"Criss Angel Mindfreak" REVIEWS
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"Criss Angel Mindfreak"
Wednesday, July 20; 10 p.m. A&E
THINK "Fear Factor" is tough to take?
Try getting run over by a Hummer while lying on a bed of nails, pulling
string out of your eye, or dangling by a helicopter - suspended by
fishhooks in your back.
All in a day's work for daredevil magician Criss Angel, who next month
takes his illusionist lunacy to the A&E reality series "Criss Angel
Mindfreak" and its requisite promotions.
First comes Oasis, a stunt set for July 18 and 19 in Bryant Park, where
Angel will escape from a water tank after a 36-hour submersion - 12
hours longer than a similar feat he performed in Times Square three
years ago.
The series begins July 20 - 16 episodes showcasing Angel's surrealist
imaginings, original rock music, live street magic, celebrity guests,
and behind-the-scenes preparation to catch bullets in his teeth, pull
razor blades from his mouth and get buried alive.
Not to mention the tender family moments.
Like when Angel flies his beloved mother to Las Vegas for her 70th
birthday - then surprises her with a trick in which he sets himself
on fire. Mom is not happy.
He's "Carnivale" meets "Six Feet Under" - a traveling circus with a
death wish.
"Magic doesn't get the respect that cinema and musicians do," says
Angel. "It just needs to be presented in the day and age that we live."
It also doesn't hurt to look like a rock star with killer abs.
"Criss is a completely engaging character," says executive producer
Michael Blum, who guided the grueling shoot over 10 weeks of 18- hour
days. "People are not handed reality shows unless they have a certain
'it' factor that makes them compelling to watch no matter what they're
doing."
Growing up Christopher Sarantakos in East Meadow, Long Island, Angel
has been a fixture around the New York magic scene since his teens,
when he was pulling in $3,000 a week playing clubs and parties, and
experimenting with an MTV sensibility that incorporated his original
hard-rock music and magic.
His new direction sank in with his 2001 hit Off-Broadway show - also
called "Criss Angel Mindfreak" - which led to appearances on MTV,
Discovery Channel and ABC Family.
Now his handlers, The Firm - which also manages Leonardo DiCaprio,
Robert De Niro and Cameron Diaz - are positioning him to be the next
magician superstar.
"I'm like an addict," says Angel. "I need to get the next idea out of
my head and bring it to fruition."
* * *
NY DAILY NEWS/Jacob E. Osterhout
And you thought your Mondays were tough. Yesterday, at 8 a.m. in Bryant
Park, the illusionist Criss Angel attempted to pull off his latest
escape, "Oasis." Angel, whose new show "Criss Angel Mindfreak"
premieres Wednesday on A&E, locked himself in a transparent, airtight
chamber that was submerged in 2,000 gallons of water. He has almost a
day and a half's supply of oxygen, and thus 33 hours to figure out how
to break free. Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be illusionists.
Q: How do you prepare for a stunt like this?
A: I start fasting two days before the demonstration, and I work on my
shallow breathing. The chamber is airtight, so I will have to maximize
each breath I take.
Q: What's going to be the toughest part about this trick?
A: The pressure, definitely. Six-thousand pounds of pressure always
makes breathing hard. You know how tough it is to dunk a basketball in
a pool? Well, now imagine that force pushing on me at all times.
Q: Do you only worry about the pressure?
A: There are other factors, as well. I haven't slept for more than
three hours in six months, so I'll be run down. The water has the
potential to get very hot and it also distorts my vision, so it'll be
like I'm wearing the world's strongest glasses. I won't be able to
think, see or feel anything other than the pressure. It'll be a
sensory-deprivation chamber.
Q: Sounds fun. What if you have to go to the bathroom?
A: I can urinate, but that's about it. That's one of the reasons I'm
fasting - so I don't have to go.
Q: You've done numerous demonstrations in New York. Why do you keep
coming back?
A: I'm from New York and I absolutely love the people of New York. I
feed off the energy of the city. It gets me through the tough times.
Q: Is this the hardest trick you've ever done?
A: That's tough to say. I've been electrocuted, hung from hooks, lit on
fire and I caught a bullet in a cup in my mouth. Those are all hard, so
I can't say that this will be the most difficult, but it will be one of
the most difficult.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Magic has become a cheap novelty, and what I'm trying to do is blur
the line between reality and illusion and create an experience with the
audience that will get them invested at an emotional level.
Q: What about pain?
A: I have learned to accept pain because it will go away. Actually, I
feel that pain is beautiful because it is a sensation of being alive.
Q: What would you say to a kid trying to imitate you?
A: Don't do it. I'm not a daredevil. I plan these demonstrations out.
You'll kill yourself, and I'll feel really guilty.
* * *
NY POST/LINDA STASI
FINALLY - a reality show that admits it's total illusion!
I'm talking about A&E's new reality/magic show starring Criss Angel -
one of those guys you desperately want to hate. Why? For one thing he
looks like the demon love child of Lord of the Dance and Marilyn
Manson. For another, he's a magician. Everything screams "love-to-hate"
the man - right?
Wrong. Angel is, in fact, a charmer. And cute. But more importantly,
his magic tricks - oh sorry, his illusions - are actually mind
blowing, which is why, I assume, he calls himself "Mindfreak" on his
new A&E reality/magic show, "Criss Angel: Mindfreak."
In tonight's heavily hyped premiere, cameras follow him around a park
in Las Vegas (nature apparently is not a big draw in Vegas, so the park
looks more like a sad sand lot) and a casino mall (more like it!),
where he proceeds to levitate shoppers.
It's actually quite astounding to watch. Angel, who must be a huge
Salvador Dali fan, creates illusions that look vaguely like some of the
artist's most famous paintings. For example, there's that habit he has
of constantly levitating himself, arms spread, looking like Dali's
"Crucifixion" minus the cross. This is good because otherwise we'd have
a er, Criss Cross.
The producers like to say the show blends reality with "surreality,"
and it does - very well.
Angel, who clearly is a dyed-in-the-wool Noow Yawkah (this is the guy
currently submerging himself in an air-tight chamber in Bryant Park),
has a crew of guys who work for him, helping him prepare his tricks. As
the series progresses, we will probably get to know them better. And we
should.
First of all, several of them are his brothers, and the others are
experts in various weirdo things. I mean, wouldn't you like to know
more about the guy whose job it is to set him on fire?
In episode two we meet his mom, who comes to Vegas to celebrate her
70th birthday. And because he loves his mom so much, he gives her what
every mom longs for on her birthday: He sets himself on fire and runs
around all lit up (with no protection on his hands or face) for 45
seconds.
Talk about warming the cockles of her heart.
Criss, who looks like a metalhead, also writes the music for the show.
The music, a lot of New Age magician posing and the fact that he tawks
like a regulah guy, all blend into a nice, if totally unexpected
package.
It's about time we got a non-competition reality show where we're
offered actual entertainment and a fully functioning family. If I want
to watch ugly family strife, I'll stick to the masters - "Jerry
Springer" and "Maury."