Why ‘South Park’s David Blaine Parody Baffled David Blaine

Every so often, magician David Blaine releases a new TV project in which he performs jaw-dropping illusions while inaudibly mumbling everything he says. Who could forget 2013’s David Blaine: Real or Magic, in which he regurgitated a bottle of water into Woody Allen’s bathroom

Which somehow wasn’t even the most cursed segment in the special:

Now Blaine has a new documentary series, David Blaine Do Not Attempt, in which he travels the world to meet “masters and performers who share unique skills and secrets.” 

While Blaine is no doubt a big star in the world of magic, not everybody is interested in the magician and may be more familiar with David Blaine parodies than David Blaine himself. Most memorably, in South Park, Blaine’s penchant for amazing tricks (including eating his own head) allow him to create his own cult, “Blaintology,” making enemies out of Jesus and the rest of the “Super Best Friends” in the process.

In a recent interview with Variety, Blaine addressed the many comedies that he’s inadvertently inspired over the years, and he claimed, “I love all of it!” Although, he did admit that Jim Carrey’s character in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was originally more of a David Blaine type until he specifically requested that they change it. “They actually asked me about it,” Blaine revealed. “I said, ‘Well, don’t do me exactly…’ So they veered off a little bit and made it kind of a mix of people.” 

This would explain why the character ultimately had more of a Criss Angel vibe.

Blaine also shouted out the early aughts internet comedy videos that co-starred a young Mikey Day. “The YouTube Street Magic parodies back in the day were amazing,” Blaine noted. “That was Mikey Day before he was on SNL. Again, those are the things my friends find hilarious.”

But when it came to South Park, Blaine was confused. Specifically, he was baffled by his cartoon doppelganger’s catchphrase: “The one thing I wondered about was South Park because they would have me say ‘twah’ at the end of sentences.”

He actually contacted South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to get an explanation. “I asked them, ‘Where did the ‘twah’ come from?’ And (Stone) told me, ‘Oh, there’s a guy I went to high school with that always said ‘twah’ and I had to use it, so I threw it in there.’”

Parker and Stone have backed up this story in the past. “I had a friend in high school that we called Twaaa because he always said that. He was a heavy metal guy. He always kind of talked like that,” Stone once revealed in a South Park DVD commentary. “‘Hey, you guys want to come over and play some guitar? Twaaa.’ I don’t know why he said twaaa but we just made David Blaine say it. We just started saying it with David Blaine. It doesn’t make any sense.”

They also recalled that Blaine called them just two days after the episode aired, and in addition to inquiring about his caricature’s quirk, he complained that “people were asking him for his Blainetology book and not joking.”

Thankfully, he didn’t use this as an opportunity to start an actual cult.