Blaine takes to streets
to help hurting Haitians

Dodd Vickers, editor of the online Magic News Wire, caught up with magician David Blaine via the telephone to discuss why the magician was performing magic for 72 straight hours in New Your City's Times Square.

Blaine decided to engage the people in New York with his legerdermain in order to raise awareness about Haiti, which was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010.

Vickers recorded the conversation and uploaded it as a podcast on his Web site. The two talked about why Blaine why he wanted to raise awareness about Haiti and how his experience of shooting "Magic Man" in Haiti in 1999 changed him. (Read More, Watch Videos)

As he performed, people were donating anywhere from $1-$1,000. All of the money is going straight to the American Red Cross, Blaine said.

In 1999, Blaine spent ten days in Haiti while filming "Magic Man." He said he was curious about the country because its tradition is deeply rooted in magic. He went to different places to observe voodoo ceremonies, which were "pretty amazing to witness," Blaine said.

What he discovered was a people who had nothing, yet they invited him in to their houses and offered water and food. When he went into some of their houses, late at night after shooting, he would see 10-15 people sleeping on the floor on a few sheets, no mattresses, no beds, no nothing.

"These people who had so little had so much to give," Blaine told Vickers. Because of how they accepted him, he now feels compelled to give something back, which he is doing by raising awareness and raising donations through the Red Cross.

As for how his time in Haiti changed him, Blaine said those people had so little to give, but they were generous, kind and respectful, particularly of their elders.

Anyone wanting to donate, can visit www.redcross.org or www.davidblaine.com.

Below are videos of Blaine's visit to Haiti during a happier time and of his stint in Times Square, which began Friday, January 16, 2009.

-- Bobby Warren

Update: There is now a Magic for Haiti channel on YouTube. Check out more David Blaine videos from Times Square here.