I also try to challenge myself

讓人們能駐足思考，

to do things that doctors say are not possible.

我也試著自我挑戰

I was buried alive in New York City in a coffin,

那些醫生認為不可能的事情。

buried alive in a coffin in April, 1999, for a week.

1999年四月在紐約市，

I lived there with nothing but water.

我曾經被活埋在棺材裡，

And it ended up being so much fun

在棺材裡渡過一個星期，

that I decided I could pursue doing more of these things.

只靠水活了下來。

The next one is I froze myself in a block of ice

由於實在太有趣了，

for three days and three nights in New York City.

我決定繼續挑戰自己，

That one was way more difficult than I had expected.

去嘗試更多可能性。

The one after that, I stood on top of a hundred-foot pillar

接下來在紐約市，

for 36 hours.

我把自己凍在冰塊裡三天三夜，

I began to hallucinate so hard

那比我想像中的要困難許多。

that the buildings that were behind me started to look like big animal heads.

之後，我在三十公尺高的柱子上，

So, next I went to London.

站了三十六個小時。

In London I lived in a glass box for 44 days

我開始產生強烈的幻覺，

with nothing but water.

一旁的建築物看起來像是巨大動物的頭。

It was, for me, one of the most difficult things I'd ever done,

接下來我去了倫敦，

but it was also the most beautiful.

在一個玻璃箱裡渡過四十四天，

There was so many skeptics, especially the press in London,

只靠喝水維持生命。

that they started flying cheeseburgers on helicopters around my box to tempt me.

對我來說，這是我所做過最困難、

(Laughter)

但也是最美麗的事情之一。

So, I felt very validated

到處都是懷疑的聲浪，尤其是倫敦的媒體，

when the New England Journal of Medicine actually used the research for science.

他們甚至搭著直升機，

My next pursuit was I wanted to see how long I could go without breathing,

在玻璃箱外面拿漢堡誘惑我。

like how long I could survive with nothing, not even air.

（笑聲）

I didn't realize that it would become the most amazing journey of my life.

所以當新英格蘭醫學雜誌

As a young magician,

將我的經歷用在科學研究上時，

I was obsessed with Houdini and his underwater challenges.

我終於覺得被人認同了。

So, I began, early on, competing against the other kids,

接下來，我想知道自己能忍耐多長時間不呼吸，

seeing how long I could stay underwater while they went up and down to breathe,

在什麼都沒有的情況下能生存多久，

you know, five times, while I stayed under on one breath.

甚至沒有空氣。

By the time I was a teenager,

我沒有想到

I was able to hold my breath for three minutes and 30 seconds.

這將成為我生命中最為精彩的一段旅程。

I would later find out that was Houdini's personal record.

年輕的時候，作為一個魔術師，

In 1987 I heard of a story

我著迷於胡迪尼和他的水中脫逃術，

about a boy that fell through ice and was trapped under a river.

因此我開始和其他孩子比賽，

He was underneath, not breathing for 45 minutes.

看我可以在水面下停留多久。

When the rescue workers came,

其他人上上下下的換氣，

they resuscitated him and there was no brain damage.

有五次之多，而我還待在水底，

His core temperature had dropped to 77 degrees.

光是青少年時期，

As a magician, I think everything is possible.

我就已經能憋氣三分三十秒左右，

And I think if something is done by one person,

後來我發現這等於胡迪尼的個人紀錄。

it can be done by others.

1987年我聽到一個故事，

I started to think,

一個男孩跌進結冰的河裡，

if the boy could survive without breathing for that long,

被困在冰面下

there must be a way that I could do it.

超過四十五分鐘無法換氣，

So, I met with a top neurosurgeon.

當醫護人員救回他的時候，

And I asked him, how long is it possible to go without breathing,

發現他的大腦沒有受到任何損傷，

like how long could I go without air?

他的核心體溫降到25度。

And he said to me that anything over six minutes

作為魔術師我覺得

you have a serious risk of hypoxic brain damage.

任何事都有可能做得到，

So, I took that as a challenge, basically.

有一必有二。

(Laughter)

我開始思考，如果那個男孩能夠

My first try, I figured that I could do something similar,

這麼長時間不呼吸而存活下來，

and I created a water tank,

那我也能做到。

and I filled it with ice and freezing cold water.

所以我和一位頂尖的神經外科醫生見面，

And I stayed inside of that water tank

我問他，人類能夠閉氣多久?

hoping my core temperature would start to drop.

不需要空氣可以撐多久?

And I was shivering.

他對我說，一旦超過六分鐘，

In my first attempt to hold my breath, I couldn't even last a minute.

就有相當高的風險，

So, I realized that was completely not going to work.

會因為缺氧而損傷大腦。

I went to talk to a doctor friend --

所以，我把六分鐘視為一個基本挑戰。

and I asked him, "How could I do that?"

（笑聲）

"I want to hold my breath for a really long time. How could it be done?"

第一次嘗試，我想試試跟前述同樣的狀況，

And he said, "David, you're a magician,

所以我弄來一個水箱，

create the illusion of not breathing, it will be much easier."

裡面放滿冰塊和冰水，

(Laughter)

然後我待在裡面，

So, he came up with this idea of creating a rebreather,

希望核心體溫會開始下降。

with a CO2 scrubber,

我凍得發抖，第一次嘗試閉氣

which was basically a tube from Home Depot,

連一分鐘都撐不過，

with a balloon duct-taped to it,

我發覺這是完全行不通的。

that he thought we could put inside of me,

我找了一位醫生朋友討論，

and somehow be able to circulate the air and rebreathe

我問他該怎麼做?

with this thing in me.

「我想要閉氣很長一段時間。該怎麼做到?」

This is a little hard to watch.

他說，“大衛，你是一個魔術師，

But this is that attempt.

用障眼法假裝還比較容易。"

So, that clearly wasn't going to work.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

他想出一個點子，

Then I actually started thinking about liquid breathing.

做了一個循環呼吸器，

There is a chemical that's called perflubron.

裡頭可以過濾二氧化碳，

And it's so high in oxygen levels that in theory you could breathe it.

基本上就是到特力屋買根軟管，

So, I got my hands on that chemical,

再用膠帶纏個氣球上去。

filled the sink up with it, and stuck my face in the sink

他認為可以把管子放進我體內，

and tried to breathe that in, which was really impossible.

讓我可以用這玩意

It's basically like trying to breathe, as a doctor said,

維持呼吸循環。

while having an elephant standing on your chest.

這個不是很好看，

So, that idea disappeared.

但至少我們試過了，

Then I started thinking,

顯然這招是行不通的。

would it be possible to hook up a heart/lung bypass machine

（笑聲）

and have a surgery where it was a tube going into my artery,

然後我開始考慮嘗試

and then appear to not breathe while they were oxygenating my blood?

液式呼吸。

Which was another insane idea, obviously.

有一種化學物質叫做全氟溴烷，

Then I thought about the craziest idea of all the ideas:

它的含氧量相當高，

to actually do it.

理論上你可以用來呼吸。

(Laughter)

因此我弄到那種化學物質，

To actually try to hold my breath past the point

拿它裝滿水槽，並且把臉浸進去，

that doctors would consider you brain dead.

試著在裡面呼吸。

So, I started researching into pearl divers.

我完全不能呼吸，

You know, because they go down for four minutes on one breath.

醫生說，這就像在呼吸的時候，

And when I was researching pearl divers, I found the world of free-diving.

有一頭大象站在你的胸前。

It was the most amazing thing that I ever discovered, pretty much.

所以我放棄了那個想法，

There is many different aspects to free-diving.

然後我想，

There is depth records, where people go as deep as they can.

是否有可能利用心肺體外循環機，

And then there is static apnea.

然後動手術把接管放入動脈，

That's holding your breath as long as you can

這樣無須呼吸便能獲得氧氣供應。

in one place without moving.

顯然這又是一個瘋狂的想法，

That was the one that I studied.

然後我想到了最瘋狂的一個構想，

The first thing that I learned is when you're holding your breath,

就是真的不去呼吸。

you should never move at all; that wastes energy.

（笑聲）

And that depletes oxygen,

試著停止呼吸直到

and it builds up CO2 in your blood.

醫生認為你已經腦死的程度。

So, I learned never to move.

於是我開始研究

And I learned how to slow my heart rate down.

有關採集珍珠漁民的資料，

I had to remain perfectly still and just relax

他們可以一口氣下潛四分多鐘。

and think that I wasn't in my body, and just control that.

在我研究他們的時候，

And then I learned how to purge.

我發現自由潛水這個領域，

Purging is basically hyperventilating.

這是我所看過最不可思議的事情。

You blow in and out --

自由潛水有各種不同的面向，

(Breathing loudly)

有深度紀錄，看人類可以潛得多深；

You do that, you get lightheaded, you get tingling.

有靜態閉氣紀錄，

And you're really ridding your body of CO2.

看人類可以在靜止不動的情況下

So, when you hold your breath, it's infinitely easier.

停止呼吸多久。

Then I learned that you have to take a huge breath,

這正是我要研究的。

and just hold and relax and never let any air out,

我學到的第一件事情是，當你閉氣時，

and just hold and relax through all the pain.

你應該保持靜止，避免消耗能量，

Every morning, this is for months,

以及避免氧氣的耗損，

I would wake up and the first thing that I would do

同時減少血液中二氧化碳的堆積。

is I would hold my breath

因此我學會盡量保持不動，同時降低我的心跳速率。

for, out of 52 minutes, I would hold my breath for 44 minutes.

我需要完全保持靜止並且放鬆，

So, basically what that means is I would purge,

感覺身體已不受我的控制，

I'd breathe really hard for a minute.

然後試著保持這種狀態。

And I would hold, immediately after, for five and a half minutes.

接著我學會清空肺部，

Then I would breathe again for a minute, purging as hard as I can,

基本上就是快速的交換空氣，

then immediately after that I would hold again for five and a half minutes.

深呼吸...

I would repeat this process eight times in a row.

當你感覺到頭暈眼花、全身刺痛，

Out of 52 minutes, you're only breathing for eight minutes.

就表示你正在清除體內的二氧化碳，

At the end of that you're completely fried, your brain.

這讓你能更輕鬆地進行閉氣。

You feel like you're walking around in a daze.

我學到你需要深吸一口氣，

And you have these awful headaches.

憋住氣並且放鬆，不讓任何空氣流失，

Basically, I'm not the best person to talk to when I'm doing that stuff.

並且撐過所有的痛苦。

I started learning about the world-record holder.

有好幾個月的時間，我每天早上

His name is Tom Sietas.

起床的第一件事情，

And this guy is perfectly built for holding his breath.

就是練習停止呼吸。

He's six foot four. He's 160 pounds.

在五十二分鐘裡，

And his total lung capacity is twice the size of an average person.

有四十四分鐘是處在停止呼吸的狀態，

I'm six foot one, and fat.

也就是練習淨空肺部。

We'll say big-boned.

我會用一分鐘使勁地呼吸，

(Laughter)

然後馬上屏住氣五分半鐘，

I had to drop 50 pounds in three months.

再呼吸一分鐘，

So, everything that I put into my body, I considered as medicine.

盡可能的清空肺部，

Every bit of food was exactly what it was for its nutritional value.

隨後立刻再閉氣五分半鐘。

I ate really small controlled portions throughout the day.

這個流程會連續進行八次，

And I started to really adapt my body.

所以在五十二分鐘裡，只有八分鐘是在呼吸。

[Individual results may vary]

結束的時候，腦袋像是要炸開一樣，

(Laughter)

感覺像喝茫了在街上遊蕩，

The thinner I was, the longer I was able to hold my breath.

而且頭痛欲裂。

And by eating so well and training so hard,

老實說，我不是最有資格談論這檔事的人，

my resting heart-rate dropped to 38 beats per minute.

所以我開始研究世界紀錄保持人，

Which is lower than most Olympic athletes.

他叫湯姆．席耶塔斯，

In four months of training,

他擁有閉氣所需的最佳體能狀態，

I was able to hold my breath for over seven minutes.

身高一百九十公分，體重七十二公斤，

I wanted to try holding my breath everywhere.

而且他的肺活量

I wanted to try it in the most extreme situations

是一般成人的兩倍之多。

to see if I could slow my heart rate down under duress.

我有一百八十公分高，過重，

(Laughter)

或者說骨架大。

I decided that I was going to break the world record

（笑聲）

live on prime-time television.

我需要在三個月內減掉二十二公斤，

The world record was eight minutes and 58 seconds,

因此所有吃進去的東西，

held by Tom Sietas, that guy with the whale lungs I told you about.

對我來說都是藥物，

I assumed that I could put a water tank at Lincoln Center

每一小撮食物都只為了攝取最基本的營養。

and if I stayed there a week not eating,

我吃的量非常小而且經過嚴格控制，

I would get comfortable in that situation and I would slow my metabolism,

三餐皆如此，

which I was sure would help me hold my breath

讓身體逐漸適應。

longer than I had been able to do it.

（笑聲）--個別效果可能不盡相同--

I was completely wrong.

身材越瘦，我越能長時間的憋氣。

I entered the sphere a week before the scheduled air date.

透過控制飲食和鍛鍊體能，

And I thought everything seemed to be on track.

在靜止狀態下，我的心跳降到每分鐘三十八下，

Two days before my big breath-hold attempt, for the record,

比大部分的奧林匹克運動員還要低。

the producers of my television special

四個月的訓練下來，我已經可以停止呼吸

thought that just watching somebody holding their breath, and almost drowning,

超過七分鐘以上。

is too boring for television.

我嘗試在各種地方練習閉氣，

(Laughter)

我想嘗試在極端狀態下練習，

So, I had to add handcuffs, while holding my breath, to escape from.

看看我是否能在各種情況下，

This was a critical mistake.

都能放慢心跳。

Because of the movement, I was wasting oxygen.

（笑聲）

And by seven minutes I had gone into these awful convulsions.

我決定挑戰世界紀錄，

By 7:08, I started to black out.

並在黃金時段現場播出。

And by seven minutes and 30 seconds,

那時的世界紀錄是八分五十八秒，

they had to pull my body out and bring me back.

由湯姆．席耶塔斯所創下，就是那個有鯨魚肺的傢伙。

I had failed on every level.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

我認為可以把水槽放在林肯中心，

So, naturally, the only way out of the slump that I could think of was,

如果我能夠待在那裡一個星期，而且不吃東西，

I decided to call Oprah.

我應該就能習慣那樣的環境，

(Laughter)

並且放慢我的代謝速率。

I told her that I wanted to up the ante

我以為這樣就能夠讓我閉氣

and hold my breath longer than any human being ever had.

比平常還要久，

This was a different record.

我完全弄錯了。

This was a pure O2 static apnea record

我在表演開始前一個星期進入這個球體，

that Guinness had set the world record at 13 minutes.

以為所有事情都會順利進行，

So, basically you breathe pure O2 first, oxygenating your body, flushing out CO2,

但就在挑戰紀錄的兩天前，

and you are able to hold much longer.

電視特輯的製作人覺得，

I realized that my real competition was the beaver.

如果單只是看著某個傢伙

(Laughter)

憋住呼吸，然後差點淹死，

(Laughter ends)

這樣不夠刺激...

In January of '08,

（笑聲）

Oprah gave me four months to prepare and train.

所以我得戴上手銬，

So, I would sleep in a hypoxic tent every night.

然後在我閉氣的同時，還得掙脫手銬。

A hypoxic tent is a tent that simulates altitude at 15,000 feet.

這真是個天大的錯誤。

So, it's like base camp, Everest.

因為掙脫的動作會消耗氧氣；

What that does is, you start building up the red bloodcell count in your body,

在七分鐘的時候，

which helps you carry oxygen better.

我開始嚴重抽搐；

Every morning, again, after getting out of that tent,

到七分過八秒時，我暈了過去；

your brain is completely wiped out.

到七分三十秒的時候，

My first attempt on pure O2, I was able to go up to 15 minutes.

他們不得不把我拉出來，好救回我的命。

So, it was a pretty big success.

一整個失敗...

The neurosurgeon pulled me out of the water

（笑聲）

because in his mind, at 15 minutes your brain is done, you're brain dead.

所以我想，要走出低潮

So, he pulled me up, and I was fine.

最好的方法，

There was one person there that was definitely not impressed.

就是打電話給歐普拉。

It was my ex-girlfriend.

（笑聲）

While I was breaking the record underwater for the first time,

我告訴她我要提高賭注，

she was sifting through my Blackberry, checking all my messages.

我要暫停呼吸，時間要比任何人都久。

(Laughter)

這是另一種紀錄，

My brother had a picture of it. It is really --

使用純氧進行靜態閉氣，

(Laughter)

金氏世界紀錄是十三分鐘。

(Laughter ends)

你先吸入純氧，

I then announced that I was going to go for Sietas' record, publicly.

讓氧氣循環全身，把二氧化碳清出，

And what he did in response, is he went on Regis and Kelly,