Who?

Up to 4,000 people turned out to see magician David Blaine at age 30 carrying only diapers, a journal, some pens, lip balm, a pillow and a pad to lie on trapped...

What?

in a clear plastic 7ft x 7ft x 3ft box hanging by a crane 450 feet (135 meters) above...

Where?

the Thames River in London near Tower Bridge.  His first major stunt outside the United States had European traffic backed up during those six weeks by people stopping to take a glance.

When?

David Blaine spent 44 days and 44 nights entering September 5, 2003 and emerging October 19, 2003.

How?

He ate no food and had one tube for water and another for urinating.  He was able to watch his girlfriend, former model Manon von Gerkan, who was allowed to go up the crane to clean the outside of the box.  He also had the help of a picture of his mother he brought with him.

"It's been really cold, and when you are starving your body only produces one-third of its heat. It's been 40 degrees some nights."

Why?

"I think right now I'm in my physical peak, kind of. So I'd like to go as far as I can with it."

"I thought it would be amazing to see a human being framed in a glass case, almost like this butterfly that I have in my apartment that someone gave me that was dead, and then a little clear-from-all-sides glass frame, I always thought it was amazing."

"It also had to do with the [Franz] Kafka short story called "The Hunger Artist," about this performer that put himself in a little cage and put himself on display and starved himself. So that kind of combination triggered this idea."

Publicity

Paul McCartney visited his site and reportedly scuffled with a photographer.  'Spoon-bending' friend Uri Gellar also had many visits and defended his stunt when skeptics offered theories to how it could be faked.  President Bush even mentioned him in a speech when he said that the last notable American to visit London "stayed in a glass box dangling over the Thames."  Ten British police officers faced disciplinary action after they abandoned their street patrol to watch him.  A British businessman was fined over $1000 for causing criminal damage to his water supply when he threw a plastic water container from the tower, ripping off the feeder pipe and breaking two taps.  The entire Blaine stunt was covered by Sky One and Channel 4 and had a live web cam.

Tormenting

David Blaine had every kind of distraction know to man.  Ladies flashed their breasts.  Men showed their buttocks.  A woman even ran naked underneath him dubbing "Hip Hop Houdini."  Eggs, golf balls, and paint where thrown at him.  The smell of barbecue, chips, fish, and even a hamburger hanging from a remote control helicopter is enough to tease anyone.  He awoke one morning by a man banging on drums.

"We were watching him at home on TV and it was really dull so we thought we would come down and liven things up. I wanted to wake him up,'' the drummer Shiraz Azam, 21, told London's Evening Standard.

By the final week, however, taunts were largely replaced by encouraging shouts and handwritten signs stuck along the fence around his riverside enclosure.

Departure

Thousands of fans cheered him on as he burst into tears emerging from the box.

"I’ve learned how important it is to have a sense of humor and laugh at everything, because nothing makes sense any more. I love all of you forever."

Dr. Adam Carey weight him about 205 lbs before the stunt.  It was recorded to be about 155 lbs after.  He lost around 50 lbs since he entered the box.

"He had a sleepless first night out of his box suffering stomach cramps," according to gastroenterologist Professor Powell-Tuck, who was responsible for his care at the London Independent Hospital.  "However, initial blood tests have proved satisfactory," he added.

Promotions

Blaine shocked a group of journalists in London when he appeared to cut off part of his ear at a news conference to promote the plastic box stunt.

Despite much publicity, Blaine's feat was not recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.

More

• Magic Directory: Above the Below