Is David Blaine's life seriously at risk?
James Randi thinks so.

David Blaine is a street magician who used to have a special TV show now and then in which he would perform some pretty amazing stunts. Video editing was crucial to his effects, of course (his shows were not live) but who cares? Blaine is a showman, an entertainer.

Blaine's present stunt, underway even now, is to stay inside a small, clear, plastic box suspended above the ground near Tower Bridge, London. He has 36 days to go subsisting only on water given him through a tube from the ground.

James Randi, a highly talented magician himself who made a reputation proving that psychics aren't, says of the stunt and other magicians, "We know how they're done" and that that he and others have done similar stunts for decades - going all the way back to Houdini, as a matter of fact.

But, says Randi, there is reason to be worried about Blaine's safety:

My fear is that he's being manipulated by his handlers, who are attracted by the money that is attendant on such matters, and often don't much care about damage he might do to himself. When I attempted last week to send a 30-word message to him via e-mail, as I've done before, this time it was intercepted and blocked; the reason given was that it was "too long." Sure. When any artist ceases communicating with the real world — particularly with members of his own profession — he's being manipulated, not handled.

The London yahoos, basing their idea of entertainment on how they behave at soccer games, are pelting Blaine's box with eggs, rotten fruit, paintballs, and bottles. Some golfers were trying to hit him with golf balls driven from the nearby bridge. . . .