David Blaine: Copycat!

I just realized that David Blaine's "Drowned Alive" stunt is not in any way original. The chains, he has admitted, are an homage to Harry Houdini. But the acrylic sphere filled with water? He stole that from South Park - a South Park episode that made fun of...David Blaine!

The episode is from Season 5 and is called "Super Best Friends". David Blaine has started a cult called Blaintology and has attracted many, many followers, including Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman. Stan leaves the cult, and when Kyle has second thoughts he is betrayed by Cartman and is locked in a clear acrylic sphere in the cult's compound. Blaine leads his followers on a march on Washington, D.C. to demand official recognition as a religion - or the Blaintologists will commit mass suicide by drowning themselves in the reflecting pool in front of the Washington Monument. This turns out to be a challenge since the reflecting pool is less than a foot deep. So the Blaintologists drown themselves one at a time by lying facedown in the pool - except for Kyle, who is to be drowned by having his acrylic sphere filled with water.

This is one of the funniest episodes of South Park, but you'll probably never see it on TV again. When Stan seeks help from South Park resident Jesus in dealing with the Blaintologists, Jesus enlists the help of his Super Best Friends - Krishna, Lao Tzu, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Moses, Sea-Man...and Mohammed. So you'll just have to buy the Season 5 DVDs or take my word for it. Blaine is defeated, but he escapes, and today we are seeing what happens as a result...