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Nov. 2, 2023 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:24:32
Joe Rogan Experience #2056 - David Blaine
Participants
Main voices
d
david blaine
01:01:57
j
joe rogan
01:11:43
Appearances
j
jamie vernon
01:27
Clips
b
b-real
00:00
m
mike tyson
00:12
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Speaker Time Text
unidentified
Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out!
The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day.
joe rogan
Hello, David.
david blaine
How are you, Joe?
joe rogan
What's happening?
Good to see you.
david blaine
Good to see you.
joe rogan
How you been?
Good to see you're still alive.
You're not full of visible holes.
What have you been up to, man?
david blaine
Spending a lot of time with my daughter.
Number one.
And then number two, I've been working on this series for National Geographic.
So I've been traveling around the world searching for these people that do incredible feats that they've passed down through generations.
And I'm trying to learn.
But it's a fast learning curve.
So it is the most dangerous thing that I've ever done in my life.
But I have the best of the best helping.
joe rogan
That says a lot.
Because you've done...
david blaine
By far!
Really?
Yes!
joe rogan
Whoa.
Well, you showed me some things off camera that we can't talk about.
david blaine
Well, you can talk about them.
I just can't show them.
joe rogan
Okay.
david blaine
So the scariest thing was like three days ago.
A king cobra.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
In the wild.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Is there a trick to that?
Is it a movement thing?
Do you move slowly so you don't...
david blaine
I studied for weeks and just tried to understand their behavior and worked with different Cobras and I had a team around me that taught me how to move quickly and get out of the way.
joe rogan
What happens if you get bit?
david blaine
Well, they have enough venom to kill a full-grown elephant in 30 minutes.
So we had anti-venom.
We had that there, but in my case, I don't trust that.
joe rogan
And even if you get anti-venom, it's still a rough ride even if you live, right?
david blaine
Yeah.
But it was amazing.
It was incredible.
joe rogan
Is it similar to rattlesnake venom?
Because rattlesnake venom essentially digests your body.
david blaine
This one shuts everything down.
So your heart, your lungs, everything just starts to...
joe rogan
So were they like ready on standby with a needle?
david blaine
Well, they put it in a serum.
You have to go to a hospital.
Oh, you have to go to a hospital.
Yeah.
joe rogan
So you have to travel.
david blaine
But we had an ambulance right there.
joe rogan
How far is the hospital?
david blaine
It was 20 minutes away.
joe rogan
Oh, God.
In Thailand.
Oh, God.
So 20 minutes of king cobra venom.
david blaine
It was the scariest and most intense thing I've ever done.
joe rogan
How many of these guys die doing this?
david blaine
Well, the two snakes we had, one of them killed its previous owner.
unidentified
Oh, boy.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
And they don't kill the snake after it kills the previous owner?
david blaine
No.
jamie vernon
This guy died, so it doesn't happen.
david blaine
Exactly.
Right.
That's right.
Oh, boy.
But it is kind of incredible, because...
There's another guy named Chris Sweet, who...
Well, that's his Instagram name, but he lives in Thailand with 90 venomous snakes, and he just lets them move through his legs.
Well, he was bitten twice on my birthday, and his heart stopped two times.
But he lets them just...
joe rogan
While you were there?
david blaine
No!
No, no, no.
On April 4th, I made it.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
david blaine
Yeah, but he's so calm with them and he studies their behavior and he watches how they move and then he gently takes them out.
And there was one, we were outside and the scariest thing wasn't trying to kiss it.
Exactly!
And I think that's a snake called a spire.
Yeah, so that's one that was slithering through my legs and you have to keep your heart rate down.
Because if they sense, they have pheromones.
They detect if you're nervous or uncomfortable.
So anytime I would get like super tense, I would have to, I'd walk away.
Carefully.
unidentified
Oh boy.
david blaine
Yeah, that's him.
And that's, yep, that's a snake called a spire.
joe rogan
It has a man.
david blaine
You're so good at finding everything.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
Oh my god, it's trying to bite you through the glass.
Why is it trying to bite you through the glass but won't try to bite you when you're right there?
david blaine
Well, there it's feeding.
When it smells snake or food, it becomes aggressive, so you have to make sure you don't smell like any other snakes or anything.
joe rogan
Or food.
What kind of food?
david blaine
They eat snakes, the king cobras.
joe rogan
They eat other snakes?
david blaine
Yeah.
Not king cobras, but other snakes.
But other snakes.
Yeah.
unidentified
Dude.
joe rogan
Do you have a second guess when you're about to do something like this?
david blaine
That one I second guessed.
I left and then came back a few months later and did it again.
I was too afraid to go near it.
joe rogan
What made you go back?
david blaine
I went to Cleveland and I trained with my friend Mike and my other friend Chris Gillette, who's Gator Boy Chris, who's amazing.
And we slowly started to understand just a little bit of the behavior of King Cobras.
And then I went back to Indonesia and trained with Fitz, who's unbelievable with how he handles the Cobras.
And slowly I felt okay.
But there was days I wouldn't even do anything.
So luckily I had a week, which is still a really fast learning curve.
Normally I would train for something for a year, but with this show I get like a few days and then I have to try to do it.
joe rogan
Oh boy.
So, what strategies are you using to keep your heart rate low?
Like, if you feel yourself freaking out, how do you calm yourself down?
david blaine
I get out.
joe rogan
You just get out?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, just get out and regroup?
david blaine
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
David!
david blaine
But that's the last dangerous thing I'm gonna do like that, ever.
joe rogan
That's it, ever.
david blaine
Yeah, yeah, like that, yeah.
joe rogan
Well, I'm glad you're alive.
david blaine
And I feel like in my show in Vegas, I was jumping from the height of a nine-story building, landing in boxes, and I dislocated my shoulder.
It came down to my armpit.
But in retrospect, I think I was lucky because that could have been really bad.
It could have been the neck.
It could have been something else.
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Did you get surgery?
david blaine
No, I didn't get the surgery.
joe rogan
Well, they did.
david blaine
There was an orthopedic surgeons convention in Vegas at that time.
So I had five orthopedic surgeons in the audience.
And one was a shoulder specialist.
And they all came on stage and he popped it right back in.
So then I walked out to do the show, Joe.
But my arm was all numb.
It stayed numb for like two months.
But I was going like this to see if I could get feeling back.
And it fell back out.
Because I had to go back on stage, they popped it back in, and then I did the whole show with one arm.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah, that's a bad one.
I think that's when I got injured.
Yeah.
And my friend Doug, who's with the hat right there, when I jumped, he knew that something was going to go wrong.
He bent over and took a heavy breath because he knew that was the one.
joe rogan
There's a gentleman named Yuri Prochaska.
He was the UFC light heavyweight champion and his shoulder dislocated during training and his trainers tried to pop it back into place and they were yanking on it and they just destroyed his shoulder.
They tore everything apart just kind of pulling on it and It ripped apart.
The UFC doctor says the worst shoulder injury he'd ever seen.
david blaine
That's crazy.
joe rogan
And he's fighting again next weekend.
Got it repaired.
david blaine
He got surgery?
joe rogan
Yep, got surgery.
Vacated his title.
And now he's back fighting for the title next weekend.
david blaine
Yeah, mine is still messed up.
joe rogan
Really?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like in what way?
david blaine
Well, I can't really work out or do anything the same way.
joe rogan
How long ago?
david blaine
Uh...
Maybe March.
Did you get an MRI? Oh, many MRIs.
joe rogan
What's the damage?
david blaine
No, it was really bad.
What's in there?
It was bad.
It came down to here.
joe rogan
Right.
Why didn't they do surgery?
david blaine
I'm like afraid of surgery, I have to say.
Like horrified of it.
joe rogan
Why are you afraid of surgery?
david blaine
I don't know.
joe rogan
You're not afraid of king cobras?
david blaine
Yeah, it's crazy, but I'm horrified of surgery.
Why?
I don't know.
joe rogan
Yeah, you should probably get surgery.
Specifically, which ligaments?
I have a lot of experience with this stuff.
david blaine
I have all the scans and the whole write-up of it so I can show it to you.
joe rogan
So it's just very weak and it's not stable?
david blaine
It just hurts.
No, I can go overhead.
So I'm good like that.
It's just hard to like...
joe rogan
Push things?
david blaine
No, I can still do it, but not like I used to.
joe rogan
Have you ever gotten stem cells?
david blaine
No?
joe rogan
You should get stem cell therapy on it.
That could help a lot.
I avoided surgery completely with stem cells.
david blaine
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah, I had a full-length rotator cuff tear on my right shoulder.
It went away.
The doctor said it was extraordinary.
He went to look at it six months later, and the tear was completely gone.
He said, this is insane.
Wow.
Yeah, they can do wild stuff.
david blaine
How did you rip your rotator cuff?
joe rogan
Training.
Just jiu-jitsu.
david blaine
Like, too hard?
joe rogan
I don't know.
david blaine
But it was a slow...
Or it was a one-time you ripped it?
joe rogan
You know, jiu-jitsu is...
It's very addictive, and a lot of times you get injured and you're like, ah, I still can roll.
I'm going to go back in.
And you go back in with, like, fucked up discs and a tweaked knee and a fucked up shoulder.
And I know a lot of guys that have some pretty significant injuries and they just can't stop training.
They just enjoy it so much.
Right, right.
Stem cells can help you a lot.
Specifically, if you go out of the country, because they can do some wild shit that they can't do in America because of the FDA. I have some good friends that run a clinic in Tijuana.
It's called CPI, and a bunch of my friends have gone down there, a bunch of UFC fighters.
They can help you a lot.
david blaine
I'd be so afraid, though.
unidentified
Why?
david blaine
I don't know.
joe rogan
Why are you talking about being afraid of that?
david blaine
I don't know.
Maybe because when I was young and my mother was sick and that whole thing.
joe rogan
Well, what they can do with modern stem cells is pretty extraordinary.
But unfortunately, the United States is very limited in what you can get away with here.
david blaine
Right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They're constantly putting restrictions on it, unfortunately, for no reason.
You know, it doesn't make any sense.
There's no downsides.
david blaine
I feel like also just when I eat right and do everything perfectly, the inflammation all goes away.
unidentified
For sure.
david blaine
And then the pain goes away and it's much better.
joe rogan
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, that's definitely a factor.
Yeah.
Inflammation is huge.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
And a lot of it does come from bad food.
A lot of it comes from too much sugar, too much bread, pasta, that kind of shit.
Ice cream, all that shit.
All the stuff that's good.
But yeah, afterwards I'll connect you with those people.
david blaine
Okay.
joe rogan
Yeah, I bet it can help you a lot and it doesn't hurt.
david blaine
Oh really?
No.
There's no downside?
joe rogan
No, it's not gonna hurt you.
No.
No, you'll go there.
What they'll do is they'll do IV stem cells, they'll do local stem cells into whatever the area that's injured and then they'll use hyperbaric chambers which also accelerates the healing.
They'll have you down there for a few days and I guarantee a few months later you'll feel significantly better.
david blaine
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That is all dependent upon what structural issues you have.
Now, if you have something that's completely torn off the bone and it's not connected anymore, they can't help with that.
david blaine
I don't think it's that bad because I can already do this.
joe rogan
Sometimes you can do that even though it's torn because there are other ligaments that compensate and other muscles that compensate.
david blaine
And I still have a little bit of numbness down here, by the way.
It was really crazy because I was numb all the way to here for like months.
joe rogan
Yeah, generally that's nerve damage.
It takes a long time for that stuff to heal.
Nerve damage is rough.
david blaine
But I feel like I got off easy.
joe rogan
Oh yeah, it could have been your neck.
Yeah, for sure.
david blaine
So I feel like that was a good lesson.
joe rogan
Yeah, don't do that.
david blaine
Well, not every night.
joe rogan
Don't do it, period.
Don't do it again.
david blaine
The craziest thing was we only had insurance for the first 10 shows, and the injury was on the 10th show.
joe rogan
Oh, boy.
david blaine
So Monday morning, the insurance company called.
They said, do you want to discuss this new condition?
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
So that was the end of that, which is a good thing.
joe rogan
Yeah, don't do that.
You've done some extraordinary things with yourself.
I mean, you really have.
david blaine
Some crazy things.
joe rogan
Yeah, some crazy things.
But all for entertainment.
It's interesting because it is entertainment, but it's also entertainment and sort of educating people the boundaries of what the mind can force the body to do.
You know, like the one we did where you're frozen in ice?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, that's basically just you...
david blaine
Standing.
joe rogan
Standing and using breathing techniques and your mind to deal with that situation.
How long was that for?
david blaine
I think 63 hours.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's a long time.
david blaine
But my brain tweaked at 55 hours.
joe rogan
Yeah?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, you probably weren't sleeping, right?
david blaine
No, you can't.
joe rogan
Right.
So there's probably a lot of the brain tweaking is just from that.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wouldn't you imagine?
david blaine
I think...
That plus the extreme conditions.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Extreme cold and lack of sleep and you're standing up.
david blaine
Standing and I had edema and my ankles had blown up.
joe rogan
Oh, I can imagine.
Yeah.
How long did it take to recover from that?
david blaine
Uh, a while.
Yeah.
I couldn't even walk for a while.
joe rogan
Oh, David.
david blaine
But I was lucky because it was a 68 degree November, so the air pumping through was 68 degrees.
So it created that drip that was all full from the ice, but that helped significantly, I think.
joe rogan
Well, even just standing still for 60 plus hours.
david blaine
Yeah, see how happy I am?
joe rogan
Yeah, you look super happy.
You're probably hallucinating.
david blaine
That does look like the beginning.
That's hallucination right there.
That's where I'm hallucinating.
joe rogan
What did you see?
david blaine
Everything.
unidentified
Like what?
david blaine
My mother was in the ice talking to me.
unidentified
Whoa.
david blaine
And my girlfriend was in the ice talking to me.
And time moved completely different.
It was crazy.
joe rogan
Whoa.
david blaine
But kind of amazing at the same time.
unidentified
Wow.
david blaine
Yeah, but kind of horrific.
joe rogan
I can imagine.
david blaine
The way I explained it was like having nightmares with my eyes open.
unidentified
Wow.
Wow.
david blaine
I think your brain is doing anything it can to trick you to try to quit so you can go to sleep.
joe rogan
Considering all the things you've done, you're in remarkably good condition.
david blaine
Time will tell.
joe rogan
I mean, you're walking around, you're talking, everything's fine.
david blaine
Hopefully you're right.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
But I'm always...
joe rogan
Pushing it.
david blaine
No.
No, I'm always concerned about the effects.
joe rogan
Yeah, I would imagine.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Something to be concerned about.
david blaine
Yeah, because now that I have a daughter, I want to live long.
joe rogan
Sure.
david blaine
I want to live until I'm 100. Right.
joe rogan
It's possible if you don't get bit by a cobra.
Now is probably the best time ever to have that goal.
david blaine
To stop already.
joe rogan
Well, I mean to have the goal of living to 100 with modern science and medicine.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
Yeah, I believe it's possible.
People who live to 100. But I think diet is everything.
joe rogan
It's a lot of it.
Are you pretty diligent with your diet?
david blaine
Well, since the injury, it kind of gave me an excuse to not be, but I need to get serious again.
joe rogan
The injury gave you an excuse to not be?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
How come?
david blaine
I don't know.
I was like, fuck this.
joe rogan
That's funny.
Yeah.
No, if you...
I mean, it seems simple, but it is true that your body is essentially made out of what you consume.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's the only thing that it has to regenerate.
And it doesn't...
People don't think of it that way.
You think of your body as your body, but your body is constantly reproducing itself.
Cells are constantly regenerating.
And if you don't give your body good nutrients and real food...
david blaine
You suffer.
joe rogan
You suffer.
And that is the majority of Americans, unfortunately.
Yeah.
david blaine
Even my friend is running a marathon in a few days and I said for the next couple of days, reduce any food that will give you inflammation and do extreme hydration because the impact of that distance will pay its toll in the long run.
joe rogan
Most certainly.
Especially if you're not conditioned for it.
david blaine
And I think really good endurance athletes like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tom Brady, they all are very concerned with inflammation.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
david blaine
So they don't have anything that will give them inflammation.
And I think that allows you to continue much longer.
joe rogan
Most certainly.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, inflammation is one of the biggest problems that people have, particularly in this country, because of the way we eat.
I'm sure you've seen those photographs of people on the beach in, like, the 1960s versus people on the beach in 2023. No, but I can imagine.
Yeah, we've ballooned, and it's because of the American diet.
david blaine
It's sugar.
joe rogan
It's sugar.
david blaine
And the process, the bad sugars.
And even just the way they genetically modified fruit, like if you look at watermelon from the Renaissance days, like a Renaissance painting of a watermelon, as opposed to a watermelon now, it doesn't even look like the same thing.
It yields such a high dose of sugar to become addictive and berries, everything.
joe rogan
That term, genetically modified, gets thrown around a lot.
A lot of it is just selective breeding.
They just figure out a way to...
Breeding is not the right word either.
It's like they select for very specific traits.
I mean, that's why they've made a tomato that can sit on a truck and drive across the country and not rot, you know?
But then you get it and it's flavorless and pale.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
But it's durable.
david blaine
Wait, can you pull up a renaissance painting of a watermelon?
I just want you to see.
unidentified
Yeah.
I don't think I've ever seen a renaissance painting of a watermelon.
david blaine
Yeah, how they were originally.
joe rogan
Well, I'm sure you've seen, like, heirloom tomatoes.
Have you seen heirloom tomatoes?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
They look so...
david blaine
See?
joe rogan
Whoa!
david blaine
And wait, the middle left one...
No, yeah, that one shows the...
See the difference?
joe rogan
Wow.
david blaine
Yeah, they've done that with everything.
That's wild.
I mean, it's a reason I think even fruit, you would think fruit is so healthy, but then you get these berries when you go to Whole Foods and they're like this big and they're so juicy and you eat the whole thing.
But if you're in the wild getting blackberries, they're small, they're bitter.
joe rogan
That's extraordinary.
david blaine
So I think even the fruit and the things we think are healthy, we have to be careful.
joe rogan
It's definitely very different.
But I don't necessarily think...
I think...
I wonder, like, what is the difference in terms of the nutrient content, whether or not it's bad for you to eat modern watermelon.
I would doubt it is.
david blaine
No, I think it's fine, but I'm just saying it yields such a high dose of sugar.
joe rogan
Right.
Yeah.
david blaine
And sugar creates inflammation.
joe rogan
Yeah, it certainly does.
david blaine
And cancer thrives on...
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, I've noticed a giant difference cutting sugar out of my life.
Like, when I cut it out and just live very cleanly, eat very cleanly, it's just a massive difference in how your body feels, how your back feels, joints feel, everything.
david blaine
Especially things like the back.
unidentified
And your brain.
david blaine
Like, where you have pain, that stuff goes away.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
And even how your brain functions.
david blaine
Everything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right now my brain is on a lag because I've been not eating properly.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I would think of anybody who would be taking care of themselves.
It's someone like you that brutalizes yourself.
david blaine
But sometimes I go so extreme that I need like a break and I go the other way.
joe rogan
I know what you mean.
Yeah, you get tired of it.
That happens to a lot of fighters.
They get done fighting and they just get fat because they're just like, I don't want to train anymore.
I don't want to do anything.
david blaine
Yeah, because they're so extreme and so focused and all of a sudden it's a...
joe rogan
Yeah.
I think little vacations from discipline are fine.
But when I take a little vacation from discipline, I feel like shit.
And then I'm like, what are you doing?
And then I'm upset with myself and then I go back the way I used to eat and I'm fine.
david blaine
And then you feel great.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But that's, you know, that's what humans are supposed to eat.
We're supposed to eat real food.
And a giant percentage of our diet is processed bullshit.
And that stuff is just, it tastes good and it tricks your body because there's all sorts of salt and sugar in it.
You know, those high-calorie, high-carbohydrate foods are so easy to overconsume.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, we had, Elon and I had pizza the other night, and I just couldn't stop eating it.
Jamie had to take it away from me.
If you didn't take it away from me, I would have ate that whole box.
david blaine
Yeah, once you start, you can't stop.
joe rogan
Oh, I can't stop.
I'm a glutton.
david blaine
And then the funny thing is then you're still hungry an hour later.
joe rogan
Mm-hmm.
david blaine
Yeah.
Whereas when you eat foods with high nutrition like broccoli, you're full.
joe rogan
Well, especially protein.
If you eat foods, protein has a very high satiety rate.
So, like, if you eat steak, you can only eat so much steak.
Or you could keep going if you wanted to if you were in a contest or some shit.
Like, you ever see those places like restaurants where they'll...
They give you a free meal if you could eat a 72-ounce steak.
And so people try to eat them.
You have to eat it within 30 minutes or something crazy like that.
But when you eat steak, at a certain level, you're done.
Your body's like, that's enough.
But if there's steak and then bread, the bread's right there with butter and it smells good and it's fresh.
Ooh, give me some more of that bread.
Or there's a bowl of pasta.
unidentified
Ooh.
joe rogan
And then there's some ice cream.
unidentified
Ooh.
joe rogan
You'll keep going.
And that's...
That's where modern foods have kind of hijacked the human brain.
Hijacked your reward system.
It makes you crave these things that are ultimately detrimental to your health.
david blaine
But when you're eating really healthy, what's your diet?
joe rogan
Mostly meat.
I eat mostly meat and eggs.
david blaine
Do you eat raw eggs?
joe rogan
No.
No, I cook them.
david blaine
I feel so good when I have raw eggs.
joe rogan
They're good, but you do have to be concerned with salmonella.
david blaine
I think it's like 1 in 35,000, and it's on the shelf.
I think it's a low risk.
joe rogan
It's a low risk, yeah.
But it does happen.
There's a certain percentage of people every year, a certain number of people every year that get salmonella from eggs.
david blaine
But the eggs in Paris, by the way, they taste so good.
It's kind of amazing.
joe rogan
Well, they're probably free-range chickens.
david blaine
That's the difference.
And they're like orange.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, that's a free-range chicken.
That's a chicken that eats eating bugs and worms and small rodents and things like that, which is what they're...
I mean, they're fucking dinosaurs.
I have chickens.
And the chickens that you have, if you have, like...
Chickens in your yard, if you have a good amount of place for them to roam and free-range, you get a dark orange yolk and it's delicious.
david blaine
Yeah.
Amazing.
joe rogan
And it's also if you're a person who's very concerned about factory farming and ethics that are involved in that kind of stuff and you don't want to eat eggs because the chickens are mistreated.
Chickens that you have yourself are basically pets that give you free karma-free food.
Because, you know, they're not even scared of you.
They wander around you and peck at the ground right near your feet.
david blaine
And they eat ticks too, right?
joe rogan
And they will produce food for you.
Because they're not going to make chickens unless there's a rooster.
Their eggs are never going to fertilize.
So you're getting these beautiful, healthy eggs.
david blaine
Yeah, that's amazing.
joe rogan
And no one loses.
david blaine
No.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a perfect cycle.
david blaine
And they taste so good for you.
joe rogan
And there's so many things that you can get from eggs that you're just not going to get from a plant-based diet.
Unless you're supplementing, you're just not going to get them.
david blaine
Do you take vitamins?
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
david blaine
I take those liposomal, the liquid ones, because you absorb them.
joe rogan
Liposomal?
david blaine
Yeah, those ones.
But I was going to bring them and share them with you, but I forgot.
joe rogan
Yeah, I take those.
I also take, you know what AG1 is, Athletic Greens?
david blaine
No.
joe rogan
It's great.
It's just very simple.
You take a scoop of it, put it in some water, stir it up.
And it's probiotics.
It's like 75 different vitamins and nutrients.
Very good.
It tastes good.
Easy.
So simple.
Just stir it up.
It's called AG1? AG1. It's very easy because it's a no-brainer.
They sell little travel packs.
Just open up a bottle of water, pour it in the bottle of water, shake it up, drink it.
david blaine
And it's all natural?
joe rogan
All natural, yeah.
It's all plant-based stuff.
david blaine
Yeah, that I'll look into.
joe rogan
It's great.
And then, you know, you really should supplement with vitamin D. You know, vitamin D and K2, they work well together.
But all that stuff is one of the things that people are very deficient in.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Vitamin D in particular.
It's a big one.
Particularly in cold climates where people don't go outside very much.
You don't get exposure to sun.
The best way to get vitamin D is from the sun.
david blaine
Naturally, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's the best way.
But most people do not get enough.
david blaine
Yeah, that makes sense.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
We're indoor all day working.
joe rogan
Yeah, but when you think about, like, what did human beings eat to thrive?
Well, they're most treasured in...
Their prized food was meat.
If they could kill a deer, if they could kill, you know, something that was nutrient dense that had fat on it, a pig, like that's what they treasured the most because that's what they would give them the most nutrients.
david blaine
You would also assume they would have like coconuts, bananas.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
Fruits.
Fruits are good.
Especially, I mean, again, fruits that weren't fucked with.
But that's one of the things that we've done with wheat.
You know, if you get wheat, and everybody talks about this, if you get wheat in Europe, you're getting this heirloom wheat.
You're getting wheat that is really what it was originally.
When they took wheat and changed it in America, what they've done is- To yield a high dose.
Exactly.
david blaine
They destroyed it.
joe rogan
Much more complex glutens, and it just gives you more inflammation.
It's hard to digest.
david blaine
Yep.
And you don't gain weight from those non-modified seeds of 500 years ago.
joe rogan
I know.
You go to Europe and you eat their food.
You look at them.
They're not fat.
david blaine
No.
joe rogan
It's crazy.
Look at France, the people eating bread in France.
They eat bread every day.
They're not fat.
david blaine
Nope.
joe rogan
In America, we're all balloons.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's just...
In making things...
Better to sell because the higher yield and you can make more profit, we've poisoned ourselves.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Essentially.
You know?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's fucked.
But at least we know it.
So if you do seek out the information, there's plenty of doctors that could explain these things to you and just seek out organic foods and just eat real foods.
Eat real foods.
And you'll be far better off.
david blaine
You even sleep better.
I don't snore.
I don't need as much sleep.
unidentified
Sure.
david blaine
It's so crazy what a difference it makes.
joe rogan
It does.
It makes a giant difference.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it's so hard to get people to deviate.
Because once you get accustomed to eating certain kinds of food and you start craving those kinds of food...
david blaine
Yeah, it just triggers your...
joe rogan
Very difficult to get off that path.
Yeah.
unidentified
So, we'll get your shoulders sorted out.
joe rogan
I'd like to see what your MRI said, though, too.
And I'm sure one of the doctors will want to see that, too.
david blaine
Yeah, I have all the MRI. So I was doing MRIs before every jump and after every jump just to make sure the blood vessels around the heart, you know, things weren't shifting because if we noticed something small, then we would stop because that way the blood, something connected to the heart wouldn't become problematic.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
I feel like I got lucky on that.
joe rogan
You probably definitely did, because if it hit your neck and had the same sort of impact with what it did to your shoulder, imagine something that can blow out your shoulder like that, what it could do to your spinal cord.
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
You know?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Very dangerous.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Do you ever think you're gonna stop doing this kind of crazy shit?
david blaine
I think so.
joe rogan
Really?
david blaine
Yeah, I think I'll eventually just move towards magic only.
joe rogan
Well, you're really good at magic, too!
That's a little confusing to me.
Your card tricks are fucking bizarre.
Like, you did a bunch of card tricks for us off-air.
You did them for my kids, you did them for the security guys at the old studio in LA, and, I mean, Jamie is really good at watching that kind of stuff.
jamie vernon
I've been watching him since I was younger.
So I love watching this shit.
joe rogan
Jamie was fucking staring at you like a hawk.
jamie vernon
I want to figure it out.
I know it's magic, but there's also...
He knows how to do it.
He didn't always know how to do it.
joe rogan
But after it was done, Jamie was like, fuck, I have no fucking idea.
jamie vernon
I tried.
I thought I knew it was going to happen.
And I didn't.
Or you're obviously that good.
joe rogan
He couldn't wait, though.
He was like, I'm going to fucking watch everything.
I'm going to figure it out.
Couldn't figure out jack shit.
It's...
Yeah, that alone.
But I mean, you're kind of the only magician who also does things that aren't necessarily magic, but they are extraordinary feats of control of your body and just dangerous stunts.
david blaine
I think part of the excitement for me is just learning something that's unique, that's not really done in the magic world, but then just the actual training and learning a new skill.
So it's like a continual search to try to Figure out new things.
And that's kind of what keeps me excited in a lot of ways.
And I think it's like something different because I think most people that are magicians, you know, a card trick everybody can learn.
But when you go and try to figure out one of those things that are Insane to learn or you're inspired by something else and it leads to the trick itself.
That's exciting for me.
So when I went to Africa to learn how to swallow a gallon of water and then spout it out, I didn't know it would lead to being able to hold frogs in my stomach and then produce them at any time.
But it ended up leading to that.
So it became a magic trick, but it started as like some insane skill that I saw somebody do and I was obsessed with.
joe rogan
When you swallow a gallon of water, are you stretching your stomach out?
Is that what's happening?
david blaine
Yeah, it's horrible.
It's awful.
joe rogan
But is it like, do you gain greater capacity because of that?
david blaine
No.
joe rogan
No?
david blaine
No.
Every night in my show I have to put a gallon of water inside and it's horrible.
joe rogan
What does it feel like?
david blaine
Awful.
joe rogan
Like pregnancy maybe?
david blaine
I don't know.
I can't answer.
Maybe.
joe rogan
I'm not sure.
So you feel your organs stretching?
Do you feel like everything getting pushed aside to make room for the water?
A gallon of water is a lot.
It's a lot.
What does it weigh?
david blaine
I think like 8.5.
Four, three pounds or something like that.
joe rogan
Yeah, so just imagine eight pounds of food.
david blaine
It might be 8.344.
joe rogan
Just eight pounds of food in your body is insane.
david blaine
Yeah.
No, it's a lot.
joe rogan
Sitting down eating.
david blaine
And it's all solid.
It's water.
So it's just like a big solid.
joe rogan
Just a mass in there.
david blaine
And then I have to go do the show.
joe rogan
Oh, God.
So you have it in your body while you're doing it.
So you have to ignore this awful feeling while you're doing your show.
david blaine
And act normal.
joe rogan
Whoa.
And then spit it all out.
How do you make sure you're not peeing it all out?
david blaine
I know the time on that, so I've practiced the window of time.
joe rogan
What's the window of time between swallowing it?
david blaine
Obviously it starts to move in like 15 minutes, but I'm able to kind of control it for the length of the show, pretty much.
joe rogan
Are you contracting your body?
Are you doing something physically?
david blaine
Well, then I spout it out to put out the fire, so it's a break.
And then I reload it, so secretly.
joe rogan
So when you spout it out to put out the fire, people are like, what the fuck?
Like, where did you get all this water?
david blaine
Well, they see me drinking it also.
Right.
joe rogan
But still.
It's pretty insane.
david blaine
It's insane.
It's a show that, you know, my show is a show that you can only do like once or twice a month.
You can't do it right...
If I did a card trick show, I could do it every night, right?
It'd be like very good for business.
But I like this show because it's an impossible show.
It's like one that I have to like get into the mindset and be like, oh fuck, here comes another night.
joe rogan
So when you put together a show like this, like when you're sitting down in the planning stages and you're like, okay...
Got a big show coming up in Vegas.
What am I going to do?
How much time is involved in the creation of something like this?
david blaine
Years.
joe rogan
Years?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
david blaine
Yeah, years and years.
joe rogan
Wow.
david blaine
I mean, it took me 20 years to even do my show.
joe rogan
20 years?
unidentified
Almost.
joe rogan
That's insane.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
Because I wanted something that was different and something that I felt like would represent what I love and what interests me.
So I worked on all these crazy things and it took so long to figure them out and then had to apply magic to them.
Like how to make the trick part.
And then the trick part always makes the other thing seem like that's a trick.
So when I'm holding my breath, everybody thinks like I have tubes or something.
joe rogan
Right, right, right, right.
What did you do when you held your breath?
Like how long did you hold it for?
It was something insane.
I want to say like 13 minutes or something like that?
david blaine
I did 17.04 on Oprah.
But my actual record with doctors and pulmonary experts on it was 20 minutes and two seconds, breathing pure O2. And my heart rate dropped to eight beats per minute.
So they pulled me up because they thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest.
And I actually, that one felt pretty good.
But now I think the record is like 24.03.
unidentified
Whoa.
Yeah.
joe rogan
And you're breathing pure oxygen before you do it.
david blaine
Yeah, without the Pure O2, I was up to like 747. Which is still insane.
joe rogan
I know free divers can do stuff like that.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
But they're also, the ones that are really good are really thin, really tall.
They have a total lung capacity that's much greater than mine.
Mine is less than average.
joe rogan
Your lung capacity is less than average?
david blaine
Yeah, 80% of the average person, my height and size.
joe rogan
Why is that?
david blaine
I don't know.
joe rogan
That doesn't even make sense if you can hold your breath that long.
david blaine
Yeah, my TLC is 80% of the...
joe rogan
Hmm, that's crazy.
david blaine
But I think that's where a lot of it has to do with accepting the pain, like mind over matter.
joe rogan
So generally like taller, longer people have longer lungs.
david blaine
It makes it easier, yeah.
joe rogan
Bigger chest cavity, that makes sense.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
There was a dude who was an MMA fighter named Egan Inouye, and I know he did something insane.
He was a free diver.
He lived in Hawaii, and I think he was up to like seven plus minutes.
And that's also physical, right?
Because you're holding your breath, and then you're diving into the water and moving your body.
So that consumes oxygen.
It's not just sitting there.
david blaine
Yeah, when I was doing it, I was just, and even your brain functioning, you want to shut everything down because your brain uses a lot of oxygen as well.
So the more that you can just shut everything down, the more efficient you are.
joe rogan
And when you're doing that, like, how are you getting your heart rate to eight beats a minute?
david blaine
I didn't intentionally do that, it just happened.
I think the body does whatever it needs to do to make sure you survive.
joe rogan
Right, so your body's recognizing, like, this motherfucker isn't breathing.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Let's just slow it down and, like, it's kind of like creeping towards the gas station when you're on E. Yeah.
You know, like, you're going, like, five miles an hour because you know you're not gonna make it otherwise.
What do you think is the most difficult of all these things you've ever done?
unidentified
Maybe the ice.
joe rogan
Just on the mind.
david blaine
Yeah, that one was the worst one.
I would never do that again.
joe rogan
How long did it take your brain to recover from that?
david blaine
The brain recovers pretty fast.
I think after one night's sleep I was okay.
joe rogan
Really?
david blaine
The brain, yeah.
joe rogan
So no more hallucinations.
david blaine
Yeah, but also I was, yeah, it was bad.
joe rogan
I would worry about something like that that I would open up a door that I could never close.
david blaine
Yeah, that would be horrible.
joe rogan
That would be like in a horror movie that would happen?
david blaine
That's why I don't mess with sleep deprivation.
I tried to mess with that.
It's scary.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
I think it's a very effective form of torture.
I think in North Korea they did that to the Americans, extreme sleep deprivation.
I think that tweaked them the worst.
joe rogan
Oh, I'm sure we do it too.
Guantanamo Bay?
david blaine
Sleep deprivation is horrific.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Isn't it crazy?
david blaine
It's horrible.
joe rogan
Because that's one you wouldn't even think of as torture.
When people think of it as torture, they think of pain.
They don't think of just making someone stay awake.
Isn't that Chinese water torture?
They just drip water on your face?
david blaine
I don't think that one's so bad.
joe rogan
Really?
david blaine
I don't think so.
joe rogan
I heard it's pretty bad.
david blaine
I don't know.
joe rogan
I think there's something about it that just keeps you awake and it's just nuts because you're just the drip and like it being irregular intervals.
david blaine
Maybe you get microsleep.
joe rogan
I don't know.
I don't think so.
Maybe you should try that one.
david blaine
Do you want to see this trick?
joe rogan
I would love to see this trick.
What do you got?
david blaine
Well, it's a simple one, but it's a new one.
So I just used some thread, but I might need your help.
unidentified
Okay.
david blaine
Do you want to come closer?
joe rogan
Okay, I'll come over there.
david blaine
Yeah?
Should I move over?
Or you can come here?
joe rogan
I'll come over there.
david blaine
Should I slide to the left or something?
So first I'll show you the trick version.
Wait, can I take this off?
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
So first I'll show you the trick version of it.
joe rogan
Okay.
david blaine
Which is just like this.
joe rogan
For the people just listening at home, he folded over a little loop in a piece of thread.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
and he's putting it in his mouth and swallowing it.
He's chewing on the thread.
Now he's drinking water.
david blaine
Yeah, I think it's...
Here, wait.
unidentified
Hold on.
david blaine
So this is a trick version.
unidentified
You see, you get...
david blaine
See, you can pull...
I don't know if you can...
Can you...
Do you want to just pull it?
joe rogan
Pull the thread?
So you have a thread that you stuck in your body.
david blaine
Yeah, pull it.
See?
joe rogan
Uh-huh.
david blaine
So that's the trick version.
joe rogan
That's a thread that he just had embedded in his skin.
david blaine
But hold on.
Here's a different version.
Actually, wait.
view.
unidentified
Instead, I'll do it this way. - Okay.
david blaine
So you can see what's actually happening.
unidentified
Okay.
Wait a minute.
Hmm.
Yeah, will you grab here?
joe rogan
The one on your chin?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Okay, so now he's got a thread coming out from under his chin.
david blaine
Pull it up a little.
joe rogan
Okay.
david blaine
Pull it down.
joe rogan
It's through his mouth and through the bottom of his mouth and out his chin.
Want to pull it out?
unidentified
Yeah.
Okay.
david blaine
So that's something that I learned in India.
joe rogan
So you just essentially use a needle and shove it through the bottom of your jaw.
And people think it's coming out of your mouth.
Yeah.
david blaine
It's pretty good, though.
joe rogan
It is pretty good.
I'm going to go to the other side.
david blaine
Jesus Christ.
So there's a book called Swami Mantra.
joe rogan
How are you getting it into your chest?
david blaine
Well, first I'll tell you there's a book called Swami Mantra, which is a collection of pamphlets of secrets of what the Fakirs are doing in India.
So there was a trick that I saw a magician do when I was a kid.
And he ate a thread and he pulled it out of his stomach.
And I was with a bunch of amazing magicians and we were all blown away and in shock.
But I cornered the guy and convinced him to teach me the secret.
So then I started playing with it and then just now when I was in India meeting street magicians and finding all these performers, I went to a festival, and they do all these extreme things I have never seen before.
Like they push the ice pick skewer type thing through their neck, through their...
And so I suddenly had an idea, and I was like, wait, maybe there's a way.
And then it becomes a magic trick.
But you're seeing the early phase of it.
joe rogan
Okay.
david blaine
Yeah.
Sometimes I get nervous that, like, you know, obviously anything could go wrong.
You could, you know.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Start squirting blood.
david blaine
Like it happened last time.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
I promised you there was going to be no blood.
joe rogan
Thank you.
Yeah, when last time we poked the ice pick through your arm, we hit a nerve, right?
We had to back it out and do it again.
david blaine
Oh, yeah.
And it was bleeding internally.
You had it bubbled up.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
Not good.
Yeah.
I was not.
That's not what I wanted to happen.
I was traumatized afterwards.
I was like, oh, I'm fucked.
joe rogan
So is that just a luck thing?
Like you miss or you just don't know exactly where to push it through?
david blaine
No.
What happened?
Was normally, I think I go in from this side and out, but because you were sitting here and I wanted you to push it, I think we went in the opposite direction.
And I think that's what went wrong.
joe rogan
Oh, so you know where to do it normally.
david blaine
No, there's a lot of space to do it.
So there's like, you know, but from the other side, I don't really know.
And I, for some reason, I thought it would be okay.
unidentified
Jesus.
joe rogan
Well, how long did that one take to heal up from?
david blaine
I mean, that was fine because it was just the arm.
It wasn't nerve or anything.
joe rogan
It seemed like you were hitting nerve, though.
david blaine
Well, we stopped.
We started again, didn't we?
Did we start and stop again?
joe rogan
Yeah, we stopped.
And we found a new hole.
And he tried again.
Yeah, but it was bleeding internally.
Ballooning up, and we had to stop the show, and luckily we had an EMT here.
david blaine
Yeah, but he said it was fine.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
And it was.
joe rogan
But he was a little bit like, what the fuck?
david blaine
After I was like, my career is over.
I just did the most disgusting things.
Nothing worked.
It was horrible.
unidentified
There it is.
david blaine
Yeah, exactly.
joe rogan
I went through the opposite way.
david blaine
That's right.
That's what went wrong.
joe rogan
Yep.
Yikes.
unidentified
Yep.
david blaine
And I always go in the other direction.
joe rogan
What is the difference, though, if it's the same spot?
david blaine
I don't know.
joe rogan
Obviously.
It's probably you know how to do it yourself.
david blaine
Well, no, but I let the audience do it when they come on stage.
I let them pick a spot.
Yeah.
I mean, I make sure it's above the break.
I make sure it's not in a dangerous place, but yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
How many times have you stuck an ice pick through your arm?
david blaine
Oh my, so many.
A hundred?
Way more!
Thousands!
unidentified
Thousands?
david blaine
Yes!
And through both hands.
I had to stop with my hand because I was getting the scar tissue and it was becoming really hard to push the ice pick.
But I did CT scans.
I looked at the hand.
I studied where all the blood vessels are.
So I thought about it for a long time before I started doing it.
And then I did it with like an acupuncture needle.
But this is something nobody should do.
No magician.
Nobody.
Because it's just not good when things go wrong.
joe rogan
Yeah, I would imagine.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I would imagine that's a real problem.
How do you decide what you're going to do with these kind of things?
What makes you comfortable?
Like, I think I'm going to stick an ice pick through my hand.
david blaine
I think that started early on.
There was a magician named Harry Anderson that used to do needle through arm, and it was like a fake arm thing.
Like, stuck it together, and it looks like it's going through.
And I think I was like, that could probably really be done.
So I think it began with that, and then I heard about a kid that can take a bicycle spoke and put it through.
And then I started thinking, well, if you could do that as a trick but have no blood...
Then it's kind of amazing and what I didn't realize was basically your blood coagulates when you so based on time so if you push this through again I don't want to give anybody lessons on how this stuff is not good to do at all but with time I think when you pull it out you just don't bleed unless you go through the wrong side and hit something but yeah But I like those things that just seem impossible,
but there's an actual science to it.
joe rogan
Who was the guy who would take thin swords and shove them through his lungs?
david blaine
Yeah, Mirandayo.
I have not done that, and I'm never going to do that.
unidentified
Don't do that.
joe rogan
He died doing that, didn't he?
david blaine
No.
Well, normally he would have a rapier pushed through by a doctor.
And he would jog with these rapiers through his body, through his lungs, right through the middle.
And I think what happened was he became very overconfident and thought he could do anything.
And he swallowed a needle, like an ice pick-sized needle.
He swallowed it and thought he was going to, like, push it through.
And when he went to sleep, it was still inside of him, and it ruptured his heart, and then he bled out.
joe rogan
Oh, God.
david blaine
Yeah.
Yeah, I think he started to get so cocky with what his body could do yet.
joe rogan
So this is the guy.
david blaine
Yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
How does one do that?
I mean, if he's got a...
david blaine
They said he had tuberculosis, and so the way his body recovered it...
It doesn't...
Nobody really knows.
But I know scientists and doctors, they all thought it wasn't real.
They thought it was a trick.
So it took forever for them to even think it was real.
joe rogan
Oh, it goes sideways.
Oh, that's right.
I forgot this one.
So he's going through his fucking intestines.
david blaine
Yeah, he was the human pincushion.
joe rogan
And that's a doctor?
Boy, that doctor.
What about do no harm, fella?
That is so insane.
unidentified
So he's got bandages over his forearms, so did he go through his arms as well?
joe rogan
Is that why his bandages?
david blaine
I don't know.
But it's insane that he could control it, because, you know, obviously when people get stabbed, they could do an x-ray.
joe rogan
Is that what he's doing?
david blaine
And look at the holes in his back.
unidentified
Oh, he's got holes all through them.
joe rogan
Oh, God, dude.
david blaine
Yeah, it's crazy.
joe rogan
That guy's got so many holes in him.
david blaine
Yeah, it's crazy.
joe rogan
The doctors have to examine.
That's a regular sword.
david blaine
And that's a thick rapier, by the way.
joe rogan
Yeah, and then they eat.
david blaine
And, like, the water comes out.
unidentified
Oh, God.
Yeah, don't do that one.
david blaine
Never.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's real danger in a lot of the shit you do.
david blaine
Well, but I don't just go randomly do things.
I start carefully, methodically, slow.
I have not magicians surrounding me.
I have doctors, and I have people that are the best in the world that do these things, and there's a slow learning curve.
You just never see it.
But that one, to me, I was like, no, it's not worth the risk.
joe rogan
Has anybody else done that other than that guy?
david blaine
I don't think so.
Not intentionally.
joe rogan
Stick to cards, bro.
Cards are amazing.
Why fuck around with other things?
david blaine
Cards are amazing.
joe rogan
They're amazing.
david blaine
They are amazing.
joe rogan
They are amazing.
Sleight of hand.
david blaine
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Skills.
david blaine
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
What's the dexterity, the fine mobile skills, motor skills of your fingers?
It's so impressive.
But it makes sense.
Like, my left hand is so dumb in comparison to my right hand.
Like, if I try to write things with my right hand or try to tie my shoes left-handed, I get one.
Actually, tie your shoes with both fingers.
david blaine
One hand is better, yeah.
joe rogan
Doing things that's difficult, like with your left hand, your brain somehow or another doesn't have a really good relationship with your left hand.
david blaine
Yeah, but as a magician you change that because you have to work with both hands equally.
You definitely rewire the way your fingers move and the way your pinky moves and you learn to do movements that are not natural.
joe rogan
Well, I learned that from boxing.
Because when I first started boxing, I'm right-handed and my right hand was so much better than my left hand.
But then after boxing for a few years, my left hand was much better because you use the jab much more than you use the right hand.
And my left bicep became larger than my right bicep, like pretty significantly.
david blaine
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And Roy Jones Jr. is the best example of that.
Roy Jones Jr., when he flexes, like he was in the studio and he flexed, his left bicep is like twice the size of his right bicep.
Because they used to call him Captain Hook.
Because he was so fast and so extraordinarily talented that he would throw a left hook the way most people would throw a jab.
Just like leap in with this insane fast left hook.
And his left bicep was enormous.
Look at the size difference.
david blaine
Wow.
joe rogan
Isn't that crazy?
david blaine
Yeah, that's a huge difference.
joe rogan
Huge difference.
And that left hand was a lethal weapon.
Amazing.
But when you do box and you throw jabs and left hooks with your left hand, and then you switch and try to do with your right hand, your right hand seems uncoordinated.
It's really just your brain has this relationship with those particular movements.
Hey, look at his bicep and his left arm.
david blaine
That's unbelievable.
joe rogan
I mean, in his prime, he was just a freak.
david blaine
It's funny because nobody would think of the jab as being, you know, as you do.
You would build your jab much more than a...
joe rogan
Yeah, because you use it much more.
When you're boxing, you're constantly throwing jabs and you occasionally throw right hands.
It's probably like a four to one ratio at least.
Yeah.
And then left hooks.
Yeah.
david blaine
I used to always print t-shirts when I was a kid of Mike Tyson and wear them every day.
joe rogan
Oh yeah.
david blaine
Yeah, he looks like to me the scariest guy to ever get up against.
joe rogan
He's so scary that when he was in my studio we had a desk So, Mike Tyson, the first time he came to the studio, Mike was not fighting.
He was completely retired.
And he said he wouldn't train because he didn't want to reignite his ego.
And then, the second time he was in the studio, he had decided to take a fight with Roy Jones Jr. And so, he was in his 50s and started training again and got fucking insanely dedicated.
I think the way he described it, he said the gods of war reignited his ego and brought him back to do combat again.
And he was so terrifying that when he was sitting across from me, he was so different between the first podcast and the second podcast.
I decided to make the table wider.
I was gonna make a more narrow table, so I was closer to the people, but I was like, his energy, when I was this close to him, was so...
It was so, like, confusing.
david blaine
Man, he is unbelievable.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's number two.
That's when he was back.
david blaine
Yeah, he's my favorite that ever lived.
joe rogan
Oh my god, in his prime...
In the late 80s, he was a fucking force in nature.
david blaine
He'd walk out with the black shorts and just the way he would look.
Oh, man.
joe rogan
Just look right through people.
Yeah.
He's the scariest heavyweight of all time.
david blaine
He was amazing.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Did you see the Francis Ngannou-Tyson Fury fight?
unidentified
Mm-mm.
joe rogan
Francis Ngannou, who is the UFC heavyweight champion, he vacated the throne and had a boxing match with Tyson Fury, who is the lineal heavyweight champion.
Dropped him in the third round and won on one judge's scorecard and lost on the other two.
So he lost a majority decision in his first ever boxing match against arguably the best heavyweight boxer.
Absolutely alive, but maybe of all time.
Wow.
And I thought he won the decision.
A lot of people thought he won the decision.
It's a very close fight.
I mean, you could maybe say that Tyson Fury...
I mean, you could kind of see an argument that he...
Maybe could have won I don't think so though when it comes to damage I looked at it.
I've watched it three times and in my mind he won the fight and I I think that's one of the most extraordinary accomplishments in combat sports history a guy who's had zero boxing matches who is an MMA champion goes and fights a guy who is One of the greatest boxers that's ever lived.
I mean Tyson Fury is phenomenal now Whether Tyson Fury took him seriously, whether he was overconfident, who knows?
I mean, he literally said to him, time to go to school.
I'm taking you to school at the beginning of the fight.
david blaine
Tyson Fury said that?
joe rogan
Yeah, and then when Francis dropped him in the third round, after the fight, Francis was like, you are a shitty professor.
And Francis is a real freak.
Francis is 6'5", a natural 272 pounds, and built like a Greek god.
david blaine
Can I see a...
joe rogan
Yeah.
See if you get the photo of Francis standing over Tyson Fury after he dropped him.
Because, I mean, he really rocked him.
And, by the way, they gave him...
I'll send you this, Jamie.
They checked the amount of time that it took for him to get up.
jamie vernon
23 seconds.
joe rogan
23 seconds!
So that's after he dropped him.
Look how big Francis is.
I mean, he's just an extraordinary specimen.
And, you know, didn't even start combat sports until he was 25 years old.
david blaine
Where is he from?
joe rogan
Cameroon.
I mean, I had on the podcast.
His story is so insane.
It is like something from a movie.
He was working in the sand mines when he was 10 years old and developed this incredible strength.
Fucking digging sand.
Wow.
And when he was a man, decided that he had to leave his village and he wanted to be a professional boxer and wanted to go to Europe.
So he walked.
And made his way to Morocco like hitched rides and all these different things made his way to Morocco and then seven times Traveled on rafts to Europe and got arrested and sent back and when they would send him back they would drop him off in the Sahara Desert That's how they would do to people who were trying to make their way to Europe.
And seven times, he made his way from the Sahara Desert back to Morocco, back to the raft, and one day finally made his way all the way across, was arrested, was in jail in Spain for, I think, three or four months, and then was homeless in France for a year.
Found a gym.
Started training, and they told him to train in MMA. And so he starts training because he wanted to be a boxer, but they were like, you really should be an MMA champion.
MMA is a more popular sport now.
So he starts training in MMA. Four years later, he's the UFC heavyweight champion.
That's crazy.
unidentified
I mean, insane.
joe rogan
And the guy he knocks out.
david blaine
But it's obviously, it's not just his natural strength, it's also his willpower.
joe rogan
It's everything.
It's intelligence.
So there's where he drops him.
So now he drops him.
So look at the count.
One, two, three, four, five.
He's up.
Six, seven, eight.
So he made it up to the count of ten.
And he's obviously clearly rocked, takes a big deep breath.
But look, it's 12 seconds, 13, 14. The guy's still counting.
Seven, eight.
This is a bullshit count.
The referee's still giving him an eight count, and it's 22 seconds before they re-engage.
And the way he hits him is just this clubbing left hook.
It's not even like full power from Francis.
I mean, he didn't really totally turn...
Francis is dancing in front of him.
david blaine
It comes out of nowhere, though.
joe rogan
Yeah, and then battered him again in the eighth round, and somehow or another they gave him...
They gave Tyson Fury the eighth round on at least one judge's scorecard, which is fucking insane.
It might have been two judges.
But boxing is a dirty business.
It's a dirty sport.
I mean, there's always one judge that's in the bag, it seems.
At the very least, if they're not absolutely paid off, at the very least, they're deeply indebted to the promoters.
There is some sort of an agenda to have this person who's either the most marketable or the one who is writing on.
I mean, I don't think he's gonna have a rematch.
He didn't talk about a rematch.
He didn't say he wanted a rematch and Francis wants a rematch for sure.
Francis thinks he won the fight.
It's interesting.
Immediately afterwards, most people were saying that Francis won.
After watching it carefully, some people have said there could be an argument that Tyson Fury may have outpointed him.
In my mind, Francis landed by far the harder shots, by far did more damage, and even though there's this thing that happens when you see an underdog outperform the expectations, which certainly happened.
I think he was a 14 to 1 underdog.
By the end of the fight, the online betting odds had Francis favored to win.
Which is crazy.
And then many people, including myself, felt like he did enough to win the decision.
I felt he won by at least one round.
And who's that promoter?
God, I forget his name.
The guy who promotes Anthony Joshua, Eddie Hearn.
He gave Francis two rounds.
He said Francis beat him by two rounds.
It's just an extraordinary accomplishment.
Even losing a majority decision to Tyson Fury is insane.
Because the only time this has ever happened before where an MMA champion fought a boxer was when Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather.
But Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather when Floyd Mayweather was at the tail end of his career.
It was the last bout that Floyd had.
And Floyd just kind of like wore him out, outboxed him and stopped him in the fight.
Whereas Francis fucking dropped him in the third round and battered him in the eighth round and it was just an insane performance.
I mean, literally like a legendary combat sports performance.
It'll go down in history when they talk about boxing and things that people have accomplished.
It's one of the greatest accomplishments ever.
Pretty amazing.
david blaine
You train both boxing and MMA? I've done everything, yeah.
But which do you prefer?
joe rogan
MMA, for sure.
Yeah, there's more options.
It's more complicated.
I mean, I think the boxing is an amazing skill.
It's an amazing thing to learn.
It's very helpful in terms of self-defense.
It's a must-know.
It's a thing that you must know.
If you want to compete in combat sports, you must know how to box.
A really comprehensive skill set that a true MMA champion will have is far better.
And if a boxer, like an elite boxer fought an MMA fighter, they would have almost no chance.
Like if Tyson Fury fought Francis Ngannou in an MMA fight and beat Francis in an MMA fight, that would be more extraordinary than Francis beating or rather than...
Tyson Fury, if Tyson Fury beat Francis in an MMA fight, it would be more extraordinary than Francis beating Tyson Fury in a boxing match.
Because at least a big part of Francis' skill set is his punching power in his hands.
Whereas Tyson Fury has almost no experience in grappling, kicking, any of those skills.
If he beat Francis in an MMA fight, that would be like the most incredible thing that anyone's ever done, ever.
But no boxer.
Other than...
The only boxer that's ever even, like, at an elite level competed in MMA was James Toney fought Randy Couture.
And he got...
It was at the end of James Toney's career.
He had already accomplished incredible feats as a pure boxer and kind of just took it for a paycheck.
And he got taken down and just strangled pretty quickly.
Randy Couture just ankle-picked him, brought him to the ground, got on top of him, head and arm choked him.
It was...
Once he got to the ground, it was like a foregone conclusion that Randy was going to destroy him.
No boxer has ever said in the middle of their prime, as if Manny Pacquiao in the middle of his prime said, I'm going to fight MMA. That would be insane.
And he'd probably get his face kicked off.
I mean, probably get strangled, probably get taken down, strangled, and he would be helpless.
It's a different skill set.
There's so much more to MMA. To me, it's more exciting to watch.
It's certainly more complicated.
It requires more of you.
You have to train in multiple disciplines.
You're not just training and using your hands.
You're training in kicking, elbows, punches, knees, takedowns, submissions, submission defense.
The rounds are longer.
They're five-minute rounds as opposed to three-minute rounds.
It's like...
david blaine
Five minutes is a long time.
joe rogan
It's a long time.
It's a long time.
And in the old days, in the Pride days...
Well, in the old days of the UFC, there was no time limit.
And then in the Pride days, which was one of the glory years of MMA... In Japan, they would have a 10-minute first round.
And, you know, that was very, very hard.
That really—Dan Henderson, who was in here before, was one of the all-time greats, said that was what separated the men from the boys, that 10-minute round.
david blaine
Because, you know— Ten minutes of straight fighting is crazy.
joe rogan
Against a train killer.
david blaine
It's crazy.
joe rogan
In front of the whole world.
And they would do this at, like, the Saitama Super Arena, which is like 90,000 people, the Tokyo Dome, these enormous venues.
david blaine
But just the endurance training that goes into that is like nothing else.
joe rogan
Like nothing else.
Not that boxing is not insanely difficult on your endurance as well, especially at a very elite level.
I mean, next to wrestling, which is probably one of the most difficult things, it's about as hard a combat sport.
It exists.
But MMA is the top.
That's the top.
The MMA champion is widely regarded by almost anyone who's an expert as being the baddest man on the planet.
Whatever weight class it is, the MMA champion, for the most part, is going to dominate someone who is just a boxer.
For the most part.
But, you know, you've got some guys like Mike Tyson.
If someone taught Mike Tyson kicking defense and how to take people down, good fucking luck.
Good fucking luck when that guy's coming at you throwing punches.
It's just a different thing.
david blaine
Yeah, it was the most exciting thing ever when he had a fight coming up.
joe rogan
He was so fast.
He was so fast for a heavyweight.
I mean, Francis hits so hard, but it's different.
Mike was so fast.
The combinations just come like lightning, and he would be shifting side to side, be standing in front of you, throw a hook, and all of a sudden he off to the right, and he would right hook you to the body and hit you with an uppercut, and they would shift to the left.
unidentified
And that's it.
joe rogan
Oh my god, he was a fucking, he was a thing of beauty.
david blaine
And everybody would just go down.
joe rogan
Oh man, yeah.
david blaine
I cried when the Buster Douglas thing happened.
No, I'm serious, I did!
joe rogan
Did you really?
david blaine
Yes!
Of course!
joe rogan
He was the icon of our job.
He reignited people's interest in heavyweight boxing.
Because at the time, Larry Holmes had retired and there was no real compelling heavyweight on the scene.
And then Tyson came along, you know?
david blaine
But I remember Buster Douglas' mom had just died, and I paid attention.
And I also remember reading he was out, like, eating burgers and things before.
I was like, hmm.
joe rogan
That Tyson was?
david blaine
Yeah, like, he would be out, like, right before the fight.
So I think all those things played in and just...
joe rogan
Well, I'm sure.
I mean, there's certainly overconfidence that comes with someone who just thinks they could destroy anyone in front of them.
david blaine
Yeah, well, he could.
joe rogan
It's also his mentor had died.
Customato had died years earlier, and it was just very different.
You know, and I also think that...
There's a certain level of performance that a fighter can only maintain for a certain amount of time.
Right, exactly.
Because the amount of dedication and drive, it's so extraordinary.
david blaine
Unprecedented.
joe rogan
Yeah, you really can only do it for so many years, and then eventually you fall off.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I always say, when you talk about all-time greats, you can talk about all-time great careers, and there's people like Bernard Hopkins who had insane careers that went into his 50s.
But when you look at, like...
When they burned the hottest, who was the best during that time?
There was no one like Tyson.
There was no one like Roy Jones Jr. Mike Tyson was also a showman.
david blaine
It was a show.
joe rogan
It was a show.
It was an execution.
You were essentially...
david blaine
Everybody would just stare at his opponent.
joe rogan
He would stare right through them.
david blaine
Oh, man.
joe rogan
Yeah, he was awesome.
He was an awesome specimen.
I mean, just a perfect example of an elite boxer who had a very unusual skill set.
I mean, to be a short guy for the heavyweight division, but insanely fast and just built like a brick shithouse.
Just coming in, winging bombs.
To me, the Tyson that is the scariest was the Marvis Frazier fight.
When he beat Marvis Frazier, it was before he won the title, and it was on ABC Wide World of Sports.
And I remember watching that going, oh my god, who can beat that guy?
It was just different.
Every other heavyweight looked like they were stuck in mud.
They look so slow in comparison to him.
david blaine
And the music when he would walk out was just like noise.
It sounded like the clanging of steel.
And it was like...
joe rogan
Did you ever see the documentary where he describes his mindset from the locker room up into the time he gets into the ring?
david blaine
No.
b-real
It's amazing.
joe rogan
Because he talks about being afraid in the locker room.
But then by the time he gets into the ring, he's unstoppable.
He says, I'm a god.
See if you can find that.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
It's so scary.
It's so extraordinary because he would describe...
unidentified
Question.
david blaine
Walking into the ring, you ever get scared?
unidentified
To death.
Really?
Yeah.
You never look scared.
mike tyson
Well, that's the whole thing.
unidentified
Boxing is like acting.
mike tyson
You always project what you don't feel on someone else.
As I got older, I found out they're more scared of me than I am of them.
david blaine
100%.
unidentified
Once I found that out, I almost stopped training.
joe rogan
No, that's not the one.
It's a scene from his documentary where he talks about it and he just, and he said, you know, he just talks about, like, what was going through his mind in the locker room, all the fears and all the worries and all the different things.
unidentified
And the ring with them?
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
As soon as I come into the ring, as soon as I come into the ring, I'm gloved.
No, stop it.
That's not true.
While I'm in the dressing room, five minutes before I come out, my gloves are laced up.
I'm breaking my gloves down.
I'm pushing the leather on the back of my gloves.
I'm breaking the middle of the gloves so my knuckle could pierce through the leg.
I feel my knuckle piercing against the tight leather gloves on the Everlast boxing gloves.
When I come out, I have supreme confidence, but I'm scared to death.
I'm totally afraid.
I'm afraid of everything.
I'm afraid of losing.
I'm afraid of being humiliated.
But I'm totally confident.
The closer I get to the ring, the more confidence I get.
mike tyson
The closer, the more confidence I get.
unidentified
The closer, the more confidence I get.
All during my training, I've been afraid of this man.
I thought this man might be capable of beating me.
I've dreamed of him beating me.
But I always stayed afraid of him.
But the closer I get to the ring, I'm more confident.
Once I'm in the ring, I'm a god.
No one could beat me.
I walk around the ring, but I never take my eyes off my opponent.
I keep my eyes on him.
Even if he's ready and pumping, he can't wait to get his hands on me as well.
I keep my eyes on him.
Then once I see a chink in his arm, boom!
One of his eyes may move, and then I know I have him.
Then when he comes to the center of the ring, he still looks at me with his piercing look, as if he's not afraid.
But he already made that mistake when he looked down for that one-tenth of a second.
I know I had him.
He'll fight hard for the first two or three rounds, but I know I already broke his spirit.
During the fight, I'm supremely confident.
I'm moving my head.
He's throwing punches.
I'm making a miss and I'm countering.
I'm hitting him to the body.
I'm punching him real hard.
And I'm punching him.
mike tyson
And when I'm punching him, I know he's not able to take my punches.
unidentified
One, two, three punches.
I'm throwing him punches and bunches.
He goes down.
He's out.
I'm victorious.
david blaine
And the power!
unidentified
Greatest fighter ever lived.
joe rogan
The speed was just insane.
The speed of those combinations.
He's literally like a lightweight or a middleweight, but he was 225 pounds of fury.
I hate to break up this party, but I have to pee so bad.
So let's take a little break.
We'll be right back.
I have had legitimate psychedelic states from meditation and from yoga.
And the big one for me is the sensory deprivation tank.
I've had them...
I've had, like, full-blown experiences in the sensory deprivation tank while sober, where if I could give you a pill that would get you to that place, you'd be like, oh, my God, I'm on a drug.
And I've come out of that, those psychedelic states, which I call...
You know, I could tell someone I had a psychedelic experience.
And I didn't take a drug.
I had a psychedelic experience in the sensory deprivation tank meditating and going through these deep breathing exercises.
It's not a psychedelic experience like mushrooms or like dimethyltryptamine or...
david blaine
No, it's like you connect to something that's more beautiful and spiritual and a heightened sense of awareness.
joe rogan
Very heightened sense of awareness but also a completely altered state of consciousness that I don't think You would ever imagine is available to you just naturally.
But what I've had in these psychedelic experiences naturally is nothing compared to what these kundalini masters have.
Kundalini masters, and I have a friend who has done this, who trained kundalini yoga for many, many years, and learned how to get to a full-blown, like, hallucinatory psychedelic experience where there's geometric patterns and you're connected to entities.
And the way he described it, he's done psychedelics and he's done Kundalini.
He said it's...
david blaine
Much better.
joe rogan
No, no, no.
He said they're indiscernible.
They're the same experience.
Exact same experience.
Like you can get there.
You can get there naturally.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which makes sense because the human mind, the brain, produces psychedelic chemicals.
They're endogenously produced.
Particularly dimethyltryptamine.
It is a naturally produced psychedelic substance that your brain and your whole body creates.
Your brain makes it.
So, whatever you're doing when you're getting hypnotized, there is something going on.
And I mean, I think you could measure it in the brain as far as like fMRI or EEG or some sort of methodology where they would use equipment to measure your brain waves and they would find a difference in frequency.
But I think more importantly than that, I believe there's an endogenous release of certain chemicals.
Here's another example.
I've got a bunch of comics that are out of shape, and one of the things...
That I told them, I said, listen, come in with me.
I'll take you to the gym.
I'm not going to make you do anything that's going to brutalize you.
I'm going to slowly get you guys in shape.
And we've been doing it for the past few weeks now.
But one of the things we do afterwards is the cold plunge.
david blaine
That's the best.
joe rogan
It's amazing.
david blaine
The cold plunge is amazing.
joe rogan
So my friend Shane Gillis, who did it, we did it yesterday.
unidentified
That's amazing.
joe rogan
He got out of it.
He's like, dude, I feel like I'm on Molly.
I go, right.
But you know why?
Because your brain ramps up dopamine outside.
When you get out of the cold plunge, you do three minutes, your dopamine gets increased by 200% and it lasts for hours.
Hours and hours.
So you feel like you're on a drug.
unidentified
You feel amazing.
joe rogan
And it is a drug that your body is producing.
So you are in a psychedelic state after you get out of the cold plunge.
And especially if you feel gratitude and you go into it with the right mindset and you leave it, you feel so beautiful.
You feel so in tune with things.
Yeah.
david blaine
Do you do the sauna also?
unidentified
Yes.
david blaine
Like sauna to cold plunge?
joe rogan
Yeah, I do back and forth.
david blaine
That's my favorite.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
I used to do that at Rick Rubin's house because his sauna would get really, really hot.
joe rogan
Yeah, Rick Rubin and I, we talk about it all the time.
david blaine
We both do it.
And we do the cold plunge to the saunas and it's amazing.
It's amazing.
joe rogan
And it does give you a very bizarre altered state of consciousness that is the exact same thing as a psychedelic experience.
david blaine
I feel like it also makes you tougher to the environment.
You know, I think it's like there's a lot of things that it does.
joe rogan
Voluntary adversity.
david blaine
It also sets your mindset.
So like when somebody's going to go into the ocean and like, oh, it's too cold, you know that you can just go in.
joe rogan
Yes.
david blaine
I think I used to do that as a kid subconsciously.
I would wear a t-shirt all winter.
And I would like, you know, when we moved to Jersey, we'd walk a mile and a half or whatever it was in the freezing cold winter night.
And there was a kid, my friend Matt, that used to always wear a t-shirt in the winter.
And I thought that was so cool.
Everybody else didn't really pay attention.
But I would just start wearing t-shirts all winter.
And I think that's in a weird way...
The beginning of me understanding that you could fight the cold with your mind.
And then when you went into the movie theater, you were perfect.
joe rogan
And you felt great.
david blaine
Yeah!
joe rogan
Yeah, when you're no longer cold, your body's like...
david blaine
And I would never get sick, by the way.
I'd never get sick.
unidentified
Right.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
Right.
joe rogan
Because it really enhances your immune system.
david blaine
And everybody that was all bundled up all the time, they were always getting sick.
Right.
But I don't understand that.
joe rogan
You're making your body stronger.
david blaine
I think so.
joe rogan
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
The cold plunge absolutely does that.
david blaine
But I also love extreme heat, too.
joe rogan
I do, too.
david blaine
I love it.
My dream, by the way, is to have a cold punch and a soda.
joe rogan
Why don't you have that?
david blaine
I don't know.
joe rogan
You need to get that.
I have that.
I have it here.
I have it at home.
I live off that.
I think it's extraordinary.
And there's also a lot of real research that backs that up.
There's a study out of Finland that...
Was done that showed four times a week for 20 minutes.
They studied these people over 20 years.
And the people that did it four times per week had a 40% decrease in all-cause mortality.
Heart attack, stroke, cancer, everything.
david blaine
Yeah, for sure.
joe rogan
Because of heat shock proteins.
david blaine
For sure.
joe rogan
So your body's developing these heat shock proteins from the sauna, and it's reducing inflammation, and it also increases your cardiovascular output.
And that's one of the things that wrestlers, like Dan Gable, who was like one of the most extraordinary wrestlers of all time, he learned that from the Soviets.
Because the Soviets in a lot of these Eastern Bloc countries, they were using the sauna as a part of their training.
So he started incorporating into his training and using it for his wrestlers.
david blaine
And then it also sweats out the toxins.
It does all this amazing stuff to you as well.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
More importantly, it's the heat shock proteins.
All toxin talk is like a little...
david blaine
Oh, really?
joe rogan
It gets a little fucking hippy-dippy crystals.
david blaine
You know, I went to Finland.
I went to the Arctic Circle with my daughter on New Year's a few years ago.
And we stayed in this ice hotel.
unidentified
Oh, I've heard of that.
david blaine
Yeah, and it was freezing.
And the only thing you have...
Obviously, it was freezing.
But the only thing you have is like a little sleeping bag to sleep in.
And so we were sleeping in those sleeping bags.
And the whole night, I couldn't get a wink of sleep.
Because I was thinking she's going to freeze.
So I kept touching her.
Making sure her neck was okay.
But she loved it.
And it was amazing.
It was incredible.
joe rogan
I think it would be probably a fun thing to do for a night.
david blaine
And then go stay a really nice hotel.
Hot water.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Did you see the Northern Lights when you were up there?
david blaine
The Aurora Boreals?
Yeah.
Amazing.
joe rogan
I want to do that.
david blaine
You've never seen that?
joe rogan
No.
No, I've never seen that.
david blaine
In Iceland.
Yeah, it's amazing.
joe rogan
I heard it's insane.
david blaine
Amazing.
Amazing.
joe rogan
It's all green, right?
david blaine
Oh, you'll cry.
Yeah, I bet.
It's fucking amazing.
joe rogan
Yeah, we've talked about doing that for one of our family trips, going to see the Northern Lights.
david blaine
You have to go do that.
joe rogan
Yeah, I do.
david blaine
I do have to go do that.
joe rogan
There it is.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow, that's crazy.
Is that the Ice Hotel?
david blaine
Well, no.
jamie vernon
They have a bunch, apparently.
david blaine
No, but that one looks amazing.
joe rogan
Wow, look at that.
david blaine
I think it's one of those down there with the sculptures in it.
joe rogan
Pretty dope.
Yeah.
There's something to extreme cold and extreme heat where your body understands that it's in danger and then it becomes stronger resisting it.
And it produces cold shock proteins for the cold and heat shock proteins for the heat.
david blaine
I think it's extreme deprivation also.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, it certainly makes you more resilient for other things, too.
I start my day with that.
The first thing I do before I do anything, I get in the cold plunge.
And I do it before workouts.
So I get in the cold plunge for three minutes.
david blaine
Which takes out the inflammation as well, probably.
joe rogan
It does, but it also jacks up your testosterone.
Because for some reason, when you go into extreme cold for three minutes and then you work out, the effect is that your testosterone gets jacked up.
david blaine
I never heard about this.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's something that there was a study out of Japan.
And there's something that people are just starting to incorporate now that they're starting to realize the benefits of this.
david blaine
I'll start doing that.
joe rogan
But overall, health and wellness is just amazing.
It's an amazing thing.
And, you know, I very, very, very rarely get sick.
The last time I was really sick at all was COVID, and I was only sick for a couple days.
Before that, I hadn't been sick in 11 years.
And I think a lot of that is training, vitamins, a lot of different things that I do.
david blaine
And when you start to feel sick right away, you go super clean.
Teas, ginger, lemon, a little honey, all those things, they definitely work.
joe rogan
They definitely work.
And it's also recognizing, understanding your body, because you're used to exercise, so you have a deeper relationship with your body.
You know when your body feels weak.
One of the times my whole family got COVID and I didn't.
And I think one of the reasons why I didn't is not just that I'm really healthy and I work out a lot, but I started working out and I was like, boy, I feel unusually weak today.
So what I'm going to do is I'm going to stick to a light kettlebell.
I stuck to 35 pounds and I'm just going to do a very minimal routine.
Of like 10 clean presses each side, 10 swings each side, and just stop and relax.
And that's what I did.
And I did that for two days.
And then on the third day, I started feeling really strong.
And I said, well, let's just push it today.
And I went back to a normal workout.
So I think my body was resisting whatever was going on in my house and all around me.
And then I got through it.
And I never got sick.
david blaine
Do you do anaerobic training?
joe rogan
I do all kinds of training.
david blaine
Anaerobic is my favorite.
I think that helps with the breath hold.
I think it helps with everything.
joe rogan
When you say anaerobic training, what do you do?
david blaine
Where you're depriving your muscles of O2. So let's say we were doing kettlebell swings, let's say with a 35 pound, you would do 50 of them or 54. But anyway, so you could do whatever high number you want.
Then you take a minute and then you do it again.
Then you take a minute, do it again.
Or with the battle rope, you do, let's say, you know, 10 minutes straight.
And it builds up such a high tolerance.
It's amazing.
Even if you're just doing lunges, you can just do them slowly and really feel the burn.
And then it burns for a long time after.
joe rogan
Well, your body is like a race car that you could build the horsepower on the engine just through will.
Just through will and intelligent training and doing it properly.
You can build your output.
You can change how the thing works.
david blaine
But when I'm holding my breath, that training is exactly what plays a part.
Because when I start to feel that pain and I want to quit, I know that I can keep going.
So it's almost like I train in extreme conditions to be able to do the other stuff.
joe rogan
Yeah, it makes sense.
It makes sense.
And the boundaries of what is possible versus what you think is possible, the only way you explore those is by trying things like that.
And by doing things like the cold and the heat and just realizing that your body can tolerate a lot more than you think it can.
david blaine
Yeah.
And you build a resistance quickly.
joe rogan
Yes, you do.
Well, that was the thing with Shane.
The first time he got into the water, he couldn't even do a minute.
He's like, fuck!
Fuck!
And then yesterday, he did three minutes.
david blaine
Yep.
joe rogan
Yesterday, and it's only been two weeks.
So he climbed in there, and he's like, in there for three minutes.
unidentified
Like nothing, yep.
joe rogan
And then he got, I was like, dude, he goes, I feel like I'm on Molly.
He goes, this is amazing.
It's amazing, right?
I go, now let's get in the sauna.
You're going to feel so good.
And you get in the sauna, and you close your eyes, and you just feel like you're flying, like, ah.
david blaine
And it's also a great mindset to just walk in.
You don't tiptoe in.
You just walk, walk, walk.
And you go all the way under, right?
Just go in.
joe rogan
Yeah, just go in.
Just go in and deal with it.
I can just go in and have a normal conversation with people.
Yeah.
But the first time I did it, I couldn't even do a minute and a half.
I think I did like a minute and 24 seconds.
I was like, oh, Jesus, fuck, fuck, fuck.
And then the second time I did it, I did it longer.
And I think the third time I did four minutes.
And then the fourth time I did it, I did 20 minutes or 21 minutes or something like that.
david blaine
What's the temperature of what, like 40?
33 degrees.
33?
joe rogan
Yeah, that was rough.
david blaine
How do you get it to be 33?
joe rogan
I have what's called a Morosco Cold Forge.
And it's really cold.
It's just above freezing.
david blaine
I have to come back at one point.
joe rogan
I crack the ice with a kettlebell to get into it sometimes.
david blaine
Wow.
joe rogan
There's a video of me pushing aside the ice where I climb into it.
It's on my Instagram.
You can see what it looks like.
There's just giant floating chunks of ice in this fucker.
And I just climb in there and just deal with it.
And I can talk like normal.
I can get in there.
My body's so accustomed to it.
I can do it every day.
I fucking hate it.
Every time I'm about to do it, I don't want to do it.
Every time I'm about to do it, I'm trying to figure out a way I can pussy out.
unidentified
So there's two people in my brain.
joe rogan
Much lesser extent, but there's two people in my brain.
There's this little bitch.
Here it is.
Here, give me some volume.
See all the ice in there?
david blaine
Oh yeah, that's great.
Yeah, that's great.
joe rogan
When I first started doing the cold plunge, it was difficult for me to get to just like a minute and a half.
I was freezing.
unidentified
And I'm still just as cold, but now I understand it.
joe rogan
I've been here before.
unidentified
I've experienced it.
david blaine
Are you listening to music?
joe rogan
No, I'm talking.
So that's like the microphone.
But I do listen to music.
I generally listen to books in the sauna.
That's one of them, but there's another one that was even more ice.
jamie vernon
This is the first one that popped up.
joe rogan
Yeah, if you find it, there's another one that's even more ice.
It's cold as fuck.
david blaine
Yeah, it looks amazing.
joe rogan
Yeah.
But again, part of me is like, don't do it.
I don't want to do it.
Don't do it.
david blaine
And that's the inner bitch.
joe rogan
That's your inner bitch.
You got to conquer your inner bitch.
And you got to tell your inner bitch, shut the fuck up, pussy.
david blaine
It's a mindset.
joe rogan
My friend John Joseph, he does a lot of triathlons and he used to be a drug addict and now he's like super disciplined triathlete.
And the way he says it with his like heavy New York accent, he goes, your mind tells your body who's the fucking boss.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
And that's what it is.
david blaine
Until it doesn't.
Until it doesn't.
joe rogan
Yeah, but there's a limit, but you have to figure out what that limit is and get to that limit.
david blaine
By the way, I think that's part of the thing that I love about learning those crazy things because...
Even like to kiss the cobra, it is, no, no, no, no.
But seriously, as you approach, it's like all of those thoughts go through your mind.
And then as you get there, suddenly everything shuts down.
And it's just you and the cobra and you're hyper alert to its movements, to its behavior.
And you're in some sort of a zone that's crazy.
joe rogan
And you have to stay very calm or the cobra perceives you.
david blaine
Exactly.
And if you're not, you get the hell out.
joe rogan
Yeah.
But, I mean, that's one of the things that people enjoy about watching your performances is that everyone knows physical limitations and everyone knows that every human being has this inherent desire to avoid discomfort.
And the fact that you seek it, and you don't just seek it, but you're doing it in the cold for that frozen block of ice for 60 plus hours.
It's fucking insane.
Is he still doing it?
People would tune in the next day.
How many days has he been in that fucking block of ice?
What's the trick?
There's no trick.
The trick is the mind controlling the body, and you decide that you can do it.
david blaine
Even with this series that we're doing, I have a team I've imagined is...
Helping me put this together, so I have a team for the first time.
And they said, oh, we're going to find this, we're going to do that, we're going to skydive off of balloons, you know, all these things.
I said, no.
Find me things that when I hear them, I'm going to be very uncomfortable hearing to even think about doing.
Find me those things that when I hear them, I want to run away.
That's what I want.
So they said, okay, we're gonna cover you with a quarter million bees, you're gonna do this, you're gonna be put on fire, you're gonna have scorpions.
joe rogan
A lot of things that you did, we did on Fear Factor.
We covered people with bees on Fear Factor.
We covered people with scorpions on Fear Factor.
Especially those big ass dark black scorpions.
unidentified
What were those called?
david blaine
What kind of scorpions are those called?
Maybe like the elephant scorpions or something.
joe rogan
I don't remember what they're called, but the really big scary looking black shiny ones.
Yeah, and people got lit up by those things too.
david blaine
And they get stung too.
joe rogan
And it's like a bee sting.
david blaine
I think it's like 20 bee stings.
joe rogan
Is it like 20?
david blaine
I think so.
joe rogan
Whatever it is, it's not good.
david blaine
I was stung by the force.
joe rogan
Isn't it emperor scorpion?
david blaine
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
That's right.
joe rogan
Those are terrifying.
david blaine
I was stung by the first scorpion.
The first one.
And you have to stay perfectly still and perfectly calm.
joe rogan
And unlike a bee, they don't die.
They keep stinging you.
david blaine
But with the bees, it really was incredible to be, you know, we put the queen and the locket around the neck and then they all swarm you.
And when they're all vibrating around your body, it is one of those feelings.
It is pure magic unlike anything you've ever experienced.
I don't recommend it, but it is incredible.
When I shook them off, that's when I think I started to get stung.
joe rogan
When we did it on Fear Factor, this was very interesting, we did it at this ranch.
And there was a local hive of bees.
So we had all the bees that we brought in.
We covered people with bees.
But then a local hive sent a bunch of bees to find out what the fuck was going on.
And the beekeeper knew that these were different bees.
And he said, hey, we have to stop production right now for a while.
They have to sort this out because they have to communicate with each other.
david blaine
Right.
joe rogan
So somehow or another, these local bees were talking to these bees that we brought in, and they're like, hey, what the fuck are you guys doing here?
Like, oh, we're doing a TV show.
I mean, whatever the fuck they said to each other.
But there was some sort of communication, and apparently it was settled to the point where the local bees were like, they had made some sort of an agreement, the local bees left.
And then the other bees, and then we went back to filming.
But we had a stop-down production for, I think it was like a good half an hour, where these bees had to work this out.
And I was saying to the guys...
david blaine
These are so incredible.
joe rogan
And I was so fascinated.
I was like, how are they doing this?
Like, what's going on?
He said, we don't know.
We don't know what they're doing.
We don't know how, but I know that this is how it works.
david blaine
But even when they want to kill like a wasp, you know, they all surround the wasp and they all vibrate and make the temperature go up.
Right, yeah.
They're incredible.
joe rogan
Right, and how do they know?
How do they know to do that?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
How do they know?
david blaine
Even just their hives are so symmetrically perfect.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
How do they know how to make that?
What kind of communication are they having?
david blaine
And they're so efficient too.
Just the uses of space and the way they design it is like architecture that we can't even do now.
joe rogan
It's pretty amazing.
And they're doing it with their mouths.
We have leafcutter ants.
It's very common out here.
And they'll destroy plants.
They just take little pieces of each leaf and you see like a whole line of these ants.
And I don't know if you've ever seen leafcutter ants hive their colonies.
They have these incredibly complex systems that they build in the ground.
And the way we've found out about these things is by Unfortunately, flooding them with cement.
So they'll flood these bee things, these ant colonies, these leafcutter ants, whatever they would call these hives or whatever they call it.
And then they dig it all out.
And when they dig it all out after it's covered with cement, they get to see how insanely complex these structures are.
So they have...
These little pods that they have, these areas that they have designated where they build these holes, so they dig in and they remove all the dirt, and these long tunnels, and they even have ventilation systems where some of the leaves will ferment.
So they have leaves that are slowly decaying and fermenting, and they build them so that these leaves have access to oxygen.
They have no idea how these leafcutter ants are communicating, how they know how to do this, how they figure this out, and how they consistently do this all over the world.
Like, look how enormous this structure is that they're digging out.
And this is all because they filled the entire thing up with concrete.
So here they're pouring this concrete.
There you see the leafcutter ants.
You see the surface area.
And then they slowly dump this concrete in there, which is like a fucking genocide of leafcutter ants.
Unfortunately, it's the only way they can find this out.
And then once they do that, once they've done it, then they allow it to harden and then they slowly dig it out.
It takes a long time.
But the result is this knowledge of this insane insect that has these complex structures.
david blaine
That is crazy.
joe rogan
It's amazing.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because if you think of how tiny an ant is and how big that is, that's akin to, like, Manhattan.
Like, what the fuck are they doing?
david blaine
Probably more.
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's amazing.
And how?
What's going on?
Like, how do they know how to do this?
How do they know how to do this in Africa?
And they also know how to do this in Texas?
How do they know how to do this?
david blaine
Yeah, it's unbelievable.
What's going on?
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
It's crazy.
unidentified
Yep.
david blaine
Never underestimate anything, anyway.
joe rogan
Yeah, but it also makes you wonder, like, what...
What is being stored in the genes and what do we have and what kind of information do we have in our genes that's inherent to the species?
That's just like a part of you as a human being that's in there.
Maybe that is like one of the reasons why people are naturally afraid of snakes.
A lot of people are naturally afraid of, you know, monsters, scary things.
david blaine
Hardwired.
joe rogan
Yeah, hardwired for that.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Because, like, kids aren't necessarily born afraid of car accidents.
But car accidents are much more likely to kill you than a monster.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
But kids are terrified of monsters.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Well, what's a monster from?
Well, it's probably our memory, our genetic memory of cats, of big cats that want to kill us.
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
In the dark, right?
Monsters are always in the dark.
Cats are nocturnal.
They have big teeth.
They're scary.
They hide and wait for you.
david blaine
Well, that's why people are wired to feel really, you know, uncomfortable when they're standing on stage and have to speak publicly.
It's like the number one fear.
And the reason is because the hard wiring is, you know, when we were on an elevated platform with lots of eyeballs looking up at us, those were predators.
Those were lions or other tribes or whatever it was.
So we had to be fearful.
So it's hardwired.
So people, when they stand on stage, they're not at risk of getting eaten by a lion, but they still have those really uncomfortable feelings.
joe rogan
Well, I've been told that it's because you're being judged, like you did something wrong.
david blaine
But I think it's more deeply rooted than that.
I think if you're on an elevated platform and you have lots of eyeballs on you, you're an easy target.
joe rogan
But it's not always elevated.
Like sometimes people don't like speaking in front of people that are the same level of them.
I think...
david blaine
But it's just lots of eyeballs on you.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
Lots of eyeballs.
But I think it's you're being judged.
And most of the time, I think, in tribal cultures, if you were being judged, you'd probably done something wrong.
And you're probably being tried.
david blaine
Probably a combination, because earlier, before that...
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
You know?
joe rogan
Probably a lot of factors.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's very interesting, like, what...
Like how the mind works and how many complex layers are in there, how anxiety works, how fears work, how people can trick themselves into thinking the worst case scenario is definitely going to happen and they just mindfuck themselves.
david blaine
Which is part of the survival mechanism.
joe rogan
Yeah, because that's the ability to anticipate danger.
david blaine
But you can change that part of your brain.
joe rogan
Yes.
david blaine
You can slowly, the way your friends slowly built a resistance to be able to go into the...
Cold plunge, you could do the exact same thing with any fear that you have.
joe rogan
Yes.
And people that don't have any experience with scary things, everything's scary.
You don't have any experience with adversity, any experience with overcoming things, any experience with doing things that make you nervous?
Boy, fucking everything's going to make you nervous.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, if you're too sheltered, you're fucked.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's the one thing that everybody's terrified of, their children being too sheltered.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
We all know children that are too sheltered and that don't try dangerous things or scary things or things that make them nervous.
Well, those kids are fucked when they go out into the real world.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You haven't prepared them properly.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
It's a tricky balance.
joe rogan
It is a tricky balance because you want to protect them.
david blaine
Yeah.
I was alone a lot as a kid and that also was really difficult.
joe rogan
And dangerous.
david blaine
And dangerous.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's the other thing.
Free range children.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
But you learn a lot.
joe rogan
You do learn a lot.
david blaine
You learn survival.
joe rogan
If you live.
david blaine
When I would get mugged when I was a kid, I didn't have a dad growing up in Brooklyn, but- I would see, like, a man across the street, and I'd have, like, five kids mugging me.
I'd be like, Dad!
And they would, like, run away, because they were, like, 13. So I learned quickly how to get out of bad situations.
joe rogan
Yeah.
How many times did you get mugged?
david blaine
A couple.
You know, three.
Something like that.
It wasn't a big deal then.
joe rogan
Right, but if you do survive those situations, you gain what they call street smarts.
david blaine
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
And you learn, and you adapt, and you learn quickly.
joe rogan
You also learn that human beings are not always nice.
There's a lot of human beings that are not nice.
david blaine
Yeah.
Well, in certain situations.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
Yeah.
But you could also find human beings that are not nice, and you can make them nice quickly if you know how to be calm and give the right energy.
Sometimes.
I had, after a sky dive injury, I broke my foot, and I was walking around with a boot on, and I was walking around Paris.
And I saw a guy driving a truck and a bicycle delivery guy were in a heated argument.
And the guy with the bicycle had his bike lock in his hand.
And they were about to beat the hell out of each other.
And I just walked into the middle of them and I said, you know, think of a car in French.
And they both looked at me like, who is this weirdo?
And suddenly the fight was defused.
joe rogan
You just defused it with a card trick?
david blaine
Well, I didn't get to the card trick part, but just there's a guy here and they're both heated up.
But like if one goes against me, then it's two, you know, so it kind of defused it.
But I have defused fights with card tricks many times.
unidentified
Really?
david blaine
Yes!
joe rogan
How have you done that?
david blaine
Well, I see people like about to fight like in Union Square and I just walk right in the middle.
I'm like, here, let me show you a card trick because I'm not there out of it.
And they're so confused.
And then I do magic and then it's over.
joe rogan
Well, I think also a lot of times when people are involved in an altercation, they're looking for a way out and they don't know how to get out of it.
And so if you disrupt that, like, oh, now's a new thing to concentrate on.
david blaine
Yes.
joe rogan
It alleviates some of the tension.
david blaine
That's right.
And then by the time you're done, it's already over.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's hilarious.
So did you start out doing that, street magic?
Is that when you first started doing magic?
david blaine
I mean, I was doing magic since I was like five years old.
So I would do really simple mathematical tricks.
But then I started to learn more and more.
And then I was a magic nerd at the age of 10. And then I would kind of just walk around like practice shuffling cards and stuff like that.
And we moved back into the city.
One time I was doing a one-handed shuffle and a bunch of guys that were working at the parking garage saw me doing the shuffle and they thought it was amazing.
It's like, ah!
And they came over and I started doing magic, and their reactions were amazing.
And that's kind of when I realized, oh, like, yeah, magic's pretty amazing to perform.
Because before that, I only performed for a couple of friends, luckily.
Because kids are a tough audience for a magician.
And so whenever I have, like, whenever I'm teaching a young kid magic, I say do it to your friends' parents.
Not to your friends, not at school, because one bad experience and you don't want to ever do magic again, you know?
But parents and their friends are going to be a nice audience.
joe rogan
That's good advice!
Back then, how would you learn how to do, say, card tricks?
david blaine
Back then, all you had was books, which was amazing.
I mean, you would read books, and you'd read this trick, and then you would learn it step by step.
And then you would do it, and then you'd do it, and then you'd do it.
And when you did it a thousand times, it started to become like your own thing.
And then you might change something about it and then you really make it your own.
And then to this day, they're still evolving.
Like whenever I do magic, I'm still thinking and processing and adding little tweaks.
So it doesn't stop.
joe rogan
Magicians are notoriously secretive about their methods.
So like how much do they teach you in books?
david blaine
Books in magic have a lot, but the good stuff is hard to come across.
It's not in books.
joe rogan
How old are the books?
Like, what's the oldest magic book?
david blaine
Well, the first one was like, I think it was called Discovery of Witchcraft from like 1584 or something like that.
And a guy wrote all these secrets of methods that like witches were using and they were being burned alive.
So he's like, here, this is how they're doing it.
It's tricks.
You got to stop killing the witches.
And then they destroyed all the copies of that book, but some survived.
And that book has incredible secrets that I've done on my TV shows.
Like there's one where you take a dead fly and bring it back to life.
That's written up from 1584.
Wow.
joe rogan
I believe it's 1584. That was one of the interesting things that I read about the invention of the printing press, that once they started making books, some of the first books were about how to spot witches.
Like, I was thinking that, oh, back then it must have been amazing because now all of a sudden people could, like, write down all this knowledge and people can learn.
Like, nope.
Some of the first books, like the most popular books, like How to Spot a Witch.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
And there was a lot of, I guess...
I guess...
Well, like, who was the first person to figure out card tricks?
Is there like a fucking originator?
david blaine
I would assume...
Like, there's a book written by a guy that called himself Erdnase, the expert at the card table, and he had so many secrets in this book that are so relevant to all of the magic that any card magician does to this day.
And he was using it mostly for cheating.
Oh, that's what I was thinking.
Or to explain how people were cheating.
Yeah, because they would...
joe rogan
Poker games.
david blaine
Yes.
And to this day, but when you're a cheat at cards, you have to work on three moves and be flawless.
Because you cannot get busted.
So if you're a card cheat and you get busted, you're going to get your hands broken or worse, right?
So these guys that were card cheats, their moves are technically perfect.
I remember I was with a guy named Doc and we were surrounded by a bunch of magicians and he just did a cut the deck, complete the cut, switched the whole deck and none of us could see it.
None of us could see the deck being switched out.
It was invisible.
And now magicians will work on thousands of moves, right?
So they don't have the time put in to be as flawless as this guy, but this guy...
using it to entertain.
So you have room margin for error, right?
But these card sheets, their precision is, it doesn't even make sense.
There's moves that you see that you just can't rationalize and you can't explain how they're done.
unidentified
Really?
david blaine
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Now, how does one do a cut the deck cheat?
david blaine
Switches the whole deck.
So if it was a red deck right here, he cuts the deck in half, completes it, and it's a blue deck.
And you cannot see it happen.
joe rogan
And he's doing it with one hand?
david blaine
One handed.
joe rogan
Where's the other deck?
david blaine
I'm not gonna tell.
But I could give you one hint.
joe rogan
Okay.
Give me a hint.
david blaine
He does have some money in his hand.
unidentified
Okay.
david blaine
He'll hold some hundreds or whatever.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
That's the only hint I'm giving, but it's flawless and incredible.
But there's lots of guys that just are incredible.
There's a guy named Rod the Hop, and he used to go to the New York...
He passed away recently in prison, but he used to go to the New York underground casinos.
And when he was a kid, I think he was like 15, he would just go to watch, right?
To see, because he was a magician, but he was like, what could be done?
I think that's why he went...
And one day, there was a guy that was like in his late 60s, and he said to the guy, I saw what you were doing.
And the guy's like, no, you didn't, kid.
And he's like, yeah, I did.
And he's like, then tell me what I was doing.
And Rod said he had a button-up shirt, and he said you were switching cards through your shirt.
And the guy's like, how do you know that?
Because it's invisible.
And he said, well, I'm a magician.
He said, you're not a magician anymore.
And he taught Rob the Hop how to cheat.
And from that day on, Rob the Hop became one of the best cheats ever.
And then he went to prison because he had a card.
I met him before he went to prison.
And he had a little device that he would put into all the slot machines, and they'd all pay out nine grand.
And eventually the casinos got wind of it, because they're like, why is every machine paying out nine grand here, then here, then this?
And so they put him in prison, and he passed away there.
But that guy's chops were every magician that ever saw him, which is rare.
He didn't mix with a lot of guys, but he mixed with a few.
All blown away beyond that.
joe rogan
And it's just simply practicing something to the point where your hands are moving so quickly and so smoothly.
And is it misdirection as well?
unidentified
No.
david blaine
You could be burned.
You could have cameras up.
No, no, no.
These moves are invisible.
Wow.
Yeah.
joe rogan
How does one make a move invisible?
Yeah.
david blaine
I mean...
joe rogan
Is it just repetition?
Or understanding what to do to make it invisible?
david blaine
I mean, I'll show you move that's just invisible.
joe rogan
Okay.
david blaine
Let's see.
It's just a move, though.
Okay.
joe rogan
So you just pull the old deck of cards.
david blaine
All you have to do is, if you want to take a card, that's invisible.
No matter what you do, you can't see it.
So, but it's just a simple move, you know?
It's just, you take a card, and then you take the, you know?
But that's invisible.
But that's used in magic.
joe rogan
So, for people that are just listening, you had a card that was a heart, and then you flipped it over.
david blaine
Changes to a spade.
But that's...
joe rogan
Do that again?
david blaine
So you just take a card, you do like that, and then you do that, and then it's there.
unidentified
What the fuck?
david blaine
Yeah, but what I'm saying is that's used by magicians.
But imagine this beyond in a whole other way that you cannot see anything.
joe rogan
Which is that I can't see anything.
david blaine
But my friend has been working on a move for years and years that he's never going to use, that only, I think, one other person besides him in the world can do.
And he was written up by all, every magician, not every magician, but lots of magicians were really upset, saying, that move is impossible.
There's no way to do it.
And I watched it with my own eyes many times, and as soon as I pulled out my camera, I was like, could I film it?
He put the cards away, and I never saw it again.
unidentified
Really?
joe rogan
Can we film that?
Can we film you doing that?
So we can play it back in slow motion?
david blaine
No.
joe rogan
You just doing that?
david blaine
Yeah, I will.
joe rogan
Right now?
david blaine
In a little bit.
joe rogan
In a little bit?
Jamie, what's this little bitch shit?
What's he doing?
Jamie's got two cameras on you now.
He's hip to it.
david blaine
Oh, I see.
You couldn't see it.
Yeah, I'll do it in a bit, though.
Okay.
joe rogan
Why in a bit?
david blaine
Well, sure, I could do it now.
joe rogan
Okay.
david blaine
But it's just a move.
joe rogan
Okay, hold on a second.
david blaine
It's actually my favorite move though, but it's just this.
You take a card, and then you take the card and do that.
It's just a move.
joe rogan
Do it again?
unidentified
Yeah, but you take a move, you do that, and you do like that.
david blaine
You know, it's just a move.
But I'm just saying, like, there's so many moves that are so relevant and that are so amazing if you want to be a card cheat where you do this with such precision that nobody could ever detect it.
joe rogan
Have you ever done that playing poker just to blow people's minds?
david blaine
Yeah, when I was, like, 18, I went to one of my friend's, like, college games, and I cheated everybody just to see if I could.
But then I returned all their money.
I said, guys, I'm a magician.
I just cheated everybody here.
But I just wanted to prove, and I told my friend whose house it was that the game was in.
joe rogan
Thank God you did that.
That must have been blown them away, though.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because most people think, I'm watching your hands.
david blaine
But also, nobody knew that I was a magician.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
Like, all my friends growing up, only my best friends knew that I did magic.
Even I went through the silly phase of, like, trying the ridiculous tricks, like an appearing cane.
I was, like, 11, and I did this thing where a cane appears and went, bop!
Popped my eye out.
I had to work.
Yeah, it was like I scratched my cornea.
I couldn't use my eye.
But I think that was part of the reason that I never went into like the illusions or the, you know, I didn't have magic kits.
I had a deck of cards and then things that you would find laying around.
So I think part of the magic that I love is when you're using real things and real places and that is the magic, you know?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it's essentially learning a movement till you get to it where it's...
david blaine
And you have to make it look as natural as possible.
joe rogan
When you're doing that, it looks insane because it doesn't make any sense.
Like, I'm just seeing...
You're not even moving fast.
david blaine
I had a guy just flying from London just to...
He's like so incredible.
And his name is Andrew Frost.
He is amazing.
And I just spent time with him just so I could sit there and have him tweak me because he's so brilliant.
He has like that mindset of a card sheet, but he's a magician.
But he's so precise.
It's like, I want you to watch everything that I do and I want you to pick apart everything.
You know, because I also don't get the opportunity to sit there and do card tricks all day and all night because I do these other things.
So it's like I lose time on doing this thing that I love doing because I'm like, oh, how can I learn how to do this thing with the snake?
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
But like these guys that just do this day and night are the best in the world.
And they perform for magicians because a magician can appreciate the amount of time and work that goes into what they're seeing.
When you see it, you just see a simple trick, right?
But when I see a magician perform, I'm like, oh, this guy's put 10,000 hours in on that move.
joe rogan
How many hours do you think you put in on that simple trip?
david blaine
Oh, that's my whole life.
That's been forever.
That's my whole life.
That started with my best friend who's my mentor also that showed me the correct way to do it.
And I was like 18 and then I think I was with him at a card thing in Cleveland a week ago and he still corrected me.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
After all these years, he's like, oh, I forgot to tell you, you need to do this.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
But it's so strange.
david blaine
But that's why to me, it's a constant learning curve.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
And it's fun to discover all these secrets because they're not readily available.
You have to search hard for the good stuff.
And then you have to put the work in.
And my friend doesn't perform ever.
He just loves the technical part of it.
But then I have to now learn how to perform it.
And then I go out and fail over and over and over and over.
And then eventually it starts to become decent.
And then eventually it becomes something I'm happy about.
I mean, I'm never fully happy.
I'm always like tweaking, tweaking, tweaking, you know.
joe rogan
Did you film yourself initially to make sure that you couldn't see yourself doing these things?
david blaine
No, I like to put myself in the hot seat, and I like to just go out there, perform it, and then fail, and then learn from that.
But yeah, it would be better to set up a camera, film yourself, watch it a thousand times, sure.
joe rogan
In the beginning, did you have a lot of people that busted you?
Like, I see what you're doing.
david blaine
Well, the good thing about being a magician is nobody knows where it goes.
So at the end, you can always curve.
And that's like jazzing.
So even if you're off, you can still go.
joe rogan
You can improvise.
david blaine
Yeah.
Which is probably like fighting, right?
Like you're in a weak position, but you can...
joe rogan
Right.
You can adjust and improvise.
david blaine
Yeah.
And that's what I think makes a magician really great as well.
joe rogan
The ability to...
david blaine
Yeah, to just keep turning.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
Keep turning, you know?
joe rogan
Interesting.
And if you have enough tricks up your sleeve, you can almost, like, have them believe that the first couple ones...
david blaine
Well, it's all...
Or it's all part...
Yeah.
The outcome...
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
But I fumbled before, but then I just keep going.
joe rogan
That's like bombing on stage.
Or, like, fucking a joke up.
david blaine
Yeah, but bombing on stage is...
That's where you learn.
That's, like, where you learn the most.
So every time I've been on stage and everything is, like...
A disaster, that's always the biggest learning curve, and then usually I get energized, and then you really...
joe rogan
Yeah, most certainly.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's with comedy as well, because you realize, like, God, that sucked.
I gotta get better.
I gotta figure out what I did wrong, and then never do that thing that I did wrong again, and figure out a way to make it better.
david blaine
Right, and the way you play in little venues and you repetitiously do the comedy act and you keep the stuff that you like, you tweak it, you work on it for like a year.
That's what I think a good magician does.
It's the exact same formula as a comedy show.
joe rogan
How many different card tricks do you think you know?
david blaine
I could go on forever.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Is that sort of the foundation of your magic?
It's card tricks?
david blaine
I just love the way they feel.
It's like a digital fixation almost.
Just the way they feel in the hand, the size, the shape.
joe rogan
And this must be something you have to practice constantly.
david blaine
Yeah, it's day and night.
That's all you do.
joe rogan
So you practice still to this day?
unidentified
All the time.
david blaine
All the time, yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
By yourself most of the time?
david blaine
Yeah.
I mean, I'm holding cards all the time.
Yeah.
Always.
joe rogan
Do you ever leave the house without cards?
david blaine
No.
unidentified
Wow.
david blaine
No way.
Never.
Even if I came with you to do the cold plunge, the deck of cards would be right next to it.
joe rogan
Really?
david blaine
Yeah.
And I always still wake up with cards stuck all over my face, my neck, all the time.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
All the time.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
You have to be married.
That's so nuts that you have to be married to card tricks.
And that's the only way to be as good as you're at.
david blaine
Well, I think it's also like the, you know, anybody could have access to a deck of cards and there's so much material and so much that you can learn.
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
I might take some of that.
joe rogan
Get some of that.
david blaine
Thanks.
unidentified
Cheers, sir.
david blaine
Cheers.
joe rogan
Always good to see you.
david blaine
Yeah, you too.
joe rogan
I'm always blown away.
I'm always blown away because when I see you and you do card tricks, I always think, next time I see him, I'm going to pay attention and I'm going to figure it out.
Nope.
Did you get it?
jamie vernon
I think I forgot to switch the camera, but I'm watching him do that side angle from zoomed in.
Couldn't see it.
Four times in a row, couldn't see it.
joe rogan
And even if you slow it down?
jamie vernon
No, I'm watching the guy, he just said, Andrew Faust.
I'm watching him do a trick.
david blaine
He's amazing, right?
jamie vernon
I'll show you.
It's in slow motion.
I did it frame by frame.
I kind of know where he did the one switch.
david blaine
He's incredible.
jamie vernon
But you don't know where it went.
joe rogan
What's it?
david blaine
I'll do it.
jamie vernon
What's this?
It's called too many aces for those that are just watching.
joe rogan
Okay.
So you have four aces.
unidentified
You probably assumed already, if you had cut me a queen, we would have ended up with like 12 aces.
Let's have a look.
david blaine
This guy is so good.
unidentified
Yeah.
Interesting.
Four aces.
But having 12 aces, right, would be inconvenient because then you couldn't fit them inside the box, you couldn't do anything like that, right?
And you end up with just the four aces.
The real thing is, is if you lose track of what aces come from what card, because then you can't put them back together and you end up with this useless deck of cards, which is just full of aces the entire time, and then, yeah, you just can't put them back.
Which is why it's important to do this.
What?
And then that way, you can put them back inside the box.
And you don't get this useful...
joe rogan
What the f...
jamie vernon
Did you catch anyone?
unidentified
No.
david blaine
But by the way, that's the least of what he does.
I mean, he is a phenomenon.
But there's lots of guys, by the way, that are just mind-blowing with their sleight of hand.
joe rogan
How many guys do that in poker games?
david blaine
Oh!
Lots!
joe rogan
It must be a lot of guys getting ripped off in poker games.
unidentified
A lot!
david blaine
Yes!
Of course!
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
You know that.
joe rogan
I don't know that.
I don't play poker.
david blaine
But there's tons of cheats.
joe rogan
I would never ask something I didn't know.
david blaine
I met a guy once.
The first time I met Mike Tyson, I went to his hotel at the Trump International, and And I was doing magic to everybody, you know, because Muhammad Ali used to do magic and he taught Mike how to levitate and stuff like that.
So Mike was kind of into the whole magic thing.
And I started showing him all these things and a guy pulled me aside.
And he was like, you know, I do some stuff too.
And I was like, what do you do?
He's like, well, I gamble.
You know, sometimes I go out with these guys and I win a lot of money.
I was like, so what are you doing?
And he said that when they're playing in New York, he would go to all the delis near where they were playing, and he would take the decks of cards that they sell at the deli, and he would swap them for identical decks of cards that were all completely marked but invisible.
So now he would go into the game, let's say on Upper Park Avenue, and as they were about to play, he'd say, wait, I don't trust the house deck.
Can you get new decks?
And the person whose house it was would call one of the local delis, and the delis would come up with a bunch of decks.
And now, all of the decks that were sealed and everything, they would crack them open, put them into play, and he knew every card.
joe rogan
Oh my god.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Now, how does someone...
david blaine
By the way, and that's not even a sleight of hand version of cheating.
But think about a guy that's doing crazy sleight of hand.
unidentified
Right.
Right.
joe rogan
Now, how are cards marked?
david blaine
There's a million ways.
There's even something you could do with a red back card that's called DAB, where you put some sort of like a red waxy thing that's almost invisible.
But if you have a contact lens over the pupil that has a little red spot in the middle, you could see it better.
I know, but there's lots of ways to mark decks.
I mean, I'm not going to get into those, but there is a lot of easy ways to mark a deck.
I'll show you after.
Okay.
joe rogan
How come you don't want to get into it now?
david blaine
No, no, no.
I get in trouble.
You get in trouble?
Yeah, yeah.
Also?
joe rogan
Oh, by other magicians?
david blaine
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
I understand.
david blaine
But I worked for two years on a system.
So these decks have a system that's amazing.
joe rogan
Can I see that?
david blaine
Yeah.
That was kind of like as a kid I had one deck of cards and when I would drop it on the subway I'd have to pick it up and I would have like a it doesn't feel right and I would carry it everywhere for years and my dream was to one day have unlimited decks and then when I started to make my own decks that was kind of like highlight.
joe rogan
You make your own decks of cards?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Are these yours?
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Are these marked?
david blaine
These ones are mine that I have in my show in Vegas so I put my name on it so they keep it.
joe rogan
Are these marked?
david blaine
Yeah, those ones are.
But by the way, I never use it in Magic.
I just like it.
I just like to work.
Because when I was young, I would go to the Magic store, Tannins, and we couldn't afford the marked decks, of course, but they looked really special.
It was called Magic See-Through-The-Card deck.
And they were so expensive.
So I started selling my decks of cards that I worked diligently on the system for years.
And magicians would have them and not know that they were even marked.
And then I would see magicians.
I'd say, oh, hold up the card and I would tell them what it was.
joe rogan
So this is a marked deck right here.
Can I open this?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Okay.
And if I open this...
david blaine
You want me to open it?
Here, I can open it.
joe rogan
No, I don't trust you.
I don't trust you.
I'm fucking...
You're going to swap it out for something else.
david blaine
Oh, that's a good way.
Yeah, that'll do.
joe rogan
Trust this motherfucker.
jamie vernon
The Google Images from our cards is kind of interesting.
There's a few fun ways they do it.
david blaine
Yeah, this one I think is very clever, though.
jamie vernon
I think this one's marked in the actual corner where you can see the art, I guess, is done that way.
joe rogan
Oh, the number two.
david blaine
I don't like it, though, because those decks, I don't like if you leave them behind, they can see that there's something.
jamie vernon
This has the contact lens one, so when you put the lens on, you can see it.
unidentified
Oh, wow.
joe rogan
Luminous.
david blaine
Jamie, you're so good at finding everything.
joe rogan
He's a wizard.
david blaine
I think a lot of card cheats are going to be really angry at me, by the way.
joe rogan
You think so?
Well, card cheats, they're dirty people.
They should be angry.
They should be angry that we're onto them.
Okay, I'm going to see if there's anything I can see.
david blaine
No, you won't see it.
But take out the two jokers on the top and bottom.
joe rogan
Why?
What is that?
Is that a joker?
david blaine
Yeah, a joker I designed.
Me swallowing a sword.
You can just take that out.
joe rogan
Take those out.
david blaine
Yeah, and take out the top two cards.
unidentified
Those aren't marked?
david blaine
No.
joe rogan
I don't trust you.
david blaine
No, you don't.
joe rogan
Do you trust him?
unidentified
I trust this motherfucker.
joe rogan
What does this say?
david blaine
Nothing.
joe rogan
What does it say?
Is it real?
david blaine
No, but then turn it upside down.
unidentified
What does that say?
joe rogan
Magic.
david blaine
Yeah, I see.
joe rogan
Okay, so this is marked.
unidentified
Yep.
david blaine
But if you show it to me that way, I can see it.
But if you hold it up the other way, then I can't, you know.
joe rogan
There's no way I can see this.
I need to study this shit.
david blaine
I broke my glasses.
joe rogan
Think it's figured out, Jamie?
jamie vernon
I mean, you'd have to know what he did.
joe rogan
Well, I feel like there's a way I can stare at it long enough.
david blaine
No, you're not.
unidentified
No way.
david blaine
Nope, you're not going to get it.
joe rogan
You're looking for Waldo?
jamie vernon
You don't know what he looks like.
david blaine
Yeah, you're not going to get it.
joe rogan
I'm not?
david blaine
Uh-uh.
No chance.
Zero chance.
jamie vernon
I hope you did, though.
joe rogan
No.
I don't see jack shit.
david blaine
But the way you could really look is you put...
joe rogan
Oh, wait a minute.
I see the bottom is different.
david blaine
Nope.
But the way you look at it is if you put two chords side by side, because otherwise you can't tell.
jamie vernon
Okay.
joe rogan
I'm putting two cards side by side here.
What do I notice is different?
david blaine
By the way, even from here I can see, like, the top card.
joe rogan
This one right here?
david blaine
Yep, even from here.
unidentified
I don't see shit.
Damn it.
david blaine
Yeah, you're not gonna...
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
So you could tell just by looking at...
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
Like, what is this right here?
david blaine
Two of spades.
joe rogan
Jesus Christ.
unidentified
How?
joe rogan
And if you brought this to Vegas, any competent dealer would recognize that that's a Mark card?
david blaine
Or no?
I don't think so.
No, because I brought it to Steve Forty, who's like the best card sheet magician.
joe rogan
And he didn't recognize it?
david blaine
He said it was a very advanced and really good system.
joe rogan
What's this one?
unidentified
Queen of Hearts? - Hmm.
joe rogan
Damn, son.
How about this one here?
david blaine
Three of diamonds?
But you know, I'm gonna show...
No, but after I'll give you a little hint.
After?
After the show.
No way.
joe rogan
I'm telling everybody.
I'm gonna get on Instagram.
david blaine
You're gonna...
No, you're not.
You absolutely won't.
But you...
I want to see if I can see.
joe rogan
Oh.
david blaine
Yeah, give him the day.
unidentified
Can you?
jamie vernon
I don't know.
joe rogan
Really?
Okay.
jamie vernon
Hold on a second.
joe rogan
I'm gonna bring this over.
david blaine
Well, here.
This deck also...
unidentified
Here.
Okay.
jamie vernon
Give me one more just so I can compare it to something.
david blaine
By the way, I worked on this for years.
Should I give one little hint?
jamie vernon
No.
unidentified
Sure.
david blaine
No, I'm gonna give one little hint.
joe rogan
What is the little hint?
david blaine
The ace is the easiest one to identify.
joe rogan
The ace is the easiest one?
david blaine
Yeah, that's my only hint.
joe rogan
Okay.
I see nothing but patterns that look...
david blaine
I worked with my very good friend who's a great magician, Doug, on this for two years we worked.
jamie vernon
Is it magic eye?
david blaine
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
My guy, my guy.
jamie vernon
No, I mean, like, is it, uh, when you- Magic eye, like, when you blur it out.
Yeah, like, when you stare at the thing and it becomes a thing?
david blaine
That has a little bit to do with it, by the way.
unidentified
All right.
david blaine
That, Jamie, that's- That's hard to do.
Jamie, that's really good that you just got that.
I have another deck as well, but it's in the car, but I have another deck.
joe rogan
Jamie's also got a touch of the tism.
He can see some things.
david blaine
You're seeing something?
jamie vernon
It's a spectrum.
joe rogan
He's got a sense.
He's got a different mind.
He works different.
He can see things that other people can't see.
jamie vernon
I can't really unfocus my eyes, though.
But, yeah, I don't know what it would be.
david blaine
By the way, as a magician, I never, ever use it in my card tricks, but it was just such a fun thing to work on.
That one's a really hard one that you're looking at.
joe rogan
They're all fucking hard.
They look exactly the same.
It's just so interesting to me that there's something that is so clear to you that is Yeah, but when I teach you this, you're going to be like, whoa.
Okay.
david blaine
Like, it'll make perfect sense.
joe rogan
I want to end the podcast right now just so I can see it.
jamie vernon
You can cut it out or go in the other room.
david blaine
No, I'm not doing this on camera.
No way.
joe rogan
He doesn't trust you.
jamie vernon
You can go in the other room and talk about it and come back.
david blaine
I actually, I'm sure you would, but still, I would feel weird.
joe rogan
Okay, well, I'm seeing something here.
Hold on.
david blaine
I want to give one more hint, but I'm not going to.
unidentified
Give me that hint.
joe rogan
Give me that hint.
jamie vernon
Don't do it.
joe rogan
Come on, son.
david blaine
No, I'm not going to give the hint now.
joe rogan
Give me that hint.
I'm seeing something.
I'm seeing something.
david blaine
What are you seeing?
joe rogan
I'm seeing a disruption.
There's something that's different about this.
Yes.
david blaine
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I can see something.
Yeah.
unidentified
God damn it.
joe rogan
What is it?
david blaine
And you're going to lose it right away.
joe rogan
I can see a very specific...
There's very specific lines that go up and down like this that I see that are clear.
And if I look at it a certain way, I can see it clearly.
david blaine
So you're blurring your vision.
You can blur your vision?
Is that what you're doing?
jamie vernon
I thought I had it.
And I was like, ah, this is going to be a diamond.
joe rogan
Oh, and I see lines at the bottom.
So I see something...
david blaine
Not at the bottom.
joe rogan
Two?
No, not at the bottom?
What is this?
Five.
jamie vernon
Hmm, wrong.
See, I was going off two.
david blaine
Wrong.
joe rogan
I thought it was a diamond.
It's not a spade.
Okay, I'm an idiot.
No.
david blaine
No, it's an advanced...
I think it's pretty advanced.
joe rogan
Oh, it's fucking advanced.
Shit.
I am.
I'm doing all kinds of weird things in my eyes trying to pick up patterns.
But there are different...
There's some different...
100% is a different pattern to this one on my right than there is the one on my left.
david blaine
That's true, but it's almost imperceptible.
But sure, if you can blur your vision and then...
joe rogan
But there's clear lines on this that go up that are slightly different.
They go at an angle.
There's two very clear lines on this one on my right hand that don't exist on the one on my left.
david blaine
And you can see it without your glasses on?
joe rogan
Yes.
I can see it better without my glasses on.
david blaine
I'm going to get killed in the magic world, by the way.
joe rogan
I see.
There's a very clear pattern on this one, too, that exists that doesn't exist on this one.
But, God, you have to look at it.
It's so weird to see it.
But I do see it.
david blaine
But, you know, lots of magic.
joe rogan
If I'm looking at it kind of abstractly, I can see that pattern.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
What is it?
unidentified
Wow.
Okay.
david blaine
Lots of magic is like logic puzzles.
So it's like you have to break something apart in every single possible direction to figure out a solution.
joe rogan
It just makes me so...
I mean, I don't play cards, but if I did, I'd be so uncomfortable.
Because I'd be like, how do I know?
How do I know that I'm not getting fucking robbed?
david blaine
There's a lot of guys that cheat.
joe rogan
I would imagine.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
You think like in a lot of these high-level poker games where you get a lot of dorks that have a lot of money and they want to be high rollers and they get robbed by people?
david blaine
Come on.
I mean, you've heard about this.
People get in trouble for it all the time.
Didn't Phil Ivey go to a casino and he found a flaw in the way the cards were printed that nobody could see?
joe rogan
I heard something like that.
david blaine
And he made millions of dollars and they wanted to take the money back.
joe rogan
Well, how could they say that, though, when he didn't do anything wrong?
Just because he saw something?
That seems insane.
Did he tell people?
Is that what it is?
david blaine
He didn't say anything.
joe rogan
So how the fuck do they know?
david blaine
They said that he was able to detect a slight misprint where the pattern was slightly off.
He could detect it and then use it to play.
joe rogan
God, your vision must be so important for a player like that.
david blaine
Yeah, but I think you can adjust.
I think you can adjust.
I think you can solve around it.
joe rogan
Yeah, but I mean, as your vision goes shitty, as you get older, it would be harder and harder, right?
You'd have to get contacts.
david blaine
Sure, yeah.
joe rogan
This show is boring as fuck because I am just staring at cards.
I'm never gonna figure it out.
But I do detect that there's something going on.
I can see, when I blur my eyes, I can see that there's discernible patterns that are in certain cards that aren't in other cards.
david blaine
If I do teach it to you, you cannot...
joe rogan
I won't tell anybody except Brian Cowden.
He tells everybody.
No, I'm just kidding.
No, I won't tell anybody.
I promise.
I promise.
I'll tell Jamie.
Yeah, no, no.
david blaine
I'm going to show...
I'm going to teach both of you.
I'm not going to isolate Jamie.
unidentified
Jamie's a fault.
joe rogan
He's not going to tell anybody.
david blaine
Plus, Jamie will figure it out anyway.
unidentified
I think so?
david blaine
He'll find the secrets.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
You think so?
david blaine
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jamie can find anything.
joe rogan
So if you didn't have a podcast to...
david blaine
No, he'd find it.
Yeah, yeah, he would find it.
Yes, I'm sure.
joe rogan
Interesting.
I definitely see differences in the lines when you look at it a specific way.
I just don't know what I'm looking for or what I'm seeing.
david blaine
By the way, the deck is called the White Lions.
unidentified
Ooh.
joe rogan
Why is that?
Oh, is there white lions in here that I'm missing?
unidentified
Nope.
david blaine
Nothing to do with it, just on the box.
What does that have to do with anything?
joe rogan
That's a misdirection.
Probably has nothing to do with lions.
david blaine
Oh, wrong.
You are.
We'll discuss it later.
I'm not going to discuss it now.
joe rogan
I'm looking for a lion in here now.
david blaine
No, you're not going to see a lion.
joe rogan
What am I going to say?
david blaine
This coffee is good, by the way.
joe rogan
Black rifle.
It's the best.
How many different kinds of marked cards are there?
david blaine
There's so many.
joe rogan
Yeah?
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
But those are used by cheats, not really by magicians.
They're not necessary in magic.
joe rogan
God, how does someone know?
If you're a person who's like, I enjoy playing cards, you're going to get fucking robbed, right?
david blaine
Well, there's also people that can mark the deck as they play.
joe rogan
Oh?
david blaine
Of course.
unidentified
How?
david blaine
I'm not telling.
joe rogan
Oh, come on.
david blaine
No, I can't.
But there's people that, as they're playing, they mark the whole deck, but it's imperceptible.
joe rogan
I believe you, but...
I don't want to.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I do believe you, because I've seen you do things that I can't believe you're doing, and you're just doing them right in front of me.
david blaine
But these guys that cheat, it's very different, because they work on three moves for years and years and years, and they are flawless.
joe rogan
So if you're in a local card game...
david blaine
That's what I said about that guy, Andrew Frost.
His technique and the stuff that he's doing, I think it's card cheat level.
joe rogan
Right, and he's doing it on camera.
And he's doing it where you're like zooming in, slowing it down.
You still can't see it.
david blaine
Yeah, and it's way better in person.
joe rogan
Oh, I can imagine.
But it's just...
It seems like I would never want to play cards with people.
Because I'd get fucked.
Unless I was like this, covering my cards like a fucking person.
david blaine
Yeah, there's no way to tell.
No way.
And a good cheat won't win.
joe rogan
Oh.
Like a pool hustler.
david blaine
You'll have that person win.
joe rogan
Oh!
david blaine
Yeah, good cheat's not gonna win.
He'll lose every time.
Like, oh, that guy's a bad player, let's have him again.
joe rogan
Interesting.
Like a pool hustler.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
You lose a little bit, and then...
david blaine
No, you always lose.
Once in a while you win, but that guy wins.
joe rogan
Oh, so that guy's your partner.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Interesting.
So how does anybody not suspect him?
david blaine
Well, he wins just enough.
It's not like an obvious thing.
joe rogan
Like a pool hustler.
david blaine
Yeah, in Vegas, behind every table, it says, we have the right to refuse anybody for any reason.
Because if they suspect that you're cheating somehow...
They just boot you.
joe rogan
Well, Vegas will do that even if you're not cheating.
david blaine
No, even if you make two small bets and then one big bet.
They're like, oh, watch that guy.
joe rogan
Really?
david blaine
Yeah, of course.
joe rogan
What if you're just a psycho and just like, I feel like a big bet's going on.
david blaine
Yeah, but they don't need that.
They need time.
They need people who are going to play long and steady because that's how they make their money.
joe rogan
Dana White is a crazy blackjack player.
Like, crazy.
Like, last time I saw him, we left.
It was like 2 o'clock in the morning.
He was down $600,000 playing blackjack.
He won it all back and won $600,000.
david blaine
Wow.
joe rogan
He played till like 6 o'clock in the morning.
david blaine
If you have the backing, like if you could back yourself over and over, then that also helps.
Meaning if you're not afraid to lose a certain amount of money because you know that you can keep backing yourself, that's a big advantage.
joe rogan
But he's busted.
He's lost millions.
david blaine
Yeah, sure.
joe rogan
But won millions as well.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But he's a real junkie.
It's wild to watch.
Like the crazy look they get in their eyes.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's so terrifying.
Because you see the numbers, like, oh my god, this is so much money.
Like, what are you doing?
david blaine
This is so insane.
But you have to play as though there's no money.
You have to play the exact way you would play if you were playing for free.
joe rogan
I guess.
david blaine
Yeah.
You have to.
joe rogan
Well, I guess when you're as rich as he is as well, like, you really have to play for a lot of money just to get that juice, to feel it.
Like, for 50 bucks for him, this is nothing.
Doesn't mean anything.
He has to play for 50,000.
50,000 of him, I was like, this is real money.
Now we're playing real money.
david blaine
And then when he wins, he's probably still like, oh, that wasn't enough.
joe rogan
You know, football player Taylor Lewin was with him, and Taylor, he listens to Dana, and Dana, like, bets for him.
And we were talking about it.
We went to Shane Gillis' comedy show.
And then afterwards, he's like, we're going to go bet with Dana White.
We're going to go gamble.
I'm like, oh my god, I'm going.
Let's go.
I want to see this because these guys are psychos.
And I always knew that Dana bet crazy numbers.
So we went down there and he was down $120,000 in the first five minutes.
unidentified
I was like, oh, it was the anxiety.
joe rogan
You're sitting there watching.
You're fucking freaking out.
And then he won and he was up $60,000 and he quit.
So I think he won like $65,000 or something like that.
But it's just like watching him.
Down $120,000 in five minutes.
It's like, oh my god, my hands are clammy.
I'm like, fuck this.
This is so crazy.
david blaine
I got really lucky once.
What was it?
The Palms?
The Fatidas?
The Palms?
Yeah.
Yeah, so I was filming my TV show and then at the end I was like, oh, let's go play some craps.
And they had a bet on the craps table which was called the fire bet.
And you have to open and close each number before you crap out, right?
joe rogan
I don't know how to play craps.
david blaine
So you have to hit like a 4, then you have to close a 4 before you get a 7, then you have to hit a 5, then close a 5, then a 6, then an 8, then a 9, then a 10 before you throw a 7. So it's very unlikely that you're going to do that with all of those numbers.
So it's a great bet for the casino because nobody ever hits it.
unidentified
Right.
david blaine
And I was playing at the low stakes table, throwing the dice, but I said, oh, can I throw dice?
And they were like, no.
And then the pit boss, she called upstairs, David Blaine, wants to throw dice, can you give approval?
And they said, yeah.
So she said, okay, take your shirt off and joke, ha ha ha.
But yeah, pull your sleeves up, you can throw the dice and keep your hand not out of the table.
And I just, for the hell of it, put a bet down for everybody at the table, including the dealers.
So I put like a bet that they would all win, I think, like five grand or ten grand if I hit.
So I was throwing the dice.
The fire bet never came out at the Palms, ever.
I was throwing the dice, and it was ours.
And by the way, I think the Super Bowl champion table was over there, and they were all screaming, going crazy at the craps table next to us, the high stakes one, right?
I kept throwing, and all of a sudden, The dealer says, I mean, the Pitbull says, stop.
And I was like, what?
Because, you know, I was winning on hard eight and all these double fours, all these bets.
And they said, you just hit the fire bet.
And everybody at the table, I was like, what does that mean?
They said, everybody at the table just won.
I think 10,000.
And all of a sudden, everybody started jumping up and down and going crazy.
It was pretty amazing.
They had to stop the casino, that whole area.
They shut down.
They had to review for two hours to make sure I wasn't switching dice or doing anything funny.
And then everybody had to fill out a W-9, and then everybody got paid.
But it was pretty amazing.
joe rogan
Did they stop you from playing?
Or they let you keep playing?
david blaine
No, after that I was done.
But it was two hours of dice roll.
But then they removed that bet from the palms.
I think that's what I was told.
Wow.
Yeah, I just got lucky.
joe rogan
I would not trust you.
I don't believe you right now.
I don't fucking believe in what you're saying.
david blaine
No, I did.
I promise.
I got lucky.
I'm telling you.
Yeah, sure you did.
I'm telling you.
unidentified
Sure you did.
david blaine
I did.
joe rogan
But that's the problem with someone who's so good at sleight of hand.
You could do things with cards in front of people and they'd go, no, it wasn't cheating.
It was a spade and then all of a sudden it was a diamond.
But you obviously did do sleight of hand when you did that trick.
Right?
How do I know that you can't do that with dice?
You surely could.
david blaine
Well, I can't, but there are people that can.
joe rogan
Must be people that can.
david blaine
I told you about last time.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
But not me.
joe rogan
Because that's not your area of expertise.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Cards.
david blaine
Spend 10 hours a day throwing dice against the craps table wall.
joe rogan
But if you went to a card game, people would immediately be like, what is happening?
david blaine
Yeah, and as a magician, it's a lose-lose.
Because if you win, you cheated.
Right.
And if you lose, you're a bad magician.
So I just don't play.
joe rogan
But I would be so tempted to just see if I could get away with it.
Well, I did when I was like 18. Yeah, I would be so tempted just to like to see if I could get away with it under the scrutiny of all the cameras in Vegas.
Not trying to rip them off.
I would like to do it like say, hey, I'm going to rip you off.
Please watch this.
You don't have to give me the money.
david blaine
Yeah, you could do that.
joe rogan
I would like to see that.
david blaine
But even just card camp.
People that count cards.
joe rogan
They banned Dana White from the Palms because he won too much money playing blackjack.
And so he pulled the UFC from the Palms.
david blaine
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah.
david blaine
Was he counting cards?
joe rogan
No.
Just playing.
david blaine
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah.
He just won like seven million dollars in a night.
david blaine
Wow.
joe rogan
Fuck you.
You're banned.
Which is crazy because like if you lost seven million dollars they'd be fine with it.
david blaine
I'd be thrilled.
joe rogan
But you can win seven million and you can lose seven million.
david blaine
But I was told in most casinos the profit is from slot machines.
joe rogan
Oh yeah, I heard that too.
Yeah, which is crazy.
Because that's just rigged.
I mean, that's just a fucking computer.
It's just tempting.
But that's also this weird human instinct to just keep pressing the button and hoping it wins.
Try it again.
Try it again.
You know?
I mean, it's not choice.
You're not making decisions.
You're just pressing buttons.
You know what I mean?
david blaine
Yeah, like scratching six numbers.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Which is also super addictive.
david blaine
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's just so fascinating to me that people can do things right in front of your face, and they tell you they're doing it, and you still can't see.
Like, what the fuck is happening here?
david blaine
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Well, that's you.
Yeah.
david blaine
Well, the funny thing now, though, is it's very different.
Because in the old days, not everybody had a video camera.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
So you could just do whatever and not worry about the angles, this, that.
unidentified
Yeah.
david blaine
Now when you do magic, you have to be hypersensitive because everybody's filming from everywhere now.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
So, you know, it changed the way you could perform.
joe rogan
You have to be better.
david blaine
Not just better, but you have to think about things that you've never thought about.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
Because the human eye can't see it.
Right.
The human eye is worse than the first cell phone camera ever.
It's just so low resolution.
The image is upside down.
You have a big optical nerve in the middle.
So the eye doesn't really see.
The brain paints a picture.
unidentified
Right.
david blaine
If the video camera records, then you can see.
And so if anybody's doing something that has a flaw, it's caught.
joe rogan
Right.
david blaine
So it changes.
It changed magic a lot.
joe rogan
But yet you could still do it.
david blaine
Yeah, you just have to think about all angles at all times and be hyper aware of everything.
From behind, from here, from here, from here, anything.
joe rogan
What you do is so interesting because you do that and then you do things like kissing cobras.
Which is like, there's no trick there.
That is not a trick.
That is learning.
david blaine
Yeah, but learning from an expert that does it over and over.
So there is a technique to it.
I'm just on a rush.
joe rogan
Yeah, but it's not a trick.
Like, you fucking kissed a cobra.
It's not a rubber cobra.
You know what I'm saying?
david blaine
Two, by the way.
unidentified
Yikes!
david blaine
Two different ones.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Listen, David, it's always a thrill to talk to you.
You're a fucking amazing person, and what you do is so fascinating to me.
I don't want to learn it, but I'm so blown away.
I want to end this podcast because I want you to show me how to count cards.
And tell me, when does this show come out?
david blaine
Well, the National Geographic series, I think it's in like six months or something.
We're still filming episodes.
Nothing as dangerous as the Kissing the Cobra anymore, hopefully.
And yeah, I think it'll be, I think it's interesting.
joe rogan
Well, just the clips you show me are amazing.
It's crazy.
Which, I mean, I don't want to give it all away, but you showed me a lot of wild shit, and it's fucking insane.
And please tell me when it comes out.
david blaine
By the way, you didn't come see my show.
joe rogan
I didn't come see your show.
I didn't know when it was.
david blaine
In Vegas.
joe rogan
Well, you didn't tell me.
david blaine
Well, you have to come at one point.
joe rogan
Well, when is it?
david blaine
It's at the Wynn, and you have to see it.
joe rogan
When is it?
How often do you do it?
david blaine
It's only like a few days a month, because it has this magic and everything in it, but it has the physical stuff as well, so I can't overdo it.
But that show isn't going to last for a long time, because physically it's not possible, so you really should come see it.
joe rogan
When are you doing it again?
Are you there on December 15th?
david blaine
No, it's like end of the month.
joe rogan
Always end of the month?
david blaine
Yeah, but it's a few days per month, so you should really see it.
joe rogan
Okay, there it is.
It's up there.
So I will figure out when I can get to Vegas, and I will do it.
david blaine
Yes, please.
joe rogan
I'll try to do it in line.
david blaine
But it's a show that I can't keep doing for much longer, so I really would love it if you did come.
joe rogan
God, I hope I don't go to one where you get hurt.
david blaine
It's very possible.
joe rogan
I don't want to...
david blaine
No, but...
Yeah, I know, but...
I know, but that's the part...
That's the stuff that keeps...
joe rogan
I will come.
We'll figure it out and I will come.
david blaine
Okay, so then we'll discuss this.
joe rogan
Okay, all right.
Thank you, brother.
Appreciate you very much.
unidentified
Thank you, brother.
My pleasure.
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