The Genii Forum

Just read this, which is from Variety, on Comingsoon.net:

A Comedy Based on Criss Angel in the Works
Source: Variety November 16, 2008
Actor-turned-writer Chris Moynihan has set up a comedy based on the life of magician Criss Angel at NBC, reports Variety. The Angel project is based on an original idea that the "Mindfreak" magician conceived along with producers Dave Baram, Jason Verona and Adam Shulman. Moynihan has joined in to write the project, which was inspired by Angel's experience as an up-and-coming magician. All four are aboard to executive produce the half-hour, which was pitched as a workplace comedy set in the world of magic. Angel rose to fame thanks to his A&E series "Criss Angel: Mindfreak." At NBC, he previously appeared on the reality show "Phenomenon."

Is there gonna be a Banechek type buddy character so they can do odd couple stuff and have a "you're fired" moment every episode?

Is this going to see the light of day or will it go the way of the Mandrake movie?

It's funny how many folks continually state that CA's career is over.

It started with his "career busting" TV show, carried on through "career ending" live show at the Luxor, and seems to also garner mention when folks choose to focus on his "career damaging" private life.

Now we see that he will possibly have his second TV show in addition to his Las Vegas gig, this time on network, NBC.

Let's review..... a major show on the Las Vegas Strip, a second TV show, and a widely known name in North America.

Being "washed up" is looking pretty good based on those stats.

News for all the armchair reviewers, naysayers and wannabe's......."no you couldn't do it as well as Criss if you were just given one chance"........in fact you probably couldn't do it at all.

Roger M. wrote:It's funny how many folks continually state that CA's career is over. ...

Blah blahbiddy blah blah - are you ready? .....

Poof - instant punchline.

There are worse careers than punchline - let's see how things go for CA

Roger M. wrote:It's funny how many folks continually state that CA's career is over.

It started with his "career busting" TV show, carried on through "career ending" live show at the Luxor, and seems to also garner mention when folks choose to focus on his "career damaging" private life.

Now we see that he will possibly have his second TV show in addition to his Las Vegas gig, this time on network, NBC.

Let's review..... a major show on the Las Vegas Strip, a second TV show, and a widely known name in North America.

Being "washed up" is looking pretty good based on those stats.

News for all the armchair reviewers, naysayers and wannabe's......."no you couldn't do it as good as Criss if you were just given one chance"........in fact you probably couldn't do it at all.

Who said Criss's career was over?

I never heard anyone say Mindfreak was career busting. What career did he have before that show? How could Mindfreak have hurt it? Believe is on a downward slope and not what was promised and the new tv show is currently nothing more than a proposal. I admit it sounds like a great idea but then again mixing Cirque and Magic sounded like a good idea. Only time will tell.

I have my doubts as to whether or not the new tv show will ever become reality but I do BeLIEve Criss will keep coasting along in some aspect.

Best,

Tim

CA's career isn't over. He's just going from Farce to Comedy...or maybe Tragedy, depending on the writers.

Whether it comes to fruition or not, even having a blurb in Variety mentioning a possible NBC show in development seems like another hugely positive career development, and is far more than 99.99% of the magicians in the world will ever even experience in terms of even being involved in a TV development project.

I think some may need to just come clean and either say "I'm terribly envious of Criss Angels success and therefore I have to put him down and relish in his bad press and misdeeds when I can"......or simply say "I don't like him", either of which is likely far more truthful in terms of why some folks feel compelled to comment negatively when speaking (posting) of Angel.

Hi Roger,

I dont' know where I stand. LOL I am not jealous of him as a magician because I don't consider him much of a success in actual magic. ( without Camera Tricks) Even if he was legit I'd think I'd be an admirer instead of jealous. Copperfield has reached heights far about Angel and I've never been jealous of him. For some reason the term " Jealous" seems to get tossed around a lot when mostly when talking about Angel.

I don't know many people that actually "hate" him. Thats a strong word. Do those who don't appreciate him really wish terrible things on him? I don't know of any that really do. I can think of reasons to hate someone but fame and fortune isn't one of them. I bet many wish the faked magic via camera production would go away though and thats where I think most of the resentment comes from. (not him personally)

I think the joy at the failures of BeLIEve are more a celebration of " now Criss is in the same boat as the rest of us" ( not being able to live up to his tv stuff)

However ... I do understand that many people resent him for rising to the top in Milli Vanilli fashion. I think it's totally insane that so many people buy into the camera stuff and see him as such a great magician but I don't fault him for it.

I think when all is said and done ... history will record him not as a great magician but as a really great PR/business man. Society is willing to idolize people today for the strangest reasons. Monica Lewinsky and now Paris Hilton have a fan base for who knows what reason????? I would never have thought society would be so dumb and naive ....but Criss did and he capitalized on it. He saw a market that most of us didn't and went for it. Good for him. I won't deny him a single dollar or claim to fame he earns along the way. Just don't ask me to respect his fictitious superior talents as a great magician. I can't play along with that charade like others choose to.

At the very least... however this next chapter of Criss unfolds it will prove interesting. And that is the secret to his success... as long as they are talking about you ... you're marketable. Boy can he market!

Best,

Tim

Criss has fame and wealth. Those are fleeting. MC Hammer had both of those things AND talent.

Roger, don't put your faith in those things.

Is CA still on TV?

Another fine example of just how the boob tube is living up to it's name.

Terry wrote:Another fine example of just how the boob tube is living up to it's name.

? Now he went and got breast implants?

Jonathan Townsend wrote:? Now he went and got breast implants?

No just his girlfriends. . . .

David Vamer wrote:Criss has fame and wealth. Those are fleeting. MC Hammer had both of those things AND talent.

Roger, don't put your faith in those things.

Who the hell said I put my faith in these things?......I certainly didn't.

That he has fame, AND that he has wealth is a simple fact.

Well, Roger, that's all you've mentioned re: Criss.

But since he takes all the PR he can get regarding his love life, would it be fair to mention that he dumped his wife the SECOND he got really famous? Is that part of his "success"?

Mr. Vamer, since you don't know Criss, or his wife, or anything about their domestic situation (most people didn't even know he was married), I suggest you think about it before deciding you know why they're getting divorced.

You seem to miss the point of my post entirely David!

Roger, I understand your post completely. You are touting Criss "success" and are calling upon magicians to admit their envy of said success.

My point is that I beLIEve you have a very shallow definition of "success". Money, fame, a TV show, and a show in Vegas are marvelous things, but they are fleeting. Redd Foxx had all of those things, and died broke.

A broken marriage, threatening to blind a man at a beauty contest, complete alienation of the creative minds that got you where you are, arrogance that you can't back up onstage, a string of failed relationships....THIS is success?

....or do we simply ignore someone's failings as a human being, but point to his name on a marquee and say "THERE is a successful man!"?

Mr. Vamer, since you don't know Criss Angel, and are drawing all of your information from secondary sources at best, how do you know what his failings "as a human being" are? You don't--you can only speculate. And it's tiresome gossipy trash.

I'll add (for Mr. Valmer) that I thought it was terribly obvious that I was speaking about success in the entertainment business, not success in living ones life.......the two are very different.

Success in life isn't determined by others, it's determined by whether you've lived out your own dreams and aspirations, something only you (or in this case Criss) can know.

Regardless, and with all naysayers aside, I'm afraid that success in show business looks exactly like Criss Angel.

Roger M. wrote:
Regardless, and with all naysayers aside, I'm afraid that success in show business looks exactly like Criss Angel.

Roger,

You are right. And therein lies the problem. I hope the days of hype over content fizzle out soon and revert back to when talent actually meant something. I don't know when that will happen but some day it will.

Best,

Tim

Not too long ago I saw an interview with Jim Carrey, when asked about his relationships said "When I was a kid I never said "When I grow up I want to be divorced twice.""
Life throws us all twists and turns. Success in show business is never easy, and neither is success in life. While we can look at Criss Angels fame and fortune and say "Yeah, that guy has it all" the reality on the personal side may be completely different, and vise-versa.
Really, in the end, the only one who can say weather or not his life is a success is Angel. Today he may say yes, tomorrow may be different.
All I now is I don't like him, but would love some of his show business success.

Gord

Whoops, sorry. I should have said "All I know is I don't like the way he performs magic ..."
I don't know Criss well enough to say weather I like him personally or not.

Gord

I couldn't agree with you more Gord (after the correction!).

You're correct. My impressions of Criss have been largely formulated by my conversations with people who tell me they no longer wish to do business with him, and in one case date him, for various and sundry reasons. Those impressions would, therefore, be slanted toward the negative.

My own exposure to him has been strictly on a social level, and on that note, I found him to be very charming. Further, for a 40-year-old man he is in FANTASTIC shape. I bow to his dedication and sweat equity. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I must report that my techie friends who work at BeLIEve praise his work ethic.

In the end, though, anyone with a big enough trust fund, ability to talk a great game, or Sugar Daddy/Mommy can have their name on a Strip marquee. STAYING there is another matter altogether.

He didn't have a trust fund. Getting your mom to get a second mortgage on the house to finance a magic show when she can scarcely afford it isn't exactly 'sugar daddy', either, in my opinion. It's a close family and one hell of a leap together.

No comment either way on the rest, but guys like David Blaine and Angel didn't have this handed to them by their parents. That's ridiculous. One of the reasons they leapt ahead, however, was they were willing to take on financial risks that others shied from.

It would take a sizable trust fund, even by wealthy standards, to buy your way onto a Vegas Marquee, I believe.

Stuart Hooper wrote:It would take a sizable trust fund, even by wealthy standards, to buy your way onto a Vegas Marquee, I believe.

Hi Stuart,

Two shows currently in Vegas are there exactly because they were purchased. One was purchased by a wealthy family but is not after many years turning into a good show.

The other one ( a lot newer) is definitely Sugar Daddy supported and will vanish as soon as Sugar Daddys money does.

Not the case for Criss but it does in fact exist in Vegas.

Best,

Tim

Tim, why don't you say who you're talking about:
1) Steve Wyrick
2) Scarlett, Princess of Magic

Richard Kaufman wrote:Tim, why don't you say who you're talking about:
1) Steve Wyrick
2) Scarlett, Princess of Magic

Hi Richard,

I try to resist naming names in public forums where internet searches for those names bring up results in these forums. Thats a moot point now though. LOL

Best,

Tim

Okay, interesting. I believe the ability to put what is it, 34 million dollars into the show qualifies as an amazing trust fund, even by rather wealthy standards, as per my post. Especially if you're not going to turn a profit. (Speaking of Wyrick.) Don't know about the princess lady.

The main point, however, remains, Criss did not go this route, as Mr. Vamer's post implies.

No, I did not imply that. I would put Criss in the "ability to talk a great game" category. I included the other examples to show that there are many paths to having your name in lights on the Strip.

You missed the last sentence. "STAYING" there is the proof of the pudding, because in order to stay there, you MUST sell tickets. (I know, Cirque is saying Criss has a zillion-dollar advance. Fine. That's great PR. They also said they were going to re-define magic.)

Vegas works by a different set of accounting rules. Terry Fator, for exmple, has a "$100 million contract." Well, yes and no. IF Terry Fator sells out EVERY SINGLE SEAT AT FULL PRICE FOR TEN STRAIGHT YEARS, his take may end up being $100 million.

See how it works? Vegas is the spin capital of the world.

So, Criss MAY actually have $1 million in advance sales, or whatever they are claiming, but it may be in the form of heavily discounted tickets spread out over the course of the next several months, which may or may not cover their nut. A quick check of the Luxor box office will show that you can get 2 tix in the 5th row on the aisle for tomorrow night's 10pm show.

By comparison, you couldn't TOUCH Love tix day-of or day-before in it's first month.

David I see you are more than familiar with the way it works in Vegas. LOL It seems everyone is milking the multimillion dollar contract bit. The Terry Fator one made me laugh out loud when I heard it last year.

This brings me to the point that I've always questioned. Does Cirque claim that they actually spent $100 million creating the show or do you think its a matter of thats what it will cost them over the run of the 10 years if it ran that long? Or maybe thats the cost of the current show including the newly renovated theatre that belongs to Luxor?

Best,

Tim

Accounting practices in show business have always been a form of art or fiction, (depending on your degree of cynicism) as opposed to actual numbers representing "truth." Indeed, Ive had producers say privately that the best fiction written in Hollywood are the financials, especially if you are a profit participant in a film.

One example that I researched was the original Star Trek film. When the accounting rolled around Paramount (it was reliably reported to me) folded in all their development costs of the first two films that did not get made, the expenses for the abortive "fourth network" that didn't fly, the actual expenses for the film and the massive cost overruns for the special effects that had to be re-done (paying double, triple, and in some cases quadruple Golden Overtime) in time for a holiday release. This pumped the cost of the film into the stratosphere.

I would imagine that Cirque's figures include everything, ad infinitum.