ChrissAngel_Mindfreak

Rick Meyer

Veteran
Anyone else watch this show? Now I am a big fan of magicians, illusionists, escape artists etc. But only when he and maybe one other person or two are in on it.

Anyone whose seen the show get the same feeling I do that some of his tricks rely on editing, jump cuts and/or worse...and entire crowd of extras hired as amazed 'on lookers'?

Yesterday, I saw an episode where he was on the street (in Vegas). A crowd watched on as he asked a few guys to put a plastic trash can over him...to talk to them he had a walkie talkie....they placed the can over him and within a few seconds, he appeared high up on the building near the marquee...WTF? There is no trap door on the cement portion of the sidewalk. I don't even think this trick is possible. Especially not when you are surrounded by a supposed crowd of random onlookers.

Either he is a phony or he is just THAT good....
 
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fooled, or they are both just 'having a laugh' while they count huge stacks of money thanks to people watching it, which ive fell victim to once or twice.
 
I saw that episode and the camera never changed during that trick. I don't know how the hell he did that. One thing though, he got voted best magician last year by other magicians so thats got to mean something.
 
I watched a few episodes before in the past.

ALOT of it has to do with editing.

Also, most (if not all) of the street magic with "real people" are just hired actors.

I got kind of pissed off because some of my family were "ooohing" and "awweeeing" and I'm like, "what the hell"!

I'm not saying the guy isn't talented, but I think HE buys into his own hype. I'd much rather watch Pen and Teller, or even David Blaine.

At least with P&T, they'll not only amaze you, but tell you how they did it and have you in stitches all the while. Blaine (when he is actually performing magic and not doing stupid stunts) uses some of the same techniques as Angel, only I like his personality alot more.

Angel is just annoying.
 
Him and David Blaine just seem odd to me. And not in the cool odd that David Copperfield pulls off but the more creepy odd that a pycho has.
 
Oh, and I'll save someone the trouble of having to reply to this statement by nipping it in the butt myself (even though I don't agree):

Super Trooper said:
Blaine (when he is actually performing magic and not doing stupid stunts) uses some of the same techniques as Angel, only I like his personality alot more.

"What personality?"


-Troop
 
Well, to me the art of magic (and illusionism) is that they are fooling you with clever bait and switch tactics and slight of hand etc.

Now that you guys are confirming what I already suspected...that he's basicially a talented street magician who ups the ante of his tricks by using the camera, post and hired actors...that just pisses me off. Thats so rediculous.

That would mean ALL of us could do that crap. Climb into a box. Stop the camera. Get out of the box. Start the camera. Lovely assistant opens box with no magician. Whoopdedoo. Where's the magic? How can he claim to be a magician?

Someone needs to blow up his spot.
 
Isaac_Brody said:
Well he's got Cameron Diaz fooled. He's got some pretty strong jedi mindtricks.

I'm pretty sure a Grape Nehi Knight could pull mind tricks on Cameron Diaz. :)
 
Kholi said:
I'm pretty sure he's incahoots with mammon.


haha! Thanks for the obscure demon reference. I'm sure I am one of about everybody else who had to wikipedia that.

urgafan....that video was real funny man.
 
This was one of the first vids I ever saw where I suspected him of either using actors or editing to make the trick:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=25dNZhgVrkc

Walking on water is even more suspect:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBQLq2VmZcA

But when you think about it, isn't all magic like this?

I mean, when the magician saws his assistant in half, or makes her dissappear, or whatever, we know shes in on the gag. Same thing (most of the time) when someone from the audience is chosen at "random".

Magic is all about misdirection. In the beginning, they had the stage. But guess what, the stage was part of the trick. Whether it was trap doors, curtains, whatever. Now we have tv, and nle's, and computers, and crap. Isn't it only fitting that as we mature as a society technologically, that this new technology be adapted for magic as well?

Sure, maybe in the process it's lost some of it's charm, and opened the doors to hacks (much like digital camcorders have done for the film industry), but it is still oldschool magic nonetheless, just wrapped in a different, more modern package.

For that, I can forgive Angel and any and everyoneelse for that matter. But I still hate his ego-centric personality.

Personally, I was always in love with the romanticism of late 19th / early 20th century magicians.

Like The Prestige, which is one of my fave movies this decade btw.
 
rlm7189 said:
haha! Thanks for the obscure demon reference. I'm sure I am one of about everybody else who had to wikipedia that.

urgafan....that video was real funny man.

Those are the only two explainations, as I told my girlfriend last night:

Camera + Lots of paid actors = Fooled you sucker.

Or--

The reason he always breathes REALLY hard and mumbles before he levitates is because he's pretty much calling on the powers of those within the Shadow Realm.
 
What's up with Criss Angel's accent? He tries so hard to hide it but it slips out sometimes. Just be yourself dude.
 
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