Cunning stunt

David Blaine's latest stunt is as much about charity as publicity.

The magician travelled to Times Square on Tuesday for a topsy-turvy Thanksgiving escape, stepping inside a gyroscope where his hands and feet will be shackled. Blaine has until Friday morning to shed the shackles in the spinning scope; if he does, 100 children selected by the Salvation Army charity will go on a shopping spree.

The shackles go on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET, giving Blaine 16 hours to escape.

"This is more difficult than anything I've ever done," Blaine said before he was loaded into the gyroscope, which was then hoisted 12 metres into the air.

The gyroscope, with three spinning steel rings, will flip Blaine in various directions as often as eight times per minute.

Blaine has no protection from the weather other than his clothing - including a black nylon ski jacket with matching pants.