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[♪ mysterious music playing] [horns honking] [David Blaine] India. This is the place that changed the entire trajectory of my life as a magician. It led me on a search, not for tricks, but feats that are real. Being here is a sensory overload of colors, sounds, smells. And there's an intensity that's unlike any other place in the world.
[David Blaine] The day I arrive, I discover a boy performing magic on the street. It's a trick that's almost 5,000 years old called "the cups and balls." [street chatter] He's making the balls travel with sophisticated sleight of hand into the empty cups. It reminds me of when my love of performing began.
-Indian street magic has been passed down from generation to generation. It's secrets that they've learned from their families. [David Blaine] Karan Singh is a very well-known magician here. He's offered to show me around Jaipur and explain his take on Indian magic. [Karan Singh] This is called Amer Fort. It is a palatial house where kings used to live. And this is where magicians used to perform for kings and queens and things like that. And they started doing street performances.
Performing for people, trying to get a crowd gathered. [David Blaine] What kind of magic? [Karan Singh] Very traditional Indian magic. [reporter] They chose the rope trick being performed for an audience of British soldiers stationed in India. [reporter] No review of conjuring tricks would be complete without including the ever-present snake charmer. [reporter] This man can lift a stone, and I mean quite a heavy stone, with his eyes!
[David Blaine] India has had a great influence on Western magic. I'm looking for things that seem impossible but are actually real. Being a magician, I'm very skeptical. So, I always think that everything has an explanation. -Yep. You and I both. [David Blaine] I was profoundly influenced by a book called, Swami Mantra, a Collection of Dangerous Knowledge and Well-Guarded Secrets of Indian Mystics. It revealed how to perform realistic feats. Putting a needle in one eye and pulling it out of the other.
Eating a thread and pulling it through the flesh of your stomach. How to eat glass. I started to realize that you could actually apply real things to magic, which then makes it much more believable. -Yeah, and I think if you look around in India, you will find a lot of sadhus and fakirs who, who do all these incredible things, and they've been doing them for centuries. People believe them to be real because they aren't presenting themselves as magicians. There's a spiritual aspect to it which make people believe that this isn't magic; this is something real.
[David Blaine] This is what I want to see: I've always been obsessed with the images of sadhus or holy men pushing their bodies with these extreme feats. Like burying themselves headfirst in sand. Sadhus have performed rituals like this for centuries to reach a spiritual state of being. In Swami Mantra, there's a technique that teaches you how to breathe while your head is buried in the ground.
You can do it without suffocating, but certainly not without suffering. And finally seeing it with my own eyes is profound. But also unsettling. You okay? [♪ mysterious music playing] -So Yogi Ji, no food? No sex? -No, no. -For how long? -12 years. -12 years? -Yes. -And you feel incredible?
-Yes. You. Yes. [David Blaine] I met Yogi Ji in Haridwar, a pilgrimage city that's home to many sadhus. In this community, he strives to hold himself to incredibly high standards of physical and spiritual discipline. No solid food, no family, and no material things. Many of the sadhus are expected to undertake extreme acts of devotion; claims of staring at the sun until they go blind or decades-long fasting. I even heard one sadhu held his arm in the air for over 50 years. They say suffering and deprivation bring them closer to enlightenment.
This degree of willpower is something that I often think about when trying to create new magic. [speaking in native language] I know that throughout India there are performers, not just sadhus and holy men, that are performing the kinds of real feats that first inspired me in Swami Mantra. And I've come here searching for people with amazing abilities that I know I won't find anywhere else in the world.
[♪ upbeat music playing] When I first saw a video of this man years ago. [David Blaine].It was one of my favorite fire acts I'd ever seen. I really love the rawness of Ramesh's act. There are no protective gels to keep him safe. It's beautiful and you can't take your eyes away.
[David Blaine] Great magic like this always looks effortless. But I understand the danger. Wow. Are you okay? -Okay. [David Blaine] For his day job, Ramesh drives a rickshaw. But this fire act is his passion. It wasn't passed down to him, he developed it by himself. Ask him what's the most painful part of it? What part hurts the most?
-He says everything hurts. [David Blaine] What he's saying really resonates with me. Years ago I tried to add a fire element to my own act, and on day one the backdraft almost burnt my face. I lost some patches of hair that still haven't grown back. So, I quickly learned that you better treat this very seriously each time you do it, because anything can go wrong.
I want to learn the fire on the head. How do we do that? -So when you feel that the heat is getting down, then you have to, immediately down and put it out. -Yes. -This is one Rob said he's most concerned with, by the way. -I mean, he's setting his head on fire with, uh, using petrol. I can't, I can't make it simpler than that. It's not my favorite.
-Okay. Ahh! Okay. That's try number one. -Slow. -Yeah. -No. No tension. -Yep. -No tension. -Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Slow. -Yep. -Okay. Good. Ah, okay. Super. Okay. Down. Fire, down. Okay. -How does it look, by the way? -It looks amazing. -Does it? You got a picture of that? Wow! That looks so good!
I don't even care if my hair gets burned off. Looks so good! -Okay. [David Blaine] I love watching the way Ramesh just stands there casually with gasoline burning on his head as though he has not a care in the world. To me, this is magical. And he makes it look easy. But that's because he's done this for countless
hours upon hours. Probably thousands and thousands of hours. -OK Sir? -Yes. It's exciting to meet a performer like Ramesh who has taken a fire act that's been around for hundreds of years and made it uniquely his own. And I realize how lucky I am that he's willing to trust me with his well-guarded secrets.
[David Blaine] Swami Mantra teaches how to be resourceful using objects most people would discard, including needles, razor blades, and even broken bottles. They're not magic props. They're real. They're dangerous. They're scary. And people are doing things that they should not be able to do with those objects. It makes you feel as though it's possible to create incredible feats from almost anything. So I'm off to Kurukshetra, a town in the north of India to see how others are reinventing these types of performances.
[speaking in native language] [glass shattering] [thudding] [David Blaine] I've been studying superhuman feats for decades but finding the methods has never been easy. Where do you learn? You read books on old strongmen? -No, no. First I go for, uh, a prayer for God. "Please help me. Give me power."
-Yeah. -God see he's a good man. He, he want to become a steel man and he daily training hard to God give me power. -This is a temple? -Temple, Sikh temple. [David Blaine] Amandeep is driven by his faith. A belief in a power greater than himself. What drives me is our ability to endure much more than we believe we can. In many stunts when I've felt that I was at my breaking point, that faith is what helped me push through. But there's a fine line between what you believe you can do, and what your body can actually withstand.
Am I going to be okay? -You're gonna be fine. -Is there anything that you've done that's so crazy you would never do it again? -Yes, one stunt. Very dangerous. I show you. This stunt, you see? One man, heavy man, hammer. -Oh. -And my head. And break marble. -So he's hitting a hammer. -Full power, you know?
-Into the axe, into your head. -Yes. -And the force goes through your head and breaks the bricks below. -Yes, yes. After the hit. -And why did you never do it again, what happened? -Because after this stunt, uh, my fingers, my body tingling when I hit the, and all body tingling, 30 seconds. -So you always push as far as you can. -Yes. -But with this one. -Yes. -You had a sign that's the last time. -Yes. Because, doctor say, "No do again."
-Never again. -Never again. [David Blaine] I'm always intrigued by somebody not afraid to take risk at the highest level to pull off something that should be impossible. Before I leave I'm excited to spend some time trading secrets. -So now we hit together. One by one, full power, full confidence. Middle part and go for full power. From here. Aaaah! Let's go! Ready? One, two, three, go! -Aw. Aw! -No, it's okay. I felt something the first time in my hand so when I went here, I wasn't as confident.
-No tension because uh, again. Again, power. Come on, yes! Very good! Good, good job. -So the glass, can you show me a piece? -Yes, one piece? -Yeah. -This ok? [crunching] Oh wow! Very good. Next, you teach me this act. This is very good. -This is something that I never teach because it can very easily go wrong. -This is very dangerous. [David Blaine] Amandeep is the only person I think I've ever taught this to. Because I don't want anybody to do it.
You see? There's a very specific method that you need to follow to prevent you from ripping apart your throat or stomach. But since Amandeep is a strong man, I am sure he'll follow the technique and not hurt himself. Now swallow. Yeah? -Thank you. You give me one more stunt. Thank you, my friend. [David Blaine] I feel like a big part of the process is experimenting with your own body. You're doing things that you shouldn't do and anything can go wrong.
[David Blaine] Among the performers I've met here there's a willingness to accept elements of pain and suffering, demonstrating the resilience of the human body. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. [David Blaine] On the outskirts of Delhi, I find a traveling circus where extreme acts are the main attraction.
[David Blaine] I have some experience with broken glass. But what he's doing is so visceral to me. I can almost feel every jump on my own body. [audio distorts] [David Blaine] There's a section in the Swami Mantra called the blind leap, that teaches you how to jump onto a pile of glass. But that's one simple jump.
How can Deepak be body- slammed into broken bottles over and still be okay? But once he cleans up, I'm surprised to see these are all just surface cuts. He's totally fine. Which means he, too, has a secret technique. [Doug] You're okay? -Okay, okay, okay. -You sure? [David Blaine] Tell him he turns me into his grandmother. And tell him I loved what he's capable of, I just don't want him to hurt himself. I've never seen anything like that in my life.
[David Blaine] I realize Deepak is a masterful showman. And demonstrating the ability to overcome pain and suffering is at the heart of his act. Ask him if any of the audiences are ever worried for him, or are they always just clapping and happy? -Ah! That's crazy. This is your wife? Beautiful family. -Thank you. -Can you ask him if his family worries about him getting injured?
[David Blaine] I can relate to Deepak. Having a daughter has changed my perspective on everything that I do. In the past I would take great risks; now I'm very cautious. But it's a balance because growth doesn't come without challenges. Deepak tells me there's even more to his act than what I've already seen. As nervous as that makes me, of course, I'm intrigued. -One, two, three. [smash] -Oh! God! It's okay? You're okay? -Okay. -But it doesn't hurt? There's no blood, nothing? -No, no, no, no. -Yeah, there's nothing.
Not even a bump. So, like that? Man. I know many methods to break glass for a magic trick, but Deepak is doing this for real. As a magician, I wanna understand how this is possible. -Jeez! -You're going to do it? Wait. Oh, man, this one gets me nervous for some reason. Cause I know this bottle. The other ones, maybe I dunno. But this one is crazy.
[glass thud] Oh! No! [glass shatters] Oh! Jeez! Oy. Holy. Man! Whoa. Just little pieces of glass, though. Like, this is real glass shards right here. I mean, it's a real glass shard. [crunching] Stupid trick now. [David Blaine] Deepak commits to the method because it comes from generations of knowledge passed down by his guru. [Matt Akers] Are you going to do it?
[David Blaine] My process is different. I need time to mentally prepare. Yes? -Yes. -He usually practices and trains for these endeavors a bit more than 24 hours. We don't have this motion dialed in yet perfectly like the way he does things normally, is my opinion. There's no need to rush this.
-Is she calling me? -Yes. -Break. Hey. And then, my 12-year-old daughter interrupts with the voice of reason. I mean, now that call came, I can't do it. I mean, that's a, that's a hard stop. Yeah. I mean, I can't do it. -I thought you were kidding. But it was her. It's a hard stop, I can't.
I think the technique is right. If you do it, it's fine. But I think I need time to understand it and process it before I just go do it. You're happy about that? [David Blaine] I'm often asked why I don't just stick to card tricks. You thought of a card? Especially since it can be so rewarding.
Turn your wrist over. But without the risk of hospitalization. One of my greatest joys as a magician is having the ability to go into any place, any neighborhood with nothing but a deck of cards and connect with people instantly. [crowd cheering] -I love the reactions and I love the way it moves people. So why take the risk? As a magician, I try to give people an experience they'll hopefully remember. Something that, even if they know the secret, it doesn't diminish their sense of wonder. To me, strong magic is built around story. And when done well, that story lives on.
[chanting] [David Blaine] Just to the east of Delhi, I find a gathering of fakirs. This specific group are Muslim holy men of the Sufi order. Fakirs like these are among the spiritual practitioners who inspired Swami Mantra. I find them at an Urs, a festival where they perform the most intense feats to prove their devotion to a higher power.
[♪ dramatic music playing] [David Blaine] It starts with impalement, then knives. And then it gets even harder to watch and not just for me. [David Blaine] I know that what I'm seeing is real. I show them that I understand what they're doing.
Then Atta Ali shows me something I don't understand. [drumming] [♪ dramatic music playing] When I see somebody pierce themselves straight through the middle of their neck, in the back of my mind, I know that there's no safe way to do that without risk of death.
You go here to here? No hole, there's nothing. Let me see here. Back here? No? -No. -That's an incredible magic, I mean, that's amazing. Somebody actually did magic to me! -Seeing you do this, it's something I've never seen before.
[David Blaine] The fakirs seem to be motivated by their faith to do these unbelievable acts. Obviously, they would never refer to what they were doing as magic, but when I watched them, I realized it was an incredible performance from beginning till end. They were doing things that were very believable because you knew that they were really popping their eyes out of their head. They were really stabbing themselves with skewers. But when he suddenly pushed it through his neck, as skeptical as I am, I couldn't explain it.
[David Blaine] I found this group popping their eyeballs out with swords. One of the guys fooled me when he pushed the thing through his neck. -Yeah. -See that? But it looks convincing. -It looks incredible. Have you seen anything like that before, or is this the first time? -No. But do you think they're doing magic or do you think they just really do it because of their faith? Or what do you think that is?
-I think it might just be a bit of both. Uh, a little bit remains unexplained, and I think that's the best part about magic for you and I. I think that mystery of it, where we don't know if it's real or not. [David Blaine] It was really interesting to see all these performers combining magic with things that are violently real to make you believe in what they're doing. -The trick in itself is brilliant. [David Blaine] This won't exist anywhere else in the world. -This won't exist anywhere.
[David Blaine] It's only in India. -It's only in India. Yeah, that's true. [David Blaine] The acts I found in India surpassed anything that I've read about in Swami Mantra. These performers have to override their fear and fully commit to what they're doing.
And the bottle is exactly that. That's the one that I keep thinking about. That's the one that I keep wanting to do. That's the one that I, I can't get it out of my head that I didn't do it. I'm excited to meet Deepak again. Deepak! -I'm going to show you something that I've been working on. It's just with the thread.
I've been doing this act from Swami Mantra the same way for almost 30 years. But my time in India has inspired a new version. [David Blaine] It's ironic that of everything I've done, this one intimidates me the most. -It's such an unknown variable to just commit 100% to crack your head with a bottle. It's more than just breaking a bottle.
It's the idea of fully committing to doing something unknown that I've never done before and trusting the process. And I know if I don't do this now. I probably never will. Oh, oh (bleep). Oh, (bleep). -Okay, let me see. Can we see it, please?
-Tell him we're blood brothers. Damn it, I knew I didn't commit hard enough. -But you did commit. -No, I didn't. -No, I think what you did is this. Let's look at it in slow motion. Ready? -Oh, (bleep). I did commit. It turns out, my commitment wasn't the problem, I just didn't have the motion perfected. [glass shattering] -Let's have a look. -That is a cool little scar. Next, you have to show me how to get thrown into a pile of glass.
-No, no, no, no, no. Next time I see you again. I came to India looking for things that were real that I didn't believe were possible, and when you did this, I didn't understand it at all. But it will help me with what I do in many ways. Whenever I go out and I push myself to do something that I know is going to be treacherous and difficult, I always end up finding beauty on the other side.
Thank you, Deepak. -Thank you. -Yeah. -That's a beautiful statement. -Thank you. [glass shatters] [♪ inquisitive music playing]
