David Blaine's New Series
A closer look at details of the magician's new show and why it marks a shift in Blaine's well-established TV career.
David Blaine's new series, Do Not Attempt, released a first-look video previewing its stunts, which includes Blaine setting himself on fire before jumping off a river bridge.
We've known about the series for a while. Still, National Geographic kept details relatively secret until the recent Disney D23 event, where fans were given an early look at the documentary. The series follows David Blaine as he explores and pursues "real magic" around the world.
It's not an entirely new concept. In 2015, New York magician Dan White released White Magic on the Travel Channel. In it, White sought out shamans, healers, and mystics while performing illusions that blurred the line between magic and traditional beliefs.
Elsewhere, Derren Brown's Investigates series of specials saw him meet people who claimed to have supernatural abilities, like faith healers and ghost hunters.
Penn and Teller also aired a travel-based Magic and Mystery Tour, in which they traveled to China, Egypt, and India to explore magical traditions.
Blaine's format leans much more toward stunts and less toward magic.
Ron Howard produces the series, which has National Geographic's usual adventurous feel. From the first-look video, you'd be forgiven for thinking of this as a new series of Chris Hemsworth's Limitless series on Disney+, also from National Geographic, but with stunts instead of tests of endurance and resilience.
In David Blaine's 2016 special Beyond Magic, Blaine spends three years tracking down a man named Winston in Africa who teaches Blaine to waterspout, a skill Winston taught himself in order to store and access clean water. Eight years on, the magician seems to be doubling down on this type of adventure.
In Blaine's words, speaking to the camera in the first-look video: "I'm traveling around the world to find the most incredible people that have the most incredible talent that [has] been passed down for generations. Many of the things I'm seeing I didn't even know were possible."
He goes on to say: "And every episode culminates in me taking these skills that I've learned, and I'm trying something that I've never done and never could have imagined."
If it all feels a little like a very produced reality show to you, you're not alone in thinking so. The second most-liked comment under the video on YouTube reads, 'This is like a flashback to the peak of reality shows from 2007-2012.'
There's just no getting around how heavily formatted the series sounds, and two key elements may exacerbate it. Firstly, this isn't actually a trailer for the series; it's titled as a "first look." However, Nat Geo did post the video to YouTube with the tag #OfficialTrailer.
D23 is the official Disney fan club, which hosts an annual Disney fan convention. It aims to connect fans with exclusive experiences and previews of upcoming Disney projects across all its brands, including Pixar, Marvel, and, of course, National Geographic.
These first-look videos serve a very different purpose than a teaser or a full trailer. They're often closer to what we consider to be behind-the-scenes video content. They usually get pulled together while a show is in production, often with much less time and a focused budget.
