Welcome to the world of David Blaine

The street magician and performance artist, described as the Modern Day Houdini, is in London to perform his most outrageous and audacious feat yet - to be screened on Channel 4 and Sky One.

Past efforts have seen him encased in six tons of ice for three days, and standing atop a 100 ft pole in New York for 35 hours. But the man himself dismisses them as insignificant by comparison: "All the other things I've done are irrelevant compared to this one."

On the evening of Friday 5th September, David Blaine will enter a glass box seven feet deep, seven feet long and three feet wide, and David Blaine: Above the Below will begin (his entrance show will be screened on C4 three days later). The box will then be suspended from a crane, and Blaine will remain inside it for an astonishing 44 days. He will have no food, no communication, and no distractions of any kind. He will exist with a tube feeding him water, and a waste tube in which to urinate. All he will take in with him will be a set of diapers (even Modern Day Houdinis need to pass solids over 44 days) a journal and some pens, a pillow, a blanket, and some lip balm. Channel 4 will stream the whole event live at www.channel4.com/davidblaine.

"I consider it the most difficult thing I'll ever do in my lifetime, and definitely the most dangerous," he explains to the assembled press. He says that his biggest fear is suffering some sort of permanent damage from the effects of starvation. "The damage may be irreversible, and I could never be seen again." He adds that the thing that scares him more than anything else is the prospect of brain damage. "I don't fear life or death at all."

But why subject himself to such privations in the first place? "Because it is a piece of performance art," he answers. "I think it's worth it for my art even if I drop dead." Does he think people will understand that sort of a motivation? "I don't mind. I don't want to be understood." He adds that by getting away from all the trappings of luxury that we take for granted in modern life, he will be able to see "the ultimate truth". When he was buried alive in a box for a week a few years back, he says that coming out of it at the end felt like a 'rebirth', and allowed him to appreciate the value of life. This, he hopes, will be an even more powerful experience.

Of course, another motivation for this feat could be money. How much is he getting paid? "Enough to pay the hospital bills for a couple of months," he answers dryly. So how much is that? "It's not about the money."

Currently weighing in at around 205 pounds, he expects to lose about 45 pounds over the 44 days. But Blaine is less worried about losing weight than losing marbles: "I assume mentally I'll start losing my mind a couple of weeks into it," he says. How will he try and stave off lunacy? "It's good to build a house in your head and live in it."

Blaine's box will be suspended by the River Thames at Potters Field Park, against a backdrop of Tower Bridge and the GLA building. It's the first time he's attempted a major stunt outside of the US. He chose London because he loves it - the culture, the people and the accents - none of which will do him much good stuck in a glass box above the Thames. Fortunately, he's also very keen on Tower Bridge - hopefully sufficiently so to enjoy looking at it for over six weeks.

Has he prepared for the mental and physical trials ahead? "Not really. I don't really know what I'm doing... I'm just going to go in there and give it a try... My biggest inspiration has been reading a lot of Primo Levi [a Holocaust survivor who became a poet and writer] - those people went through real trials."

Someone asks him what he'll do when he comes out of the box? "Probably be taken to hospital," he deadpans. And after that? "You mean when I recover? Yeah, I'll go crazy." Some people would say he already is. "Great! All my heroes are bonkers." And if he doesn't make it out alive, how would he like to be remembered? "As the greatest showman of all time."

Channel 4 will show his entrance to the box on Monday September 8th at 10pm, and will transmit the exit show on Monday October 20th at 9pm.

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Welcome to the world of David Blaine