
1:41:06 [David Blaine] We want to get up in the air as soon
1:41:08 as we can because the clouds are starting to come in.
1:41:13 The clouds cover distorts depth perception
1:41:16 which makes landing much more dangerous.
1:41:19 [Inka Cagnasso] Woo!
1:41:24 [David Blaine] At 12,000 feet,
1:41:26 the temperatures will drop to negative 40 degrees.
1:41:31 I've decided to jump in a T-shirt which will give me more mobility.
1:41:49 uplifting music playing] [Inka Cagnasso] It was so beautiful above the clouds.
1:42:00 I was having the time of my life.
1:42:03 David was smiling.
1:42:09 [Lauri Aapro] I have roughly 45 seconds
1:42:11 in a free-fall to capture Inka doing her magic.
1:42:18 But as I open my parachute I start having problems.
1:42:25 My goggles are getting fogged.
1:42:28 The clouds and snow are making it harder to see how close I am to the ground.
1:42:35 Then when I start to flare my canopy, my steering lines are tangled.
1:42:41 I realize that I'm coming in too fast.
1:42:49 [crash and scrape] [Lauri groans] [Inka Cagnasso] I saw him laying
1:43:02 on the ground and he was not moving for, like way too long.
1:43:07 [Lauri groans] I started running.
1:43:12 And thanks, God, I saw him moving again.
1:43:15 I’ve lost a lot of friends in this sport
1:43:18 and whenever something like this happens it’s very triggering.
1:43:29 [David Blaine] Are you OK?
1:43:31 There are so many unknowns in this sport.
1:43:34 Your chute might not open.
1:43:36 You, your goggles might fog up.
1:43:38 Anything can happen.
1:43:41 -I suffered spinal fractures.
1:43:46 But I am also super grateful to walk away from it.
1:43:53 -There's a word in Finnish language that's called sisu,
1:43:58 which would probably translate to something like persistence or stubbornness.
1:44:06 Like you watch me.
1:44:07 I’m going to get it done.
1:44:11 -The doctors asked me if I'm gonna fly again.
1:44:15 I said, yes, of course.
1:44:21 I just needed to take care of my mind first and then build back my body.
1:44:32 [David Blaine] I was so concerned that he was
1:44:34 never going to fly again because of his broken back.
1:44:39 But in just a matter of months, he returned to the wind tunnel.
1:44:44 Lauri is an incredible example of perseverance and determination.
1:44:56 -Sisu is a mindset, having to survive in harsh weather.
1:45:00 Yeah, it toughens you up.
1:45:02 [David Blaine] Christian is a great
1:45:04 magician that I’ve collaborated with for decades.
1:45:07 He’s invited me to Helsinki to see some
1:45:09 incredible acts that you can only find here.
1:45:15 band music playing] [Christian Engblom] There's only light,
1:45:19 a few hours per day during the winter.
1:45:23 So it allows your creativity to flourish and come up with new ideas.
1:45:28 -One, two, three, four!
1:45:31 upbeat music playing] [Christian Engblom] I'm
1:45:37 taking David to see a performance taking
1:45:39 place on circular plates of ice spinning on top of the frozen Baltic Sea.
1:45:49 It's called an ice carousel.
1:45:57 So if someone were to ask me what would be unique about Finnish magic.
1:46:01 These guys.
1:46:10 upbeat music playing] [applause] This is Salla.
1:46:33 dramatic music playing] -I feel very alive when I'm up there.
1:46:50 And I feel like the audience is with me.
1:47:05 I want the audience to actually forget the freezing cold.
1:47:17 [Christian Engblom] Salla isn’t just an aerialist;
1:47:21 she is also one of the best female ice divers.
1:47:30 [David Blaine] When Salla unexpectedly drops through the ice,
1:47:33 you can feel the energy of the crowd shift.
1:47:37 It's as if the audience is now holding their breath along with her.
1:47:43 It's what made my favorite magician, Harry Houdini, so captivating.
1:47:54 [applause and cheers] Hi!
1:47:57 -Hi, nice to meet you, David.
1:47:58 -Nice to meet...
1:47:59 That was amazing!
1:48:00 -Thank you!
1:48:02 [announcer] He is fighting it, he is fighting it.
1:48:06 [David Blaine] When I attempted the world record for breathholding,
1:48:08 I started blacking out and my safety team had to intervene and rescue me.
1:48:14 Just like they had to when I was encased in a block of ice.
1:48:19 Watching Salla combine breathholding and cold endurance,
1:48:22 I want to see what else she can do.
1:48:27 So she's taking me to a training camp to introduce me to her team.
1:48:38 -So what we have here today is we have the depth ropes so they can dive down.
1:48:45 [David Blaine] Free diving is one of the riskiest
1:48:47 underwater sports where you dive without any breathing apparatus.
1:48:52 But under the ice, it's exponentially more dangerous.
1:48:57 If you are in 60-degree water, you can hold your breath no problem.
1:49:00 Four minutes five minutes each time.
1:49:02 But when you are in the Arctic and it's below zero, it's very easy to blackout.
1:49:09 A wetsuits gives you insulation and significantly prolongs
1:49:11 the amount of time that you can spend underwater.
1:49:19 Where else do they even do this kind of ice diving?
1:49:22 There can't be that many places in the world.
1:49:25 -No there aren’t really many.
1:49:29 [David Blaine] Miro and Salla see free diving as much more than a sport.
1:49:33 -We have basically an underwater floor flipped upside down.
1:49:38 -Oh right.
1:49:38 I didn’t even think of that.
1:49:40 You have a surface here.
1:49:42 -We can definitely show you some of that.
1:49:43 -We can show you.
1:49:45 Alright?
1:49:46 -Yep.
1:49:46 -Ten seconds.
1:49:48 -Okay.
1:50:19 tranquil music playing] -That looks amazing.
1:50:31 Miro and Salla's performance is dreamlike.
1:50:36 But it's most people's nightmare.
1:50:39 To be trapped under ice with no way out.
1:50:43 -Here the ice is one meter thick.
1:50:47 So there is no way out if you don’t find the hole.
1:50:51 You get lost once, you get lost forever.
1:50:56 -Being trapped under ice is one of the greatest nightmares.
1:51:00 -How do you feel about it?
1:51:02 -Well, for me, I'm excited.
1:51:03 [laughter] [wind gusts] [David Blaine] I want to try something I've never done,
1:51:16 holding my breath while under the ice.
1:51:20 So we're headed 600 miles north to a training ground in the Arctic Circle.
1:51:28 -It will be nice to go under for you to see what is,
1:51:32 what it’s like down there, and how it feels.
1:51:36 [David Blaine] I want to go under the ice in the most extreme way possible.
1:51:42 -At first, you're gonna go with the wetsuit?
1:51:45 -What fun is a wet suit!
1:51:48 -It’s up to you man.
1:51:49 [David Blaine] But they’ve convinced me to wear a mask
1:51:51 because exposing your eyes to these temperatures is very painful.
1:52:03 [Miro Suonpera] We have the 3-meter cable which goes around
1:52:06 your waist and we have 3-meter radius around the rope.
1:52:10 [David Blaine] So what’s the line for?
1:52:12 [Salla Hakanpaa] You should be wearing the lanyard.
1:52:14 Something happens to you, you can lose your grip.
1:52:15 -Anything can happen even though the distance is small.
1:52:19 Anything can happen actually.
1:52:21 -There are really no room for mistakes when you are ice diving.
1:52:28 This afternoon is about finding David’s limits.
1:52:31 What we want to see is how he reacts.
1:52:34 Is he panicking?
1:52:48 [David Blaine] Yes, it's extremely cold
1:52:50 and the environment is extremely hostile.
1:52:54 But it's so beautiful.
1:52:59 Wow, wow, that's [bleep] amazing!
1:53:07 In order to do multiple dives without going into hypothermia,
1:53:11 you need intense heat to bring your core temperature up.
1:53:16 That is why the sauna is so critical to this process.
1:53:20 The sauna was actually created in Finland more than 1,000 years
1:53:24 ago and it's a key safety component for this extreme sport.
1:53:32 As soon as I leave the sauna I have limited time.
1:53:37 The team created a safety track 27 feet long with two exit points.
1:53:42 I'll train to dive from one opening to the next without a wetsuit.
1:53:47 -As you are going along by pulling the rope.
1:53:50 You want to take as long strokes as possible.
1:53:53 -OK.
1:53:54 -So reach the rope as far you can.
1:53:56 Pull as slow as you can.
1:53:57 -OK.
1:53:59 -You take the same breathing techniques as you do before.
1:54:02 -I'll do three first.
1:54:03 -Yeah.
1:54:04 -OK.
1:54:08 They're teaching me how to conserve oxygen while
1:54:10 pulling my body because with every single movement,
1:54:14 I'm quickly depleting my reserves.
1:54:21 -The body uses an enormous amount of energy.
1:54:26 So the further the coldness, sort of, gets in...
1:54:29 ...the sooner you get really tired and it reduces the breath hold time.
1:54:36 [David Blaine] Once I understood that I could do this length,
1:54:38 then I said, okay, well wait, can we double it?
1:54:42 Okay, can we triple it?
1:54:51 [Miro Suonpera] One good thing to measure that is
1:54:53 the, is the feelings inside of your, uh, body and brain.
1:54:57 If you lose your focus for just, just a few seconds,
1:55:00 you may get disorientated and you may not know that way to go.
1:55:05 So that's the reason why it's important to stay focused under there.
1:55:11 A few years back there was a world record set on 106 meters in ice diving.
1:55:21 I wanted to break that record.
1:55:32 I knew that that dive is going to be very, very close to my limits.
1:55:38 And I knew that it could be even over, over my limits.
1:55:45 There was some marks like 25 meters, 50 meters, 75.
1:55:51 87 is the last mark I remember.
1:55:56 [Tommi Pasanen] I saw him slow down.
1:55:59 And there was a bubble coming out of his mouth,
1:56:03 which means that he was blacking out.
1:56:06 I, I started realizing that, okay,
1:56:09 maybe I will have to catch him and bring him up.
1:56:16 [overlapping Finnish chatter] [Miro Suonpera] The next thing I remember,
1:56:22 I woke up and they were shouting me to breathe.
1:56:26 [David Blaine] There's a big difference to holding your breath the way
1:56:29 I’ve done it my entire life versus holding it while under ice.
1:56:34 Everything can shut down quickly and you can black out within seconds.
1:56:41 -It was intense and because it was a certain distance he, he tried.
1:56:46 You will let him try till the very end that he can.
1:56:50 So at the last minute of course we bring him up.
1:56:54 You always trust your life to your friends like.
1:56:57 -Yeah.
1:56:57 -It’s in their hands eventually.
1:57:05 [David Blaine] As I train the exits continuously freeze
1:57:08 over and the team has to keep re-cutting the holes.
1:57:13 You cut through this?
1:57:14 -Two hours ago.
1:57:16 -And it’s already frozen over that quick?
1:57:18 -Yeah.
1:57:20 [David Blaine] What Miro says gives me an idea.
1:57:24 When I was in the block of ice, my safety team had to cut me out.
1:57:29 Now my goal is to escape on my own.
1:57:32 I'll free dive 90 feet across to the only exit point which will be frozen solid.
1:57:38 And this time I'll do it without wearing a mask.
1:57:43 I'll be trapped under the ice and will be forced to break my way out.
1:57:48 When you're under the ice, trying to break through this is much more difficult.
1:57:56 Yeah.
1:57:58 [Salla Hakanpaa] What’s sort of an extra factor
1:58:02 in this is that there’s no holes in between.
1:58:10 It’s deadly dangerous.
1:58:14 Especially when he’s not wearing any protective gear or a mask.
1:58:20 [David Blaine] When I was in the block of ice I was 27.
1:58:23 I'm now 50 years old.
1:58:25 My body is completely different.
1:58:28 Every single thing that I do I feel the effects
1:58:31 of it in a way that I've never felt before.
1:58:47 The distance is 3 times what I did in training.
1:58:55 I need to conserve every bit of oxygen so I have
1:58:58 enough reserves to be able to break out before I black out.
1:59:18 dramatic music playing][♪ dramatic music playing][♪ dramatic
1:59:45 music playing] [faint ticking] [underwater thuds] [underwater
2:00:10 thuds] [ice cracking] [underwater thuds] [ice cracking]
2:00:54 Whatever failures I experienced from past stunts, maybe they weren't failures,
2:01:01 maybe they were supposed to be because it all led me here.
2:01:06 You guys are amazing!
2:01:09 Meeting these extraordinary people.
2:01:13 Who through their strength and persistence create magic!
2:01:19 Who seek out the most intense moments.
2:01:23 To find a heightened sense of awareness.
2:01:27 Where everything becomes clear.
2:01:33 When something's that challenging or that powerful,
2:01:38 there are no more distractions,
2:01:40 and through that, you can discover the beauty around you.
2:01:55 upbeat music playing][♪ upbeat music playing]