How does David Blaine do it? His new show may tell you

He stays there. He may as well play there.

We speak of the magician and stunt performer David Blaine and Wynn/Encore. Blaine is bringing his new Las Vegas production,“Impossible,” to Encore Theater at the Wynn, opening Dec. 29-31 and continuing Feb. 14, 17 and 18; March 27, 29, 30; and May 8, 10, 11. Tickets are on sale 10 a.m. Pacific time Friday at Ticketmaster.

Blaine says the Wynn is his favorite hotel. Those with an extended memory of Vegas entertainment history recall several years ago Blaine was in talks with hotel officials, starting with Steve Wynn, about a residency show.

“I’m so happy it’s finally come together because we’ve been wanting to do this forever,” Blaine says in a recent phone chat. “This is the perfect room, a great spot for a magic show. I’ve always loved staying at the Wynn. When I get my breakfast at Tableau or Jardin, my show will be right there.”

The “Impossible” marketing material shows the title emphasizing “IM,” or, “IMpossible,” forecasting “interactive magic.”

“We’ll have lots of surprises, and this will be a show that is leaning toward the interactive magic element,” Blaine says. “It will still have some of the pieces that could go very wrong. But let’s hope that that doesn’t happen.”

The 50-year-old Blaine has never performed on New Year’s Eve.

“For me, that’s the perfect way to bring in the new year,” Blaine says. “I can’t think of anything better.”

Blaine is in a smaller room (Encore seats 1,480) than his previous “In Spades” run at Resorts World Theater, the 4,703-capacity fortress where he premiered in September 2022. A shoulder injury he suffered in his 80-foot drop to cardboard boxes KO’d his final two shows in July.

Aside from that number, and an aerial balloon ride in his opening shows, any act Blaine performed previously in that show can be transferred to Encore Theater.

“There will be the swallowing of somebody’s ring, turning my stomach into an aquarium,” the daring entertainer says. “There will be the human pin cushion and holding my breath underwater longer than ever before.”

David Korins, with “Hamilton” among his credits, directs. Stu Dingley of Baz Halpin’s Silent House is lighting director. The show taps into Blaine’s career of close-up magic (he’s forever packing playing cards) and death-defying stunts.

Blaine says he plans to work “the whole room, where everybody has cards and gets to interact back and forth with me.” But there is a high complement of original pieces, too.

“There will be a lot of new magic,” Blaine says. “There’s going to be a lot of weaving of the stories that actually explain the process that went into many of these things that are not tricks, that are real, that are very dangerous.

“You’ll have a behind-the-scenes peek into all of these things that, that the method is almost just as interesting as the performance itself.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.