He came, he saw, he wowed us till no end. Yes, we’re talking abut the one and only David Blaine. You may already know about all the wonderful things that he has done in the past, but if you were at his show at Stadium Negara last Friday (5th September), we bet you didn’t expect him to be just as wonderful (if not more) in real life!
“Real or Magic” live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attracted more than 3,000 fans. Some of us even braved the crazy rush hour jam (coupled with some rain) to get our butts to Stadium Negara to catch his show. We barely made it, breathless and stressed all at the same time. But it all instantaneously went away the moment the floor lights dimmed and the stage lights came on for his 90-minute show.
That was when we knew it was going to be an experience of a lifetime.
Tricks up his no sleeves
David Blaine prides himself for not having anything hidden under his sleeves. In fact, he mentioned this during his press conference at Westin Hotel a few days before his show. During his “Real or Magic” live in Kuala Lumpur show, he proved that “what you see is what you get”. There were no fancy costumes, there were hardly any props (except for maybe one small stand table), and there was no “magician’s assistant”.
It was all David, lights, stage.
Sense of humour
That having said, what surprised us most was not his ability to wow us with tricks without having to wear sleeves. Of course, we already knew that he had a sense of humour during the press conference, but he further impressed us as we watch the way he interacted with the crowd. He constantly told jokes, laughed when you least expected it, and even made fun of himself when he needed to. We quote, “If this ice pick trick fails then show’s over goodbye”.
David, you’re absolute gold!
Cool friends or what?
David mentioned that he was afraid that the friends he brought to “Real or Magic” live in Kuala Lumpur would outshine him. We can see why. We were first introduced to French hip-hop dancer Salah Benlemgawanssa, who had such fluid moves (how did he get his body to bend that way?!) that one would find it hard to believe that he wasn’t CGI or some sort of a holographic projection. Next, French magician Yann Frisch (David’s favourite magician, we hear) took the stage to tickle us with a funny juggling cum magic trick skit.
Yes, David Blaine has cool friends and he didn’t use magic to earn them!
Selfie schmelfie
David Blaine proved that he was more than just an illusionist. His “fan service” was amazing! He took time to walk through the crowd to find people to perform his famous street magic on – and it even went beyond just the people in the front row seats.
Also, when he called members of the audience up onstage to join him as he downed 3 litres of water, he allowed as many people to take as many selfies as they wanted. In between swigs, that is. Truth be told, at that point, it was pretty hard to have not fallen in love with his charms!
The deal record breaker
During his last attempt (in 2006) to hold his breath underwater (the then world record was 8 minutes and 58 seconds), he only managed 7 minutes and 30 seconds before he was pulled out. Last Friday, he attempted to break that personal record. He climbed into a tank filled with water that was placed among the upper stadium seats, allowing fans to see him up close. One fan even climbed in with him for a bit and managed to take what we would call “the most epic picture with a celebrity ever known to mankind”. At 8 minutes and 36 seconds, David Blaine was pulled out for his own safety. But he achieved what he had wanted to – to break his personal best.
He may have broken his personal best, but to us, David Blaine’s “Real or Magic live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia show was all in all a record-breaking performance as a whole. Kudos to you, David.
Oh, and please come back soon 
More pictures from David Blaine’s “Real or Magic” live in Kuala Lumpur show here:
Special thanks to our friends from LOL Events and Livescape Asia for extending the invites!
For more information, visit David Blaine’s official website.