by David Blaine dislocated his shoulder while in Las Vegas at the Resorts World Theater over the weekend, but the show must go on, and it did.
Blaine’s injury occurred when he jumped from an 80-foot platform above the audience into a stack of cardboard boxes, the casino and Anschutz Entertainment Group said in a statement.
The stunt was part of the Brooklyn magician’s opening act. The casino said a number of doctors in the crowd helped Blaine relocate his right arm as he was “in extreme pain and discomfort.”
“After a brief delay, Blaine was able to continue with the show in pain but in high spirits,” said the organizers of the casino and event.
Blaine posted a terse message on his Instagram on Sunday, commenting, “Wow, that hurt!” with video showing the moment doctors snapped the arm back into place.
Video captured by a bystander captured both the jump and the aftermath as Blaine was slow to get up from the pits. “Wait, watch that right arm,” he was heard saying as members of his rescue team tried to help him up.
The video also showed the doctors massaging and pulling on Blaine’s shoulder and arm as he lay on the stage and the audience looked on. According to the video, the procedure lasted about 30 minutes, after which the crowd broke out in applause.
“Well, that’s never happened before,” Blaine said, smiling.
He’s no stranger to injuries that have occurred during the residency, which has lasted 10 shows so far.
During the previous night’s show, Blaine nearly passed out while holding his breath underwater while remaining in the tank for just over 10 minutes, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He said he came closest to blacking out on stage.
And in December, Blaine pierced his left palm after slamming his hand on a cup concealing an ice pick, the Review-Journal said.
“My Las Vegas residency is filled with many of my favorite acts that I love in magic and stunts that push me beyond my limits,” Blaine said in the casino’s statement. “Although I’ve exercised extensively throughout my life, there is an implicit danger when you push yourself to make possible what feels impossible.”
He is not expected to take any time off and plans to return to regular shows in April and through July.
Blaine is known for performing Houdini-esque stunts, such as in New York in 1997 when he dove himself into a water-filled tank in a small plastic coffin, before resurfacing seven days later.
In a 2002 stunt, he stood on a 100-foot pillar in New York’s Bryant Park for 35 hours before jumping into a stack of boxes. He suffered a concussion from the fall.
In recent years, Blaine has been best known for his smaller-audience, lower-stakes ABC specials, in which he performed magic tricks in the homes of celebrities such as Will Smith, Bryan Cranston, LeBron James and Tom Brady.
Blaine has also faced allegations of sexual assault, first from a former model who accused or raped him in London in 2017, then from multiple women who claimed to have been sexually assaulted in New York City in 2019. However, no charges were filed in either case, according to the Daily Beast, which published the stories. Blaine denied the allegations.
