David Blaine delays and relocates plans to soar into sky holding onto balloons

Performer and magician now planning to perform stunt in Arizona

David Blaine has delayed and amended his plans to soar into the sky over the Hudson River and into New York City, citing the stunt’s “complexity”.

The magician and performer shared the announcement on Sunday, the eve of his planned stunt.

“The idea is I want to grab a bunch of balloons and go floating all the way up into the sky until I almost disappear,” he explained.

“I’ve been working diligently on this with the best team in the world, but because of the complexity of this project, I’m not going forward with my plans to do New York City at this time.”

Blaine added that he’s now working to perform the stunt, dubbed “Ascension”, in Arizona, “the most beautiful backdrop that I’ve ever seen in my life”.

He hopes to ascend on 1 or 2 September, “but everything is wind-dependant”, he added.

The original plan would have seen Blaine fly from New Jersey to New York City on 31 August, in a set-up reminiscent of the Pixar film Up.

In an interview on the Today show on Monday, Blaine explained that the plan is to “jump down and land safely” at the end of the stunt, and that he’s “never done a full run-through”.

Once he’s up 5,000 to 6,000 feet, he plans on putting on a parachute.

The stunt will be live-streamed on YouTube in due time.