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  • Film & TV Moderators: ghostfreak

Television Criss Angel: Mindfreak

indelibleface

indelibleface

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Jun 15, 2004
Messages
6,006
Location
Portland, Oregon
What does everyone think of this show? Personally, I think he's doing some interesting and original stuff, but I have the feeling at the back of my mind that it's all staged for television (i.e. the levitation, to which they gave the impression that his levitation is magical in nature - give me a break). Some of his tricks are just too out there, if you know what I mean. Fun entertainment, but I don't think there's anything supernatural going on, like Criss himself implies. It appears to me like there's some fancy camerawork and hidden stuff going on that was edited out of the show. But, eh, I'm skeptical by nature. I'd like to see him try and pull this stuff off live (I really wonder if he even can).
 
After seeing the most recent episode, I'm convinced it's fake. :)

The only real problem I'm having is convincing my roommates of this. They're real followers of this hack. I really don't understand them sometimes!
 
^^^
I'm having the same problem with my boyfriend. He is amazed by this guy. I mean really, if a person could levitate for real, don't you think we would have heard of this guy instead of just watching his show on cable?
 
chibi said:
^^^
I'm having the same problem with my boyfriend. He is amazed by this guy. I mean really, if a person could levitate for real, don't you think we would have heard of this guy instead of just watching his show on cable?
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Exactly. And if he really could do this, he seems to be in it for the money, in any case. He's on his very own incredibly self-indulgent reality TV show. He's got a massive ego, making comments like "Houdini would never attempt what I'm about to do" in reference to his falling barrel trick.

What really killed it for me was his "deja-vu" trick, where he apparently made someone who walked to him in a hallway relive the same moment over again. In other words, he transported them backwards to the beginning of the hall by waiving his hand across the camera. Whatever. It was obviously a camera trick. His actual stunts are, for the most part, entertaining, but the major ones have been done before.

I hope Penn & Teller tear this guy apart.
 
he's a magician, and a pretty poor one at that.

of course it's friggin' fake. DUH!

why would penn and teller "tear him apart?" they're magicians too. they do the same dumbass tricks, albeit with better, less stupid showmanship. i doubt they'll give away any 'secrets.'
 
michael said:
he's a magician, and a pretty poor one at that.

of course it's friggin' fake. DUH!

why would penn and teller "tear him apart?" they're magicians too. they do the same dumbass tricks, albeit with better, less stupid showmanship. i doubt they'll give away any 'secrets.'
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Well, let me clarify what I meant by fake. What I mean is that he's using tricks that could probably not be reproduced live (and, as such, exist only on television). A lot of his stuff is fancy camerawork.

The major difference between P&T and Angel is that Angel implies that many of his tricks are magical in nature. He explains in one trick that he "harnesses the kinetic energy surrounding us all" to move objects without touching them. P&T make no such claims about any paranormal activity. They imply that they are doing tricks, just highly complex and amazing looking ones. Angel is trying to look like some kind of new age goth mystic that has superhuman ability. He's not just using these explanations as fancy garnish to make the tricks more fun, he's actually implying that he's harnessing some kind of magical energy.

At the very least, they should put him up to James Randi's One Million Dollar Challenge.
 
Indelibleface said:
The major difference between P&T and Angel is that Angel implies that many of his tricks are magical in nature.
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it's called "showmanship."

why would he apply for the randi challenge? he's not really purporting to be supernatural, paranormal, blah blah. if you bother to read an interview with him he's pretty open about this.
 
he seems like a poor imitation david copperfield with what he feels is a sick and twisted edge
it all feels a bit annoying to me in the presentation
i have only seen two episodes and the tricks were good- well the main ones really some of the little tidbet ones were not so entertaining. i enjoy the side show feats being brought onto tv (such as the nailbed and hummer trick). the suspension one next week looks to be interesting but im sure slightly annoying to people who actually practice suspensions and pulls.
 
michael said:
it's called "showmanship."

why would he apply for the randi challenge? he's not really purporting to be supernatural, paranormal, blah blah. if you bother to read an interview with him he's pretty open about this.
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I understand showmanship. From what I've seen of his show, he does purport this at times (i.e. with the levitation bit). But, I'll admit I've never read an interview of his, so that might be something to track down.

The only thing that truly bugs me in the end is that it seems to me that many of his tricks could not be done off of television. Anyone can manipulate a camera and have "stooges" (plants in the audience that know what's going on beforehand).
 
yeah i don't know what to think of this guy....the levitation stuff looked believable on the tele...but i need to see it up close and personal to gather my own opinion. i think the whole image of the show is on the cheese side of things, and gets on my nerves slightly. i've only seen the levitation episode, and want to see the one where he gets out of the barrell.
 
The guy is total cheese. A&E wanted a David Blaine Street Magic. When he is walking in the desert with people who look like circus members, it reminds me of the Penguin's gang in Batman Returns. And the fact that he sings his own theme song is extremely uncool. I must admit that the illusions do look good but that's tv.
 
I like it. I like magic.

I won't get into the arguement over wether or not he actually has supernatural powers, because I don't feel like sacraficing that many IQ points.

However I think he is an excellent illusionist. His levitation and the throwing the deck of cards against the bus window makes both of David Blaine's versions of these tricks look like something you'd see at an 8 year old's birthday party.

The goth angle is really dumb IMO, but a least it is a lil bit of charisma unlike the boring and of questionable sexual orientaion personas of Lance Burton and David Copperfield.

I like Mindfreak.

Oh yeah the intro music is horrible. MINDFREAK! MINDFREAK! MINDFREAK!!!!!!11!!!!. lol
 
It killed it for me when he did the "deja vu" trick in the hotel. He tells the people to "verify" that they don't know him, and that it is all done in one camera shot, then RIGHT after, boom, camera cuts to his family then back to the people. But hey, at least those "spectaters" veryfied that it was one camera shot, so lets just take their word for it. FAKE!
 
^where the people were in front of him and then he steps across the shot and they are at the end of the hall?
 
wanderlust said:
^where the people were in front of him and then he steps across the shot and they are at the end of the hall?
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Thats the one. Before he does the trick, after talking to the "random" specatators, the camera cuts.
 
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