Skip to content
Tim FerrissTim Ferriss

Master Magician David Blaine — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss

Fear{less} features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big. It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them to make both the video and audio available to you for free. Spearheaded by actor/producer and past podcast guest Vince Vaughn, Wild West Productions has produced a string of hit movies including The Internship, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases, and The Break-Up. In 2020, Wild West produced the comedy The Opening Act, starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric The Entertainer. In addition to Fear{less}, their television credits include Undeniable with Joe Buck, ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode about the ’85 Bears, and the Netflix animated show F is for Family. Please enjoy! SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW LINK TO ALL SHOW TRANSCRIPTS: https://tim.blog/2018/09/20/all-transcripts-from-the-tim-ferriss-show/ About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/ [00:00] Start Numbers that make you go “wow.” [07:44] A terrifying moment (with video) [01:45] Training Tim to hold his breath [04:05] What scares David more than death-defying stunts? [04:45] Challenges of childhood and a great mother [05:20] A library becomes magical [06:53] David becomes fearless (and meets Mike Tyson) [08:32] An epiphany while in jail becomes a TV show [10:19] A simple approach to approaching people [14:32] David goes to acting school + Bryan Callen [15:33] Mentors [16:59] A fasting fanatic [17:41] A stunt that was scarier than expected [19:29] What does magic mean to David? [21:43] How David attempts the impossible [23:53] An obsession with sleep-deprivation [25:57] Hallucinations and a NYC stunt [26:56] Coping with the brain's tricks to save you [29:21] David's fears [30:30] Average things David can't do [32:07] David's secret reserve of strength [32:47] Crash-coursing a magic show [34:37] David's stage show [37:02] The person David thinks of when he hears the word "successful" [38:39] The healing power of magic [39:48] David's end goal with magic [43:03] David does live magic for us [43:27] David's billboard [50:02]

Tim FerrisshostDavid Blaineguest
Nov 11, 202151mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 51:27

    Start

    1. TF

      [upbeat music] I'm Tim Ferriss, author, entrepreneur, angel investor, and now TV host. I've spent my entire adult life asking questions, then scouring the globe to find the answers. On this show, I'll share the secrets of pioneers who have faced their own fears. We'll dig into the hard times, big mistakes, tough decisions, and how they got through it all. The goal isn't to be fearless. The goal is to learn to fear less. [audience applauds] Welcome to Fearless. I'm your host, Tim Ferriss, and on this stage we'll be deconstructing world-class performers of all different types to uncover the specific tactics and strategies they've used to overcome doubt, tackle their hardest decisions, and ultimately succeed on their own terms. So let's take a look at my guest by the numbers. 17 minutes, 4 seconds, his world record-setting breath hold, if you can believe that. It's true. 44 days, how long he survived without food in a plexiglass box. 63 hours, 42 minutes, and 15 seconds, the amount of time he spent encased in a block of ice. For nearly 20 years, he has risked his life for your entertainment. Please welcome to the stage world-renowned illusionist and endurance artist, David Blaine. [audience applauds] [upbeat music]

    2. DB

      Thanks for having me.

    3. TF

      Welcome.

    4. DB

      Thanks for having me.

    5. TF

      Watch your step. So David, I have wanted to have this conversation for years now.

    6. DB

      Yeah, I'm excited.

    7. TF

      And I know we ... Yeah, we're gonna have fun tonight, and I thought one way we could start is with a video that maybe does not represent the most fun, but I think is a good video nonetheless.

    8. DB

      Awesome.

    9. TF

      This is as close as I come to doing a magic trick.

    10. SP

      Focus in. You're doing good. Here we go. [crowd cheering] Working the next set of cuffs from behind. Just a little bit of air in there. You guys, get ready.

    11. TF

      There are some buttons here.

    12. SP

      Get ready. Go, go, go. You're doing it.

    13. TF

      The divers are in.

    14. SP

      Just relax. Relax. We got you, David. You're all right. You're all right.

    15. TF

      The divers are in the sphere.

    16. SP

      You're okay, David. Just relax. We've got you. Come on up. You're okay. You're okay. [audience cheering]

    17. TF

      They brought him up. Martin Stepanek and Manu Reichbseenk have got David out of the bubble. So that is a terrifying video. [laughs] What happened in that particular situation? Why did things go sideways?

    18. DB

      In training when I'd worked on that, I, I never ... The, the record was, I believe at the time, was nine minutes, and I'd never gotten up to nine minutes. I got to seven minutes and 47 seconds dry, no oxygen, just b- breath-holding. And I figured if I starve myself from in the sphere, my metabolism, everything slows down, I would be able to miraculously hold my breath much longer, and it did the opposite effects. When it came time to do the stunt, I had handcuffs on, I was strapped at the bottom, and I just started to convulse. They jumped in to get me, and you can't see in the video, and I was like, "No." Like, I held my finger up to stop them-

    19. TF

      [laughs] I got this

    20. DB

      ... 'cause I, I thought I could keep going, but I'm blacking out. And luckily they did jump in, 'cause he had to take these things off to pull my head above the water.

    21. TF

      Like shackles.

    22. DB

      Yeah.

    23. TF

      Seems like one of the main dangers of, of any type of breath-hold training is you feel fine until you're not, right? I mean-

    24. DB

      Right

    25. TF

      ... with some of it, with some of it

    26. DB

      ... but when you black out ... See, I learned that Navy SEALs, as part of the training, what they do is they make the SEALs comfortable with blacking out underwater.

    27. TF

      Mm-hmm.

    28. DB

      So what they do is they strap them to 45-pound plates and make them walk the bottom of a pool, and they walk until they black out underwater.

    29. TF

      [laughs]

    30. DB

      And then they get pulled to the top, and they're brought back, and they're fine, but that makes everybody not afraid of drowning.

Episode duration: 51:47

Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript

Transcript of episode ifx9yA3Y9KA

Get more out of YouTube videos.

Read along on your phone, search it beside the video, or ask your favorite AI app what was said.

iOSAndroidClaudeChromeChatGPTComing soon