Criss Angel

Criss Angel
I was curious if you'd ever seen the Giant Human Comedian Illusionators sketch.

Actually, I had the pleasure of meeting them. I was in a club in Las Vegas and they came up to me and introduced themselves to me. The young lady that produces, or is involved over at A&E, Nicole, used to work with me. I found the pieces of it I saw to be very funny, and that's the greatest form of flattery when people are mimicking the stuff you do and spoofing it. It's amazing that I've gotten this far that shows like that, or 'Celebrity Deathmatch,' or 'Saturday Night Live' would reference me or do a piece on me. It's amazing to see how far I've come from a very humble background.
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# Posté le mercredi 18 juillet 2007 17:00

Criss Angel

Criss Angel
Criss Angel has stepped out as the face of magic for our time. We endured David Blaine for a while, and prior to that David Copperfield mesmerized my mom – most likely with all the lights and spinning cages – with magic. As Criss prepares for his 24 hour Cement Block endurance test and 3rd season of his show 'MindFreak' on A&E, he took a few moments to talk about what he's done, and what he hopes is the future of magic.

For our impressions of the illusionist and his upcoming season of 'MindFreak' you can head over here. What you'll find below is the interview in all its glory. Questions are in bold, with Criss' answers in regular type. The one-hour premiere of 'MindFreak's' third season airs Tuesday, June 5th, at 10:00 pm EST.
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# Posté le mercredi 18 juillet 2007 16:57

Criss Angel

Criss Angel
Now we get to the second part of the magic act: the presentation, the flash, the razzle dazzle. You could have the greatest illusion ever, but if you perform it in a deadpan voice saying "um" a lot, it's doubtful the audience is going to be interested. Angel's "look" is a departure from the classic tuxedo and top hat. Angel has this goth/nü-metal image with the long hair and the clothes from Hot Topic. He talks about how he wants to make magic more modern but it looked to me that a lot of stuff he performed was the standard sleight of hand and cold reading. It's very well done, but I'm not seeing the "modern" aspect.
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# Posté le mercredi 18 juillet 2007 14:55

Modifié le mercredi 18 juillet 2007 16:40

Criss Angel

Criss Angel
There is a movement among magicians to make the art more modern, more of an edge, more x-treme. Instead of a safe encompassing environment like a stage, they perform their tricks on the street in full view. Without a set audience or a backstage, some magicians feel that this "street magic" is more real for lack of a better word. David Blaine has been on the vanguard of this movement but there are others such as Criss Angel: Mindfreak. But Angel does more than perform feats of sleight of hand and mentalism. He pushes magic and himself to the edge with death defying stunts where he's set on fire, blown up, hung over a desert with hooks in his flesh and even hit with lightning. And you get to see all this in this new series.

There are two parts to a magic act. First is executing the trick: for example, place a coin "magically" into an unopened soda can. This kind of impossible feat is what Angel excels at. I watched a couple of the tricks he performs several times over and I can't find how he's doing it. The people who see his tricks are suitably impressed and are quite vocal about it. You see someone levitate your friend in the middle of a Las Vegas street and I dare you not to exclaim a "Goddamn!" and "No way!" The big "demonstrations" (as Angel calls them) are remarkable feats of endurance and body control if not testaments to his sanity. You have to be a special kind of person to drive a car blindfolded in Los Angeles to win a car or get hit from an electrical arc from a massive Tesla coil. Whether "special" means extraordinary or needing to ride the short bus is something I'll leave to the individual viewer.
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# Posté le mercredi 18 juillet 2007 14:53

C A

C A
Criss Angel
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# Posté le mercredi 18 juillet 2007 14:47