David Blaine In-Spades Review

Before sharing my thoughts on the show, let me give you some background on David Blaine. He will turn 50 this coming April and he hails from a modest upbringing in Brooklyn. Initially, magic was just a passion for him, primarily focused on street performances. Over time, he became fascinated with extreme stunts and tests of physical endurance. His performances in Las Vegas and on TV blend both of these elements. His attire is usually quite casual, reflecting a straightforward manner of speaking. There’s not much in the way of theatrical effects.

When I first came across David Blaine’s televised performances, I quickly became a fan. However, as I started to delve into magic myself, I discovered that some of his televised acts relied on actors and meticulous editing to create illusions that can only be effectively showcased on screen. I have strong feelings about integrity in magic and am unafraid to point out magicians who aren’t being genuine and to reveal their methods.

I previously expressed my frustrations regarding a levitation illusion performed by Blaine in my November 25, 2021 newsletter In another matter I’d like to mention, consider the following scenario video During one instance, Blaine accurately forecasted the outcome of five consecutive spins of a roulette wheel. I believe this was relatively straightforward to pull off.

He continued until he succeeded, conveniently leaving out his earlier failures from the show. The odds of correctly predicting the color outcome of five consecutive bets in a double-zero roulette game stand at 2.38%, meaning he’d likely need an average of around 42 tries. Even during his Las Vegas performance, Blaine humorously noted that performing live magic is significantly more challenging than on television because, in a TV setting, you can simply edit out anything that goes wrong.

Fast forward to March 10, 2023, when I had the opportunity to see Blaine live at Resorts World in Las Vegas during a special limited engagement. The show is titled 'In Spades', with ticket prices ranging from $59 up to $750, excluding additional taxes and fees. Just to illustrate how steep these fees can be, a ticket that cost $137 amounted to $176 once all the added charges were factored in.

Upon my arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to find parking was only $10, no matter how long I stayed. My companion and I had a meal at the food court, which featured a variety of unique dining options. I particularly enjoyed the self-service drink bar, although it was a bit on the pricey side. We arrived for the show about 20 minutes early and encountered virtually no queue, despite security measures like metal detectors and bag checks. Kudos to the show organizers for staffing it so well.

After making my way up to the fourth level for my nosebleed seats, an usher approached us and asked if we might prefer seats in the orchestra section instead. Naturally, I happily accepted the offer. On the elevator ride down to the first level, we were joined by another couple who received the same upgrade. Our new seats were four rows back from a sizable stack of cardboard boxes, which I’ll explain later.

As I sat waiting for the performance to begin, I noticed an envelope labeled 'do not open' on each seat. Of course, I couldn't resist and opened mine. Inside, I found a beautifully crafted deck of cards that I later saw for sale online for $25. This deck was custom-designed by Blaine himself. Without giving too much away, I realized there were tricks possible with this deck that wouldn’t work with standard cards. I’m eager to explore the intricacies of these cards. For the time being, I noted that they were arranged in what seemed to be a random order. While I waited for the show to kick off, I entertained the couple next to me by performing some magic tricks with regular playing cards.

A little into the show, Blaine made his way over to my section, acknowledging the large stack of boxes and then proceeded to perform an impressive card trick for our group—just four seats in front of me. This particular routine is challenging to describe but displayed remarkable sleight of hand. He had an audience member sign a card, which he then made appear at various locations. I’d rate this on par with the card performance at Shin Lim’s show.

He then climbed up a tower situated beside the boxes. At certain points, he pretended to prepare to jump, but he continued ascending until he reached the top. From my viewpoint, it seemed to be about the height of a four-story building. Then he leaped off the top platform, landing on his back into the pile of boxes. A quick response team of stagehands cleared the boxes until they located Blaine, who emerged unharmed. They also moved or flattened all the boxes to ensure our view was unobstructed.

Later in the performance, Blaine executed what I call his ice pick trick. In an earlier show, reportedly in February, this trick had gone awry, leaving him with an ice pick embedded in his hand. For this routine, he utilized three Styrofoam cups, one of which contained a hidden ice pick pointing upward, while the other two were empty. After mixing the cups, he invited two audience members—one for each hand—to choose cups. On a countdown, he thrust his hands down onto their selected cups. The audience members had complete freedom in their choices and surely couldn’t tell which one was safe. Fortunately, this time he succeeded. It turned out the chosen cup was the one without the ice pick. I have my own theories regarding how this was achieved but won’t delve into them.

In addition to the ice pick trick, there were several other segments featuring sharp objects. At one point, he asked two audience volunteers to sew his lips shut with a needle and thread. The reactions from the volunteers when asked to participate were almost as entertaining as the act itself. Shortly after, he seemed to capture a card with a torn corner in his mouth while he flung the entire deck into the air. In another segment involving sharp objects, it appeared he had a long spike being pushed in and out of his arm. I have my own ideas about how both of these tricks were accomplished, but I prefer discussing this kind of detail only with fellow magicians.

After the intermission, Blaine appeared in front of what looked like a gigantic fishbowl, breathing from an oxygen tank, while an unseen narrator indicated that he would attempt to hold his breath underwater for an undefined duration. The narrator highlighted that Houdini’s record was three and a half minutes. What was left unsaid, however, was that Houdini likely didn’t have access to pure oxygen beforehand, which provides a significant advantage. Doing some research for this review, I found out that Blaine held his breath for 17 minutes and four seconds on an Oprah show back in 2008—a record at the time, although it has since been surpassed with a time of 24:37. The science behind breath-holding is fascinating, but I won’t elaborate on it here. Ultimately, Blaine managed to go for ten minutes during his performance that evening, and instead of being rushed offstage afterward, he was simply handed a towel and left to gather himself onstage while still in his soaked clothing.

During his moment of recovery from the water trick, Blaine appeared to be without any prepared material, so he asked the audience for questions. They shouted inquiries that I couldn’t hear. In his responses, he noted it was quite challenging to perform two major daredevil stunts in the same show and mentioned that his advisors had cautioned him about overexerting himself. He also hinted that the show's demands were taking a toll, and expressed uncertainty about continuing with the same level of effort once his contract concludes in June.

Someone inquired about the envelopes on each seat. To this, Blaine replied he had almost forgotten about them. This led to a few more tricks, with the last one involving all audience members. I don’t want to reveal too much, but it seemed that every person in the audience cut their deck of cards twice, resulting in everyone having the same card on top after both cuts. I figured out how this worked when I got home and am more than willing to explain it to anyone interested, but I’ll refrain from going into detail here to honor the magician's code of secrecy.

What I’ve discussed in this review encapsulates Blaine’s primary segments, though he had several additional performances that I did not touch on.

In conclusion, I wholeheartedly recommend David Blaine's 'In Spades' show. I've viewed many of the major magic shows in Las Vegas, and I can confidently assert that this one stands out as quite different. For one, the show consisted of approximately half magic routines alongside half daring and endurance stunts. There were no glamorous assistants to sway the audience's focus, nor any electronic gimmicks that I could discern. Everything felt straightforward and unembellished, much like Blaine’s overall approach. The audience was consistently gasping in astonishment, and I am quite certain that most attendees left with smiles on their faces.

I would gladly attend this show again. Some tricks seemed to happen rather quickly for me, and I know I would appreciate a second viewing even more. Additionally, I hope Blaine steers his career more toward live performances, steering away from the easier and somewhat insincere path of television magic.

Written by: Michael Shackleford