Are you a magician?


Garrett

If Criss was actually skilled, he would not have the camera cut away every single time something skillful needed to be done. The only people Criss is better than are those with a lack of knowledge here that continued to be fooled by thinking he is uses legitimate methods that can be done in reality, and in the same context. Fanboys will believe anything he says.

I think that post made the answer to that question very obvious.

The walking on water did not use camera tricks BUT everyone there was IN ON THE TRICK. That is cheating.

As for camera placement, that is why he is a hack. I could make myself disappear on camera easily with good camera placement but Criss could NEVER do that trick live and in front of a real audience since its all about where he places the camera and when he cuts away the camera when the misdirection is happening. That is why he is a hack. If he was a good illusionalist he could do the misdirection without the camera ever cutting away and you would not see his slight of hand or what not.

Like I said Criss cant do most of his tricks with out the aid of the camera. Be it stopping the film and redoing another take or when he is doing a switch having the camera cut to the plants that is his so called audience.

Anyone can do what Criss does on his TV show. Id love to see him do any of that live and with the camera never moving.

He would never be able to do it

what bothers me isnt the stooges and camera tricks (ok they DO bother me) is the fact that Criss claims to be the best there is. this is a slap in the face to ANYONE who loves magic. how he can hang out with guys like Banachek and Johnny Thompson and make that claim is beyond me (he should have been struck by lightning by now

the real sad thing is, most of the non magicians i know can tell he's faking. its prety sad that it takes all the stooges, camera tricks, cuts, and lies just to make him look the equal of a 3rd rate birthday party hack magician. he is the milli vanilli of magic.

one thing i do agree with him on tho. he says he wants to be the modern day houdini. and in a way he is. Houdini wasnt a very good magician, he had way too much ego, he'd do anything to hurt anyone he considered compitition, and most of the real magicians of the time didnt like him very much. the only difference was that Houdini at least had some amazing showmanship and skill at escapes (even tho many were set ups or simple tricks) Criss isnt so lucky.

He seems to have forgoted that his job as a magician is to entertain people. he uses his magic as a way to show off. i honestly think he agreed to be a judge on Phenomon just to self promote and maybe steal a routine for season 4 of his show. after all he cant keep copying Cyril forever

I can't understand why some people don't get this...

I've heard plenty of people compare camera tricks to a DL. How can you do that? Doing a DL and calling it one card is not dishonest. When you are done with the trick, people know that you did SOMETHING fishy to make the trick work... but what makes it amazing is the fact that you have a way to make it work.

When a magician starts using camera tricks, it is dishonest and not at all comparable to a DL. Magic is usually done live and in person. This makes people believe that Criss doesn't need(and therefore, doesn't use) camera tricks because he's a "trained professional." Magicians never needed camera tricks before, why would they need it now? That's the mindset of people who believe Criss's crap has honest methods behind it.

In a way, I appreciate that... because even though they are too stupid to notice the 10 cut-aways in every Criss trick, they at least understand that video editing is not what magic is supposed to be. When you combine that with the right level of stupidity and naiveness, you get a Mindfreak fan who would never ever question Criss's words when he says "this is not pre-arranged." I think this is why it's so hard for some people to notice the obvious points of camera trickory... they keep themselves in denial so they can actually enjoy the show.

In my opinion, camera tricks in magic are no different from a motorcycle in the Tour De France.

All though I'm sure that once in a while he uses cam tricks the one thing I'm sure of is that he doesn't use them as much as people think he does.

No but he does use cutshots almost EVERY effect, as well as stooge to top it off. After 30 years in the art you are able to differentiate the difference between real magic that workable in the real world from BS. Most "kids" here however cannot, it is actually them that is being fooled, no one else. Criss uses the simplest most direct method of cheating, however it is not very ethical and for that matter any bum off the street could com in and do what he does. So why him? I still can't figure that one out.

What sickens me the most is how Criss now acts like he is some type of authority simply because he has a lame TV show full of cutshots and stoogery. But I guess the world enjoys seeing some lamebrained MTV rock-star/metrosexual reject in biker clothes with a speech impediment. That is entertaining in itself, far more entertaining than Criss' so-called illusions. He just wants the spotlight on him constantly, even though he has never really even did anything legitimate as far as actual magic goes on his two-bit show.

Can you say harsh?

Weird kid who's been following me: I can I can! Watch, HARSH! Yay!

Me: God darn it Johnny

Here we go again........

Listen the whole point of a magician is to entertain people and Criss does that by useing yes camera tricks. But that doesn't take away from who he is he is an extremly talented street magician. And he does alot of them but the people who watch his show who aren't just impressed by him levitating a few inches off the ground won't watch, but if you have someone levitate 100 feet off the ground or even more than that float to the top of a las vegas casino people will watch. He didn't get where he is now doing camera tricks he had to start on the street like all of us have they didn't just give the show to him, he impressed the right people at the right time and he is doing great becuase of it. Let me propose a question to all o0f you people who don't like Criss Angel because of his Camera tricks. Why do you do magic? I don't do it becuase i want people to believe that i can magically make there card appear in there pocket i do because when i do that the reaction i get is awsome i love wathcing people laugh and or scream "oh my god how did you do that" thats why i do it not becuase i want people to believe im magicical. One last thing do you really think that ntework executivces would give a show to a guy who looks as wierd as Criss Angel he had to have done something to really impress the people at A@E for him to get his own show and he was making money off magic long before he got his own show he did it on the streets in the train and bus statations at parks just like all of us are trying to do now. So when you get your the money he has and your own show don't tell me you are going to do the coin bit trick or the pen through dollar you are going to the best trick that no one can figure out just to get the best reaction, even if it means doing camera tricks.

Wow that was brutal. Learn proper Grammar and punctuation if you want anyone to actually read your posts, and take you even the slightest bit serious. "The whole point of a magician" is not to just entertain, but also do some magic. Criss does neither.

"He didn't get where he is now doing camera tricks he had to start on the street like all of us have they didn't just give the show to him."

Umm yes he did, and yes they did. Start on the street like all of us? LOL!! Now I know you live in a fantasy world. Unless of course you are talking about your current housing conditions, or lack thereof. When I began magic 30 years ago I did not start on any "street," I started by doing paid gigs at birthday parties and retirement homes, which I still do today among many other venues. "Street magic" does not exist except for on TV, and in little kid's minds.

No I would not sell out and do camera tricks if I ever did get a show, which I do not want one anyway. I actually have "magic skills." Criss did not impress anybody with anything, he simply had the right connections. Like I said a thousand times, any seasoned veteran can see easily that Criss is a hack, and has no discernible skills to speak of as far as real-world close-up magic is concerned. It takes skill and experience to recognize skill and experience, and to recognize when it is not present.

That is why many kids/amateurs here just don't see it.

I completely agree with the people saying Criss Angel uses camera tricks. If you have enough experience in magic OR film making you can see exactly how and why the cut shots are used. A good magician knows the ins and outs of tricks and can tell when a particular method was "cheated". Add the knowledge of directing/editing and you can tell exactly why each cut was used.

The reason Criss Angel is big right now is mostly because he was in the right place at the right time. And once A & E aired the show the network promoted him heavily. In todays world it does not take much to make someone a star. You just need to be backed by the right people.

The Cirque du Soleil show "featuring" Criss Angel will be a complete let down as far as magic goes. It will probably be entertaining since Cirque du Soleil is top notch but as far as magic goes it will probably have the bare minimum of basic tricks.

I won't comment on the other part, but Criss Angel, as far as stage magic goes, is quite talented. His A&E show sucks, because he sucks at close-up magic. But stage magic is a whole different deal.

He had a relatively successful stage show before he got his TV specials. Even afterwards, he had a successful stage show. I haven't been able to see it live, but from the videos I've been able to watch of it, it is quite interesting, and entertaining. I wouldn't call him the best stage magician, but he certainly fits into the Cirque du Soleil type of show. So I really wouldn't say that it will be a let down, or that it will have the bare minimum of basic tricks. Because that would be quite wrong. If I didn't dislike Criss so much, I would go to the show, because I'm sure it will be a quality show.

Well I said bare minimum tricks because of the fact that it is a Cirque du Soleil show. Cirque du Soleil is an extremely talented group on its own so I really doubt they will be playing second fiddle to Criss Angel. I would figure that best case scenario would be Cirque and Criss sharing the spotlight.

If Criss had confidence in his stage act why would he be bringing in Cirque? That's what I'm stuck on.