There are those who would suggest David Blaine?s 44 days in a plastic box was a mere self-centered stunt designed to gain attention for his uncanny ability to be hated by spectators.

We will have you know that according to the London Telegraph, the stunt that has been called the magic equivalent of a TV test-pattern or a presentation of 44 Card Repeat, has actually furthered medical science.

According to the London Daily Telegraph, Professor Jeremy Powell-Tuck asked a group of doctors and nurses, “Is this man undernourished?”

Dr. Powell-Tuck pointed to a picture of Mr. Blaine as he appeared after stepping from his Plastic-Condo-on-the-Thames.

Here?s the first amazing part.

The doctors and nurses he had assembled presumably came from the United Kingdom and yet not a one was apparently able to identify Mr. Blaine as the man who had just starved himself for the last 44 days.

Apparently reaching the doctor and nurse demographic requires more than 44 days of non-stop news coverage in the U.K.

The consensus was that Mr. Blaine did not look undernourished.

Two nurses noted that he looked like he couldn?t afford medical care in the United States or was likely to have asked them for money if they had encountered his skinny yet bearded face on the street.

“Ha ha!” said Dr. Powell-Tuck, “he was undernourished.” And Dr. Powell-Tuck would know, he was the nutritionist in charge of weaning Mr. Blaine from no-food to food.

“He went into the box weighing 96 kilos, he came out weighing 70.5. That’s a 27 per cent reduction. His body mass index had gone from slightly over the normal range to slightly under.”

A kilo is roughly 2.2 pounds and is usually followed an equivalent “street value.”

Initially Dr. Powell-Tuck (ironically, this is the name of a spring-board diving maneuver that was last attempted by Greg Louganis at the Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale) was convinced Mr. Blaine was a fake and wanted nothing to do with the starvation stunt.

He was asked to assist in the re-entry to real food program (also available to those of us who thrive on McDonalds Value Meals) and he eagerly accepted the invitation.

Dr. Powell-Tuck has worked on the research showing the effect of maintaining insulin levels in critically ill patients at normal levels.

His research has shown that the mortality rate is halved by keeping the insulin levels in check. With his knowledge of…
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Houdini’s Vest?

I have written in the past of my admiration for our resident graphic artist, Becca. She is not just amazing, she?s incredible. Well, Becca has come up with a mascot for Inside Magic and his name is: _____. I have no idea.

I asked Becca and she put the pressure back on me. Like I need it. I?m still looking at the business end of a Visa bill that reflected that I used it to pay the Master Card that I used to pay my American Express that I used to buy a vest that was allegedly worn at one time by one of Houdini?s Assistants.

(There were just two bidders on it in eBay and I got it for an incredible amount of money but if it is real . . . You know, come to think of it, the other bidder had the same email address as the seller and dropped out right after I made the last bid.)

Anyway, I?m back. Sorry, I was just thinking about the Warren Commission and how we normally dismiss conspiracy theories but sometimes it could be that there is actually a conspiracy that we?re missing. I doubt that the seller of the Houdini Assistant Vest was actually bidding me up and then blew the scene when we hit the limit of my newly-acquired Platinum American Express Card. I would feel really badly if the Visa card that I?m using was actually mine.

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