Oh ya Timury, that was some good editing you did on the video, that doesn't change my feelings on the effect.

Not the entire time...there is a moment long enough to see clearly in his empty hand...

But he's misdirecting the audience towards the bottle and he is moving his hand around so you can't tell it is empty. This effect isn't good enough to have to rely that much on someone handing him an empty bottle and letting 50 people see what he is doing, it just isn't worth it, in my opinion of course.

If the open palm of someone is facing you, its very easy to tell, moving or not moving, if it is a cellphone in it or not... and his empty hand and the bottle are so close together at this point, you even could tell if it is an cellphone in his hand when you are looking at the bottle (which is very unlikely at this point, because nothing happened with the bottle yet...).

Ok, this conversation is going nowhere, now it is just speculation between the two of us. When either of us have proof either way, not just an edited video of the original, then it can be put up here and shown for all to see. Untill then, I am done with trying to tell everyone that the magic he does it quite simple, you guys are just thinking too hard.

I partly agree, and the simplest thing to do would be getting the bottle from a "secret" helper while the camera is filming the "reactions".

I wonder when CameraEdit will bash me...

As soon as he comes on, but that isn't the simplest way to do it, considering that you have to hush 50 or so people so as not to expose his "camera editing". That would be difficult to do, considering that if one person talked to someone and it spread, then his show would be off the air. One person, maybe two people is easy to get not to talk, it takes a contract and money, but fifty people would not be so easy to hush up.

As young magic enthusiast who has had the "never reveal how the trick is done to anybody" mantra drilled into you, I can see how you might think this. You would be shocked at how many people around magic shows and magic shoots are "in on it".

I could tell you how I and the rest of the sound crew watched as Harry Blackstone, Jr. set up and tested the rigging for the Floating Lightbulb at a local venue.

I could tell you about another personal experience, a video shoot for a corporate training video, for which I choose and performed numerous magic tricks with a full cast and crew present who, necessarily, had to see how the magic worked.

I could point out how backstage crews all over the world can plainly see the workings of countless magic effects on stages.

And if you took all of the video segments that you KNOW required the spectators to be aware of the workings on the entire run of Mindfreak, I feel you'd faint dead away at the number of people who are 'in on it'. Quite a few more than 50.

That's not including the 30 or so soilders who participated in the Hummer appearance and the soilders and civilians on site at the production of the girl from the duffle bag on the Mindfreak episode set at an Air Force Base.

The fact is, it is necessary for many people in and around all aspects of show business to be 'in on it' when magic is performed. The knowledge these people have doesn't ruin the careers of the magicians or put an end to the art of the performance of magic.

This was demonstrated pretty effectively when the Masked (Valentino) Magician exposed many effects and principles on a couple or three nationally broadcast television shows a few years ago. MILLIONS of people watched. Yet many professional and amateur magicians are still fooling and entertaining people every hour of every day around the world using these exposed tricks.

Where do you get the idea that I am a young magic enthusiast who doesn't know the basis of real life situations. I am 26 and have been involved with magic in one way or another for the past 10 years. I do know that there are alot of people involved with effects that your not supposed to know about, but most of those people are in a working environment so they are proffesional about what they see. I don't believe that Criss Angel would go through that much setup for an effect of this caliber, it isn't worth it.

So, to expose that Criss Angel uses camera tricks, which you didn't, you expose the valuable tool of sleeving to every layperson that searches for Criss Angel on YouTube. Good going. Thanks for exposing such a great tool. You're a real magician now. As far as the effect goes, yes he sleeves the phone. He also cuts away from the bottle. Unfortunately, the glare kind of disrupts the view. Now, do every magician a favor and remove this video. This is now locked for exposure.