Now that I have your attention I have something to say to all you Criss Angel haters out there (being that this website has more Criss Angel haters than almost any magic website I've ever been on so far Penguin ranks #2 right behind The Magic Cafe where literally every person in that forums hates him with a passion)

I saw his new show on Friday October 10th, 2008 and went there knowing about all those awful reviews and that it wasn't going to be like his tv show and after watching it I can say one thing about it.

IT'S TOTALLY AMAZING!!!!!! I don't know what people were talking about that went to see it because I thought the theatre the costumes and the story were all really good now granted the magic that was in it wasn't all that good some of it was so basic that a kid would figure it out in a heartbeat but it was still pretty cool to see it.

Another thing is how a lot of you on here think that Criss is an ego maniac and the celebrity jerk of all time I don't know who you heard that from because after the last show on Friday night I won tickets to meet him as well as 20 other people got a chance to have a meet & greet with him and when he came out (as always the loyals and ultimate loyals screamed and ran towards him and I couldn't see him for a couple of minutes because all I could see was the back of the loyals/ultimate loyals heads) he stayed around and chatted with us and answered all of our questions and posed for pictures and autographs and in my case did more than one autograph he is probably the nicest guy I've ever met even when he was tired beyond belief and almost ready to pass out because of exhaustion he stayed around for about an hour I don't know about Blaine and if he would ever do that but you never know.

Also he did a lot of his stuff from the tv show like the robot causing all that destruction in the toy store how a lot of you (probably most of you)thought he was using camera tricks he did an exact replica of that trick in his show at the Luxor and didn't use any camera tricks at all so it is possible to do that in a real setting.

you are no longer welcome on these forums... just kidding, just kiddin Happy for you that you enjoyed it, you are the 2nd person i've heard saying he is a nice in person...

Everyone has their own opinion about Criss Angel, and everyone is entitled to speak their mind about how the feel towards a specific Magician. But here are a few things I do not like, or appreciate what Criss Angel is doing for TV Magic as well as his in person magic. Now I've never been to Las Vegas so I cannot state an objective opinion about that particular aspect of what he's integrating into his own personal magic act. But in regards to his TV special Mind Freak, he really sets extremely high standards for other Magicians because I know from my own personal experience, that I can be performing one of my personal favorite close-up routines. People will be some what impressed, but then they come back with, "Well I saw Criss Angel walk up a building, or stand on a water sprinkler and he levitated 15 feet into the air. They then ask me if I can perform the same effect, but I simply tell them, Criss has is own style of Magic. I never, ever call him out to the spectators I'm performing for, like Criss did on TV by exposing the magic illusion right to the Magicians face, and to the whole audience. And then he tells news reporters that it, "Feels good to be King". So with someone like that, I have major problems with.

Of course Harry Houdini did quite the same thing, by trying to debunk the Mentalism Magicians who were trying to really exploit the strong emotional feelings someone has for someone whom has passed away and loved dearly. And I sometimes get the feeling Criss is doing the same, but at the same time he's self proclaiming that he's the best at what he does, and has also attempts to make sure no one is able to beat how many records he has set.

So in closing, it all comes down to everyone's opinion on who they personally think is better. And if you like Criss Angel and like what he "accomplishes" in Magic, more power to you but realize that not everyone takes kindly on what he has been doing with the magic scene. So please don't be put off by me expressing my opinion on how I feel, because it's impossible to please everyone.

I respect you for what you said and I know I'll never be able to make all the Criss Angel haters in the world start to like him (that's a feat that even God couldn't do) but I like Criss and I don't really care if he does use camera tricks it doesn't make the trick any less amazing to laypeople and makes them believe anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

It also gives laypeople the false impression that if Real Life Performing Magicians cannot match the counterfeit skills of Crissy, then they must not be any good at all. The camera tricks and bogus audiences mask the fact that Criss clearly lacks the talent and skills of REAL Magicians.

If you were serious about magic, you would discover this.

Additionally, if you read the majority of reviews regarding his Las Vegas show, you will see many are disappointed because Crissy dies not equal all the hype and promises he made that this show was going to be unbelievable!

I am still truly amazed that so many people are blind to the fact that Crissy is a no-talent hack. People that I speak too in person are slowly seeing the light and recognize is over-inflated ego.

Since I feel it belongs, I'll restate my opinion: Angel's show is entertaining, but like DZ said, it can "poison" audiences. Too much of his magic is accomplished by sleight-of-camera, not enough from sleight-of-hand. Angel can be egotistical.

Two people that I know went (I warned them) and said it was awful. I heard Criss rips open his shirt once every 30 seconds.

He doesn't do it every 30 seconds I think he does it once or twice in the entire show. And I thought it was pretty good but not as good as Ka it definitely does need more work to get it good but most of it is pretty good.

I will tell you what I tell every Angel fan.... if you want to say anything good about him go refute the points I brought up against him in another topic. I posted the reasons why he is hated by magicians, so refute them for all of us so that we can like Angel.

I just want to say that before you say anything bad about criss, you should watch a couple of his shows before you jugde him.
I am pretty shure that after you have watched some shows you will change your mind(i did:) ).

am pretty shure that after you have watched some shows you will change your mind(i did:) ).

I agree I watched one of his first season shows when it came out and at first thought he was pretty good, but after about the third episode I realized it was all stooges and edits. He insults the intelligence of his audience by presenting effects that even most laypeople know can't be done by classic magic methods like misdirection or slight of hand.

Who really cares? It's not like he's hurting anyone and it makes the illusions look more cooler to laypeople watching it on tv.

Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong!!!

Criss is hurting the Art itself. He is creating unrealistic expectations of the audience so when they see him live they are very disappointed. Why do you think the majority of people that have seen the soft-opening of his Cirque show have stated it’s a pure dud! The only people that praise him are “blind” Loyals that really don’t get it. I don’t care if he has inspired you or you think he’s the coolest guy in a sleeveless shirt – that does not make him a talented magician!

Making illusions look “cooler” to a TV audience is not why he uses editing. He is using camera edits and stooges to mask his pure lack of talent. If he were a highly skilled magician, he would have no need of camera edits, etc… Crissy is destroying decades of trust that REAL magicians labored to earn from the TV audience.

So you ask who really cares. Real working magicians care. Anyone involved in the Art of Magic care. Audiences that wish to be entertained without being cheated or have their intelligence insulted care!

When you study more about history of magic or if you take off your blinders and research other magicians out there you may eventually get it. I doubt it though. It seems most Loyals are about as intelligent as a box of rocks and even though the evidence slaps them in the face, they refuse to believe Criss Angel is a no-talent hack.

Ok first of all not all of the people who like the show are blind loyals I don't blindly follow him and think he's the coolest guy in a sleeveless shirt and I know all about the camera edits and stooges but I don't have any more or less respect for him and I know that most of you on here think he's a no talent hack and I don't really care because after that last Blaine episode I've lost some faith in him and I know all about how that last part failed and I still do respect Blaine for being a well known illusionist and some of the stuff he does is pretty cool.

As for that last part I have studied a lot about magic because as you can tell I have a lot of free time on my hands since most employers think I'm a fat useless slob that will probably be dead by the end of the year because of how fat he is I have researched some of the greats from Houdini to Blaine I can't remember all the magicians I've researched but I have a memory like a steel trap I just retain useless info that constantly gives me headaches.

So basically every magician I've learned from I research them before I buy most of the tricks I've bought and in no way am I a blind loyal I do know a lot of what Criss does and I still have respect for him I have as much respect for him as I do all the other great magicians who have entertained people like Houdini Dai Vernon Cyril Takayama SW Erdnase Daryl DEVO (To a lesser extent because of the rumors going around about him) Brad Christian (even though everytime I watch him he looks more and more like a q***r) Daniel Garcia Wayne Houchin Gary Freed (HUGE respect for him) Gordon Bean some of you possibly don't know him but he was the guy that made Bikers it's kinda like NFW only instead of changing into aces they change into Kings Of Spades one by one. And finally my favorite magician of modern times Richard Sanders (I haven't done a lot of research on him yet but I might fairly soon).

So in closing I'm not as dumb as a box of rocks and I do have respect for all the magicians I've learned from and seen perform but no matter what you say about me being a clueless loyal that doesn't know anything about him or what he does I will still have respect for him and there's not enough people in this world that could convince me otherwise.

Ha so true. I couldn't state it much better. Although I did state the reasons why Angel is hated and despised, so I will give you a link to that topic even though its only a couple down so that since you understand why Angel is so awesome despite us knowing more about magic so that you can refute my points. We have waited for the loyals to do that but they never can, all they can do is talk about how inspiring Angel is.