Criss Angel to Raise the Dead?

[Richard Kaufman]

Talk about tasteless. Read this report in Huffington Post about Criss Angel, who claims that he is genuinely going to revive a corpse in his Spike TV series:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/2 ... 73653.html

How stupid does he think people are? Either the guy is really dead, in which he isn't coming back to life, or the guy is NOT really dead, in which case this is just stupid in all kinds of ways.

[erdnasephile]

Yes, tasteless and desperate.

[Q. Kumber]

When I read the topic heading, I assumed he was hoping for a hard-on.

[Tom Frame]

This stunt is an example of the defense mechanism known as projection.

In reality, Criss needs to perform this stunt on himself.

[mrgoat]

Oh. I thought this was about his career...

[JohnCox]

This is the first thing Angel has done that got my attention. Don't know how I feel about this. It pushes the envelope, that's for sure.

[Richard Kaufman]

If the first thing he's done after all those TV hours that has caught your attention is playing Dr. Frankenstein, that's pretty pathetic (from his point of view). But, of course, that's why he's doing it.

[Bob Farmer]

As an added feature, viewers can vote on who they'd like to bring back.

[brianarudolph]

This is way too close to the Abner Cadaver thread - Abner, of course, being truly worth seeing.

Let's hope Criss doesn't read this and steal the name for the magic words of choice on his disrespecial.

[Tom Moore]

More interestingly, this news story seems to have completely obscured the bigger story - the luxor show is to shutter for at least 3 months and be reworked. Ostensibly it's because of some surgery he's having but if the show really was as popular and successful as claimed there's no reason why he couldn't/wouldn't be back on stage (all be it in a less physical roll) within a few weeks. It's also in this dark period that his wImZk@L show is happening which again puts paid to the idea that he mustn't do any work due to his operation.

[Jon Racherbaumer]

I asked a commonsensical friend of mine who doesn't know anything about Mr. Angel about this supposed feat. I also filled him in on Angel's forthcoming hiatus from the Vegas show.

My friend dead-panned: "Why the _______doesn't he heal his torn shoulder? That would be child's play next to raising or reviving the dead. THat might take only a few seconds?"

I said, "Maybe he needs a break?"

Him: "....from reality?"

Me: Hey! It's Reality TV?"

HIm: "Oh! I get it now."

Onward...

[Michael Close]

Most magicians need their audiences to suspend their disbelief. Criss Angel requires that they cease all cognitive function.

[Terry_Holley]

I'm not sure if I'm "late to the party," but here is the video. I didn't see it posted here (maybe for good reasons)! Simply tasteless to me, but by saying that I might be violating "Banachek's Magicians Pledge."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1fL54rLtTE

[PickaCard]

It was very touching. Specially the very end with "In memoriam of Robert Michaels".

I predict that Criss will withdraw from the mainstream and start his own cult in the next 10 years.

I feel bad for his audience. When I was young they used to have a weekly magic show The Magic Palace. Now that was a great show. And of course, the legendary Paul Daniels Magic Show.

[Travis]

God, I couldn't even get through the first two minutes of this insipid demonstration (I hesitate to call it a performance). This guy can't even construct a proper sentence whilst speaking, but I'm supposed to believe he can raise the dead? Okay, sure.

The whole affair comes off like bad comedy. The pseudo-reverent delivery, paranormal investigators, EMF meters... I was laughing. I doubt that's the response this was intended to evoke. Just dumb, and a lot of that's down to the performer. I find the idea tasteless in general, but then I'm sure many thought the same of Selbit and his saw in its time. I've no qualms with pushing the envelope, but this just isn't it. In the hands of someone like Derren Brown, this could likely come off as engaging and interesting without leaving a bad taste. However, I suspect Derren's sensibilities would keep him from considering something like this in the first place, other than to make some sort of philosophical statement with it, perhaps.

[Tom Moore]

I have no issue with the "tastelessness" of it since vast swaths of stage magic history has been about doing extreme things, stunts and pushing boundries - lets not forget the early performances of Sawing-in-half were full of details that implied the magician really was murdering an assistant every night...

Having watched the video though i'm more shocked at just how thin the material is and how little they did with it. To his credit one thing CA has done very well in the past is to spin a very simple trick out in to something much more epic and managed to leave enough questions floating that the sequence as a whole was much bigger than the sum of its parts. This however was just a pulse-stop and not one of the other elements they added to the presentation actually added anything. The idea of using a pulse-stop as some sort of transference of "life force" is an interesting one - him stopping his own pulse and using it to make seeds sprout or bring a squashed fly back to life (despite physically being a smaller production) would probably have played bigger and with more impact than this?

...there's also clearly a shortage of good actors in LV

[Brad Henderson]

what is Banachek's magicians' pledge?

[Anthony Vinson]

That was hilarious! More cheese than the Wisconsin State Fair! It was also pathetic how it was played straight. I was reminded of the silly little "houses of horror" we used to set up as kids. It would've been much better had he revealed the whole thing as a goof at the end by having the body leap from the table and scare the shiat out of everyone.

[Terry_Holley]

@Brad - Scroll down this page and you can read Banachek's Magicians Pledge:

http://themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwel ... 13-day-one

[Dustin Stinett]

I'm curious as to why he would continue to work with someone who has broken at least two of those pledges.

[Brad Henderson]

I love Banachek but this pledge is ridiculous.

A combination of what should be self evident politeness coupled with the silencing of dissent. (all too convenient given his current employer - who clearly has not adopted the club policies himself).

In what other art would a document like this be taken seriously? Real artists have nearly come to blows over the aesthetic and political philosophies. Can you imagine if someone approached Picasso, Duchamp, or Jarry and asked then not to criticize what they felt was bad for art?

and what if people agreed?

We in magic know exactly what 'a good time was had by all' does to a performance activity - it kills it through the promotion of mediocrity. And should the only critics of magic be non magicians? His pledge has the effect of silencing the few people truly informed to comment on a magician's work and its place in history. I can see how Criss (and others whose marketing exceeds their talent) would benefit from this.

Again, Iove Banachek - but this is sad

[Brad Henderson]

oh lest I be kicked out (rule J): Criss Angel's hair is always photographed well.

[R.E.Byrnes]

It would of course be really outrageous if a major global institution were to be premised on the absurdity of rising from the dead.

[Brad Henderson]

I see what you did there!

suddenly craving a fish sandwhich.

[Jonathan Townsend]

It would of course be really outrageous if a major global institution were to be premised on the absurdity of rising from the dead.

Is he trying to add to that book of things to do with a dead cat?

not going to kick anyone's dead horse.

[R.E.Byrnes]

I'll take oblique cat and horse references for 500, Alex...

[Jonathan Pendragon]

Oh, it's already been done.

[R.E.Byrnes]

And how.

Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.

[Jonathan Townsend]

done... all the way to using the pulse to locate a selected card hidden by the audience in the theater?

I can just imagine the volunteer talking later "I felt so cold, so used".

no offense intended here - though aren't there some serious health code issues involved in having any medical or human materials transported or left on display?

[Michael Close]

I didn't see the special, but I heard that the cadaver's name was Robert Michaels. Is this correct?

Thanks

Close

[Joe Pecore]

I didn't see the special, but I heard that the cadaver's name was Robert Michaels. Is this correct?

Thanks

Close

Yes, I believe he said it was Robert Lewis Michaels.

[Terry_Holley]

I didn't see the special, but I heard that the cadaver's name was Robert Michaels. Is this correct?

Thanks

Close

Yes, I believe he said it was Robert Lewis Michaels.

Here is the link again that I posted above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1fL54rLtTE

[Ken Trombly]

This whole thing is so pathetically stupid. And look at the typically cornball magic shop props that line the walls of the room in which CA sits when interviewed. CA has become a parody of himself.

[Richard Kaufman]

I just watched the clip. Holy cow: how completely tasteless and stupid.
This leads to the question: was the dead guy really dead? No. His pallor was that of a healthy living person. If he was a dead guy, they would have had to insert an air bladder inside his chest to make it rise and ball as if he was breathing.

The Genii predicts that, with Criss Angel's new hairstyle and suit and tie, he will become a motivational speaker within the next five years.

[Richard Kaufman]

And this is really funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhS0Hgnl2qY

[Bill Mullins]

The Genii predicts that, with Criss Angel's new hairstyle and suit and tie, he will become a motivational speaker within the next five years.

Do you figure, that as a motivational speaker, he'll soon be living in a VAN down by the RIVER?

[Bob Farmer]

Criss Angel Becomes A Woman

Tonight, the world famous magician will transform himself from a man into a woman, conceive a child with a male member of the studio audience picked at random, and give birth 90 minutes later.

No word on whether the method will be featured in his upcoming Linking Ring Parade.

[Bill Mullins]

Most of us, I think, are familiar with the phenomenon of the audience member who is reluctant to step on stage and help with trick.

Being asked to copulate with a trans-gendered Chris Angel will take this phenomenon to new and previously-unseen heights.