Water show-off

After spending 44 days in a glass box, David Blaine has followed a simple instruction for his latest stunt: Just add water.

The magician yesterday took the plunge in a trick which should literally take his breath away.

He plans to spend a week living underwater in a 'human aquarium' - then hold his breath for a world record nine minutes.

The 33-year-old could suffer from hypothermia, black-outs, skin problems on his hands and feet and nerve damage, specialists have warned.

He is using air and feeding tubes to stay alive in the 2.5m-tall fish bowl in New York's Lincoln Centre.

Blaine earlier described his Drowned Alive challenge as 'harder than any stunt I've ever done'. He added: 'My only fear would be the unknown, so I don't even think about fear.'

Blaine lost 24.5kg - 25 per cent of his body weight - during his 44-day fast in a glass box over the River Thames in 2003.

He was pelted with eggs, sausages and bacon, taunted by streakers and mocked by Sir Paul McCartney.

But Blaine's spokesman Pat Smith said the reaction in New York was 'overwhelmingly positive'. 'New Yorkers are cool about this kind of thing,' she added.

REMEMBER?

Premature Burial, April 1999: Seven days buried in a glass coffin in an open pit outside one of Donald Trump's New York buildings.
Frozen In Time, November 2000: Frozen in an ice block in Times Square for 61 hours, 40 minutes and 15 seconds.
Vertigo, May 2002: Stood on a 30metre-tall, 56cm-wide pillar in New York for almost 35 hours, without food, water or anything to lean on.