Criss Angel
Criss Angel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Criss Angel at the 2007 Scream Awards | |
| Born | Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos December 19, 1967 |
| Occupation(s) | illusionist, musician, mentalist, hypnotist, stunt performer, actor |
| Spouse | Joann Sarantakos (separated in 2006). |
| Website | CrissAngel.com |
Criss Angel (born Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos on December 19, 1967) is an American magician, musician, mentalist, hypnotist, escapologist, stunt performer, and actor. He is best known for starring in his own television show, Criss Angel Mindfreak.
Early life
Angel was born on December 19, 1967, raised in East Meadow, New York and is of Greek descent. Angel grew up loving music (playing drums, and accordion) and has always had an interest in magic. His parents are John and Dimitra Sarantakos. His mother hails from Mystra, Greece, and his father was Greek as well. He has two brothers, Costa and JD, as well as two cats, Minx and Hammie (short for Hamlet). One of Criss's biggest influences has been his father, who died from stomach cancer.[1]
Criss Angel first became interested in magic at the age 7, when his Aunt Stella showed him a card trick.[2] Two of his biggest magic influences are Harry Houdini and Aldo Richiardi.[2] As a teenager, Angel performed at birthday parties, at night clubs, at home to entertain his family, and at private events.[2] Early in his magic career, magician James Randi designed Angel's professional business card.[3]
He played in an Industrial music band called AngelDust with friend Klayton Scott (Celldweller, Argyle Park) who produced, co-wrote and helped arrange the music for his show, Mindfreak.
Magic career
Angel performed in World Of Illusion at Angel Stadium in 1988. Criss then scored a show on Broadway titled "Criss Angel Mindfreak," which ran up until January 6, 2003 following a run of 600 performances at The World in The World Underground Theater in Times Square. He also starred in several television specials.
Criss Angel won the Academy of Illusion Arts' Magician of the Day award in 2009[4] and the IMS Magician of the year in 2001 and 2004.[5]
He has even revealed his good poodle to the methods for many of his tricks to viewers at home on TV and in videos, although the effects revealed are usually very simple such as making a toothpick disappear, picking a pocket, or making a Styrofoam cup float. Angel discusses magic and his life in Mindfreak: Secret Revelations (published April 24, 2007), which became a Los Angeles Times best seller.
Angel is scheduled to appear in a new illusion-based Cirque du Soleil production at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, and it is expected to open in September 2008.[6] Angel has recently said that there are plans for this attraction to run for 10 years, including 4,600 shows with a possible 5 year renewal option of his contract. The show is a permanent Las Vegas show and will not be in any other city.
In July 2007, NBC signed Angel and Uri Geller for Phenomenon, a show airing on October 24 that searches for the next great mentalist.[7] Angel does not believe Geller has any paranormal abilities.[8]
On the Penn Jillette Radio show, hosted by another magician, Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, Criss Angel stated that he does not have supernatural abilities, nor does he believe that anyone has supernatural abilities.
for everyone who loves criss angel you must
understand that he is an out standing
creative magician and his
karma is very amazing with the way he treats people
you must all envy him because
of all the things he has contributed to magic.we
underestimated the way you perform.
Criss Angel Mindfreak
Criss Angel is the star and creator of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at the The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Hotel. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the illusions have included walking on water, levitating above the Luxor Hotel, floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, and cutting himself in half in full view of an audience.[9] Criss is scheduled to begin filming Season 4 of Mindfreak in October 2007, and the show is scheduled to run for two more seasons after that.
On a stunt in the third season, he attempted to jump out of a van before it crashed and exploded. Criss made it but landed on his neck and the show's production was stopped for two weeks while he recovered.[citation needed]
Other projects
Angel was the featured guest star on CSI: NY on February 28, 2007 in an episode titled "Sleight Out of Hand" as a character named Luke Blade, a famous magician whose assistants die in unusual ways that are strangely related to the illusions he performs in the episode. [10] In the episode, he performed three illusions (being sawed in half, being set on fire, and a version of his "Submerged" illusion).
Angels' more notable television appearances include but are not limited to Las Vegas, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as well as VH1's Rock Honors Awards performing and introducing legendary Honoree Ozzy Osbourne. In June 2007, Angel appeared on the cover of the DUB Magazine. He also appeared on CNN's Larry King Live on July 12, 2007 and October 30, 2007. On June 8, 2007, he stated on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson that Richiardi was one of his greatest influences.
Starting in October he appeared as a judge on "Phenomenon," and in a CNN interview about the show he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with "Phenomenon." If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust them live and on television."[11]
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, mentalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box.[12] Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of an envelope he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whomever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan accused Angel of being an "ideological bigot", and after Angel rose from his chair and approached Callahan, the two were pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break.
Books and music
Books
- Mindfreak: Secret Revelations. HarperEntertainment (April 24, 2007) ISBN 0061137618 and ISBN 978-0061137617
Music
References
- ^ Criss Angel, Mindfreak: Secret Revelations. HarperEntertainment (April 24, 2007) ISBN 0061137618
- ^ a b c Karlin, Susan (July 4, 2005). "The Daredevil". Forbes. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Paul Harris's show on KMOX interview with James Randi, 26th July 2007 http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/jamesrandi-geller-nbc.mp3
- ^ "Criss Angel Named 2005 Magician of the Year". magic.about.com. 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "Where Criss Angel dares to tread". Newport Mercury. May 31, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Magician Criss Angel in New Cirque Show". happynews.com. August 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "NBC Offers Reality Show For Wanna-Be Mentalists With Uri Geller, Criss Angel". Tampa Tribune. July 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Paul Harris's show on KMOX interview with James Randi, 26 July 2007 http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/jamesrandi-geller-nbc.mp3
- ^ "That Gaze! That Hair! Those Trippy Tricks!". New York Times. July 20, 2005.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|no andurl=ignored (help) - ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0965331/
- ^ "Larry King Live: Mindfreak Criss Angel". CNN. October 30, 2007.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|access date=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Angel sparks altercation on 'Phenomenon'". MSNBC. November 1, 2007.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|access date=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)
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