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(NEW YORK) — David Blaine’s been doing magic for more than 20 years, but he’s only now touring North America. Says Blaine, “It took this long to figure out what would make sense.”
“This is a combination of magic and endurance and everything that I’ve worked on my whole life, plus new things, all combined into one evening,” Blaine explains. “So the idea of combining everything back to back, night after night, all in one night, is a real ambitious goal.”
If you’ve only seen Blaine perform on TV, he says this tour is your chance to confirm there’s no camera trickery involved. You can also see his mistakes.
“On TV…if something didn’t go exactly as planned, we can shoot again and again until it’s right,” he tells ABC Radio. “Live, when something goes not-as-planned, you live it with the audience and…and in my case, not-as-planned could be very, very dangerous.”
Blaine says he much prefers touring to that magicians’ cliche: the Las Vegas residency.
“What’s nice about this show is that it kinda comes and then it goes, and it may never come back again,” he explains. “It’s more special that way.”
Blaine has performed for presidents and world leaders, but he says there’s no need for him to perform for President Donald Trump — not only has he already done it, he gives Trump credit for helping his career.
“He’s the one that gave me the land for my very first stunt,” Blaine reveals. “In 1999, when I was buried alive, it was on Trump’s property. He took a nice risk letting me just do a random ‘bury myself alive’ in the middle of New York City. For an unknown at that time, it was really cool…he’s been always great with things like that.”
Here are Blaine’s remaining tour dates:
6/21 — Murat Theatre Indianapolis, IN
6/23 — Hard Rock Live Northfield, OH
6/24 — Taft Theatre Cincinnati, OH
6/25 — Byham Theater Pittsburgh, PA
6/27 — Crouse-Hinds Theater Syracuse, NY
6/28 — Hanover Theatre For Perf. Arts Worcester, MA
6/30 — Merrill Auditorium At City Hall Portland, ME
7/1 — Flynn Center For The Performing Arts Burlington, VT
7/2 — Capitol Center for the Arts – Chubb Theatre Concord, NH
7/4 — Centre In The Square Kitchener, ON
7/5 — FirstOntario Centre Hamilton, ON
7/7 — Sands Bethlehem Event Center Bethlehem, PA
7/8 — Hippodrome Theatre / France-Merrick Perf. Arts Ctr. Baltimore, MD
7/09 — Chrysler Hall Norfolk, VA
7/11 — Ovens Auditorium Charlotte, NC
7/12 — The Louisville Palace Theatre Louisville, KY
7/14 — Ryman Auditorium Nashville, TN
7/15 — Concert Hall At The BJCC Birmingham, AL
7/16 — Saenger Theatre New Orleans, LA
7/18 — Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater Austin, TX
7/19 — Majestic Theatre San Antonio, TX
7/21 — The Plaza Theatre El Paso, TX
7/22 — Fox Tucson Theatre Tucson, AZ
7/23 — Kiva Auditorium Albuquerque, NM
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