REDBELT A NOTCH ABOVE MOST FIGHT FILMS

USA Today writer Claudia Puig reviews the most recent film by director David Mamet in an article of the above title. In the film Ricky Jay plays a crooked fight promoter while Chiwetel Ejiofor portrays troubled fighter Mike Mike who must enter the ring to pay off debts and re-establish his honor. Magician Cyril Takayama. Other actors appearing in the film play a sleazy agent (Joe Mantegna) and a self-absorbed action star (Tim Allen). The film is a departure from most Mamet fils featuring con men and scam focused plots, but Mamet is himself a purple belt in Jiu-jitsu.

DAVID BLAINE BREAKS WORLD RECORD!

Today on Oprah Winfrey, David Blaine set a new world record for holding one's breath after submerging himself underwater for 17 minutes & 4 seconds. The previous record ( 16 minutes & 32 Seconds) was set by Switzerland's Peter Colat on February 10th. Observers from Guinness were on hand to witness the feat and approved  "oxygen hyperventilation" prior to Blaine's submersion, a process in which David saturated his blood with oxygen and eliminated carbon dioxide by breathing pure oxygen from a mask. Read more on the event from the AP Newswire. UPDATE: As we were the first to post after getting word From the AP Newswire, Blaine has set the new World's Record for holding your breath. In his interview with Oprah after completing the stunt, David mentioned that he had a "crazy dream" of making it for 23 minutes, because it was his mother's birth date and because he has always considered it to be his lucky number. In spite of having made comments to the contrary, David went on to say that he might actually try it again in the future simply because "it was fun."  The official time was 17.04.4. Blaine spoke briefly about the plans for his next endurance performance reconfirming his plans to stay awake for more than eleven and a half days. In fact, he mentioned that 11.57 days would be 1,000,000 seconds. Discussing "Frozen in Time," he said that it was one of the most challenging stunts that he'd ever endured, not because of the ice, but rather because of the effort required to stay awake.   Read More: 

1. Blaine sets breathtaking record
2. This Time, He’ll Be Left Breathless
3. David Blaine Sets Breath-Holding Record
4. David Blaine Holds Breath for Record
5. David Blaine Breaks Breath-Holding Record
6. Blaine brakes another record
7. David Blaine breaks world record for holding one's breath
8. Magician David Blaine Sets World Record For Holding His Breath
9. Blaine Sets Breath Record

VH1 LAUNCHES BLOG SITE FOR ASPIRING MAGICIANS

VH1 has launched its FamousVH1Friends.com site for Celebracadabra where the stars can post their videos and comments on the show. Among the most interesting so far is Hal Sparks revelation that he now has to pet mice, Ace & Vinny. "So... I made 2 mice appear during a trick on celebracabigbra and no one told me that when you create life out of the ether you are responsible for it forever. I mean I know if I have kids or get a pet I have to try not to break them but magic mice? What do you feed a mouse who just popped out of nowhere? So.... I now have 2 pet mice named Vinnie and Ace.... and hyes they are named after Kiss guitarists. What am I supposed to do? name them after The Vocalists in Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force? To all concerned they are thriving in their new state of the art plastic tubed wonderland..."

DAVID BLAINE BLOGS FROM HYPOXIC TENT

As David Blaine prepares for his appearance on Oprah Winfrey where he will again attempt to break the world record for holding his breath, we are beginning to see bits and pieces of training footage popping up on the net. Below you'll find video blog footage in which David Blaine discusses the attemt from within the Hypoxic tent where he has been sleeping for the last month. Here David discusses Free Diving:

CELEBRACADABRA :: SIMON LOVELL INTERVIEW

Premier night has come and gone, the first episode has aired,  and we say goodbye to Carnie Wilson and her Magic Coach Simon Lovell. Former con man turned magician, Simon Lovell, is the star of the longest running one man show off Broadway "Strange and Unusual Unusual Hobbies" at the Soho Playhouse. He is the author of numerous instructional works and DVD's on magic as well as his book for lay audiences, "How to Cheat At Anything." We were very please to present an interview with Simon in which he discusses his time on VH1's latest show, "Celebracadabra."

 LISTEN TO MY CONVERSATION WITH SIMON LOVELL:

OTHER WAYS TO LISTEN: ITUNES :: MP3

HTML 5 PLAYER ::

CELEBRACADABRA :: EPISODE 1 FINAL THOUGHTS

To watch additional "Extra Footage" from Episode 1, CLICK HERE  

BLAINE EATS GLASS FOR $10K

Diners at a New York restaurant were first stunned when David Blaine smashed a glass at his table. They were then shocked as he began to eat all the pieces. Blaine was at Tao with friend and poker player Phil Ivey when challenged Blaine to do something spectacular. Ivey then sweetened the deal by offering David $10,000 to eat a glass from their table.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS BEHEADED ON ELLEN :: APOLOGY FOLLOWS

Neil Patrick Harris' recent appearance on Ellen Degeneres' show resulted in  him losing his head and Ellen apologizing afterwards. After discussing his new role as a board member of the Academy of Magical Arts and the Magic Castle, Neil rolled out a head chopper to perform a bit of magic for the audience. Assisted by magician Ed Alonzo, Neil climbed into the Guillotine and apparently lost his head when Ellen "accidentally" activated the device. On the 24th, Ellen responded to a flood of emails from upset viewers who thought that Neil might actually have been harmed because he never made a reappearance after the commercial break. People.. are you kidding me? Watch the video below:

CELEBRACADABRA :: INTERVIEWS

MAX MAVEN On this Special Edition of the Magic Newswire, we spend some time with a  legend in the magic community, Max Maven. Max is a renowned  author, creator, performer, lecturer and teacher of the magical  arts. In addition to his role in arranging acts for the Magic Castle, Max is one of the judges in the new VH1 Magic Themed Reality  show which will premier on Sunday (April 27th) at 9PM. (Photo Credit : Damon Webster)   Click the PLAY button below to listen to our interview with Max Maven.     JEFF MCBRIDE As we continue along the path leading us to the premier of the VH1 Celebrity Magic Series "Celebracadabra," we grab some time with internationally recognized magician and teacher Jeff McBride. Over the course of his career, Jeff has been honored by the Magic Castle and the Academy of Magical Arts as Magician of the year. He has been  featured on televisions shows around the world and is a well  respected teacher of magic having founded the Mystery School, a teaching retreat for magical performers, and the Master Class which he hosts with Eugene Burger. Readers might also be interested in a written interview with Jeff at Matt Stevens' Wand Online discussing the show.   Click the PLAY button below to listen to our interview with Jeff McBride.   JONATHAN LEVIT In our Second Interview, we sit down with Magician and Host   Jonathan Levit. Jonathan is in a unique position as the only judge that was on set daily while the celebrities were learning their routines in that he saw them progress from conception to the finished product. Jonathan appeared on the television show "The  X Files" with Ricky Jay and is a regular performer at the Magic Castle.      Click the PLAY button below to listen to our interview with Jonathan Levit.    CHRIS MARTIN In the first of our multi part series of interviews, we feature Magic  Castle member and Celebra Cadabra Executive Producer Chris Martin. Chris was the initial producer to pitch the idea of a celebrity reality show focused around the art of magic and illusion. In this interview, he'll take us through the complete magical journey from inspiration to execution.      Click the PLAY button below to listen to our interview with Chris Martin.   (Subcribe to the "Magic Newswire" via iTunes HERE.)  

Blaine to Try Again

In May of 2005, David Blaine failed in his attempt to hold his breath underwater for nine minutes as he staged his "Drowned Alive" stunt, but did manage seven minutes and eight seconds. From the NY Times, and an email from our friend Justin at iTricks.com, we learn that he'll try again on the Oprah show when he'll attempt sixteen minutes without breathing in front of a panel of observers from the Guinness Book of World Records. The article also mentions that David, as a part of his training regimen, has been sleeping in a Hypoxic Tent in his NY Apartment. This was previously mentioned in an article from the New York Magazine profiling Blaine's roommate, Director Harmony Korine. In recent training with Dr. Potkin, known for training free divers in this skill, he is said to have lasted for sixteen minutes and nine seconds, five seconds short of the current Guinness World Record. In a related column from the Science section of the NY Times, John Tierney relates his experience in attempting the feat after observing Blaine in Training.