David once spent 62 hours entombed in ice in Times Square as "the world's ONLY LIVING ICE CUBE." Though many were impressed with the stunt, rival magician Noah Kelly was not among them. While sitting in the bath one day, Kelly had a "Eureka!" moment. "I was thinking how cheesy

[David's stunt] was," he recalled, "and I thought I could do it surrounded by cheese." Sure enough, in March 2003, Kelly and his laptop were encased in 16 giant blocks of cheese in an English mall. The cheese? Cathedral City's aged cheddar: "This is an endurance test and I hope to test my body," Kelly courageously announced. "I'm not going to wimp out and use a mild cheese!"

[Kelly, a former playing card-tower world record holder who was thrown out of the International Brotherhood of Magicians for explaining tricks on television, had a point: Ice is a good insulator (which is why igloos are fairly warm inside). The most difficult part of Blaine's stunt was coping with discomfort and hunger (and routine bodily functions) for a couple of days.]