Tag: MindFreak

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Criss Angel Adds Lunch to His Sold-Out Schedule in Easton

Inside Magic Image of Criss AngelIt is a great publicity person who can sell the story of a magician eating lunch.

Credit goes to the folks behind the scenes for magician Criss Angel who got great copy in The Morning Call from Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.

We reported earlier that Mr. Angel will perform two shows at Easton’s State Theatre on January 20th and now we learn that he will also eat lunch the day before those two show.

“On the 19th, I’m going to be chilling at Billy’s Downtown Diner in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,” Mr. Angel can be heard saying in a video posted on the diner’s website, www.billysdiner.com. “I’m going to chill and have my Mind Freak burger. So have some lunch with me.”

The restaurant will host a daily contest where hopeful diners can answer a trivia question for two passes to the VIP Room.

Lest one think this is a random event, it turns out that Billy’s diner is owned by Billy Kounoupis, Mr. Angel’s cousin.

Mr. Angel has roots in the Easton area.  His late father, John Sarantakos,  attended Easton Area High School, and his grandfather a local restaurant across Easton’s Northampton Street from The State Theatre.

“Easton just has a special place in my heart,” Angel said. “My dad really loved Easton. It has a very special place in my heart because of all the memories we shared in Easton.”

Mr. Angel’s early show (6 p.m.) is sold out and there are but a few seats remaining for the 9:30 p.m. performance.

On a related note, we will be at the 7-11 on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood this Thursday night where fans can join us in a Slurpee® and Big Bite® Hot Dog.  We will be in the parking lot by the Redbox® machine.

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Criss Angel’s Verbal Volley: Hear the Tape

Inside Magic Image of Criss AngelIllusionist Criss Angel and magician Joe Safuto (a/k/a Joe Monte) are no longer working together. That is about all we know for sure. The dust was flying and has yet to settle.

The two sparred verbally (and according to Safuto, physically) this past Wednesday at Angel's business offices on Sunset Road in Las Vegas. The star of the Cirque du Soleil's Believe at the Luxor and Mindfreak on A&E and his former employee can be heard exchanging threats and demands in a 55 second clip from an apparently longer audio tape. You can hear the audio tape in the Inside Magic Library by clicking here.

Safuto spoke to The Las Vegas Review Journal after meeting with police. He said he has known Angel since the mid-1980s and worked to produce magic for the illusionist. According to "Safuto, "I created 50 to 60 percent of the magic for Mindfreak."

Safuto told the paper he made the tape to document Angel's tendency to bully employees, "I wanted him to know how demeaning he was."

Angel denied there was a physical altercation and attributes the expletive-filled shouts on Safuto – the one with the tape recorder. Robin Leach notes that Angel "can be heard at the start of the tape speaking in a normal voice before an argument begins."

Angel's attorney, Ken Woloson told Leach, "Criss Angel was in the process of firing Joe on Wednesday when [Monte] became abusive, and Criss asked him to leave."

According to the Review-Journal, Monte filed a report with the Las Vegas Police claiming Angel "flipped out" and assaulted him while removing him from Angel's office complex at 3260 W. Sunset Road.

On the audio clip apparently released by Safuto, Angel is heard saying, "Don't point your finger at me. Put your hand down."

There is a sound of commotion and then a voice, apparently Monte's, shouts, "Get off me. Don't you dare touch me!"

Monte claims Angel "grabbed me and lifted me." The Review-Journal observes Monte is 5'5" tall. Web sources place Angel's height at somewhere between 5'6" and 6'0".

Continue reading “Criss Angel’s Verbal Volley: Hear the Tape” →

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Criss Angel in his “Most Death-Defying Stunt”

Robin Leach reports that Mindfreak star Criss Angel will attempt “the most dangerous stunt of his career this weekend.”

The magician intends the underwater escape as a tribute to Houdini and in true Houdini fashion his publicist describes just two potential outcomes.  “In If he fails to escape from the chilly waters of the Colorado River at the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, he will drown!”

Criss Angel will be adorned in chains, shackles, and handcuffs before being wrapped in rope and dropped into the freezing river beneath the London Bridge at Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  “Once submerged, he has only two choices: Escape or drown.”

Robin Leach tells readers “Criss has told me several times of Houdini being his inspiration, and this stunt re-creates one that Houdini mastered in England.”

Robin Leach also reports that Criss Angel “has been named Magician of the Year five times and most recently Magician of the Century.”  Criss Angel’s web site mentions he was named Magician of the Year five times in a row but does not tell readers the group bestowing this honor.  According to some on SAM Talk (Society of American Magicians ListServe) the honor came from the International Magicians Society and in 2005 the Academy of Magical Arts proclaimed him Magician of the Year as well.  We could not find a citation for the Magician of the Century, however.

If he was named Magician of the Century for the current century, 2000 through 2010, the honor seems a bit premature.

On the other hand, if Criss Angel was the Magician of the Century for 1900 through 2000,  it means he beat out such lesser magic names such as Thurston, Harry  Blackstone and Harry Blackstone, Jr. , Harry Kellar, P.T. Selbit, David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Lance Burton, Penn & Teller, Kreskin, Chung Ling Soo, Ching Ling Foo, Siegfried & Roy, Mark Wilson, Walter Blaney, Bev Bergeron, Dai Vernon, Ace Gorham, Jay Marshall, Paul Daniels, Jade, Wayne Dobson, Mark Kalin and Jinger, Li’l Tom Hardy, Melinda Saxe, Orson Welles, P.C. Sorkar and P.C. Sorkar, Jr., Derren Brown, Becky Blaney, Theo Anneman, and of course the object of Criss Angel’s homage, Harry Houdini.

The Houdini escape episode will air as a one-hour special when the new season premieres in July.

The public is invited to attend the filming.  If you would like to spend the night before or after the event, Criss Angel has worked his magic to secure special discount rates at the local Travel Lodge for just $69.99 per night.  Be sure to mention “Criss Angel MindFreak” when making your reservation.

Of course, if you don’t mention Criss Angel Mind Freak, you can get a room with two queen beds or one king for five dollars less than the MindFreak discount; at least that’s what we found on the Travel Lodge site today (Saturday May 8th).