David Blaine cannot pee upside down

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

The barrage of criticism US illusionist David Blaine is receiving for his repeated "standing" breaks during his latest endurance stunt looks to be very harsh.

The Magician was aiming to hang upside down from a crane for 60 hours straight from Monday morning but has reportedly been forced to take a break and stand on a platform for a few minutes each hour to urinate.

The stuntman's spokesperson, Pat Smith, shrugged off the criticism that the Blaine was not fulfilling his promise, saying he "found he couldn't drink upside down and relieve himself upside down" so takes breaks to do so.

Blaine was aiming to drink and pass water upside down but has allegedly found doing so impossible.

Doctors have also warned the star that hanging upside down for so long would increase his blood pressure and raise the risk of stroke or blindness.

And gravity could also restrict the blood flow to his lower extremities according to docs.

So hourly medical checks are deemed vital too.

Blaine himself is not that confident in achieving his goal of lasting the 60 hours either, telling GMTV: "It's become tougher than anything I've ever had to go through.

"I don't know how I'm going to get through this all the way to the 60 hour mark."

Blaine's stunt is called the Dive of Death.

But if he's not really diving, and there's little risk of death, what's the point?

Read what people think about David Blaine having to take a break each hour.

Find out why the trick carries such high health risks.

Have your say in our David Blaine discussion forum.

Check out more pics of David Blaine's stunts.