Criss Angel is a fraud. He has taken the art of magic in a shameful new direction. If future generations of performers were to follow his example, it could destroy the art of magic as we know it.

It is a well-knownfact that many magic tricks often require a "stooge" in the audience. It's normal. But Criss Angel often uses entire audiences of paid actors, actord that couldn't convince anyone to buy a blender, much less a magic trick. People say he uses "camera angles". Yeah, he uses them to unintentionally give away his tricks... How inept are these editors? And how stupid are the viewers that cannot see this things.

We all know that they are just "tricks", but splicing together footage from multiple takes is cheating in my book. Anyone can pay an entire audience to play along, file themselves walking on plexiglass underwater, then suspend themselves with wires film their feet a with a POV cam touching the water and have it all edited together. That takes no talent. Money, yes, but not talent.

Real talent is not only mastering a trick and being able to perform it in front of strangers, it is also convincing those strangers that you just did something impossible. Criss Angel is a horrible actor. A good actor would make scripted text sound like original thoughts and vocal reactions to the things around them. Criss sounds like a kid reciting lines in a third grade play. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he used cue cards.

I will admit I downloaded, kept, and enjoy his Mindfreak Soundtrack (2006) which is said to be entirely self-produced. I really dig the music and his "talents" as a vocalist are very decent. But I filed the cd away as a Celldweller album... Anyone who has ever enjoyed listening to a Celldweller album more than once and has heard Criss's cd can tell you it is definately Celldweller with Criss vocals. Celldweller is credited with a remix and obviously had a hand in some of the inspiration, but with all the [edited] coming from Criss Angel, I'm starting to think the music is a farce as well. I'm sure Celldweller made all the music and Criss just sung over it. I'm sure he had some input, maybe even thought up some of the concepts but thats probably it.

I invite anyone reading this to visit the webstore on the official Criss Angel website. Go see how much of a merchandise whore he is. It's appauling. I won't even bother naming any items, as there are too many ridiculously overpriced accessories that I wouldn't know where to start. I would just like to ask all the 13-year-old kids out their to go watch one more episode of "MindReak" and pay attention to the bad acting and bloopers before they go buy a $20 trucker hat with a stylized "A" on it.

Despite all these imperfections and mistakes, Criss Angel has managed to attain a farely large cult following. The most insane of which, call themseves "Loyals". This naming of the fanbase an often used marketing gimic to make the fans feel like valued members of a club and to entice them into focusing more attention toward it than other things. I wonder how loyal these fans will be when Criss is exposed in a Milli Vanilli-esque scandal. Then again, Milli Vanilla were actually famous.

I remember back in 2003 Criss Angel had his first special aired. This too was called "Mindfreak". For me, the constant use of this self-invented word is starting to suggest some sort of chemical imbalance or obscessive compulsive disorder. Criss had a much more gothic look, filling his enire eye sockets with smeared black make up. He often wore strange and antique garments. He would often stare at the audience, emotionless and with no facial expression in order to seem creepy or otherwordly. His recent style is more hip-hop/urban inspired than before. He still retains some of his gothic look but has reduced it to eyeliner and shorter hair. He's can be seen often wearing a crooked trucker hat and a larg amouth of shiny jewelry. He has also foregone the creepiness and acts like a regular person while setting up performing his tricks. This, along with his huge assortment of available merchandise, suggests to me some sort of corporate molding. The fact that this self-proclaimed "artist" now has a reality show only reinforces my theory. Some hollywood executive saw him and thought, "hey, we could make this guy into the Marilyn Manson of magic!". But then they did what they do best, watered down his abraisive image, turned his act into a scripted "reality" show, took advantage of gullible viewers, and began printing his logo on frisbees.

And all this fame has turned Criss Angel into a prima donna. Just go to his official message board and read the rules. Rule number one forbids saying anything negative about him, be it true or speculative. It is also stated that he personally requested that noone talk about his private life, age, real name (which is Christopher Sarantakos), ethnic heritage (Greek), or his love life. So basicly, the only thing users are allowed to discuss is how amazing he is, how good looking he is, or who has met him. Obviously no "celebrity" wants their privacy invaded (except for Mark McGrath - that guy's an attention whore), but what do you expect when you have a show on american television? It's just kids asking questions so they can feel closer to thier idol, not paparazzi surounding his house. I have just recently started to hear that he repeatedly mocks David Blaine or that there may even be some animosity between the two. But i don't know anything about this except that he made a "David Blaine who?" comment in a USA Today interview. I wouldn't be suprised if David did get upset with Criss. Criss does some of the same tricks sometimes but he does them poorly, often accidenlty revealing how the trick is done. Someone with real talent needs to publicly call him out. Or some media group needs to expose him and present it in a format that the A.D.D. ridden masses will be able to pay attention to.

Criss Angel is a fraud with an over-sized ego. Magic isn't real, but using special effects, editing multiple takes together, and hiring entire audiences of infomercial actors is downright shameful.

Links:
http://www.hellenism.net/cgi-bin/displa ... .html?c=76 suggests his new look was created by Johnny Depp's stylist
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/200 ... ngel_x.htm "David Blaine who?"

Does no one realize he also has a stage show, that uses no cameras or editing. Its all live, and its great. I have been to one, and it was just amazing. I dont even care for stage that much, but i liked his show.

So he isnt a complete fraud, and he does have talent.
But i do agree on some points.

The fact that he has a live stage show doesn't negate the fact that he still uses camera tricks, editing, and actors on his tv show. I gaurantee you he will never walk on water or be hit by a car in front of a genuine, ticket-holding, paying audience.

And doesn't his show rely more on artsy routine and presentations than on actual magic tricks?

Someone sounds a bit jealous!!!! His show is watered down from his stage show. Noone wants to see him walking around the streets dressed like he does for his stage show. You are also wrong on the way he did the water walk, by the way. Also, If I was in his shoes, I would do everything he is doing, after all he is in show business, he also has to make a living, and so do the people that work for him. Selling personal attire, be it a hat or what not is just like buying a hat of your favorite sports team or buying a shirt you saw your favorite celebrity wear. This is the new age of life, we dont live in the 50's, people are allowed to express themselves anyway they want. Criss Angel is allowed to do these things, and if you have a problem with it, don't pay attention to it and go about your merry little way.

I'm going to lock this because there are dozens of other topics where people give their opinions of Criss. You don't like him. Don't watch him. Stop complaining about the guy. He puts magic in the mainstream. Using full audiences of stooges? Didn't Copperfield put that on the map? Oh wait, he's not the guy in the public eye at the moment, so we can't complain about him. Get over it. Criss has done more for magic than you. He's put it in the public eye. Now, go complain in other threads, because we don't need a new one.