David Blaine begins electrifying daredevil stunt

Daredevil stuntman David Blaine lit up New York’s Pier 54 on Friday for his latest high-voltage trick.

Blaine stepped out onto a 20ft pillar at Pier 54  to stand amidst a million volts of electric current for three days and three nights.

Sported a chain mail bodysuit, a wire helmet and visor to act as a barrier for the electric currents, 39-year-old Blaine described this as an “overly ambitious idea” and “one of the craziest things that I ever dreamed up.”

The currents will be streamed by by seven metallic orbs called tesla coils that surround the 20 foot column and will be be streamed on YouTube, thanks to computing company Intel.

Viewing stations are located in London, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney. Viewers at the stations are able to control the coils.

Earlier this week, Blaine admitted that there are unknown risks in standing in his own lightening storm for so long.

“Seventy-two hours or more in an electromagnetic field can do… anything to the brain,” he said.

“There are a lot of unknowns here. I don’t know how I could ever top this. This is an overly-ambitious idea, and I’m literally shocked that it came together.”

When asked recently by Wired.com what it felt like to be electrified by tesla coil, he described the sensation as:  ‘Like somebody is punching you as hard as they can at the back of your head.’