Hezi Dean is pictured in the ice block as he tries to set a new record

So Israeli Magician Hezi Dean beats David Blaines record for being ‘sealed’ in a block of ice!

Well not wishing to take anything away from this guys achievement, but the current cold-snap in the UK could well cause one or two folks to feel something less than admiration.

“Bloody stupid if you ask me”, blurted out one of my non-magical acquaintance’s who then went on to make some point about UK fuel poverty and people ‘having’  to be cold rather than ‘choosing’ to be!

The magician in me is, of course, impressed with Hezi’s stunt. It’s been a promotional coup and of course will do fairly good things for his reputation and 2010 date book.

I guess the question of course has to be …  IS IT MAGIC?

The problem when feats of endurance are coupled with the words ‘magician’ and ‘illusionist’ is that its not really clear what is being said or being claimed.

Magic is the mos honest profession there is. The magician tells you she or he is going to lie to you and then they do!

An illusionist is simply a magician who lies about the reality they create!

So, when folks like David Blaine or Hezi Dean perform these incredible feats of physical endurance and then the press talk about them being ‘magicians’ and ‘illusionists’ there has to be a ‘conflict of claim’.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if magicians spent a little more time thinking about the degree of congruence between what they say, what they do and how they choose to have it reported.

A number of years ago I remember sitting in a pub talking to Tony ‘Doc’ Shiels about magic and magicians and how we, as performers, fail to create a congruent and meaningful frame for our performances. We came to no real conclusions then and I have no real ones now save for the thought that magicians who THINK about the way they frame their art have a longer lasting impact with what they do.

But back to Hezi…

66 hours in an 8-tonne block of ice certainly beats David Blaine”s 63 hours – not sure what that really means save that Hezi will probably not achieve the longer term kudos he may well deserve. Blaine did it first and maybe Blaine did it bigger!

… and yes, within this post are some very serious considerations for the younger conjurer, the magicians of the future, and it’s not just about some crazy dudes being ‘trapped’ in a block of ice!

Alan