Criss Angel Movies
Suburban New York native Criss Angel began cultivating an interest in music and in magic at an early age. He began by performing tricks for his family, but soon moved on to showcasing his abilities at nightclubs. He also formed a band called AngelDust, and played in local bars and clubs. Eventually, Angel's skill and notoriety as an illusionist earned him a gig in the World of Illusion show at Madison Square Garden in 1998. This led to his own show on Broadway, which he called Mindfreak. After some of his performances were taped and made into TV specials, he was offered his own show, which had the same title. Criss Angel: Mindfreak began airing on A&E in 2005. Filmed in Las Vegas, and it featured him impressing and sometimes frightening patrons of the Aladdin Hotel (and later the Luxor Hotel) with seemingly impossible tricks that included levitation, walking on water, and sawing himself in half. He followed up Mindfreak with another TV series - The Five Lives of Criss Angel. He dated a string of famous women including Cameron Diaz, Holly Madison, and Pamela Anderson.Angel has been honored with the Magician of the Year award from the Academy of Magical Arts, and he's published a book, Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, in which he explains how to accomplish some of his simpler illusions, like making a Styrofoam cup float in midair. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- 2005
Gaunt, flowing-haired illusionist Criss Angel, whose act combined Vegas-style prestidigitation with spectacular public stunts, spontaneous audience participation, Messianic mysticism and Goth-rock music, was the star of this half-hour cable series, advertised by home network A&E as TV's first weekly magic show in four decades. A practicing magician from age six, Angel had honed self-promotion to a fine art; whether on or off the job, he seemed to be perpetually surrounded by cameras which recorded his every move, even when visiting his family. Angel's series offered at least one awe-inspiring illusion per episode, running the gamut from levitation to self-immolation. Evidently there was no place on earth that he could not perform; he was as apt to pull an innocent bystander off the street for a "spontaneous" bit of legerdemain as he was to climb down the 55-story side of Las Vegas' Aladdin Hotel. According to network publicity, Angel utilized no camera trickery or special movie effects; he did, however, boast a large and ubiquitous entourage of loyal disciples who always managed to show up just as he went into one of his routines. Other than his pet black cat Minx, the series had no other "regulars" except Angel, though guest magicians appeared from time to time. A spinoff of a 2002 one-shot special, Criss Angel Mindfreak debuted July 20, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2005
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The A&E magic series Criss Angel Mindfreak opens with the pilot episode "Burned Alive", setting the series' formula of at least one spectacular illusion per week. The saturnine, flowing-haired Angel, whose demeanor borders on the Messianic, introduces himself to the viewers by setting himself afire--as a birthday present for his mother! The season's remaining fifteen episodes offer even more new spins on old stage-magic standards: In the "Levitation" episode, he grabs innocent bystanders off the street and sends them aloft; recreating a classic Houdini routine, he attempts an escape from a huge wine vat; at the giant Tesla Coils in Baraboo, Wisconsin, he zaps himself full of electricity; and while appearing at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, he astonishes one and all by literally walking down the hotel's sheer 55-story side! Other episodes conjure up the classic "bed of nails" routine using an SUV (honest!), a sequence wherein Angel appears to render himself blind, a buried-alive turn, and a session of "muscular" mindreading. In addition, the host escorts the viewers behind the hallowed doors of LA's fabled Magic Castle, and matches wits and skills with fellow magicians Lance Burton and The Amazing Jonathan. The season ends with--surprise, surprise!--a bone-chilling Halloween special. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Criss Angel
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