On Sept. 2 at 8:55 a.m. David Blaine began one of his most daring stunts, Ascension. Throughout the years David has made a name for himself in the magic industry. From staying in a block of ice in Times Square for 63 hours, 42 minutes to holding his breath in a super-sized fishbowl for 17 minutes and four seconds, David is truly an anomaly. 

   But his most recent performance shocked all 770,00 viewers of his live stream on YouTube. The stunt consisted of a cluster of jumbo-sized helium balloons and a parachute; starting to understand why he called it “Ascension?”

   David strapped himself to the balloons all on a live stream and proceeded to slowly fly up to his goal of 16,000 feet.  Once he reached his goal Blaine was supposed to detach from the contraption and parachute down to the hot Arizona desert. 

   However, 16,000 feet was not nearly enough for Blaine, so he went past his safety guidelines (as he usually does), and ascended to 25,000ft where he finally made his descent to the ground all while his wife and daughter watched in fear. Blaine made it to the ground safely and swiftly without a scratch on him and was picked up by a rescue helicopter. 

   A surprising number of critics find that this is one of Blaine’s “easier” stunts (as easy as ascending and parachuting down from 25,000ft can be). This is not Blaine’s best stunt, but I would put it in his top five of all time.

   “It’s like magic, it feels like I’m floating in the air,” Blaine said as he took off. “Wow, that was awesome,” He said after finally touching his feet to the ground. 

   Blaine also got very crafty when it came to promoting the stunt. He decided to collaborate with one of America’s most popular families, the D’amelio’s. Yes, the viral TikTok personalities Charli and Dixie. He strapped a few of the balloons to Dixie to make her “walk on water,” as it says in the video title that racked up 4.5 million views and counting.