Everything you need to know about David Blaines new stunt, Ascension – British GQ

Ever since I was a kid, Ive dreamed of flying, David Blaine intones in the trailer for his new stunt, Ascension. Clearly nobody told him about aeroplanes, because Blaine recently announced plans to fly high over the Hudson River, which divides New York from New Jersey, in what he has described as his most ambitious project. And this is coming from a man who spent seven days buried alive in a coffin, stood encased in a block of ice for 63 hours, went without food for 44 days and held his breath live on TV for 17 minutes. Heres everything you need to know about Ascension.

Depending on your age, Blaines going to do a sort of tribute act to either Mary Poppins or Pixars Up by floating over the Hudson strapped underneath a bunch of helium balloons at approximately 25,000 feet on 31 August. Blaine has said he hopes to reach the height of Mount Everest, which is 29,029 feet high.

Live on YouTube on 31 August. Presumably, if youre near the river on the day, you might be able to watch it in person, but Blaine hasnt been able to confirm a location yet due to varied wind conditions.

Its hard not to imagine the glee with which the websites execs will be looking forward to the viewing figures; whether the man falls to his death like poor Franz Reichelt or floats sedately across the river to touch down safely on the other side, the spectacle sounds pretty amazing.

Obviously, the frisson of excitement comes from the fact that we dont really know. Even by Blaines standards, this is pretty ambitious he told Joe Rogan on the latters podcast that it was a crazy idea and recounted a series of horrendous stories about his near-misses and injuries sustained during preparation. It has also been pointed out just quite how alone he will be during his flight, unlike his other stunts when he had assistance and emergency services on hand at every point, though he will have emergency oxygen on hand during the flight.

But, given how accomplished an illusionist Blaine is, wed put money on it being a resounding success. Blaines taken serious steps to prepare, including 500 skydives, earning a hot-air balloon pilot certificate and a different, unspecified qualification for flying helium balloons. He has also learned to read the wind, which initially sounds like something out of an anime, but is probably quite useful if hes ever planning on becoming a pilot or yachtsman.

A short shopping list of first-year medical degree terminology, most notably hypoxia, where a lack of oxygen causes the mind to slow and thinking becomes confused, and hypothermia, which you probably know about already. Then theres the less scientific balloon failure situation, which would result in his swift transformation into a pavement pizza somewhere in suburban Newark, NJ. Blaines not wearing a parachute to go up into the air, initially, because he wants the visual image to look like his childhood dream of holding on to the balloons and floating, but he will put one on once hes above 1,000 feet. Alternatively, the helium balloons can just keep on rising and rising until they reach an upper limit of 84,000 feet, roughly twice the altitude a commercial aeroplane cruises at.

Not really, no. Many illusionists, mentalists, confidence tricksters, hypnotists and endurance stuntmen reject the idea of claiming their achievements are magic, if that means anything like done with powers that defy the laws of science. Blaine is no different and will carry out the stunt with a huge team of experts backing him up, including the weather experts, aerial engineers and (hilariously, especially when said in Blaines deadpan delivery) the worlds leading balloonists. So, all in all, hes in good hands.

David Blaine: Ascension will broadcast live on YouTube on 31 August.

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Everything you need to know about David Blaines new stunt, Ascension - British GQ