Criss Angel - Card Magic

[LOSTMYMINDLETMEREADYOURS]

I remember hearing previews for one of Criss Angel's upcoming episodes where he says, "I hear people say that I don't do a lot of close-up magic with cards, and blah blah blah" so he said he was going to be dedicating a bunch of his time to learn as much close-up sleight of hand he could possibly learn, in the shortest amount of time and then use that for an episode. I never got to see the episode, but from some of the previews I still didn't see anything too spectacular, but then again, I didn't see the whole episode so maybe I missed some pretty good close-up magic and sleight of hand. And the keywords being "sleight-of-hand" and not relying heavily on either gimmicks, stooges or his famous camera trickery.

So did anyone see this particular special and have any thoughts on it? Because I lost all respect for Criss Angel when he started to exploit other Magicians and when the cameras were rolling have him say, "Oh wow, that's Psychokinetic Touches by Banachek" and then purposely make a fool of David Blaine. By doing the Balducci Levitation and failing on purpose and then attempting other of the effects David Blaine did just so Criss Angel's ego could puff up some more.

Not to mention the fact that he says, "What you see is what you get" which is basically saying, "I have the ability to levitate 80 feet in the air, and then levitate some 50 feet away, and walk up building" and then his Halloween special where he supposedly talked to the dead, where he was then again telling the audience what you see is what you get, saying he can actually do what he's doing for real. But then at the end of his show, at the very, very end in small text that flashed faster than a nano-second, it said something along the lines of "this is just entertainment purposes, nothing you saw was real."

I apologize for the rant, but I just have no respect for a so called "Magician" who does these sort of things with no respect for anyone else, other than himself.

i agree 100%.

i have an interesting story, i replied to a comment on one of those blaine vs. angel videos because someone said that angel has the skill and blaine has the gimmicks. i told him to name 3 tricks of criss' that were ungimmicked. what he said is the funny part. he named 1) flying from building to building. 2) walking on water. 3) walking up the side of the building. XD. i laughed my ass off. i didnt even comment back because i felt sorry for him.

 

[chriswiehl]

he takes the image too far, he makes it so he isnt just doing tricks, but REal magic. and he takes it to the point where he isnt just a magician or illusionst, but more of a god type of person, or like his name suggests and angel. i think that is what his worst attribute is. not that he is just a person doin magic for someone, but he actually has real powers. that is what all the laymen think that love criss. not that his tricks are fake, but all the people who have seen his magic on tv have no other conclusion than he is superhuman / the real deal.

 

[brainblower]

not that he is just a person doin magic for someone, but he actually has real powers.

Before I started magic and had never heard about Criss Angel, my friend told me to search Criss's videos from youtube. He said that he can really fly and walk on water and all kinds of supernatural things . I didnt fall for that

 

[adjones]

From what I've seen (I've watched very little of the show), Criss's magic in general is very lacking. The presentation is partially there, especially in the bigger stunts, but with his close-up, I think he really flops. If he wasn't famous, I don't think he could make it as a close-up magician.

 

[James Smith]

While many hate on Criss Angel I pitty you all because he is really a hard working illusionist.
He uses video effects to create illusions. I'm pretty sure many illusionists back in the day also had hired people in the audience who they called up to make it work. Criss uses 21st century technology to make illusions to seem more real. I dont know about you all but he is still does a great job. My hat's off to him.

-T.J.

Robert Houdin used camera editing to make a woman disappear. The reality is, even though he isn't creating magic for people watching him live, he is creating magic for people watching at home.

Edit: My mistake, it was actually Georges Méliès, another French magician. He performed at Houdin's theater, so that was how I confused them. He did it around 1896.

he takes the image too far, he makes it so he isnt just doing tricks, but REal magic. and he takes it to the point where he isnt just a magician or illusionst, but more of a god type of person, or like his name suggests and angel. i think that is what his worst attribute is. not that he is just a person doin magic for someone, but he actually has real powers. that is what all the laymen think that love criss. not that his tricks are fake, but all the people who have seen his magic on tv have no other conclusion than he is superhuman / the real deal.

I read his book, "Secret Revelations," and although he was sort of an egotistical-jerk, he never claimed to have supernatural powers. Many times he actually stated that he hates it when people think he does real magic.

 

[adjones]

Robert Houdin used camera editing to make a woman disappear.

Where is this documented? Houdin died in 1871... which seems to me would be way too early for camera trickery to even be considered.

 

[Deadman]

I remember hearing previews for one of Criss Angel's upcoming episodes where he says, "I hear people say that I don't do a lot of close-up magic with cards, and blah blah blah" so he said he was going to be dedicating a bunch of his time to learn as much close-up sleight of hand he could possibly learn, in the shortest amount of time and then use that for an episode. I never got to see the episode, but from some of the previews I still didn't see anything too spectacular, but then again, I didn't see the whole episode so maybe I missed some pretty good close-up magic and sleight of hand. And the keywords being "sleight-of-hand" and not relying heavily on either gimmicks, stooges or his famous camera trickery.

So did anyone see this particular special and have any thoughts on it? Because I lost all respect for Criss Angel when he started to exploit other Magicians and when the cameras were rolling have him say, "Oh wow, that's Psychokinetic Touches by Banachek" and then purposely make a fool of David Blaine. By doing the Balducci Levitation and failing on purpose and then attempting other of the effects David Blaine did just so Criss Angel's ego could puff up some more.

Not to mention the fact that he says, "What you see is what you get" which is basically saying, "I have the ability to levitate 80 feet in the air, and then levitate some 50 feet away, and walk up building" and then his Halloween special where he supposedly talked to the dead, where he was then again telling the audience what you see is what you get, saying he can actually do what he's doing for real. But then at the end of his show, at the very, very end in small text that flashed faster than a nano-second, it said something along the lines of "this is just entertainment purposes, nothing you saw was real."

I apologize for the rant, but I just have no respect for a so called "Magician" who does these sort of things with no respect for anyone else, other than himself.

I totally agree with you , Criss was not bad when he started magic but now , he is just the master of editing. He takes stage magic and do it on the streets with paid actors replacing assistants if done on stage. Also , he uses very little sleight of hand, for example the Ultimate Ace Assembly that he did was too simple for a person that "can levitate from one building to another"

 

[James Smith]

Where is this documented? Houdin died in 1871... which seems to me would be way too early for camera trickery to even be considered.

I was reading a book about film for my drama class. There was a chapter on camera trickery, and it mentioned that Robert Houdin had a short five minute film where he made a woman disappear. I'm not positive on when Nickelodeons were introduced though. (I only skimmed the book, I decided to pick another topic for my project.) I'll look online, but I doubt I'll find any trustworthy info.

 

[jag1959]

He will run out of material soon and it will be all over,thank god!He couldn't hold Lances or D.C's jock strap.

 

[James Smith]

Where is this documented? Houdin died in 1871... which seems to me would be way too early for camera trickery to even be considered.

My mistake, it was actually Georges Méliès, another French magician. He performed at Houdin's theater, so that was how I confused them. He did it around 1896.

 

[adjones]

My mistake, it was actually Georges Méliès, another French magician. He performed at Houdin's theater, so that was how I confused them. He did it around 1896.

Ahh, gotcha. Where did you read about this? Just curious.

 

[James Smith]

Ahh, gotcha. Where did you read about this? Just curious.

I don't remember where I read it in a book, but this is where I corrected myself:

http://www.nwlink.com/~erick/silentera/Melies/melies.html

 

[Robert " The Mystifyer"]

First of all, the show is produced in a perspective of a lay person, they expect lay people to watch, but they do realize that magicians tune in every now and then. If CA's close up magic lacks presentation or skill, thats your opinion. I will not state mine. Criss has some of the best names in magic consulting for him: Luke Dancy, Ben Seidmen, Joe Monti , Sean Fields ect. These are talented close up performers that WORK HARD ! to bring the demonstrations to life. I reccomend you listen to the podcast with Luke Dancy again. As Luke states, doing magic for T.V is a lot more difficult, let me tell you, you try getting out there and performing with the camera and spectators around you, its very hard to use misdirection to your advantage and its definatly not easy. We all know how magic on T.V works, its A LOT DIFFRENT!.

Lets just leave it there.

Robert.

 

[joshrobarts]

First of all, the show is produced in a perspective of a lay person, they expect lay people to watch, but they do realize that magicians tune in every now and then. If CA's close up magic lacks presentation or skill, thats your opinion. I will not state mine. Criss has some of the best names in magic consulting for him: Luke Dancy, Ben Seidmen, Joe Monti , Sean Fields ect. These are talented close up performers that WORK HARD ! to bring the demonstrations to life. I reccomend you listen to the podcast with Luke Dancy again. As Luke states, doing magic for T.V is a lot more difficult, let me tell you, you try getting out there and performing with the camera and spectators around you, its very hard to use misdirection to your advantage and its definatly not easy. We all know how magic on T.V works, its A LOT DIFFRENT!.

Lets just leave it there.

Robert.

this wasn't simply about how hard it is to produce a magic show or how hard his consultants work. im sure he has some great minds working for him, but his performance more times than not doesn't do them justice, we all have opinions on him and we were sharing them. Besides alot of the issues with him dont stem from his show, they stem from his attitude in general and the way in which he presents himself not the magic itself, although most of it is ridiculous anyway. And while most of us do not know the difficulties of producing and putting forth a show on magic, we can compare it to other shows such as david blaine or even Master's of illusion, and it clearly falls short, especially when you start talking about camera editing and stooging. But the real issue for me is that a magician's reputation should be just as strong while he performs on stage or tv as if he is up close right next to you and criss relies so much on his editing, stooging and large scale effects that anyone that would bump into him on the street would be so disappointed with his "vanishing quarter" trick. Also, i think it is apparent from his vegas show's epic failure that it is not that he is a good presenter in any sense, rather he succeeds well on tv and solely on tv.

 

[Dizzi]

1. my problem with Criss is not that he uses stooges but often does magic FOR stooges

2: criss was good in his earlier days IMO but then trying to come up with a half-hour show of magic every week he starts to get Quantity instead of Quality. He doesn;t have the time to get the tricks down.

 

[VisualFiction]

Wow. There is alot of hating going on here. How about this, instead of expressing you opinions in words why don't you get your own show together and see how well you do in comparison. If he is as bad as you say he is then it should not be that hard. My guess is that if you did, you would find the same criticism you are giving being thrown right back at you. Personally I think this man deserves a bit of respect. He is not perfect but neither are we.
Peace, Love

 

[James Smith]

Wow. There is alot of hating going on here. How about this, instead of expressing you opinions in words why don't you get your own show together and see how well you do in comparison. If he is as bad as you say he is then it should not be that hard. My guess is that if you did, you would find the same criticism you are giving being thrown right back at you. Personally I think this man deserves a bit of respect. He is not perfect but neither are we.
Peace, Love

That's true, it would be very challenging to do so many shows.

 

[Steppiz]

...

Wow. There is alot of hating going on here. How about this, instead of expressing you opinions in words why don't you get your own show together and see how well you do in comparison. If he is as bad as you say he is then it should not be that hard. My guess is that if you did, you would find the same criticism you are giving being thrown right back at you. Personally I think this man deserves a bit of respect. He is not perfect but neither are we.
Peace, Love

I do close-up shows about once or twice a week... and trust me.. the laymen think it's better than watching criss on tv

 

[joshrobarts]

Wow. There is alot of hating going on here. How about this, instead of expressing you opinions in words why don't you get your own show together and see how well you do in comparison. If he is as bad as you say he is then it should not be that hard. My guess is that if you did, you would find the same criticism you are giving being thrown right back at you. Personally I think this man deserves a bit of respect. He is not perfect but neither are we.
Peace, Love

if he is unable to live up to the expectations and do the art justice on a weekly basis then HE should have enough respect for the art to say so and not force out a show that is nothing but a mockery of what we are trying to do. You dont see Blaine forcing out a special every 2 months just to get his face on tv do you? no, but when one does come out we all get excited because we know it will be worth the wait and an impressive showing of magic and skill

 

[VisualFiction]

I do close-up shows about once or twice a week... and trust me.. the laymen think it's better than watching criss on tv

Steppiz, you have to realize you are comparing a live performance to a television performance. These are 2 different venues. I trust you are a very skilled performer in your own right and we all congratulate you. However your performance would be just as vulnerable as Chris Angels when the camera is pointed at you.

JRobarts05. You are right. Chris Angel should just quit his job, Fire all his employees and let them fend for themselves. God forbid he do anymore damage to the art of magic. I think you should lighten up a bit man. He is not hurting this art. If anything he is making it more visible to the general public. I mean really what has he done?