{mgmediabot}http://timessquare.com/media/uploads/blaine.flv|false|600|400{/mgmediabot}
{mgmediabot}http://timessquare.com/media/uploads/blaine.flv|true(View in new window)|400|300{/mgmediabot}

Dive to the Death.

On September 18, 2008, Donald Trump and Blaine held a press conference at the Trump Tower in New York City to announce his latest feat, “The Upside Down Man.” Blaine was to hang upside down without a safety net for 60 hours above Central Park’s Wollman Rink, with a predicted end for 10:45 p.m. on September 24. Reportedly, Blaine risked blindness and other maladies, in the stunt. Trump has helped finance this and other Blaine events. Blaine hung over the Wollman Rink and interact with fans by lowering himself upside down. At the press conference Blaine stated he had already gone without food for over a week, and will continue to do so throughout the act. In order to drink fluid and restore circulation he will pull himself up, although he will contend with muscle spasms and lack of sleep. Blaine began the stunt on Monday September 22, but was widely criticized when, only hours into the endurance challenge, he was seen by fans to be standing on a waiting crane platform, and not upside down, as expected.  He reportedly would come down once an hour to receive a medical check, stretch and relieve himself. 

When the "Dive of Death" took place, Blaine came down from the platform on a cable, and lightly touched the stage. He was then pulled back up into the air, and, in the words of the New York Daily News, "hung in the air like a sack of potatoes with a goofy grin on his face, occasionally kicking his legs as though he were running. The plan had been for Blaine to be pulled up into the air by helium balloons and disappear into the atmosphere. Blaine attributed the problem to changes in weather conditions that occurred after the stunt was delayed due to an address by President Bush. The finale was not well-received by spectators.