DAVID BLAINE: Why Comfort Is Killing You (& How Pain Woke Me Up)

The first time I ever saw you you were suspended in this box in the middle of London you were in it for 44 days I was on the edge of irreversible organ failure I do have effects that haven't recovered since and that was 22 years ago the world over for a street magic and endurance stun I love the reactions you get doing these tricks the human endurance part is what's so fascinating about it just went For it it took an x-ray the knife was on the edge of the nervous system it was really at that

like exact line when you're out of your comfort zone when you're breaking that how do you get out of that well this series did that what's the illusion that's kept you up the most [Music] nights body is capable of of doing things that science and doctors don't even imagine could be possible is there anything that you're actually scared Of the number one Health and Wellness podcast J shett J shett the one the only J sh David I get to sit down with a lot of cool people but when I heard you were coming on and

we we made this happen I honestly I felt like a kid the whole time you got captivated by a Subway trick when you were like four years old like that's what kind of introduced you into this world what what was that trick it also it was a bunch of things so I Had a friend that one of his relatives gave him a a trick called Scotch and Soda which is just it's like a half dooll changes with the English but but anyway so he couldn't figure out how to do it and immediately I understood it

and I was able to do it and present as a trick so that that was one thing another thing was seeing the guys in Coney Island that would do sword swing or rope tricks things like that then people that were in the Subways I would watch the Three card Monty gu so I think it was like a constant you know for some reason that's the stuff I was most attracted to and I loved how cards felt you know so they're almost for me meditative like the way they feel in my hands it's I think even

before I even knew what to do with them I would almost just like meditate because I was holding them so it was really interesting almost like a digital fixation I just became I guess like a security blanket almost you know Yeah and then when I realized I could make my mother I could change her day by doing a simple magic trick it was kind of like the beginning of my love performing and then I would only do it for her and her friends and they would all react and that was one part of the journey

but yeah it is seeing little performances seeing a book of Harry Houdini and seeing him chained to the side of a building watching him dangle over the edge of a building so yeah it's A collective but it all processed early on yeah when when did your mother realize that this was a gift and not just a cute kid who could do some tricks I could have done anything and that that was the you know what I mean so it wasn't like oh my son has a no but it's like like everything I did she was

like that's beautiful yeah that's really beautiful man so it's not like I had any special gift I didn't but I had a mother that believed that I had you know what I Mean so she encouraged it just by being so excited and so you know yeah well I'm having a moment now because just before we went on you showed me a video of your daughter performing and I was thinking you were doing the same thing like when I saw you were watching that video you probably watched a million times by the way your daughter is

so talented Des is phenomenally talented I can't wait to see her perform live but you were looking at that video like it was the First time you'd seen it and you were so proud as a proud dad to show it to me I'm thinking you're like mirroring your mom's energy that's true it's really special it's it's amazing to see that what what does it feel like to you now when you're watching Desa perform and watching her do anything I'm like mind blown it's incredible you know so if she draws something if she write something she

makes something whatever she does it's Like I was saying to you when you walked in today that the first time I ever saw you was in 2003 you were doing your act above the below and you were suspended 30t up or something maybe higher in this box in the middle of London and you were in it for 4 four days you survived on like four and a half liters of water a day yeah and I think you lost like 60 lbs and I used to come wave at you but you don't remember me I remember

the good Energy that was something that changed my my the everything about the way I think that one messed up my metabolism which is hence the the side effects of it but it it was absolutely one of the most beautiful compelling experiences aside from that it was a stunt and I did do it publicly because if so I feel like if I didn't do this publicly I could have never committed to doing that type of a fast and I was obsessed with with fasting because every time I would fast You become aware of everything around

you that you normally ignore because we spend so much time thinking about oh what am I going to have for breakfast what am I going to have for lunch who am I going to see for what are we going to do for dinner and your day is consumed by the but as soon as you remove all of that suddenly you have like all this brain activity and it's incredible that's one of the the the best things for me about fasting is that and every Stunt that I'd done was up to that point was I fasted

just so I wouldn't have to use a toilet right so for me the fasting was one of the things that I was most excited about so I decided to make it into a stunt 44 days and I knew that the only way that I would actually do it is if I publicly committed to it but so even though it was difficult and I was suffering it was one of the most beautiful experiences the people I connected with it was like I would get Emotional just by like looking at somebody you know and and I could

never do something like that again so I think I was on the edge of irreversible organ failure or something I think I did go on the threshold but it's funny because I studied I studied I studied yogis I studied all these the the hunger Strikers I I read you know Bobby sanss I read all the books about the people that push themselves to the edge and some were doing it as a protest Some were doing it for enlightenment but all the things that I read about it were kind of similar it's it's like there are

certain beats there are certain things that happen in a few days you lose your hunger but it has to be pure water it has to be nothing but water if you have other things you keep your metabolism going but and I don't recommend it obviously because I I do have effects that haven't recovered since and that was what 2003 so it was 22 years ago but There's like 20 on around 28 days it says that you suddenly have this pear taste in your mouth and around day 28 I started to think that they were putting

sugar in my water so I would pour the water out to people walking by and I would say could you check could you could you tell because I didn't trust my team I thought they were like involved in keeping me alive so I was like could you is there is that sweet they go no it's just Water but but you could taste it because of that pear taste in happens during starvation and then then the other thing you lose the hunger first around a month you get that pear taste but then around like day 39

I started to have really strange heart palp ations and you start to feel like you're eating your body that's where it starts to become you you start to become aware of that pain but through that pain you find this this other thing that's like the most Beautiful experience that I've ever felt so it's amazing that you were there for that that's amazing I mean but hearing about it from the person who actually lived through it is pretty remarkable and I wonder though like one thing I love about you David is that these are not just

tricks or experiments these are things that you research you read there's a story that inspires it there's a experiment that happened years ago that inspires something you do these are Not just you know manufactured things they they're really deep parts of things you're fascinated by how did you start to come across stories ideas images that inspired these tricks where did that come from well I started fasting actually I read Sid artha by home H when I was young I think like 11 12 1 around around that time and and his character fasts Waits and and

learns how to take control over his mind and body and I was fascinated with that principle and then I would just try to test myself with simple things you know enduring the cold holding my breath things like that but I think it started earlier and then I connected to it with that and then fasting was I wanted to bury myself alive that was a pivotal part that made the the the stun easy to do actually because if you have no food it makes everything easier you sleep easier you once you ignore the hunger once you

lose that then your ability to focus I guess You switch into a different survival mode or something you were saying earlier that when you're in the Box for 44 days it ruined your metabolism how much did you study and know that that was going to happen or how much was that a real shock and surprise to the system I knew was going to do some damage so I was prepared for that I knew that when you push your body to that extreme it's going to take a toll but there was there's a lot of things

I do that I know They're going to take a toll and I kind of balance out the risk of it and when is it worth it and when is it not worth it now I'm different because I have a daughter right so now I'm more careful about the risk but I was obsessed with the idea of staying awake for I think the world record was was 11 days so I was thinking if you go I think it's like 11.56 or 5 I don't remember but that would be a million seconds I got Obsessed with this

idea and I started messing around with it and I met with Dr demment Who's like the number one sleep expert at the time up at Stamford he was there when the record was done at 11 days and I thought I could pull it off and I started testing it the tests were very difficult and then as I started to really research it and speak to people and and look into it it seemed like there is something that you could do to your mind where you don't recover so you Could tweak your brain and have it

not recover so I yeah so that's not worth it you know losing your sight isn't worth it so when I was in India and I was at the S festival and the Sufi the the video you just yeah when they pull their eyes out they pull their eyes out it's very very hard to watch but I called my my dear friend who who's who's a great optometrist and I and I I just said is there any uh how is how does This make sense he say it could be done but you you made to generate

your vision so I said okay I'm not going to mess around with that so there is like can I pull this off or am I going to do per perent damage and it's it's studying the past and finding experts and finding people that have done things and then and then making a decision or I guess it's more like a feeling and then the other thing that I like to do is I use like numeric like I use numbers so I I'll do a test where I test something to like you know let me get to

the halfway point if I could do the halfway point then I can estimate how much more can I tolerate so that's kind of like if I'm going to fast for 44 days I'll do something like a 22 day fast just to just to understand if I can do it you know yeah I love how mathematical it is for you as well though like numbers play a key factor yeah I was just completely at peace but they pulled me up cuz my Heart rate had dropped to 8 beats per minute in their minds I'm going to

go into cardiac arrest and they're not going to be able to recover me the guy pushes the thing through his neck and it comes out but then I looked carefully and there was no blood no hole no nothing so then I started thinking like so what how is that possible the bullet catch killed 12 magicians would you ever tried the bullet catch no I did it going back to that video you just showed me When everyone sees this in the new Nat Geo show that is like I mean I had to look away multiple times

so if anyone doesn't know what's going on it's like this guy's like expanding his eye out but then he's like nearly gouging it with like what like a steel rod or something like how do you even make sure that's disinfected no they no they don't no cuz cuz I pushed an ice pick through my arm and I put it on the I don't know there wasn't even a table I just put it On I think on the floor in India yeah yeah yeah yeah he picked it up and pushed it right through his body yeah

it was crazy and how are they doing that like what what did you learn from that experience of watching them like if you had to look away what they're doing I think it's passed down for generations and I think they know exact L what they're doing and part of it is accepting what you have to do like there's an acceptance to what they're Going to do like a a faith right they know that they can do these things so when they push these things through their body they're just completely at ease and I think therefore

their body recovers at a really fast rate cuz the body is incredible the body can do so many amazing things through Evolution we've developed these abilities to survive so one that I wasn't prepared for I was surrounded by doctors and I Was trying to hold my breath for as long as possible I had Telemetry on me and everything else I was surrounded by a great group of doctors and Pulmonary experts and free divers and I was holding I was I was holding my breath underwater and at one point I wasn't even aware of the time

I didn't there was no such thing as time so I'm holding my breath at one point I think it was once I when I was like above 18 minutes right and then all of a sudden I'm Pulled out of the water and it's 20 minutes and 2 seconds and I was just completely at peace but they pulled me up because my heart rate had dropped to 8 beats per minute and in their minds I'm going to go into cardiac arrest and they're not going to be able to recover me but I it it was the

opposite I went the body went into this strain survival mode I guess and it does everything it can to conserve all of your energy shuts the Brain down because the brain uses oxygen and again I was like complete peace and then I was like why did you pull me out but that's like a mindbody disconnect no like isn't your mind at peace and your body's going into cardiac aress like is that I don't think it was going into I think it was going into survival mode right there's a boy that blacked out under an icy

River he was trapped under the water and he was there for 45 minutes not breathing they pulled Him out he fully recovered no brain damage nothing and it's the body is capable of of doing things that we don't even science and doctors don't even imagine could be possible and at the Earth Festival in India they were all everything that I saw it was overwhelming but it was still like they were doing things that don't make any sense and these are not tricks that's your point these are not these are like you're Saying it's been passed

down for Generations these are not slight of hand this is not faking it it's it's hard to say right you never know but but what I was seeing was it was as real as it gets but then there was one thing that didn't make sense there was one thing that I started to think well what's the magic you know so who knows what is that thing I want to know you know the guy pushes the thing through his neck and it comes out but then I looked carefully and There was no there was no hole

there was no blood no hole no nothing so I so then I started thinking like what so what how is that possible right and we don't know no you don't have an answer you didn't figure it out no but it's funny because that so I wanted to go to India first when we started shooting the series because I the the first time I saw somebody combine magic with real human en endurance Feats other than pictures of oudini and stuff like that was a a Magician that ate a thread and then he pulled the thread out

of his stomach and when I saw that I was like blown away yeah that's crazy and he wouldn't show anybody else but he he pulled me into another he's like I'll show you and he showed me and I was like wo and I thought it was crazy how he did it there it's a magic combined with doing something that most people wouldn't want to do and when I saw it kind of changed my my theory on what could be possible And I think I I've always had that Curiosity of you know what the human body

can endure what what we could tolerate what so I think it it was some sort of a a trigger that like led me on this journey which was not just as a magician but what are people doing that yeah and The Magicians I like the most like Harry Houdini Ricky Jay Ricky J wrote a book called learned pigs and fireproof women which is that kind of guide book to all these people that Were using their bodies to do crazy thing well their minds and their bodies to do these unbelievable Feats when did it turn for

you from being magic tricks I used to I grew up watching you Chuck cards at a car door and it's on the window of the inside of the you know the car or you're talking about like oh you could guess who was calling your house you know when we all had landlines to then actually pushing Your body to limits like where was that switch for you I always like things that I believe right so it's like I was always so if I'm watching a magician I like if I know that he put tons of work

into one card move right when I saw people that were doing things that were defied logic which is what magic does but then I knew that there was an element of they are really doing that I think it led me first into the Swami Mantra which led to the Buried Alive Which then led to me looking into all all the other things I was excited about or you know but but I would fight with magicians they would be like you can't what's the magic in it like what's the point you have to disappear from the

pole and appear in boxes but there's no believability to that I'd rather just jump into the boxes well then they're like well you at least have to just disappear I was like but then that ruins the whole like then it's not a real Thing what would they say back I mean they wouldn't win the argument but then afterwards they were like all right I get it yeah it's it's just the the human endurance part is what's so fascinating about it because I feel like there's the great scene in the nude show where you're like literally

figuring out how to put a knife oh yeah that was crazy walk us through that because you see the scan as well you know I had done nails And the nose and things like that or because you could Hammer A Nails you know back in but then when I was in the FLL and Rio in hosia this performer M liino took a a serrated steak knife and he just shoved it in his nose just pushed it all the way in and it did how is that possible we don't think of that as being you know

it seems like You're going to do something you know to your nervous system something right he pushes it all the way in and pulls it out does it a few times and of course I I'm like whoa that's crazy but obviously my whole theory is like if if somebody can do it it it means nobody should do it but it means there's a an explanation there's no it's not a magic thing it's like there's an explanation so it means it is so I kind of trusted him and just went For it and just pushed the

thing in you didn't want to start with anything noas no no I I watched him do it and I trusted what he was saying and I think I was nobody should do it actually it's super super dangerous of course but anyway I did it but then I wanted to see it so I took an x-ray and then when we took the X-ray we saw that the knife was on the edge of the nervous system so it it was really at that like exact line you know but Again you're not it doesn't make sense but once

again there you know people have survived lots of crazy things yeah yeah how did you know how far back to not let it go like you were that close on that scan I don't know I don't know you just could sense it I yeah and I trusted him who has done this so many times and yeah God I mean when I see you do this stuff I the question I always ask myself when I'm watching you is like is there anything that you're actually Scared of just something happening to my daughter but but by the

way but these things when magicians or anybody are telling me Oh well I say do the carard tricks cuz that's the best stuff that that's what people like do not do these crazy things that you know which is why the show is called do not attempt do not attempt exactly that's a big thing that I like to do is put myself in major discomfort so it wakes me up you know brings me to life I collapsed on the Stage they rushed them to a hospital and he died things go wrong very easily and you're not

prepared for them the London box I I don't think I would ever do something like that again sitting with the black mumas this is the one oh yeah absolutely scariest thing I've ever done over history are there lots of magicians Illusionist people that have died trying to do crazy things like what are the yeah there is actually funny enough like the bullet catch killed 12 magicians but They were doing it as a trick and the guy that was doing it for real wasn't a magician he was just catching bullets and a little cup in his

mouth and he did it hundreds of times and he was okay but 12 magicians that were doing it as a trick that were switching bullets out and stuff like that 12 of them died I'm not laughing with 12 of them died doing it as a trick that's crazy yeah what was difference about the guy that was actually doing it what was he doing Differently he was catching the bullet and a metal Cup in his mouth I think one time it SL slic through his cheek but but man he he he pulled it off would you

ever tried the bullet catch no I did it oh yeah you sorry I seen that yeah I did it I had my best friend it's funny cuz I'm looking at don't shoot so my best friend's a magician and I saw him we shoot a cup far away with a BB gun I was like will you do the bullet catch with me and somehow I convinced Him to do it because he didn't want somebody else to mess up and he knew he would get the mark so he did it I caught the bullet that was kind

of crazy but then I wanted to do it again but I didn't want to have anybody shoot me cuz I didn't want to make anybody that uncom so I put a string with on a on the trigger of a rifle a 22 long bullet and I pulled the string and caught it in that metal cup another thing nobody should ever do so You're saying no one should apart from you putting yourself at risk ideally nothing else should get hurt during the trick yeah for sure yeah that's right and and and I do tricks with frogs

and things like that I've never injured a frog they're my daughter's pet frogs I've kept them for years they've been with us and then I give them to somebody that's when they get too big then I give them to somebody that's going to care for them and yeah so so my doctor's kids Now have uh uh these giant frogs that's been inside and by the way they try to they try to hold them and the frogs won't let anybody nobody can pick them up and I hadn't seen the frog in like a year or something

and I came to his house and they were filming it and I put my hand in and I'm not kidding the Frog walked right onto my hand and I lifted it up and he just sat there we underestimate these creatures right but there's some sort of I don't know Is yeah yeah SC or saliva or whatever it is yeah which is crazy you are so right we we really do downplay the intelligence especially of animals yeah uh but even humans but but people around us yeah it's we don't recognize it and the body yeah and

the body that's right do you think it's interesting how the world's we've focused on becoming more comfortable what do you think that's doing to us that's right that's good cuz I I agree that that being comfortable for me I think is always the worst thing ever when you're comfortable you achieve nothing you learn nothing you do so it's like when you're out of your comfort zone when you're breaking that it's like that's when everything becomes intense and we're alive right that and that's probably what you experienced when you took yourself out of out of your

comfort zone and live with this incredible Monk Is is then suddenly you're living in the Moment you're living in this this heightened sense of awareness that and that's all from breaking comfort zone yeah and it's so interesting because you're you're so right like we just we all naturally though and that's what you were saying when you were talking about the guy earlier who nearly gouged his eye out something that you said was just so subtle but so powerful you were like but when he's doing it his body's not repelling it and that's why somehow it

Works out and I was thinking about it that everything you do defies what we want to do because we're looking for Comfort but it's like how do you prep yourself to actually want discomfort like how do we prepare our minds and brains to actually seek out discomfort because just as you said it's actually better for us even for survival even for growth of the species but we don't we we kind of go backwards into reclining Netflix and chill like that's the W so Like how do you get out of that what have you done to

continuously well this series did that when they were asking me what I want to do um I said here's the thing so we're talking about lots of ideas Doug my magician friend that was here he he's the one that found deepo you know the in India that did the most incredible stuff I've ever mindblowing just the way he is able to override his body with his mind but but basically when they were coming to me with this Idea oh this one that one I said here's the thing only present to me the ideas that when

you tell me about them it makes you uncomfortable just saying that we're going to go be a part you know I wanted it to be I wanted it to be that that and I think that's a big thing that I like to do is put myself in major discomfort so I can so it wakes me up you know brings me to life how did you train yourself to get there and to do that because I I want to help people Almost who are sitting here going you know what I agree with David like I'm not

going to go and you know put a knife down my nose which he's not encouraging either but I want to be able to push the boundaries in my own growth in my own life how how did you kind of you've gone to the full extreme of it how do we kind of get to three out of 10 I think it starts with baby steps I think you just go push yourself to do p speak in front of a classroom public you know I was Super intimidated by public speaking and I could do magic but I

wasn't I was like I'm not going to speak so you know I wanted my brother to go to the Ted conference so I agreed to like stand up and speak for the first time with noad just just do a talk and it was it was horrific for me it was like it was and I didn't sleep for days on end before it but also months before I was working on the notes writing it down putting all the thoughts out and that part of it was Already incredible because then you're like it but then I had

to get up and do it and that was really that was like but then as soon as you start and you I put myself in the boiling speaking at Ted for your first St I didn't go do Little Talks I started there right so it's like by by doing that suddenly I shocked the system and now I went on a speaking tour for like a year I would do dates in all different audiences and what I would do is I would I wouldn't thoroughly prepare I would kind of just go out there and put myself

in front of everybody and and I I would say often it was uncomfortable and often it didn't work and and often the audience didn't react you know what I mean it was like one of the but eventually after doing it over and over and over and over and over it really helped and I really understood it changed the way I thought about public speaking but what it really did is it helped me when I was doing magic because Now I had like now the magic was a a conversation M the point of breaking your comfort

zone it could be anything it could be get up and do a talk it could be uh you know go out sit in the SA or going in a steam room jump in a cop plunge yeah so I think it's baby steps that can help you kind of figure out how to do so but it could it's anything I love how giving a TED Talk is harder for you than like way harder I love that it was way harder yeah given The Ted Talk for me was probably more difficult than holding my breath for the

for the 20 minutes and 22 seconds yeah and that talk by the way is when you watch it down it's it's exactly the length of my actual breath hold record 202 no it just worked out that way it's crazy 2002 was the actual breath whole time and the talk when you time it out was I think it was almost 2002 wow and that was hard for me the talk was more uncomfortable more Difficult than the breath hold I mean holding your breath for 20 minutes and 2 seconds is insanity well now the record's 24 minutes

and 3 seconds you're going to go back I don't think it's safe at this point that's the what you were saying it's like uh you push yourself too far you can you can you could do not just irreversible day it might be like game over and I'm paranoid about that stuff because one of my favorite magicians Harry Houdini he was punched In the stomach hypothetically or he had a ruptur to pen whatever he had he shouldn't have done his stage show he was feeling ill he was in lots of pain but he didn't want to

let the audience down went in the show he did his whole show got in the water tank after the water tank when he came out he collapsed on the stage they rushed him to a hospital and he died so I I do think there's a limit to what the body can endure and things go Wrong very easily and you're not prepared for them so there is a balance to all that stuff well you had that crazy fall at your Vegas show right like a couple of years ago exactly and I feel like I got lucky

I got because just my arm my shoulder went down to my armpit that was terrible but I mean it could have been my neck it happened so my Vegas show I wanted to start by I put a light light truss all the way up and it was shaky and things which I thought Would be funny and I climbed up and in the beginning I think I was jumping like 68 ft 68 ft and I put cardboard boxes down where the seats were and I would jump down into the boxes but I was doing three shows

per month which is like the max that I could even tolerate but my stunt guy Jim church was helping put that together he's like we got to be careful because it's about 20 G's of force and you can't keep doing this over and over you're getting something's Going to go wrong you know for some reason I figured I could pull it off and I kept increasing the height cuz I started with the idea of like okay I'm going to go up and then I would then I would like be like but wait can I go

like I don't know I just wanted to keep pushing it right I don't know what the reason I should have just been content there but I'm never content so I'm like I have to higher higher higher right when I got my head next to the ceiling I Jumped and it was after I was you know in um Thailand and I had know a swarm of bees covering me and I was I took a bunch of stuns I was stung all over a bunch of stings I was stung all over the place I had to go

on I I think I had to take antibiotic so I wasn't probably 100% when I did that jump I did the jump and um I don't know what it was I didn't land right or my body was slightly and that happened but then I'm I think about it I'm like whoa I was lucky because that could have been anything but yeah that so that was the end of that in the show it's never recovered properly but no it's I mean that that's not a big no that's not like the the Box in London which is

you know major you feel like you're still recovering from that from the London it messed me up yeah irreversibly you feel like probably on some level yeah the there's other things I do that mess me up like I used to Drink kerosene which I would float on top of the water in my stomach terrible idea eating the glass is really bad because there's also chemicals in that glass and stuff like that so aside from the enamel and everything going away on your tee so I never experienced hot Uncle without such extreme right so and then

there's tons of little injuries but the ones that I'm most concerned with are are those ones now much more careful on some level because I have a daughter So I don't want something you know you think about life differently and how you're going to push yourself differently and what you can and can't do yeah that the London box like I don't think I would ever do something like that again did it change from the moment you held your daughter like when she was born like not right when she was when she was born was like

the the most incredible moment of my life but I when she was like one and a half I still I Did a stunt I was in you know a million volts of electricity and it went wrong my leg swelled up from edema ripped through the chain I was getting shocked I spit some electrolyte water out and it hit the coil and went inside and really messed me up so at at the end of that stunt which was 73 hours I said I'm not going to do any of these things anymore because I don't want something

to go wrong I have a daughter but when I was saying is there anything you're scared Of you just mentioned something happening to your daughter that's like very real when she is she she stretches and she goes into splits and things that when I'm watching her it's it's so painful for me to imagine how she feels when you're putting a knife through your nose there I talk to her and I'm very care yeah sure how does she react like when she sees this all that you're up well she's grown up with it so she's I

think she's Like a even though it seems super crazy I'm I'm I'm pretty I have to really trust the person that's showing me the teacher and you know the the learning curve for that series was short but these are Masters that have done the countless thousands of hours of work and some secrets were passed down to them some they've developed on their own it is a matter of trust and then this series I I was very careful even though it looks like there's so many crazy you Know things that I'm trying or or certain things

like sitting with the black mambas it was an enclosure this this size of just like this space where and there was six black mambas in there but the thing is and I was with this man named Neville South African man that wants to show people that you don't need to when you see a black mama because they they they they end up in schools they end up killing people and it's because people react to them and they Try to push them away there and as soon as you do that the black m reacts back so

he sits with the mambas at peace and he's showing everybody that if you encounter a black mamba the best thing to do is to not be aggressive not act in a way that makes it uncom just be at peace and just stay very calm they're very instinctual like most animals like if you if there's some people that go into a into a house and there's cats that won't come out and the Cats come out with some people and they go go near them right and it's just because that person has this like energy this like

this Stillness or whatever that makes the cat comfortable and what his point is is it's the same with the with these feared black mambas you just remain calm so I trusted him it was the scariest thing I've ever done in my lifetime this is the one oh yeah absolutely scariest thing I've ever done and it doesn't look like it is like when You watch it you won't understand that in Africa they call it the two-step so you get one step and then the second step and you're done but sitting there with him even though I

was like I I I knew I had to just follow exactly what he said and I wa I observed first I watched him for a few days and I realized he he knows what he's doing he believes in everything that he's saying and I sat with him in there and then and then when one started to come towards You know when was close he said uh you know said don't worry if something goes wrong I'll take the hit and I was like um I think I'm ready to go I think can I get out of

here go way yeah can I go and he's like nope because you can't leave until until it's a you can't do any abrupt movement so that was the craziest thing I've ever done in my life you got really close to it as well it did get really close but again I trusted I trusted him completely how does someone Like him build that skill without dying in the process well he was bitten a few times so he did go into a coma once he had a snake injur a snake related injury where he lost his leg

so he has one leg and he still does it yeah and he sits with them so so people will come and and see him and and know that if they've seen this it kind of gets a point across like if you see a guy sitting in a small room like this with a bunch of black masas You realize okay so if a black mama does come into our school or to our house or wherever you can just stay at peace stay calm on some level so he's protecting the people and the mambas and there's no

way of training a Mamba so no and these are wild these are rescues he keeps them and then releases them back so yeah no you no yeah yeah that I mean just listening to that is and to hear you say it's the hardest thing you've ever done not hard but the scariest scariest it Wasn't hard it was the opposite of hard it's just all you have to do is just sit still yeah but you have to stay still and you have to be you have to be at ease did you have to prepar that before

you went in oh I look like I'm about to like run to the bathroom the whole time I think all of us would be I think all of us would even get in there there's there's an interesting thing about animals in that way isn't there there's um my my monk teacher who who spent time In when he traveled would live in the forests and things like that back in the day and he would always talk about how animals see whether you respect them or whether you fear them and he would talk about that every time

he saw an animal it was like he'd have to bow down to the animal in his heart and mind and and if he was to do that then the animal would know that that wasn't a threat or there wasn't any fear and then that would be what created a sense of peace that if he Could bow down and show respect yeah that's that's right we we think we have to dominate and like show them and then they'll run away but but it depends some you have to so it it varies some you have to show

that you're not afraid and that you're strong and you're not going to be an easy target or they say with sharks what you have to do is if you're with a bun if you're around bull sharks in the ocean or whatever you just look at them and you keep looking because They don't want to challenge they're they're so evolved they don't want to have to waste any energy they're so perfect they conserve energy in the most efficient way so if you're looking at it it knows that it would it it may get a fight back

but if you're not looking then right yeah wow think about them preserving energy but he sits in there for hours and when I met him he was just sitting with a forest Cobra another snake that Could easily kill you but he he's just like drinking his coffee so yeah he was amazing wow and and as he got to a place of fearlessness like would he say that he feels fearless or no he feels peace no I think no I think he respects and and loves these snakes he thinks they're beautiful and incredible so it's not

yeah sure he's Fearless with that specifically yeah but I think it's more like he has a uh just such a deep respect for like you said like you know Bowing down to yeah it's that I mean even listening to you though there's such a respect for your craft and art like the number of times in this conversation you've always already said like I trusted the teacher I trusted Neville trusted Deepu like there's such a respect for mentors and Trust for teachers and guides and there's such a respect for the art and craft it's not just

you know as today we kind of make everything today just feel like Entertainment and even when people have talents it's kind of just like oh yeah everyone's got talents now but it's like actually for you it's a respect and study of the craft I think it's the same when you when you met the monk you immediately felt his his knowledge and his his faith and his belief and his discipline his wisdom right and I think with the people I've met all of them I I felt that and as soon as I felt that I was

okay to to to try things so I think It lots of it has to do with just trusting the person and their abilities and their understanding of what they're doing and then and then from that it's a leap of faith it's beautiful to think about what you do that way because I think a lot of people can kind of project it as like oh well David's figured it out but it's actually like no you're willing to submit yourself and study and become a beginner again right like that beginner's mindset that's Right and that's that's the

part that's like breaking the comfort zone is is trying something you haven't done trying something new pushing yourself in a way that you're uncomfortable and working diligently and loving failure right the failure is like it's that's okay the failure is amazing the when you're performing magic it's the failures that you learn from right it's like you're performing a card trick and you fail well that's where you learn and you're Constantly learning that's what's amazing about being a magicians there's a constant learning curve and it never stops you're always practicing you're always even if it's the

same trick that that you've worked on for for me 30 years some of them 40 whatever it is and I'm still changing I'm still learning and and and that that's for me the exciting part of everything yeah you're constantly going from becoming the expert going back to the beginner become An expert that cycle doesn't stop right and therefore you're never an expert you know yeah it's really cool I love that what what's the illusion that's kept you up the most nights before you've done it that you've had sleepless nights over as you prepare or get

ready for it probably kissing the king cobra just because I understood the the risk was it was you know I understood the risk so that one I was that that took me a long time to mentally prepare For that one took me a long time how many times had you been in the pen before you did that one or was that in that time that night no no no we I took time on that one I I I wasn't ready so I I left came back months later I tried to understand the behavior of the

king cobra I met with my friends that had King cobas that unders I mean I that one was uh pretty intense learning curve because you know they strike fast and yeah if it gets you you know so that That I think of everything I've done that that might have been the most intimidating one probably I think that's very legitimate kissing a king cobra yeah cuz all the stunts I all the other things that I've done there was no real immediate risk of death yes something could go wrong but there's not a this is a lights

out situation where with the king cobra I understood the risk was great so I wanted to know that I had the ability to to get out of the way and That I could understand its movements and its timing and are you scared of dying I'm not afraid of dying but I you know my mother died in my arms so I don't and the last word she said to me is God is love but since having a daughter it's like you you want to live for as long as possible but previous to having a daughter I

I didn't even I was like yeah just whatever now because of my daughter I want to not you know do something it's was like Oops what was it like losing your mother so sorry for your lost she got sick when I was 16 and she died when I was 20 she she was a a warrior through it and a Peaceful Warrior when she died I felt like I felt like my body was like a tree and it was like the BR one big branch of a tree or something and it went like that it was

like an immediate like broken you know it was like I never want to feel that type of pain again it was it was it was like literally like I Felt like like something broke in half you know so that was that was a great and I was so close to my mother was she was my best friend and she was my my world but then what started to happen was I started to find there was like messages by the way whenever I did stunts I'm not even kidding she would always like I would get a

sign from her and those signs would make me know I was going to be Okay it was when I was buried alive it sounds crazy but like you just the I think the energy is is always there right so I I was buried alive and I was like um it was all cloud and I was like Mom can you give me a sign and right when I said it I'm not even kidding it was like the clouds opened and the sun came through it was like an immediate thing when I was in the Box in

London 44 days day 40 I was having these terrible heart palpitations Like I mean no but I thought I was going to die or something right and I and I went in my head again Bob give me a side like you know what should I and uh at that exact moment you know I could see the tower bridge over there and this was day 40 to go to day 44 and there was a bunch of people yelling D you know from from the tower brid and I look over and I'm not even Kidd right when

I said that the they open up this Banner that they made and it just said God is love and I Was exactly and that was our final words yes so it was like it's like the energy is just there and she so so basically when she wasn't there she was she's even more you know it's it's like her presence became so strong that's so powerful yeah that that's that's really special yeah do you look for her in in I don't need to look but she's everywhere she's everywhere yeah wow that's that's funny yeah I didn't

think of that but yeah I've had a couple of experiences Recently I was officiating a wedding not last Christmas the Christmas before December before and the couple that I'd introduced had met through meditations that I had led for them and so I was leading a meditation for their wedding ceremony because they had asked for it and so me and the couple closed their eyes during that period but the rest of the audience I think some of Them probably joined in and some people don't want to join in so they didn't join in and it was

amazing because we were in Tulum in Mexico and this I had my eyes closed so I didn't see it but this huge blue butterfly flew from between the couple and then flew throughout the whole audience and for those who had their eyes open saw it and for most of us who had our eyes closed we didn't see it and then we found out later on that the the Lady who's getting married she has a blue butterfly on her neck because it represents her father who is passed on that's and we didn't see it because we

had our eyes closed in meditation but that's beautifully just and it was just one butterfly no one really saw it and it's just I love things like that when people have such a strong semblance to signs yeah there's signs everywhere if you pay attention to them if you look for them if you're open to them and it's Easy to block off from all that stuff but it's like yeah if you open to it it's everywhere well that's what I love about the way you think about it because I think there's a lot of illusionists in

the world who almost see illusion as a way of saying there are no there is no mysticism in the world there's a lot of illusionists who will say oh yeah because I can explain everything it kind of proves that there is no right otherworldly Supernatural or mystical Whatever language you want to use for it but you seem to have somewhat of a well it's it's yeah I mean it's more about like being open to it so if you're open to it you'll you'll find it because that's what you're looking for right but if you're like

nah then you won't and it's like I feel like the the better approach is to be open to it so you can you can experience these incredible things you know what's one of the most amazing things you've experienced by Being open no I mean just by being just like you know watching my daughter just grow and you know that's the most amazing and watching who she becomes and and you so that but yeah when when you need those signs if you're open to it they'll be there and if you're close to it you'll never see

them cuz you're like nah you know what I kept writing in my journal when I was in the box of for because that's the only thing I really brought was no toothbrush no nothing but I had a journal and and a couple of pens and I kept writing everything is perspective everything is how you decide to see it because people kept saying are you bored in the Box I'm like boredom is a choice like you choose to be bored cuz your mind has so many things it can think about create do Wonder dream everything so

it's like so so those two things are the things that that that are all over that journal everything is perspective and bard as a choice and Then there was a lot of numbers and mapping out like the amount of time and graphs and things but but those were two of the very strong prominent thoughts of of what I learned and became very clear to me during that 44 day fast it opened me up to so many thoughts and it was like this Clarity that that I that I never get because there's very few distractions no

phone no this no that no food no no distractions really so you suddenly you become hyper aware Like you're it's like a heightened sense of awareness and everything becomes intense and beautiful and which is probably what you were doing for the three years we were talking about it earlier like you start realizing that the sky is not just blue there's so many different variations that not every leaf you see is green there's so many variations but if you look on an average day it's like oh the sky is blue the trees are green like we

have this we Kind of have this almost veneer or this lens we put on everything which which makes it all the same and you look at that in society too where like you go down most City centers every shop is the same we see the same coffee shop everywhere you see the same like you know we homogenize everything in the world and there's a sense of comfort there's a sense of comfort when you see I remember my friend was giving us a tour of Oxford he he was studying at Oxford University and he was going

around he was saying this is where Lord of the Rings was written and this is where Alice and Wonderland was written he was giving me this and me and MIM were like loving this and we were with someone and then we walked into the town center and they were like oh my God there's an urban outfit is here it's like the cloth store and we were like what is wrong with you but it's like for them that was a sense Of comfort yeah and I was like but wait a minute like this is where Alice

in Wonderland was written like everything is perspective everything is perspective and that person may be just as excited about that as this person is about this it's amazing and it's so fascinating it's like yeah who have you met or what have you done that is just shifted your perspective the most in the last few decades like is this a person You met a place you went to that Just sh I mean there's so many it's just a well books books are that's like a big one right just books just you know I think like what

books do to the mind is identical to what exercis and does for the body that's the main problem with the phones is it's really taken away like my ability to just read a book has changed because I'm so distracted by the you know so it's like but it's like just being able to like open up your mind and And and explore these incredible worlds that were meticulously done by these brilliant writers that studied psychology and philosophy and that outpouring of of of just you know knowledge but so I think books would be the first thing

that have like that have like impacted any favorites any any ones that you many yeah Cervantes then his life story was incredible Cervantes he's fascinating and then donot is like one of the most I think one of the most Important books written I in many ways his story is incredible because he was the son of a surgeon he grew up very poor Cervantes so he went to fight for his country and during during the the Inquisition I guess he was maimed on his left side so he was paralyzed on his left side he couldn't use

his arm and he was given the equivalent of a purple heart so on his way back the boat was was seized like a they they took him captive and he was tortured and and Beaten for years right he wasn't able to to really he couldn't get out and his brother finally raised enough money that he was by the way from the monastery his brother raised enough money when he came out they gave him a job as a tax collector and he didn't want to do that he didn't want to collect taxes because he thought like

if I'm doing this to a mother of six and she you know she can't afford this I don't want to do this they ended up putting him in jail for I think 12 years while he was in prison he wrote Don kote which is this book about a guy that wants to save the world and make the world a better place but um he he finished it when he came out the book was published and it became like the number one book in Europe but the book publisher I don't think they ever really paid him

so this this book that became like the shakesp even wrote an entire play about one Character in the book called cardino which is that character is incredible but the when he was basically when he came out they never gave him his his his his earnings and he died completely broke and the story of donot is about a guy that wants to make the world a better place but it's not possible you know which is what his mission was yeah wow yeah but that's a great book thank you how does that speak to you now like

how does his dilemma speak to you I Mean it's related to to everything right hope for the best and expect the worst it's a theme of his book yeah yeah yeah there's a there's a beautiful statement that it reminds me of from fcot Fitzgerald who said that the sign of a First Rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time so one should be able to look around and see that everything is hopeless but still be determined to make a change hopeful yeah exactly like That ability to

that's right to absorb too different yeah because the brain's not meant to be malleable so it's like you think one way and it's very hard to unthink that it's very hard to change the direction of what you accept and what you like but you're right that sign of intelligence is the ability to grow and learn and and scrap previous ideas and change the way you think and and continue to break everything that you think you know but that's literally what You do in a physical tangible mental way because everything about you knows that putting a

blade close to your body cuts it that being close to a black mamb like kills you like that that's what you're you're literally living there because I'm intrigued to know this because you're one of the most unrelatable people on the planet because you've done things that even if you explain them and even if we watch you do them 99.9% of people even more Than that that's even a low percentage have no idea what it even feels like how does that feel I don't think of it like that actually I think everybody has their their thing

like everybody has that thing that they're like it's the same thing it's just it it just it speaks differently yeah and it just speaks differently yeah so I think everybody like if you look into every single person there's like you can find so you know it's like Things that you can't understand or you never and it's like Inc it's amazing to like explore that you know I like that perspective I like that perspective everyone has everyone can feel that way if they want to it's a choice and they do yeah like everybody has their thing

that's unique to them it might be the and there's so many you know it's like it's like the skill that I respect on my mother being the best mother ever right that but that's hard that's like Complete surrender dedication and belief and P you know that's that's their special Source yeah that's their that's their passion that's what that's what lights their fire yeah you'd avoided uh you'd avoided fire for a while like you avoided wanting to do that you finally succeed with the bridge dive I mean how did that feel why were you avoiding it

it just never came together properly like it just never the idea was Planted in my head but it never really came to it never came together properly but then when I went to Brazil and I I met these incredible you know High divers the Karina who had like walked over traversed a volcano and by the way she she almost died doing that there she was bleeding through her mouth or no she couldn't even breathe but when you look at the images of her walking across a volcano Lake it's wo but anyway so there was a

man Andre who's this fire genius That just respects and love fires the same way Neville does with the black mambas they helped me put together this this idea of just you know doing something off of a bridge on fire and that yeah and it was it was amazing I mean but you you had a set amount of time that you had to like yeah it was quick it was quick did it live up to your feeling of wanting to do something with fire yeah do I want to do it again yeah no yes you would

you do it again Yeah CU you're always thinking like oh well you know it was bright out it's a night time would have been you know so yeah you're always thinking about like you know that's not like the box which is one I can't ever do again that's one that's like that's interesting so my the way that this show came to was my concept was if something be done by one it can be done by others right and I think that's part of what happens is like somebody does something and Somebody else oh this guy

ran a mile and four minutes so now I can break it and then it's almost like a continual like part that I love is one thing leads to another you push somebody the idea opens up the idea opens up that you can do anything or you can do something you didn't think was possible and then it just snowballs and it affects people around and I think that's what's interesting about the magicians that I love is they create this Fantasy Land Right they do these things that seem impossible but the ones that I like are really

doing things that are actually possible but we think it's not possible and it and then it relates to everybody because anybody that wants to do oh I want to write a book they can write a book right you just have to believe in oh I want to direct a movie they can direct a movie I want to be a photographer for natural geographic they can be a so it's like I want I want to Do this I want to build a rocket it's un limited so I think and that's that's the thing that I love

about the search for people that are doing things that to me feel like it's as close to Magic as possible because it defies what we know to be possible it's what I think it's what's amazing about humanity is we just keep improving and we keep learning and and we keep evolving to become better and better and better so so yeah so I think part of the the search for these Fascinating People or or this love of of of magic stems from that idea that everybody is basically the same like there is nobody that's different than

anybody and you can apply that thinking to anything and any and and so I'm inspired by the people that do these things not just magicians but the people I've been searching for throughout the world that just push the limits of what we would assume to be possible I love that answer yeah that's brilliant that Idea that every single person gets to kind of pass on the bat right like the idea of like I open up the door and now it's open and I always I always ask people I'm like find your monk and what I

mean by that is if I didn't meet this monk the entire trajectory of my life wouldn't have shifted and changed it was like meeting this one person completely pivoted my whole life journey and whoever that is for you and you were open to it that that's right open to it We all just need to be open to that like who's that person who could just completely or perspective that could completely shift and TR change your trajectory that's right it's pretty phenomenal I love that and it's not and anybody and what's nice about that is then

therefore it's like anything can inspire you to do to do anything that you that you want or that you dream of or and that's a stuff that once again that's what I love about when I studied These incredible performers these magicians these vilians these dime circus or I would read these things I'd say wait how is this guy a human aquarium like does that make sense but he couldn't Houdini wrote about mcnorton the human aquarium but I'm like but wait he couldn't have fooled Houdini cuz Houdini is a magician he's looking for the trick and

if Houdini is saying the guy is really doing it it has to be real so that just L that was like the Planting of the seed right so it's like and just all these fascinating characters throughout the history of magic and there's like these surreal images of these posters that these magicians created that when you look at them it's like this it's like this Fantastical mystical Magical World so it's like and that's what I think great books do is they open up your mind they open up your thinking to this like to this to this

it's like uh not just Beauty it's it's it's your imagination it's your Creations it's your visualization and then it's like converting that into through repetition failure practice repeat into whatever you and and by the way you shoot for this and then it may end up here but that you shop for and so you know and it's a constant you know which is part of the thing that I love about all these types of feelings or or people or or Inspirations like you found your your Monk who led you into this whole your brain changed you

opened the door right and it seems like that's why you'll never be done because that's what drives you and that's why we'll all never be done David you've been so generous with your time I've loved every moment of this you are truly one of the Most Fascinating People I've ever spoken to and we we end on purpose with a final five a Fast Five these have to be answered in one word to one sentence Maximum okay so these are your David Blain these are your final five question number one what is the best life advice

you've ever heard or received I mean I I like always surround yourself with people that will inspire you and help you grow that was a good one good advice uh question number two what's the worst advice you've ever heard or received don't go for your dream don't you're not going to succeed don't even bother worst advice yeah I think a lot of people have Had if you listen to the people that are that they're going to you're no you cannot you have to go for the you have to at least try by the way you

may fail but if you keep failing eventually you you're probably going to do something you'll get you know some version of what you want to do so yeah if if you wanted your life to leave behind three messages what would they be that you can find magic everywhere you know the connections between the is like the way I feel with my daughter finding that connection that surrender that love is that's the most beautiful thing that I have ever experienced and then one more thing I guess it goes to the first thing which is just to

try to always experience that feeling of Wonder like always be amazed allow yourself to be amazed you know allow yourself to to yeah what we were talking about allow yourself to see the blue in the sky you know yeah I love allow I love that sent Allow yourself to be amazed because I think today yeah we don't allow ourselves cuz we kind of used to it we don't even real even though we all make phones look bad but this is actually phenomenal that it exists like it's amazing that that it's possible yeah allow yourself to

be amazed is a is a great line I love that uh question number four when your mother left you with the words God is love what does that mean to you today it means Love Is God God is love like the feeling of love the surrender that is everything that's that that's that that is what life is about that that's what life is that's the ultimate yeah the the the giving into that feeling which we're all very guarded you know I'm super guarded and like you said as a magician I'm super skeptical it's like but

at the same time I still do believe there's so much that we don't know that we don't understand and we're all connected to this one We're we're all part of this one connection we're all connected we're all made of the same molecules and atoms and mat so I think we're everything is connected and everything is one and I don't think there's a beginning or an end and energy is neither created nor destroyed so it's always so that hold that love that uh Fifth and final question if you could we ask this to every guest who's

ever been on the show if you could create one law that Everyone in the world had to follow what would it be wow so one law it can be as tangible or intangible as you like yeah so then it should be the law of Love Simple yeah I mean like just that surrender that that like uh because that's there's no ego in that there's no yeah no ego is definitely a but it's so hard to you know it's like we're so locked in all this stuff but yeah giving up just like surrender when Do you

feel you have the least ego when when do you feel you experience no ego when I'm with my daughters it's like that's like everything disappears David Blaine thank you so much for your time your energy everyone who's been listening and watching make sure you go and watch the new show David Blaine do not attempt it's on that Geo uh I can't wait for you to see it it's phenomenal you got to hear some of the stories here uh out March 23rd on National Geographic David takes viewers on an incredible journey where where he immerses himself

in unique cultures and meeting extraordinary performers who Inspire and share their rare skills and secrets and of course you can also see David as Las Vegas residency at the encore theater and at the win I can't wait to go I'm coming to see you live I'm really looking forward to it and congratulations my friend and really Wonderful getting to know you well you too thank you thank you if you love this podcast you'll love my episode with leis Hamilton Lewis and I talk about why you should stop chasing society's definition of success and how to

be more intentional with your goals you don't want to miss it like it's not about being perfect it's about just every day one step at a time trying to be better trying to do more I'm learning a lot about myself had to break myself down in Order to be able to be better