Pushing the Limits of Humanity | David Blaine: Do Not Attempt MEGA Episode | National Geographic

[♪ mysterious music playing] -As a magician, I’m always searching for secret knowledge. Wow. I'm searching for secrets that shatter my perspective on what's possible. This looks incredible. So that something dangerous might become magical. And something terrifying could become beautiful. I’m searching for performers who will teach me things that are daring and way out of my comfort zone. Wow. That’s crazy. And that search has brought me to Southeast Asia. Where I will experience one of the most intense moments of my career. [♪ upbeat music playing] [David Blaine] Some people travel to Thailand for the amazing beaches and food, but I'm here searching for something slightly different. Something dangerous, challenging, even surprising. A playing card can cut like a knife. [crowd] Ooooh! [David Blaine] A chopstick can be used as a weapon. Or teeth can become a vice grip. [David Blaine] He was a magician? -Yeah. I know him. The person that taught him. [David Blaine] I've met Tong through Patrick Kun. Patrick is a local magician, and he has incredible insights to the kinds of magic I'm most interested in here. [Patrick Kun] He learned from his master, how to train like a tiger. He learned everything: chopsticks. [David Blaine] Tong makes this look easy. [Tong] Open. [David Blaine] I wasn't surprised that Patrick would nail it right away. He's one of my favorite magicians and he's created magic that performers around the world use every day. And I'm lucky to experience Thailand through his eyes. -Do you guys want to see magic? -Ma-ma-magic? -Magic. [overlapping affirmations] -Look. In Thailand, not many people have experienced magic in person. -What! Woah. [David Blaine] Like Patrick, everywhere I go, I have to pull out a deck of cards. So, you remember this one? We’re going to use it after. -Whoa! -Which did you want? -Seven. -And you shuffled all the cards? Look under your watch. -Thank you, thank you. -Whoa, it's a miracle, it’s not magic. [David Blaine] But this isn’t why I’m here. -Blaine. -Cooked scorpions? -Do you wanna try? -Wow. I came to see things I've never seen. -Just like salt and fried. [David Blaine] And try things I've never tried. -It’s not bad? -It tastes good. I’m not here to just eat some fried scorpions. Patrick is going to have to challenge me a little more than that. -I think coming here is going to really push him with his boundary and take him out of his comfort zone a little bit. In Thailand, the urban environment and the wild, they’re closer than a lot of places in the world. [David Blaine] Patrick tells me that here, in a humid tropical climate, people live among many wild creatures. And that inspires some very unique acts. So, I’m starting my journey in northern Thailand to meet a courageous performer who has broken world records by closely interacting with venomous scorpions. [reporter] She’s been dubbed Thailand’s “Scorpion Queen.” After performing with scorpions for more than 6 years. [David Blaine] Throughout history, magicians from around the world have worked with dangerous animals to demonstrate their fearlessness and a connection to nature. [David Blaine] Something I’ve kept hidden for most of my life is that I have a serious phobia of things that crawl. As a kid, if I would have seen a scorpion in my bedroom, I'd run out and probably never return. [David Blaine] With this many scorpions, I was prepared to get stung. Ah, I got stung. [David Blaine] The challenge is to not react. Because as soon as you move, they may perceive a threat and are likelier to attack. The oil helps with the pain, but not with the odor. -Okay. [David Blaine] The scorpions smell like rotting meat. And they're crawling all over my body. It’s an overload of weird sensation. And I know that I have to stay still. -Thank you. Kanchana taught me the importance of staying calm and in control especially while getting stung. And this skill will be essential when dealing with insects that could be deadly. Especially when they number in the hundreds of thousands. [bee's buzzing] [David Blaine] Gan has been a beekeeper for more than ten years. [David Blaine] At this time of the season, he is in the north of Thailand where the flowers are best for his bees. [David Blaine] Bee bearding is a classic act that was first documented in the 1830s by a beekeeper to demonstrate his connection with bees. It's so compelling to watch hundreds of thousands of bees transform into one single organism around him. -It looks incredible. It’s so striking, that after seeing it just once, I know I need to try it myself. Last night, I kept having these dreams over and over of these swarms of bees everywhere, which is pretty crazy. It really does affect a certain part of my subconscious. So I’m going to do it here? -Yeah. [David Blaine] Gan taught me you have to respect the bees. They have a highly sophisticated method of communication. [speaking foreign language] -Tuck your shirt in. [David Blaine] If a swarm of bees wants to sting you, they will keep attacking you until they’re done... Looks okay. ...cause they're willing to die to protect their colony. The bees are attracted to black. And I was advised by Gan not to do this. -But since I always wear black, I'm wearing black. [David Blaine] The first step is locating the queen bee, the largest in the hive. Now I should sit down, Gan? [David Blaine] He's going to put the queen bee around my neck. Should I hold my hands like this? [Gan] Yeah. [David Blaine] The queen bee has a pheromone which is going to attract these bees. They follow and protect her. [Patrick Kun] Good? -Ready. [speaks foreign language]. [David Blaine] I’m getting a few stings. I’d say we’re up to about ten. I know how important it is to keep my composure even while being stung. The amount of venom could easily become deadly. Okay. [speaking in foreign language] -Go. -Yeah, I got tons of stings. Look. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. The black, ah. The mistake was the black. They’re removing the stingers so they don’t keep pumping venom into me. I do have to say the vibration is amazing. -Yeah? -Oh, yeah. When they're first like "zzz" and your whole body begins to vibrate. That is crazy. Thank you. It’s fascinating, to see your connection to nature and to the bees. It was truly one of the most amazing experiences. [David Blaine] You really feel the power of the bee swarm. It's something that words can never, ever explain. The feeling is almost like, like bliss. It's almost like a, I guess, like magic. [laughs] [cheering] Throughout my career, I’ve been putting myself in extreme situations where I’ve had to maintain my composure. Just pull it right out. [announcer] It’s been 7 minutes in. [David Blaine] It’s a skill set that I’ve been working on for years. And here in Southeast Asia, I want to see what techniques they can teach me. So my next stop is in Indonesia, where there is an incredible group of people who perform a practice called Debus. Their skill set is demonstrating that they have a superhuman pain tolerance. I've been invited to a Debus performance in the ruins of Banten Palace, an area destroyed by the Dutch colonizers in the 19th century. The Indonesians couldn’t match the firepower of the Dutch colonizers. So as an act of resistance, they honed a martial art called Debus, demonstrating their unique ability to resist pain. Now, eight generations later, Debus practitioners commemorate this history. For many, their discipline comes from a deep faith in God. [metal clanging] [David Blaine] The second bite is even bigger. [David Blaine] For Debus practitioners, their magical acts often involve showcasing the strength of the body with sharp objects. That’s crazy. I cut the paper, right, if you take real razor blades, slice it and then eat ‘em. This is so dangerous, I’ve never even seen this before. -I love what you did with the razor blades. -Oh yeah. -I love the eating... [makes chewing sounds] [David Blaine] This next practitioner is performing under circumstances that are unpredictable. [crowd exclaims] [crowd chatter] [crowd screams] Are you seeing this? A king cobra can deliver so much venom in a single bite that it can kill a full-grown elephant. It’s mesmerizing to watch Fiitz perform with the king cobra. He’s unbelievable. I can’t think of anything equal to it, a performance where the risk is so high. I might have just found my next obsession. [applause] With the snakes, it's like a great white shark, like its eye’s like, dead. You know, it's like you can't connect to it. Or at least I've never felt that connection. Fiitz has the most incredible snake act that I've ever seen. He appears to have a special trust in these deadly creatures. And I want to understand his methods. I’m traveling east from Banten to Fiitz’ home in Sumedang. Wild snakes are common here and Fiitz often rescues them from hunters who would otherwise sell them for their meat and skin. -You ready? -Mm-hmm. First, Fiitz wants to test me. To see how well I can follow his directions with snakes that can strike at incredible speed. -I’m not in love with the concept of the medium venom. -That's crazy. Is there a position that it can't bite? [translator] It's hard with this snake. He bit like we munch. [David Blaine] It just keeps biting. -Holy! Damn! I'm ready. -Hold here. -Hold here? Like this? Here? -Okay, good. Now just let go? [translator] Let go of the head. Just let go of the head. [speaking in foreign language]. [translator] You can move your, uh, right hand. -Slowly. [translator] Closer to the head. -Yes? -Good, good, great. [David Blaine] I'm told not to react even knowing that this venomous snake could easily bite me. And if I can't handle this, then I'm not going any further. [Doug] He's saying it's, like, not the best time to play with it. [translator] Because it's nocturnal. Maybe we continue tomorrow. The king cobra? -Yeah, king cobra. -Blindfolded? [David Blaine] These are your daughters? -Beautiful. Are your daughters afraid when you do this? -I understand that very well. I also have a daughter and so I’m much more calculated when it comes to life-threatening risks. Fiitz believes that he can teach me how to interact with king cobras. But I have a long way to go. -Can you, uh, sunglasses? -Put the glasses on? -Yes, now. [David Blaine] From far distances the spitting cobra can shoot its venom with precise accuracy. Should I move away a little bit? [David Blaine] If it gets in your eyes you can easily go blind. [translator] If you know the attraction in India, with the flute. [translator] It focusing not to the sound but to the movement of the flute. -Ah. So when they play the flute, they're looking at the movement. -I see. What Fiitz has mastered is his use of misdirection. [translator] If you can just distract him in front, Fiitz will go around him and touch his. -Head. [translator] Head from behind. [translator] You want to try to touch the back of his head? -Back of the head? -Yes. -Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay, okay. -I got to mentally prep for that. So if I touch the snake, I touch him here? -Like this? But you don’t move. Okay. Slowly. Slowly. [translator] Go on. Go on. [translator] You can go on, David. [translator] Go on. [translator] The snake is focusing on Fiitz. -Here? -I will see you guys in a little bit. Okay. That was great. I think for today we're good with the spitting cobra. -Are you stop? Are you stop? [David Blaine] What's funny about what's happening today? Very good for now. Is the learning curve is happening in front of everybody, which makes me super awkward. [translator] The king cobra can straight away, um, move around his head. [David Blaine] Pivot very fast. And this is a wild one, so it's not used to handling. It’s imperative that I learn from Fiitz how to understand the king cobra's behavior. They’re among the most intelligent of snakes. They have fangs as sharp as hypodermic needles and their strike can be faster than a human’s reaction time. [translator] If we stood still, it will not attack. It will only observe. And then he will go away. [translator] You see? have to, like, trust, trust that the snake will not attack. [David Blaine] I like what Fiitz does so much because it’s primal. It’s just him and the King Cobra. -That's crazy. Wow. [David Blaine] To watch Fiitz perform is both beautiful and terrifying. I’ve got this image of Fiitz kissing the king cobra in my head and once I get stuck on the idea, like it becomes, it becomes this internal obsession where I can’t take it out of my mind. And against all common sense, I know that I’ll regret it if I don’t at least give it a try. Incredible. You're an incredible teacher. [translator] Thank you for trusting him. [David Blaine] I definitely trust Fiitz. Unfortunately, his home country of Indonesia does not produce anti-venom specifically for a king cobra. But he tells me that Thailand does. If the snake bites me, at least I’ll have a fighting chance of survival. [David Blaine] Before I leave... [fireworks explode] ...the Debus practitioners have invited me to one last performance. One of the acts involves walking on red hot coals. And for one of the men, eating them. Is he ok? [translator] For today it will not hurt. [David Blaine] For years I've read about performers eating red hot coals. [David Blaine] I quickly learned that there was no trick to this. And for days after my mouth, throat, and esophagus were burned, making it difficult to swallow. But I need to focus, because I can’t afford even the slightest mistake. [crowd cheering] [whistle blowing] [announcer] Good morning ladies and gentlemen. [David Blaine] Thailand is one of the only countries in the world that produces anti-venom for the king cobra. [announcer] The venom of the king cobra... [David Blaine] It's an extremely dangerous job, because even after they milk the snake, it can still kill. The anti-venom can be lifesaving. Bangkok has a remarkably high snake population for an urban area. On average a snake encounter is reported to emergency services every 15 minutes. [newscaster] Bangkok fire stations receive more than 34,000 calls. [David Blaine] I'm here in Bangkok to meet Chris Shannon, a snake handler who actually worked at one of these facilities and was bitten. The anti-venom saved his life. Yet his love of snakes is so strong that he’s willing risk his life to educate people about them. -Hey little buddy. Snakes are so misunderstood. I've made it my life goal to do what I can when it comes to conservation, protecting the numbers. [David Blaine] This is Fiitz’s first time leaving Indonesia. I asked him to join me in Thailand so we can continue our training. Terima Kasih. -Sami. -Thank you for coming. I think the two of them together can help me better understand the king cobra. Fiitz, look. Chris lives with about 100 venomous snakes. This is incredible. -All right. This is the king room. -Oh, my-- Some of them are rescues. -That’s Skittles. -Skittles? Being around him, it’s easy to forget that even one scratch from a fang can kill you. -Hi Skittles, it’s me again. [David Blaine] It’s very rare to see someone handle a king cobra with this level of confidence and ease. -And right outside. [David Blaine] By coincidence, Chris’ near-fatal snake bites happened exactly one year apart and on my birthday. -One was April 4th, 2014 and another April 4th, 2015. And this one, I was like, okay, I'm probably going to die now. My heart stopped for seven seconds at the hospital and I felt like I was falling through this black abyss. And then I woke up. I didn't even know. He’s starting to realize we mean him no harm. [David Blaine] Seeing Chris’ level of comfort and ease around the king cobras is helping me mentally prepare. -Now, you can touch him. When I talk to snake performers, there's no real, like, retirement in our line of work. You just keep going, keep peddling, until one day you don't. But I don't know, a mentor of mine, he did all of this and he was kissing venomous snakes, over 23 years. And he got to the age of 42 and he died of diabetes. So in my mind, I'm like, I'm just going to do what I love doing and share what I love doing. And when my time comes, it's my time. I guess I don't think too much into it. [David Blaine] For thousands of years magicians have tried to demonstrate their powers by performing with serpents. It's almost like they're showing their ability to defy death or to face death and control it. And there's a beauty to that. [David Blaine] Nothing in my career compares to my experience with these cobras in Southeast Asia. It’s the first stunt that I’ve ever done where I feel like one false move can easily lead to death. -Can you stand back. [David Blaine] I’ve spent the last several months mentally and physically preparing myself to engage with a king cobra. Woah! Studying the king cobras behavior and learning to be able to try this for myself. -Maybe like this. [David Blaine] Fiitz and Chris have been teaching me different approaches. -Move your leg, yes like that. [David Blaine] And my confidence is slowly increasing. Fiitz shows me how to first gently push down on the cobra's head. Touch here? [David Blaine] To see if it is focused enough for the kiss and less likely to turn away. -Snake like this. -If you’re leaning down for the kiss. No second thoughts. If you move wrong, that one mistake could be your last. [David Blaine] Heart rates going, I walk out. [exhales and laughs] [David Blaine] What was really powerful... -Wanna try? ...Was giving the water. When I gave the cobra water to drink, I felt a connection. He’s drinking it. -That’s amazing! -Like all animals, I think they're very sensitive. I feel that. [Chris] Exactly. [David Blaine] I feel confident that I am surrounded by the best team possible, but I’m losing sleep over what I have to do. Ready for tomorrow? -Thank you for keeping me safe. -You’re welcome. Even though I’ve been obsessing over this moment, I know I’ll never be ready. -But, you’re good. -Good Fiitz? -Good. Here. Yeah. Yeah. Can you move closer, slowly. Don’t forget your leg, yeah. This time, you try touch. Slowly. Yeah. -Yep. -Take a breathe. -Good? Okay. Right, right, yeah. Good, okay. Slowly. Yeah, yeah. Wait, wait, wait. Slowly. [exhales] [David Blaine] In this moment... -Slowly. Slowly. ...Nothing else exists. -Okay, this is good. Good. Okay, stand back. Okay. -That was the most stressful kiss of my life. [laughter] -It’s good. -Fiitz. -A little... [makes heartbeat sound] -That one my heart was racing. [David Blaine] I couldn't have done this without the teachers I’ve met along the way. And I am forever grateful to them for sharing their traditions and knowledge that kept me safe. This was one of the most terrifying moments of my entire life. And yet somehow, one of the most beautiful. [♪ triumphant music playing] [♪ music plays through credits] When I was 5 years old, I held my first deck of cards. I never wanted to let them go. I was doing basic tricks but I believed that I could make my mother's day by doing a simple magic trick. Just give it one hit like that and again. [crowd] Ohhh! [David Blaine] So I learned another one. And another one. [crowd] Wow! [David Blaine] And another one. [David Blaine] But then I began to realize that magic could be so much more. Now for the first time, I'm searching all around the world, to seek out the most extraordinary people, with the most incredible skills, performing things that seem impossible. Real feats that look like magic. [♪ theme music playing] [David Blaine] They're giving me a crash course and letting me into their world. And I'm trying things that I could have never imagined to be possible. [cobra hiss and spit] I will see you guys This will be the most intense journey of my life. That look so good! [♪ distant street traffic] [David Blaine] You can tell a lot about people just from their reactions. Brazilians are so expressive. And that's why Brazil has always been one of my favorite places to perform magic. Just being here inspires me to try things that I only ever dreamed of. -How are you doing, David? -How are you doing, brother? -It's good to see you. [David Blaine] I'm lucky to have friends all over the world who are great magicians. Bernardo is one of them. He grew up here, doing magic all over Rio. He's brought me to a place most visitors, and even many Brazilians, would not enter. [Bernardo Sedlacek] So here is the biggest favela in Rio. It’s called Rocinha. I spent most of my childhood here, with so many friends. [David Blaine] People often think of favelas as places filled with crime and violence. But Bernardo doesn't see them that way at all. [Bernardo Sedlacek] There are hundreds of thousands of people living here in less than one square mile. [speaking in Portuguese] It's like a city within a city. I feel like you can find all forms of magic here, in the places you would least expect. [David Blaine] I’ve always been drawn to performers whose acts are authentic and unpredictable. street is a tough stage, and I respect anyone who can build an audience and keep them there. [David Blaine] Wow. These are sharp. [Ligeirinho] Yes. [David Blaine] No! [Bernardo Sedlacek] I'm going to break this coconut. But before I break it. [Bernardo Sedlacek] I will peel it off using my teeth. [David Blaine] I love this! [thuds] -Wow! -Damn. [drumming] [William] I present to you, Super Maluco! [cheering and laughter] [Super Maluco screams] [William] Super Maluco! [crowd] No, no, no! [David Blaine] No, no, no. I'll stay back here. Some of my favorite performers don't even realize that they're magicians. Where did he learn this? [David Blaine] That’s crazy. [David Blaine] Wow! [David Blaine] This is crazy. [David Blaine] Arteval. Mestre Ligeirinho. And Super Maluco. They were doing things that I hadn't seen before. It's amazing how they make everything just look so vibrant. [Bernardo Sedlacek] Yeah. People are very proud. Many live here their entire life. Oh my God. [David Blaine] Oh, wow. [Bernardo giggles] [♪ suspenseful music playing] [David Blaine] Walking hundreds of feet above Rocinha is Rafael. He’s a masterful slackliner who performs his stunts worldwide. [♪ inspirational music playing] Ah look at the kids. Oh, that’s crazy. [clapping] [Bernardo laughs] Nice to meet you, Rafa. [Rafa Bridi] Nice to meet you. That was incredible. -Hi Bernardo. -How are you doing? -It has always been a big dream of mine to rig a line over a favela because I think it's a good representation of Brazil. The resilience. The ways Brazilian people strive in their lives. I've been talking with the community, going to different rooftops. I've always wanted to connect in a very deep and meaningful way with people here and rig a highline that would inspire curiosity. loved bringing things that people would never see into unexpected places. And this is exactly that. -I feel a privilege. You know, it's like, it’s fulfilling. [David Blaine] Take one. Look at it. And it landed under your watch. Turn your wrist over. [David Blaine] Do you think I can learn it? So, this is an extremely dangerous act that I would only learn from Mestre Ligeirinho who shared his secret techniques behind-the-scenes. don't believe that what I'm doing is real. Whoa. -That looks insane! The problem is, I sometimes get so consumed with something... [David Blaine] That I don’t even think about the repercussions. [David Blaine] I'm usually willing to accept pain and extreme danger. And sometimes even a little embarrassment. -Stay centered and calm and relaxed, you know? -Yeah, as opposed to-- -Yeah, as opposed to... [David Blaine] But it's all worth it because I get to meet remarkable people like Rafael. [David Blaine] Now he's taking me to a bridge in Rio that is a sacred spot for two powerful women who are pioneers of high diving in Brazil. [announcer] Jaki Valente, the wild card diver of Brazil. -My name is Jacqueline Valente. [announcer] A nice dive, Jaki Valente... Jaki Valente from Brazil performing the Women's World's most difficult dive. Sensational. The bravery required is supreme. [Jaki Valente] The second athlete in Brazil is, coincidentally, my sister. [announcer] Diver Paty Valente! It’s been challenging over the years. Brazil doesn’t quite have the training facilities to train at these heights. [Jaki Valente] The highest platform here is ten meters high, but our competition is double, so exactly 20 meters. So, exploring Rio de Janeiro, we found this bridge where we could train: The Joatinga Bridge. -That was beautiful. So when did you first do a high dive? [Jaki Valente] Back in 2007. Let's show you the place where we stand. Do you want to watch? [David Blaine] Yeah! Great. [Jaki Valente] Ready, set, dive. [David claps] They make it look effortless, but I know the obstacles they’ve overcome to be world-class divers. [announcer] The hardest dive in the world. Valente on top of the leaderboard. Oh, she looks emotional. -When we are training, there is a lot going on that you can't really prepare for, because you never know what’s gonna be under the water. And the bridge itself, it's something that brings the concentration which we needed to keep competing no matter what difficulties we face. -I'm obsessed with people that do real things that most people think are impossible. I see all the challenges that you've face and despite that you've pioneered the sport here, that's amazing. And you're pushing yourself and you're doing things that nobody should do, and you will feel the impact of it, but you're creating what's real magic, and that's the beauty of it. -Sorry. -Why did you cry when I said that? -Because I heard this from a lot of people who compete with me, and they say the same words, like that I make things, what seems impossible without training, with these kinds of conditions make true and push the sport which. Yeah, it's. -You're gonna make me cry. -No, it’s beautiful. You're both very special. Very poetic. Finding you has been a blessing. -Thank you. That’s right. -The best way. -Yeah, I think so. [David Blaine] Yeah, of course. Brazil is the fifth largest country by area, with over 200 million people. One of those people is a conservationist, ER doctor, and a fearless explorer who's going to lead me into the Brazilian wild. She's currently in Bonito, a small town that's considered the gateway to the Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world. -Beautiful jungle. -Perfect. Karina is inspirational. [Karina Oliani] Don’t worry about the jaguars. [David Blaine] I'll follow you. In the past decade, she's summited Everest and K2. She's also free-dived with countless apex predators. And today, she's invited me to join her search for one of Brazil's most elusive creatures. -Juca, he’s going to be driving the boat for us. [Karina Oliani] Let’s go! [David Blaine] We are traveling down the Rio Formoso, one of the only rivers in the world where you can find anacondas. [Karina Oliani] Juca is the most experienced guy around Anacondas in the world. [David Blaine] Juca is tracking anacondas that exceed 25 feet and weigh more than 500 pounds. He believes that the legends people tell here carry an important message about the consequences of disrupting the balance of nature. female anaconda significantly outsizes the male, and Juca is on a search for one in particular. -Big Mama. -Big Mama is nice. [David Blaine] Hidden in these waters lies an almost mythological creature. [Karina Oliani] She can be anywhere. [David Blaine] Anacondas are ambush predators. Sometimes laying in wait in the branches of trees for whatever prey passes by. They’ve even been known to eat wild pigs and jaguars. [Karina Oliani] I’m seeing her! [♪suspenseful music playing] [Karina Oliani] Incredible, huh? [David Blaine] It's just unbelievable. If anybody experienced what I just saw, I feel like they can't be afraid of them. Part of diving, for me, it's to show and raise awareness why they need to be preserved and why we are not right when we kill those animals. [David Blaine] She's magical. And you're in her river, in her natural environment. -It’s true. -I felt a complete sense of wonder. Karina knows this feeling firsthand. It's driven her to achieve incredible feats. In 2017, Karina became the first person to traverse a more than 2,000-degree lava lake. What do you think led you to do these things? -People ask me and then I’m like, "Life is just one and it's now. And you don't want to have it ordinary. You want to be spectacular." [David laughs] Crazy, huh? [Karina Oliani] I called the best volcanologists in the world, and they are like, “No, I'm not going to help a girl kill herself in a lava lake. I'm like, “No, it's possible, we can do it.” It was so magical. [David Blaine] That image! I feel like it's not even a daredevil. I feel like what you do, it's like an exploration. [David Blaine] I'm sure Houdini would've been fascinated by Karina. He also created unforgettable, death-defying images. Of all the magicians I studied, Houdini impacted me the most. And it was his stunts that would spark my imagination. -For years, I've had this idea in my head of jumping from a bridge on fire. Igniting my body and then just jumping into the water. That would be, for me, the most amazing. [Karina Oliani] I understand your passion. Oh, man. [David Blaine] My most challenging stunts have involved water, air, earth. But the one element that I've avoided is fire. Houdini, only attempted one fire stunt that nearly ended in disaster, calling fire "the most terrible of elements." I wanna do this fire stunt here, but I'm definitely going to need some help. [Karina Oliani] A friend of mine is the guy for fire. [David Blaine] Karina’s taking me to meet one of the only people that believed in her volcano mission. Let’s go down here. [Karina Oliani] Okay. [David Blaine] He's a veteran stuntman who loves fire. -Tell him he better protect my hands because to a magician the hands are everything. -And to a doctor, as well. [David Blaine] Yeah! Fire is so mesmerizing. It's the only thing that matters in the moment. It's all-consuming, and you can't take your eyes off of it. [♪ intense music playing] [rushing water] [♪ introspective music playing] feel like in Brazil, there is an energy to make anything happen. This environment of curiosity, passion, unpredictability. Everybody that I've met, they're all doing things that are unique and different. This is the perfect place to try to bring a bridge jump to life. But I have a lot to learn. -Let's warm up a little bit. Normally, what kind of stretch do you do? -No flexibility whatsoever. -No flexibility? [David Blaine] No. I'm back in Rio to meet with high divers Jaki and Paty Valente. I want to do the jump using their bridge. I trained 20 years ago to jump into boxes, and then the last jump that I did, the shoulder ripped out. Let me explain... so I have a show in Vegas, and I thought the best way to start. [crowd] Three, two one. [David Blaine] Would be to jump 8 stories into a pile of empty cardboard boxes. And the least risky way to do this is to land flat on your back. Don't pull my arm. We need a doctor here. I made one slight misstep in the execution of my jump that caused me to dislocate my shoulder on impact. Luckily, there happened to be an orthopedic surgeon's convention that weekend. They popped my shoulder back into place and I finished the show. But I never fully recovered. [Jaki Valente] So, in your conditions, why you want to still do that? [David Blaine] I get it stuck in my head, and then. -You remind me when I was younger. -Where do you think you got that mindset? -That's what I love to do. -Cause it was in your mind? -It was in my mind to do it. Well, what can happen? -I’ve seen people in competitions. -Smack themselves? -Get knocked out. Knocked out. -It's like crashing a car. Pretty much the same impact. And that's why we try the most to get into a vertical line and to disappear in the water than... [forceful splash] This is the line which you want to hit in the water. Don't look down. -Position here and step. -Arms to the side because it gives you balance. The first mistake you did it: the leg. Straight. The feet need to be flexed. Pushing forward. -You have to try to keep your head straight. -If you want to look, the water don't want to go away. She's gonna be always there. [Paty Valente] Next we go up to 5 meters. [David Blaine] Super tight. [Jaki Valente] Super tight. Squeeze your bum. Let's go once again. -You cannot do this. -Your chest forward. [David Blaine] Shall we try a last jump? -Never last, one more. -Yeah, yeah, yeah, shall we do one more? [Jaki Valente] From 10 meters. Keep your head straight. [David Blaine] But the dive is only half of the picture. -What if we just use a Zippo lighter? This looks amazing. [Dana Kunze] You've got to be extremely careful about this, David. It's a very dangerous maneuver from a bridge on fire from that high. called Dana Kunze. He’s a dear friend. [announcer] Dana Kunze will be the fifth man up the ladder, Dana’s only 22. [David Blaine] Who broke the world record for the highest dive at 172 feet. [announcer] Alright, the new champion! [David Blaine] He also trains fire divers. I started working with him about 15 years ago. [Dana Kunze] I want you to remember too, that when we were training in Florida before, you were bruised purple from your ankles to your wrists. [David Blaine] I also ended up shattering my tailbone, which put a hard stop to everything. What are your thoughts, Dana, on the main things that I should pay attention to? [Dana Kunze] You know, typically in our shows we’re jumping from 32 feet. My concern for you, because you’re diving from twice as high, you’ve got twice the exposure for getting burnt. In fact, we had a diver that got burnt up pretty bad. I've got this picture here of what happened to him when he caught the wind in the wrong direction. [David Blaine] I'm so lucky to be surrounded by some of the best experts in the world. André somehow secured us exclusive access to this abandoned fort to train for the fire jump. [David Blaine] He wants to test what I'm capable of and assess what I need to learn to see whether the bridge jump is possible. [overlapping chatter] Thank you He wanted to do this test at a location that's meaningful and historic. So he brought me to the place that the French use to call "the rat trap," or "le ratier." It's like a maze. In 1555, France invaded modern-day Rio, fortifying the coast. The fort later served as a maximum-security prison, before falling to ruin over two decades ago. So that goes to the roof? Wow! [David Blaine] André wants me to connect with fire. [David Blaine] To respect it. Ah. Great. -Yeah [David Blaine] But I need to learn how much I can withstand before I get burned. [Leo] You are the only person who can tell what the limit is. [Leo] Don’t let it cross the limit. Three, two, one. [David Blaine] It’s critical to hold my breath starting the second I’m lit on fire. And to keep my eyes closed for the entire jump. [David Blaine] I get it. Time is the crucial factor. Take it off. Yeah. waited and it burnt. [Leo] Let him put this on your arm real quick. [David Blaine] Burn remedy. [David Blaine] Yeah, yeah. Let’s go outside. -Yeah, and the key is that there are still so many unknowns in this stunt that you’re doing. And we got away with it. -If this is our worst problem, we’re good. -Yeah, we got away with it. So far. The amount of heat you felt there. [Bas Pot] If we burn you, now, yeah? We don’t get to our objective. I now know that from the moment they light me on fire, I'll have less than 20 seconds to make it into that water... ...Before I’m in trouble. [Leo] We’re moving, guys. We’re moving. -Everyone’s ready! Go! [Dana Kunze] Yeah, a fire burn, with a 60-foot dive, is nothing to play with. gonna walk on fire. [Dana Kunze] Yeah. [David Blaine] Up a platform which will go to the edge of the bridge. [Dana Kunze] OK. [David Blaine] I’ll only have 20 seconds. [David Blaine] And this is four times the height of my jump at the fort. The bridge jump was just sifting in my brain for years. I never would have imagined this stunt would happen in Brazil. And it's all driven by this incredible crew. -Where are you going to look? -From a medical point of view, we'll be ready for anything. [David Blaine] Yeah. Her dream is the fire because she does the volcanoes. And your dream is a high dive. So I found the two of you to combine my dream and make it a possibility. [Karina Oliani] For sure. [David Blaine] Let’s get ready. [Bas Pot] There she goes 7.7, 8.8. [André Franco] Bas. Bas. Bas. [Bas Pot] We are at 40 knots. -No. [Bas Pot] No jump. -In this moment. [Bas Pot] Go tell David that we’ve got to call it now. -You need to find calm and peace within the chaos. This is what André taught me. Playing with fire, you're never fully in control. But we're not giving up. -Perfect -It's now what I love. No one is here. It's beautiful conditions. And there's no wind. At about 6:15 when the sun rises, I'm gonna do the jump. -Woo! -Wooooo! [Zippo flicking] [rippling flames] [heartbeat] [David Blaine] Obrigado. I came to Brazil hoping to create one image that would tell a story. But what we've done here tells many. We've built something. Together. With Jaki and Paty, who bring grace and heart to everything they do. And Karina, who stares down the impossible. [David Blaine] And André, who put all of the pieces together. That was a life-changing experience. country with an energy that just sweeps you away. The discoveries, the beauty, the people, and their generous spirit. I’ve learned so much from so many. And I will never, ever, ever forget this. [♪ dramatic music playing] [David Blaine] Growing up I never felt like I fit in. I wasn't the fastest or the strongest. But I found a skill that set me apart... endurance. It all began with extreme cold. This became my lifelong obsession. To discover things that seem impossible, magical, death-defying. [thud] I'm traveling to the Arctic Circle in the middle of winter. This is Lapland where Finland meets Norway, Sweden, and Russia. It's a punishing environment. During this time of the year, temperatures can drop to negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It's sparsely populated. And in this part of the world, there are more reindeer than people. -One, two, three. an unusual place to go searching for magic. In this snow-covered wilderness. It's what you would imagine the ultimate winter wonderland to be. But I'm on a search for people who endure this freezing environment to perform superhuman feats. [screams] -All right. Don't die! Yeah! Oh, yeah! [Ken screams victoriously] [David Blaine] Oh! Damn! -That was good. -Oh my God! -That was so fun. -What?! Whoa! -I look up at like 1,000 feet of just flat rock with snowy tops, and it's just so mighty, and I feel stronger every time. [David Blaine] Ken has been called the last Viking on earth. [Ken Stornes] I draw my power from the Vikings. They would scream their way into battle. They would run towards death without fear. Wooo-hooo! [David Blaine] He’s from Norway where the "Death Dive" was created. -A Norwegian death dive, it looks like you are going to land flat on your stomach. But in the last millisecond, you tuck in and protect yourself. [David Blaine] In 2023, Ken broke the world record for the highest death dive when he jumped 132 feet into a fjord. -The hard thing for that jump was definitely the mental barriers because it's, it's high enough to definitely kill you. You have to be OK with the outcome. Did my first, like, backflip on the ground, when I was 15, around then. -And then did you have dive training? -No, that was something we did, like a result of many years of gym, like doing tricking and parkour and gymnastics and then it just like evolved. [David Blaine] Ken transforms the landscape into his own playground. -This is the ancient art of getting to know the snow before you jump in it, you know? You got to befriend the snow so it doesn't hurt us tomorrow. It's been something we've, like, made jokes about. But I kind of feel it's true, too. I feel like to get to know the snow and get to know the nature and pay respects. You ready for this? -Let’s go! [♪ triumphant music playing Richard Wagner "Ride of the Valkyries"] [snowmobile approaching] [David Blaine] We found an area with high cliffs and enough snowfall for Ken to teach me a bit of his jumping techniques. -No rocks. Should be good. -Make sure your face is protected. You wanna use your elbows to shoot in. When you feel like you’re flying, try to meet the ground. -Meet the ground and smack it. [David Blaine] When I get up to the top it actually looks and feels much higher. And for Ken, this isn't even a warm-up jump. I suddenly understand how much mental discipline his jumps demand. [Ken Stornes] 3, 2, 1. Go! [thud and grunt] [♪ inquisitive music playing] You good? [David Blaine] Yeah, I took a neck shot. I'm just kidding. -There's one more thing I want you to see. -This is crazy. [splash] Whoa! Watching you, that's something I really respect. That, like, commitment to one idea. Magic is that. Cause everything else disappears. -Yeah, like you have to know the risk and you have to feel the fear. -But before it’s like, you just have to remove every like, limitations in your mind. To be able to overcome it. Ken's right. It's important to understand the risks and be prepared. For my first televised stunt, I wasn't. I failed on live TV when I tried to remain encased in a block of ice for three days and three nights. It started with the initial idea of I just love how ice looks and then I started thinking what if, what if I can be inside of it? I committed to doing it in the most public place possible. I wanted to break myself out of the ice at the end. But at 63 hours my safety team ended the stunt early because I was hallucinating and on the brink of collapse. [reporter] He’s been held together by spit and adrenaline inside... the adrenaline is now gone. We gotta make sure he doesn’t go into shock. [David Blaine] I was destroyed. The ice had done more damage to me than any stunt that I've ever done. Being in the block of ice changed my outlook on everything. I pushed my mind and body to the breaking point. That failure is what led me to this search. For people who are mentally tough in the most extreme environments. Now I'm going to meet Inka Cagnasso, a world-class Finnish skydiver. Watching Inka dance in the sky, it's easy to forget the risks involved especially in this climate. Wow. Jeez. That is unbelievable. [Inka Cagnasso] When I was a kid, I went through the dark, cold winters like walking to school when it's like minus 30 Celsius and you really need to find a mindset. You just need to toughen up. [David Blaine] It takes real endurance to train for hours on end in the wind tunnel, let alone to fly in subzero temperatures as Inka does. One of my favorite activities is jumping out of airplanes. I've done it more than 500 times; the feeling is exhilarating. But I've never done it in these freezing conditions, which makes it much more dangerous. -Hey. -Nice to meet you. -How many hours do you have? -I have like over five and half thousand hours now. -Yeah it's a lot. You ready to play? [David Blaine] Inka is taking me on an Arctic skydive, where I'll experience the coldest natural environment that I've ever been in. But first, she wants to test our ability to jump together. Inka's longtime collaborator, Lauri, is joining us. -When we’re watching beautiful videos of skydiving we don’t see the part that’s just so important, which is the camera flyer. [David Blaine] Lauri’s camera is strapped to his helmet, and it's heavier than a bowling ball. -Stacking those nine kilos to your head and then jumping out of the plane and going 300 kilometers towards the ground... ...is a bit nuts. [wind gusts] -It's a huge airfield. -But I see these patches of ice. -The runway and all the bit, like, that's very slippery. [David Blaine] Three years ago I had a bad landing and I broke my ankle. I broke the bone in multiple places. Ripped three ligaments and, I never really recovered the ankle. And because of this accident, I stopped skydiving. [Inka Cagnasso] I can see that it's at the back of his head, like is this going to happen again? Am I potentially going to hurt my ankle again? longer I didn't skydive, the more difficult it has become to get back into the sport. But jumping with Inka here presents a rare and beautiful opportunity to build back both my confidence and push my ability to tolerate the cold. But any time you skydive in freezing temperatures you need to consider other risks. Your equipment is more likely to malfunction and your response time is much slower because the cold numbs your extremities. [Inka Cagnasso] Let’s do it! -Do it! [David Blaine] We want to get up in the air as soon as we can because the clouds are starting to come in. The clouds cover distorts depth perception which makes landing much more dangerous. [Inka Cagnasso] Woo! [David Blaine] At 12,000 feet, the temperatures will drop to negative 40 degrees. I've decided to jump in a T-shirt which will give me more mobility. [♪ uplifting music playing] [Inka Cagnasso] It was so beautiful above the clouds. I was having the time of my life. David was smiling. [Lauri Aapro] I have roughly 45 seconds in a free-fall to capture Inka doing her magic. But as I open my parachute I start having problems. My goggles are getting fogged. The clouds and snow are making it harder to see how close I am to the ground. Then when I start to flare my canopy, my steering lines are tangled. I realize that I'm coming in too fast. [crash and scrape] [Lauri groans] [Inka Cagnasso] I saw him laying on the ground and he was not moving for, like way too long. I started running. And thanks, God, I saw him moving again. I’ve lost a lot of friends in this sport and whenever something like this happens it’s very triggering. [David Blaine] Are you OK? There are so many unknowns in this sport. Your chute might not open. You, your goggles might fog up. Anything can happen. -I suffered spinal fractures. But I am also super grateful to walk away from it. -There's a word in Finnish language that's called sisu, which would probably translate to something like persistence or stubbornness. Like you watch me. I’m going to get it done. -The doctors asked me if I'm gonna fly again. I said, yes, of course. I just needed to take care of my mind first and then build back my body. [David Blaine] I was so concerned that he was never going to fly again because of his broken back. But in just a matter of months, he returned to the wind tunnel. Lauri is an incredible example of perseverance and determination. -Sisu is a mindset, having to survive in harsh weather. Yeah, it toughens you up. [David Blaine] Christian is a great magician that I’ve collaborated with for decades. He’s invited me to Helsinki to see some incredible acts that you can only find here. [♪ band music playing] [Christian Engblom] There's only light, a few hours per day during the winter. So it allows your creativity to flourish and come up with new ideas. -One, two, three, four! I'm taking David to see a performance taking place on circular plates of ice spinning on top of the frozen Baltic Sea. It's called an ice carousel. So if someone were to ask me what would be unique about Finnish magic. These guys. This is Salla. -I feel very alive when I'm up there. And I feel like the audience is with me. I want the audience to actually forget the freezing cold. Salla isn’t just an aerialist; she is also one of the best female ice divers. [David Blaine] When Salla unexpectedly drops through the ice, you can feel the energy of the crowd shift. It's as if the audience is now holding their breath along with her. It's what made my favorite magician, Harry Houdini, so captivating. [applause and cheers] Hi! -Hi, nice to meet you, David. -Nice to meet... That was amazing! -Thank you! [announcer] He is fighting it, he is fighting it. [David Blaine] When I attempted the world record for breathholding, I started blacking out and my safety team had to intervene and rescue me. Just like they had to when I was encased in a block of ice. Watching Salla combine breathholding and cold endurance, I want to see what else she can do. So she's taking me to a training camp to introduce me to her team. -So what we have here today is we have the depth ropes so they can dive down. [David Blaine] Free diving is one of the riskiest underwater sports where you dive without any breathing apparatus. But under the ice, it's exponentially more dangerous. If you are in 60-degree water, you can hold your breath no problem. Four minutes five minutes each time. But when you are in the Arctic and it's below zero, it's very easy to blackout. A wetsuits gives you insulation and significantly prolongs the amount of time that you can spend underwater. Where else do they even do this kind of ice diving? There can't be that many places in the world. -No there aren’t really many. [David Blaine] Miro and Salla see free diving as much more than a sport. -We have basically an underwater floor flipped upside down. -Oh right. I didn’t even think of that. You have a surface here. -We can definitely show you some of that. -We can show you. Alright? -Ten seconds. [♪ tranquil music playing] -That looks amazing. Miro and Salla's performance is dreamlike. But it's most people's nightmare. To be trapped under ice with no way out. -Here the ice is one meter thick. So there is no way out if you don’t find the hole. You get lost once, you get lost forever. -Being trapped under ice is one of the greatest nightmares. -How do you feel about it? -Well, for me, I'm excited. [David Blaine] I want to try something I've never done, holding my breath while under the ice. So we're headed 600 miles north to a training ground in the Arctic Circle. -It will be nice to go under for you to see what is, what it’s like down there, and how it feels. [David Blaine] I want to go under the ice in the most extreme way possible. -At first, you're gonna go with the wetsuit? -What fun is a wet suit! -It’s up to you man. [David Blaine] But they’ve convinced me to wear a mask because exposing your eyes to these temperatures is very painful. [Miro Suonpera] We have the 3-meter cable which goes around your waist and we have 3-meter radius around the rope. [David Blaine] So what’s the line for? [Salla Hakanpaa] You should be wearing the lanyard. Something happens to you, you can lose your grip. -Anything can happen even though the distance is small. Anything can happen actually. -There are really no room for mistakes when you are ice diving. This afternoon is about finding David’s limits. What we want to see is how he reacts. Is he panicking? [David Blaine] Yes, it's extremely cold and the environment is extremely hostile. But it's so beautiful. Wow, wow, that's [bleep] amazing! In order to do multiple dives without going into hypothermia, you need intense heat to bring your core temperature up. That is why the sauna is so critical to this process. The sauna was actually created in Finland more than 1,000 years ago and it's a key safety component for this extreme sport. As soon as I leave the sauna I have limited time. The team created a safety track 27 feet long with two exit points. I'll train to dive from one opening to the next without a wetsuit. -As you are going along by pulling the rope. You want to take as long strokes as possible. -OK. -So reach the rope as far you can. Pull as slow as you can. -You take the same breathing techniques as you do before. -I'll do three first. They're teaching me how to conserve oxygen while pulling my body because with every single movement, I'm quickly depleting my reserves. -The body uses an enormous amount of energy. So the further the coldness, sort of, gets in... ...the sooner you get really tired and it reduces the breath hold time. [David Blaine] Once I understood that I could do this length, then I said, okay, well wait, can we double it? Okay, can we triple it? [Miro Suonpera] One good thing to measure that is the, is the feelings inside of your, uh, body and brain. If you lose your focus for just, just a few seconds, you may get disorientated and you may not know that way to go. So that's the reason why it's important to stay focused under there. A few years back there was a world record set on 106 meters in ice diving. I wanted to break that record. I knew that that dive is going to be very, very close to my limits. And I knew that it could be even over, over my limits. There was some marks like 25 meters, 50 meters, 75. 87 is the last mark I remember. [Tommi Pasanen] I saw him slow down. And there was a bubble coming out of his mouth, which means that he was blacking out. I, I started realizing that, okay, maybe I will have to catch him and bring him up. [overlapping Finnish chatter] [Miro Suonpera] The next thing I remember, I woke up and they were shouting me to breathe. [David Blaine] There's a big difference to holding your breath the way I’ve done it my entire life versus holding it while under ice. Everything can shut down quickly and you can black out within seconds. -It was intense and because it was a certain distance he, he tried. You will let him try till the very end that he can. So at the last minute of course we bring him up. You always trust your life to your friends like. -It’s in their hands eventually. [David Blaine] As I train the exits continuously freeze over and the team has to keep re-cutting the holes. You cut through this? -Two hours ago. -And it’s already frozen over that quick? [David Blaine] What Miro says gives me an idea. When I was in the block of ice, my safety team had to cut me out. Now my goal is to escape on my own. I'll free dive 90 feet across to the only exit point which will be frozen solid. And this time I'll do it without wearing a mask. I'll be trapped under the ice and will be forced to break my way out. When you're under the ice, trying to break through this is much more difficult. [Salla Hakanpaa] What’s sort of an extra factor in this is that there’s no holes in between. It’s deadly dangerous. Especially when he’s not wearing any protective gear or a mask. [David Blaine] When I was in the block of ice I was 27. I'm now 50 years old. My body is completely different. Every single thing that I do I feel the effects of it in a way that I've never felt before. The distance is 3 times what I did in training. I need to conserve every bit of oxygen so I have enough reserves to be able to break out before I black out. [faint ticking] [underwater thuds] [ice cracking] Whatever failures I experienced from past stunts, maybe they weren't failures, maybe they were supposed to be because it all led me here. You guys are amazing! Meeting these extraordinary people. Who through their strength and persistence create magic! Who seek out the most intense moments. To find a heightened sense of awareness. Where everything becomes clear. When something's that challenging or that powerful, there are no more distractions, and through that, you can discover the beauty around you.