Video: David Blaine interview

Blindness, haemorrhaging and organ failure could all befall David Blaine as he begun his latest stunt yesterday – hanging upside down four storeys above New York’s Central Park.

Attached to a crossbar by his torso, the magician said he planned to survive the 60 hour “Dive of Death” by drinking through a straw and urinating through a catheter.

Blaine has previously spent 72 hours encased in ice, 44 days without food in a plexiglass box and a week under water.

“I’ll need lots of liquids so I won’t have to go into organ failure again, which has happened twice,” he told Kelly Ripa, host of Live with Regis and Kelly, on Monday. Ms Ripa was suspended next to Blaine during the interview.

Doctors, who will be monitoring Blaine throughout the feat, said the increase in blood pressure raised the risk of stroke or blindness. They added that gravity could also restrict the blood flow to his lower extremities.

Dr Ronald Ruden, Blaine's physician, told ABCNews.com that when he first heard the name of the stunt, "It scared the crap out of me."

"How he does this I'm not 100 percent sure," Dr Ruden said. "He seems to have the ability to use his mind to control his body to not experience pain and discomfort, as well as take away his basic drives to eat and sleep and defy his fear."

"We don't even know what the physiology of this is," he said with a laugh. "I hate that."

Five years ago, some Londoners jeered Blaine's attempt to live for 44 days inside a transparent box above the Thames.

A few threw eggs and golf balls at Blaine, others held barbecues underneath his box and one man was fined after trying to sabotage his water supply. Others bared their breasts and buttocks at him while some banged drums to keep him awake at night.

By the end of that ordeal, however, the taunts were largely replaced by encouraging shouts.

Blaine said this was his most difficult stunt to date. "The others, you could get into them soon after the start, but this one is tough from the get-go," he said after being lowered to head-height to give an interview.

Times Recommends

• Would you live on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall?
• Wish you were here, says Iraq tourist board
• Russian policeman’s corruption plea to Putin