Criss Angel – Mindfreak or Mindfake?
Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of controversy around the magic world regarding Criss Angel. Go into any magic forum online, or talk to a group of magicians, and you’ll always have a few complaining that Criss Angel is a fraud. He’s definitely a “love him or hate him” type of guy, and the people who hate him usually attribute that hate to the fact that most of his tricks are only possible through camera and TV trickery. Now, being magicians, we all know that magic isn’t real, right? So what’s the difference between camera trickery and the trickery and sleight of hand we use as street magicians? They both rely on a great deal of skill, concentration, and even acting from the magician. Magic relies on altering reality for the spectator with any means necessary. In my opinion, there is no difference between using a simple gimmick to perform a trick or using a camera. Unfortunately, not all of us have access to a multi-million dollar production team and camera equipment. But if we did? Of course we’d all be doing the same thing Criss is doing! He’s using whatever means necessary to produce incredible illusions and get some great responses. We should all be so lucky some day.
October 15th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
i now criss angel’sfake but how does ha levitate
October 16th, 2009 at 7:36 am
I am 17 years old and I am doing some magic tricks and I just wanted to say that you and Criss Angel are my favorite magicians.
October 17th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
He Levitates with actors and a crane, he’s a big fake. He always uses actors and special effects. I even heard that he’s always making fun of David Blaine, Now David is losing fans for a fake magician. Criss is a lazy Magician, unlike us who actually take the risk of getting caught.
October 18th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Great stuff on your site. I am trying to get my son into magic. He is 6-years old. He gets very frustratged becasue he can not do all of the tricks. Any advice?
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:24 am
Criss Angel has brought the art of magic back when it seemed almost dead. He is to be given a thumbs up just for doing that! One thing about C. Angel is some of his illusions seem totally unexplainable when in fact,..they really are. Criss has taken magic to the streets and it’s now a whole different kind of magic. The audience members are more involved than you think they are. But the basic principles behind his illusions are not as difficult as he makes you believe they are. There might be some camera editing to cover something like a flaw in his performance but I don’t believe he uses the cameras for all of his tricks! As a matter of fact,..I know he doesn’t because I know how a lot of his illusions are done. You have to remember,…Criss claimed that he worked for 20 years on his levitation illusions. 20YEARS! No,…it’s not just camera tricks. If you want to see it for yourself,..go to Vegas and watch them produce an episode. See him preform for yourself! His website sells tickets for upcoming shows! Then,..you might understand a little more about Criss Angel and maybe a little less,..as well. It doesn’t take a million dollar camera and a whole lot of money to tape one of his shows! I worked in the film business for years and I could do the same thing he does. He has a selling point! He makes all his money off of merchandise and stuff like that. He doesn’t sell his well kept secrets to anyone! He makes you believe they’re “impossible illusions!” “Unexplainable miracles”! That’s exactly what he wants you to believe. He’s a master of deception and holds the audience in the palm of his hand. Ask me about any certain illusions,..other than his levitations and vanishes. You’d be surprised at the secrets.
Give it up for Criss Angel! He’s devoted his life to magic and deserves the praise and notability he gets for doing just that!
E. Hayenga
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:36 am
Jake? You’re full of it! To Brad with the six-year old and getting frustrated. Get him some old tricks from your local magic shoppe. Like the “Dice box” or “the disappearing milk” trick. They may be a little high-priced but your son will love them and will have no problems if you select the right tricks that are geared for his age group. I would stay away from card tricks and/or tricks that take moves that his little hands aren’t big enough for quite yet. One of my best tricks when I was a kid was “pulling an endless scarf” out of my hand. Cheap! A few bucks and he’s ready to go.
Good luck. Hope your son sticks with it. Encourage him even when he screws up. Be his “magic friend”. Someone he can rehearse with and be told what he needs to work on more in any particular trick.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I had the pleasure of watching Criss live in New York City at a small theater. The stage was 3/4 surrounded by the audience, no curtains, no wings. He did a great full evening illusion show. Had I not seen him live I’d write him off as a camera trick jerk – but the man knows his stagecraft. BTW, I can’t watch Mind Freak, it makes me sick. So stupid. But, then again, I’m twisting balloon doggies and he’s a millionaire!
November 7th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
i love criss. he does all his illusions live at the luxor. so how could he use camera tricks with out a camera.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Hey Holden!
The “baffling” levitations that Angel does took him decades to design and perfect. If you have seen all of his shows you will hear him say that several times. He sells a levitation DVD on ellusionist.com for $100.00 and it’s my guess that it’s the “break away pant leg” routine. Maybe not but I’d bet on it. It is probably the besty levitation DVD out there at this time. Don’t spend the $100.00! I’ll tell you how it’s done without charge. Andrew Mayne is putting out several DVD’s on levitation. “Flying Up’? is one of his latest but is always sold out whereever it is for sale. I will say this,..there are no wires, cranes or tyypical support systems used by Criss Angel! Hint: Have you seen the toy car that can be electronically controlled to not only roll across the table but upside down under it as well. Dyfying all laws off gravity. Buy tyhe new toy and figure out how it works. When you figure out how the toy rolls upside down,..you are on the way to learning “Angels” levitations which are well kept secrets. Read the principles used by magicians around the beginning of the 20th century. 1880-1920. The same principles are used along with some new modern day scientific discovers are applied. Think about magnets, electromagnetism and the many invisible materials manufactured today. One more tyhing,…the audience plays a big role in Criss’ magic. They are paid a small fee to participate in Angel’s illusions. You must always take that into consideration. This is nothing new. Having a few secret people involved during an illusion has been used for 1000’s of years in the art of magic. It’s not cheating. It’s misdirection. There are no camera tricks in Criss’ latest stuff. If you want info on a particular illusion just ask. I know how 80% of his tricks are done. So go to amazon.com and get a few books on levitation. Search the web for “Andrew Mayne’s” illusions for sale. He would be today’s magician that is revealing some of the better levitation illusions of today. Don’t fall for the worthless “Balducci” method. David Blaine also does some great levitations! Through a little research I know that the gimmick he uses costs a couple of hundred dollars to build. Is not angle sensitive and is practically unperceivable to the audience.
December 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Criss Angel is an awesome magician. However, I do not like video trickery. Nothing against him (or other magicians) but I think magic should be sleight of hand, or cunning than FX. Sleight of hand is gutsy, where video trickery is playing on a computer altering it so that you don’t get caught. But I still think he is an awesome magician.
December 27th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I AM NEW AT THIS, SO I REALIZE THAT I CAN’T SAY ALOT. BUT IT SEEMS SOME OF THE “TRICKS” TAKE ALOT OF WORK, TO MAKE THEM LOOK REAL. THAT BEING SAID WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO JUMP ON SOMEONE THAT’S WORKED VERY HARD AND IS JUST TRYING TO EARN A LIVING OR BE ENTERAINING? TO SEE A YOUNG PERSON BIG SMILE AFTER A WELL DONE “TRICK” IS VERY REWARDING. I DON’T KNOW IT JUST SEEMS LIKE THERE IS SOME OVERLY STRONG COMMENTS AGAINST SOME HARD WORK BEING DONE.
January 19th, 2010 at 4:33 am
of course he uses (actors) to helo him from the crowd magitions call them confederates, we are all actors playing the part of a magician
February 20th, 2010 at 8:29 am
Criss angel is really gay.He dose have actors.Criss angel suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks
March 10th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
criss is awsome but ive got to hand it to mason that SOME of his tricks are t.v trickery
March 24th, 2010 at 7:52 am
You would not believe how long ive been searching for something like this. Went through 10 pages of Yahoo results and couldnt find anything. Quick search on bing. There this is…. Really gotta start using that more often