At one time, we thought Criss Angel was doing great things for Magic and while we were not big fans of hanging by meat hooks as performance art, we respected his willingness to try new directions.
We were psyched he hired so many talented magicians as he readied his Mindfreak show. Johnny Thompson, Banachek, Steve Daly, Milt Larsen and others. They were the real deal, folks who know our art and have experience in big theaters and small close-up venues.
Yes, Mr. Angel’s use of the camera trickery was unfortunate but to paraphrase Chinatown, “It’s Hollywood, Jake.” We pretended not to care. Still, Houdini did not use camera tricks – even when he was filming his own stunts for the Houdini Motion Picture Company. There is no evidence that Robert-Houdin used video editing either.
There could be an argument made that David Copperfield has used cameras in a less than transparent manner, but his choice of a camera’s point of view or field of vision pales in comparison to the Criss Angel method.
We refused to contemplate too deeply the serial dating of starlets and wannabes proclaiming his undying love for each publicly with the abandon we normally associate with teen crushes. Continue reading Criss Angel – We’re Kind of Over It
Magician and inventor Jacob Spinney filed suit against Criss Angel on June 8, 2009 claiming Mr. Angel renigned on a promise to pay for rights to Spinney’s Chair Self-Levitation, Spinney’s Chair Self-Suspension and Spinney’s Fork-Bending gimmicks.
Mr. Spinney filed his eight-count complaint against Criss Angel in Nassau County, New York, home of Angel Productions, Incorporated.
According to the complaint, in 2004, Mr. Angel asked Murphy’s Magic Supplies for ”illusions or magical effects” to be used in this upcoming MindFreak television series.
Murphy’s referred Criss Angel to teenage inventor Jacob Spinney. The two spoke, and Angel offered Spinney a position as “Magic Consultant” on the upcoming series.
Criss Angel lost a girlfriend but gained a motorcycle.
According to Robin Leach’s Luxe Life, Criss Angel gets a new motorcycle at the start of each season of Mindfreak.
The show is entering the fifth season on A & E this fall.
When Criss first saw the jet-black bike as the covers were pulled back, he was stunned, and all he could say was “wow, wow, wow,” according to Motorcycle USA Cruiser Editor Bryan Harley.
One of Criss’s team told me: “He unveils a new bike at the beginning of each new season, and it gets used in several of the illusions. Criss also had a custom-designed bike to reflect his Believe show at the Luxor and a third, which was more of a classic. The official Mindfreak bike will be on display at the Luxor throughout the Season 5 filming.”
Yesterday was Ed Alonzo Day at the Magic Double-Wide we call home here in Mystic Hollow, Michigan.
We were cruising the web and getting up to date on all things magic when we read Inside Magic Favorite, Ed Alonzo will create the magic for Michael Jackson’s 50-date run in London.
Wow, that says a lot for both Ed Alonzo and Michael Jackson.
Ed Alonzo is famous within the world of magic, but is not yet a household name like David Copperfield, Li’l Tom Hardy, or Criss Angel.
Plus, he seems profoundly normal and decent. There were no rumors of his dating or not dating Britney Spears either before or during his current employment with the bombshell that is Ms. Spears.
The postman came by and made some comments about our need to cut back on the magic magazines if we ever hoped to get out of debt. He held three of our magic journals in one hand and a stack of bills in the other.
We thanked him for his unsolicited advice, slightly whistling through our broken incisor at just the right pitch to summon our playful pit bull – Doberman mix, Big Tom.
This may be apostasy or just dumb politics but a recent in-house poll of the Inside Magic staff reveals we’re over Criss Angel.
Magician and inventor 
Yesterday was 
Recent Comments