The Characters featured in David Blaine - Below the Above
David Blaine
David Blaine, famous for his illusions, came to London in 2003 to carry out his fourth endurance stunt. This was his first major challenge outside the United States and the first time he had received a negative reaction from the public. While on the surface it would seem that the British public's reaction to him was not good, with people emerging that would throw eggs and fire paintballs at the box, the reality of it was that for every person that came with a negative attitude, there were far more people there showing their support. Among the people showing their support were 5 unique individuals who lived at the site below David Blaine throughout his challenge. While they had their own self set challenges to complete, their positive energy and support undoubtedly helped David through his own challenge.
To read more about the Above the Below stunt, visit THE STUNT section of the website.
To read more about the documentary about the Above the Below stunt and the events that occured Below the Above, visit THE DOCUMENTARY section.
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Rob aka "KingFisher"
Rob is a peace loving hippie, who lives "out of the system" in a caravan in Wales . He came down to London for a peace rally, where he was told by the Police that his peace keeping skills would be needed at David Blaine's Above the Below stunt. Remembering seeing David Blaine's magic in the past and feeling inspired by it, Rob decided to visit the event to see what he could do to help David and show him his support.
On arriving at the Above the Below event, Rob was appalled by the amount of waste he was seeing, so set up camp on site to take on a mission of recycling the publics' rubbish. This seemingly simple mission would turn from one big challenge to another, and Rob's peace keeping skills would be truly challenged.
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Francois Greeff
Francois Greeff is a published author yet sleeps on the streets of London. He claims that this is due to the fact that he is suffering with an ongoing mental illness which renders him unable to sustain normal living in society. He passionately believes that there are others like him, and that in fact, the majority of homelessness is caused by "hidden disabilities", disabilities which, like his own bi-polar disorder, cannot be physically seen.
Francois is trying to raise awareness of the fact that mental illnesses are a prime cause of homelessness. To do this he went to David Blaine's Above the Below stunt, where he knew there would be a lot of press, to sleep below Blaine for 44 days and 44 nights in hope of getting his message heard.
With the British press only wanting to report the negative aspects of the event, such as people throwing eggs and flying hamburgers next to the box to try and get Blaine down, Francois's message would go unheard. This meant Francois would have a challenge on his hands to get his message heard by coming up with new ways to get press attention and see his own self set 44 day challenge through to the end.
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Ben Lindsay
Ben is only 19 years old and homeless. Having lived on the streets since the age of 12, he knew that David Blaine's Above the Below stunt would be a prime place for begging because of all the visitors it would attract.
Ben had no interest in David Blaine, or his Above the Below endurance stunt, all he wanted to do was aggressively rap, talk about fighting and make money.
As the stunt went on Ben interacted with other people living at the site and gained a new outlook on life.
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Richard Bellars
Richard Bellars is a very talented magician and illusionist. He went to David Blaine's Above the Below event to see how the trick was done. He decided to stay at the site for 2 days and 2 nights and when he had done this, David Blaine challenged him from the box to stay another day and night. Blaine continued to do this until Bellars gave in and said he would stay for the whole 44 days!
Giving up all the security and comfort of his home, Richard would live in a tent below the box, travelling from the site to his magic gigs and back again, and would spend his days entertaining the crowds below Blaine with his own style of close up magic.
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Shaun AMes
Shaun Ames is a Covent Garden street performer going under the name of MagicShaun due to the magic he includes in his street performance acts. Being a fan of David Blaine, he went to the Above the Below stunt as any other fan would, to see his hero and show some support.
On arriving at the site, he met an acquaintance Richard Bellars, who had been challenged by Blaine to live below the box for the duration of the stunt. So impressed with Richard's challenge, Shaun decided to tag along and also live at the site.
Shaun is a natural entertainer, and filled his time at the site entertaining (and often annoying) both the people visiting and living below the box.
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