For its series "What I’ve Learned," Esquire Magazine interviewed David Blaine about nuggets of wisdom he has learned over the years:

When I actually was buried alive, I learned that things aren’t always as difficult as they seem to be.

Okay, start with a pretty new deck. Secretly lick your finger. Have someone pick up half the deck and look at the card he cut to. As he’s looking at the card, say, "Okay, put that half back on top." Point to the bottom deck and touch the top card with your wet finger. That’ll act as an adhesive. The two cards will stick together. So he can cut as many times as he wants. When you spread out the cards, look for the two that are stuck together. His card will be the one on top of the one you touched with your wet finger.

When I was with the Yanomamö Indians, I counted four hundred mosquito bites on one arm. That was unbearable.

One little thing goes wrong–like the guy who vacuumed the catheter tube when I was frozen in a block of ice–and then everything crumbles. You’re having nightmares while your eyes are open. You don’t know whether you’re alive or dead.

If that’s not all that impressive, then just stick around for his card tricks (including one where he tells you the secret): Link (warning: auto-starting sound) – Thanks Marty Beckerman!

YouTube link.

Unlike conventional modern “magic,” what was involved in the underwater breathhold was not special effects or hidden technology.  Instead, Blaine prepared using a combination of hypoxic tent training to increase his hematocrit, preloading with 100% oxygen, meditation to decrease his oxygen consumption, and hyperventilation to delay his hypercapnic response.

As a useful reference point, his 17-minute breathhold time is almost the same length as this 20-minute TED talk.  It’s also worth noting here as an addendum that the hyperventilation (“purging”) he describes should not be attempted by amateurs to increase underwater breathhold time while swimming or diving.  The technique does allow a longer breathhold, but does not provide additional oxygen, so novices can become disoriented from hypoxia and drown.

Well, however long you can hold your breath, I betcha it’s nothing when compared to what Gianluca Genoni just did: he set a new world record for breath-holding, handily beating what David Blaine did (7 minutes) and the previous world record:

Gianluca Genoni held his breath for 18 minutes 3.69 seconds while lying underwater in a Mantua swimming pool, beating German diver Tom Sietas, who managed 17 minutes 19 seconds in September – also on live TV – to unseat Blaine from the Guinness world record book.

Link – via Underwater Times