David Blaine finishes Vegas show after surviving an injury from 80-foot jump onstage
David Blaine dislocated his shoulder over the weekend during his Las Vegas residency at Resorts World Theatre, but the show must go on, and so it did.
Blaine’s injury occurred when he jumped from an 80-foot-tall platform above the audience and into a pile of cardboard boxes, the casino and Anschutz Entertainment Group said in a statement.
The stunt was a part of the Brooklyn magician’s opening act. The casino said a number of doctors in the crowd assisted Blaine in relocating his right arm as he “experienced extreme pain and discomfort.”
“After a short delay, Blaine was able to continue with the show, in pain, but in good humor,” the casino and event promoters said.
Many of L.A.’s emerging and established magicians share and hone tricks in private ‘magic jams.’
Blaine posted a succinct message Sunday on his Instagram commenting, “Wow that hurt!” with a video that showed the moment when the doctors popped the arm back into place.
Video recorded by an audience member captured both the jump and the aftermath, as Blaine was slow to get up from the boxes. “Hold on, watch the right arm,” he is heard saying as members of his emergency medical crew tried to help him up.
The video also showed the doctors massaging and tugging on Blaine’s shoulder and arm as he lay on the stage as audience members looked on. The procedure took about 30 minutes, according to the video, after which the crowd erupted in applause.
It’s not a record, but seven minutes without breathing isn’t bad. ABC’s ‘Drowned Alive,’ on the other hand, is a dead bore.
“Well, this has never happened before,” Blaine said, smiling.
He’s no stranger to injuries that have occurred during the residency, which so far has lasted 10 shows.
During the previous night’s show, Blaine nearly blacked out during an underwater breath-holding act, in which he stayed in the tank for a little more than 10 minutes, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He said it was the closest he had come to blacking out onstage.
And in December, Blaine pierced his left palm after slamming his hand onto a cup that concealed an ice pick, the Review-Journal said.
Two people were killed and several concertgoers were injured Sunday during a crowd surge at a Rochester, N.Y., concert featuring rapper GloRilla.
“My Las Vegas residency is filled with many of my favorite acts that I love in magic, and stunts that push me beyond my limits,” Blaine said in the casino’s statement. “Even though I have trained much of my entire life, there is an implicit danger when you are pushing yourself to make possible what feels impossible.”
He is not expected to take any time off and plans to perform again in regularly scheduled shows in April and through July.
Blaine is known for performing Houdini-esque stunts, such as in New York in 1997, when he submerged himself in a water-filled tank while inside a small plastic coffin before emerging seven days later.
An Australian woman said she was injured after Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose tossed his microphone into the crowd during a concert.
During a stunt in 2002, he stood on a 100-foot pillar in New York’s Bryant Park for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes. He suffered a concussion in that fall.
In recent years, Blaine has mostly been known for his ABC specials, with smaller audiences and lower stakes, performing magic tricks in the homes of celebrities such as Will Smith, Bryan Cranston, LeBron James and Tom Brady.
Blaine has also faced allegations of sexual assault, first from a former model who accused him or rape in London in 2017, then from multiple women who alleged they were sexually assaulted in New York City in 2019. However, no charges were filed in either case, according to the Daily Beast, which broke the stories. Blaine denied the accusations.
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