Jan. 11, 2008:

 

Criss Angel has a beard now. That was the first thing I noticed yesterday when we sat down to a 30-minute interview (no cameras) in the suite where Angel lives at  the Luxor. But it isn't a trendy strike beard; it is a work beard for fans to see on season four of his popular A&E show "Mindfreak," which he is filming now in Vegas.


"I don't have time to shave. I've been really intensely training on my close-up stuff like cards and different effects. The purest form of magic is close-up. There have been things I have really wanted to do for years and have been playing with for three years (on 'Mindfreak') but that I never mastered. But now I think I have it under control."


Angel's suite is near the top of the Luxor's pyramid and has been fully decorated for his comfort to include his miniature trains, a pinball machine, a drum set (given to him by a member of Godsmack) and a Pacman. There is also plenty of memorabilia from Angel's rise over the last decade from unknown to one of the hottest names in Vegas entertainment. Later this year he will become the first person to star in a Cirque show. Even though the show isn't opening until September, the Luxor already has dedicated display cases on the casino's ground floor to Angel's motorcycles, not to mention the souvenir store that sells all things Criss Angel. I don't recall during my time in Vegas anything comparable to the interest and excitement that Angel generates.


Certainly, Angel has become a shrewd marketer of his brand. Some would say that he is even too shrewd with his ability to command tabloid attention through his public interactions with Cameron Diaz, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and others. But Angel become famous not through who he hangs out with but through hard work and going his own way, sticking to his very specific vision for himself as an entertainer.


On Monday, I will have the entire transcript of the interview up on the Buffet. In our conversation we discussed Angel's lows and highs and his future with Cirque.


But for today let me share with you one thing I was curious about. I asked Angel to describe his ideas for Britney Spears' disastrous comeback at the Video Music Awards show in Vegas in September. Angel had been working with Spears on ideas for the performance that would have required a lot of rehearsals and effort from the star. Instead, Spears opted for more traditional choreography in a performance that, rather than announcing her return to the stage, marked the beginning of her total meltdown over the months that followed. But if she had gone with Angel's approach, what would we have seen?


"With Britney I presented concepts to create, within her performance, illusions that would happen in the open. You would see Britney and then she would split into two Britneys and then four Britneys with no boxes or covers. It would just be a visual effect using no screens. People in the past have used the art of magic in music performances but mostly in a cheesy way. Magic has not kept up with popular culture and technology.

"Other things I wanted to do with her was to literally transform her into birds and then for her to reappear in the audience. I also thought of having her levitate over the audience. It was going to be really visual moments that were all epic tableaux that were beautiful, artistic, elegant and, most important, unique -- things MTV hasn't seen in music. I wanted to captivate people in the moment. That was the essence of what I wanted to do with the Britney performance, because I think the performance she did with the snake was a highlight of her career and I wanted to trump that and I thought we had it."


So, what happened?


"Britney is really strong with her own ideas. And what I had planned wasn't an easy thing to do and would have required a lot of rehearsals. Ultimately, I told  her I needed 100% commitment or I wasn't going to be able to do this. I told her that, 'You have to feel comfortable.' So, we explored it and she decided it wasn't for her, and I completely understand."







 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRISS ANGEL FROM ALL YOUR LOYALS AROUND THE WORLD!!!

12-16-2007

 

Mindfreak magician Criss Angel was successful in his second attempt to duplicate a highly dangerous Houdini-styled underwater escape. It took him just 90-seconds to slip out of handcuffs, foot restraints and a steel chain around his back while trapped in a locked and barred cage underwater in the shark and stingray 117,000 gallon aquarium at the Silverton Casino Lodge.

 

Hundreds of his fans, "The Loyals," were able to watch the death-defying stunt close-up and symbolically held their breath while Criss was trapped underwater!

"Wow-we did it. I'm the luckiest guy alive. Somebody up there was looking out for me and helped me with getting free. I surprised myself at how smooth it went this time," he told me seconds after floating to the surface and getting out of the tank. I learned that Cirque du Soleil officials who are presenting his new $100-million- magic show at the Luxor had asked Criss, fearing for his life, not to go ahead with it!

In March this year, when he attempted the insane stunt for the first time, a preliminary test dive went horribly wrong and he wound up badly cut from the rocks inside the tank.

"I've still got the scars for life to prove that," said Criss after medics and insurance executives stopped it. "I was determined though to do it. I'd promised it to my fans and I couldn't let them down again."

Ironically, three-days before the hazardous horror-act he feared he'd have to cancel it again: "I woke up sick, with a fever. That went away, then my nose started running. I was congested, I was frightened I'd be stopped again-I was worried that all the loyals who would turn out to watch would think I was off my rocker if I cancelled again. All those things were going through my mind that could have played against me. I had some weird sick going on in my mind when I got here tonight, but then I found the confidence to overcome the fears!"

Criss took on a series of deep breathing exercise-training routines to build up his ability to hold his breath underwater. Last night before the submersion he built up his stamina to an amazing 6 minutes 18 seconds breath-hold. His trainer, Grant Graves, president of the US Apnea Diving Team told me: "After 40-years in the water even I wouldn't have done what he did. Criss though is a very focused individual and he was able to increase his breath-holding techniques remarkably in just four sessions. I taught him to use his body no differently than a dolphin or a whale would. He went from three minutes up to six minutes of holding his breath.

"But he had to overcome so many fears here. The most primordial fear of all is not being able to breathe. Then there is the fear of being trapped underwater. Add to that the fact that he was shackled inside a highly confined space and every move of his body would burn oxygen. On top of that, remember the first time he tried this it was a very bad experience where he not only came close to losing his life but also wound-up badly battered, bruised and bloodied."

Criss had his mom and brothers on hand at the top of the tank as he donned a wetsuit and goggles. Then he was shoved feet first into the cramped cage. Three spectators were randomly picked from the crowds watching and escorted upstairs to validate everything-complete with their own video cameras so their shots could be edited into the Mindfreak TV series. His feet were locked into restraints with a chain bolted through them, through his waist belt and then he was finally handcuffed. The cage, no larger than an airline dog-kennel, was loaded up with lead weights and then winched out over the water. A lipstick-sized camera on an outside arm was able to record everything Criss did while locked inside.

He asked to hold the start of the stunt for two minutes of silence so he could focus on his breath training and "get into the zone." Then he signaled his dive captain who yelled, "let's go," and Criss was lowered 35 feet right down onto the tank's sandy floor, inches from where fans were watching through the acrylic wall. The dive captain yelled "30-seconds" to those of us monitoring from up top. Then "60-seconds." The tension was incredible. The silence was surreal and eerily awesome. Everything seemed to stop like frozen motion-it was as if we were all holding our breath too-and then suddenly on the monitors we saw Criss reach out to turn the combination lock, break free and slowly float up to the surface to avoid damaging his ear-drums with a too-rapid ascent. It was exactly 90-seconds as he broke water and floated on his back for 10-more seconds before moving! Cheers and applause erupted both from the crowd below and from the technicians and crew up top.

He hugged and kissed his mother and brothers while still in his wet suit and thanked and congratulated his entire team for the successful escape.

 

After changing, it was time to celebrate with an advance magic-themed birthday cake-his big day is on Wednesday with an official party at the new Cathouse loungerie and LAX nightclub in the Luxor. He cut into the cake, had the first slice and then insisted every one of his fans also got a piece!

Then it was time for our interview, which will be part of the TV escape show. I can't give you all of that here because it must remain for the final Mindfreak episode when broadcast this coming Spring on A&E: "This was the most dangerous thing I've ever attempted. I can't even begin to think of what I could even do that's bigger than this, but obviously I have to keep pushing the envelope because the fans demand it. So many things could have gone wrong here, but somebody up there, maybe my father, watched and helped. It went so smooth it even surprised me. I've been escaping from handcuffs for a longtime now, so that was fast and easy-I think Dad was helping me-but I had problem with the feet. You don't want to move and waste air, so that was the closest I came to being frightened or panicked. But I 'd been taught how to overcome that fear and I went to a place in my mind where I played as a child with my little dog-and in relaxing instead of fighting it I got loose. I honestly could have stayed down there another four minutes holding my breath before we'd have gotten into serious trouble.

"When Houdini did this it was a trick. You couldn't see inside his wooden crate, and he went into a murky river. I wanted everybody to actually watch me while I was getting free so they all knew it was not an illusion but a real escape. We succeeded and that feels really good. Wow! I even amazed myself. It turned out that I didn't need all the training. But it gave me the confidence and you know last March when we tried to do this we failed with it. Then I had the failure when Dog threw me into the pool while I was roped to a chair, so I needed the confidence level to go longer-and have it in my arsenal. I felt like everything went beautifully. It was amazing. Sometimes you hit a snag, but this went right from the start. I couldn't have done it any better. I wanted to do it in four minutes but I did it in less than half the time. Honestly this was the challenge I was most concerned and worried about this season-I know how close I came last try and I know everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I said if I did it again I had to have the best guy to teach me to hold my breath as long as I could. The team did an amazing job-safety was first. I had to overcome this challenge, this fear and it turned out a faster time than I ever dreamed of. I was actually startled and stunned I'd escaped so quickly. Sometimes there's a snag but today none. It was huge. It could have been very bad but it turned out so well. The fans saw it happen right in front of their eyes. I couldn't have done it any better. "

I even tried to get Criss to let us in on the big secret of his new Cirque show.

"I can't reveal the show's name yet-but can tell you we have settled on it. The only thing I can tell you is that its something I've said often on my TV show while doing magic. We open July 29th in previews with a big premiere in September. We start rehearsals on April 15 once the new theater is finished with the new construction. It will be the most sensational show ever seen on the Strip and anywhere else in the world."

 

CRISS ANGEL STARTS BEST YEAR YET’ FOR MINDFREAK

November 5th, 2007

Mindfreak magician Criss Angel, who has already stunned TV audiences around the world with his incredible illusions, has just begun filming his fourth season of A&E cable shows. “It will be the best year yet,” Criss told me. “I’m so far advanced than when we started four years ago. We are able to do things now even I never thought possible at the beginning. I’m surprising myself about what we can achieve today compared with how we set out on our journey. It’s truly incredible, and if fans and viewers were amazed and mindfreaked last season just wait till we are broadcasting the new season of episodes. It is absolutely extraordinary.”

Criss, who has just returned from a near-medically mandated three-week R&R total chill-out vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, has set up his Vegas HQ again at the Luxor resort-hotel. In addition to the production offices at the casino playground he’s also opened his own video editing and recording studios this year downtown.

“This is now the first year we’ll be able to do everything here in Vegas without wasting hours and hours commuting back and forth to Los Angeles. With all we have scheduled before we move into the new Luxor theater mid-April for the start of the new Cirque show rehearsals, we just had to base everything in Vegas,” he told me.

The star is hoping his new state-of-the-art studio facility will attract other TV shows and productions to Vegas. In addition, he has finalized negotiations with a major Vegas-based entertainment conglomerate for yet another project. I’ve been sworn to total secrecy about all the details until we get closer to next year’s official announcement. Somehow Criss has to finish not only the 22-episodes of Season four Mindfreak and two connected specials, but he’s set to shoot the Mandrake the Magician movie–all before the April 14 Cirque start. Present plans call for Criss to begin his multi-million dollar 10-year contract with the new Cirque du Soleil magic spectacular with four to five months of rehearsals, advance planning and iron out the wrinkles before August ’08 previews and a gala September premiere. Insiders with the ambitious first-ever solo star Cirque show have revealed the launch and pre-production budget alone is way over $100-million!

“It’s amazing what we are planning,” said Criss. “It will be the most spectacular and incredible show ever presented on the Strip. It will be unlike anything the world has ever seen or imagined. It will be years before anybody could come close to competing with what we are creating.”

Criss wouldn’t reveal any advance secrets of the sensational spectacle he’s planning, but he did let me in on one of the first mind-blowing stunts he’s already shot this first week of Mindfreak filming that will be included in the premiere weeks of the TV series starting next Spring.

“You will see me being mowed down by a 100 mph car–and at the split second of impact I’ll vanish and be found behind the wheel driving it,” he confided. “That’s something I wouldn’t have imagined us pulling off four years ago. We’ve come so far with the illusions now that, not only will this be our biggest and best year so far, but I’m even blowing myself away with what we’re now able to do.”

Criss is currently tangling with contestants on the supernatural show Phenomenon on NBC-TV and he almost came to blows with mentalist James Callahan, with bodyguards having to separate them, after Criss called the act “bogus.” When we chatted, Criss was reluctant to talk about fellow magician David Copperfield’s ongoing current legal situation relating to an FBI investigation arising from rape allegations by an un-named Seattle woman at his Exuma Islands retreat in the Bahamas.

He did admit the two are rivals who don’t particularly care for each others’ magic styles. “My TV-ratings are fantastic and my shows and illusions are unique and totally different, so I’m on top of the world. I just did an hour with Larry King on CNN,” said Criss, “and he also asked about the problems. It’s just sad that he hasn’t been charged with anything and already the newspapers have made him guilty.”