Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

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Richard Kaufman
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Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 27th, 2005, 11:37 am

I had the chance to view a preview of Criss Angel's MindFreak Halloween TV special that will air on A&E Monday night at 10 p.m.

It was extremely enjoyable--perhaps the best of the series so far. For those of you who enjoyed the episodes which included a lot more magic than just the final stunt, this hour has all kinds of tricks in it. So, make sure to tune in!
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Guest » October 27th, 2005, 12:19 pm

As much as my wife loves Criss Angel I'm starting to think you are in cahoots with him! I wish him success on the show, I hope I'm home in time to see it.
Steve V

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pete Biro » October 27th, 2005, 12:46 pm

I was there when a lot of the Halloween show was filmed and believe me, this is going to be a classic! A DO NOT MISS show. Some of his guests are awesome... I don't know how the edits went and how much of the guests will make the show, but trust me... they will amaze you.
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Guest » October 31st, 2005, 2:57 pm

Just bring this back to the top. Remember that Criss' Halloween TV special is tonight. I had the honor of working with him at It's Magic the past two days and you can not ask to work with a nicer guy!

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Steve Bryant
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Steve Bryant » October 31st, 2005, 3:43 pm

I'll be taping anyway, but does anyone know if the special will be included in the A&E dvd already advertised?

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 31st, 2005, 6:42 pm

No, the Halloween special will not be on the first season DVD set (which had to be sent off for pressing long before the Halloween special was even edited).
The two "best of" shows (upcoming) won't be on it, either, nor will the Bullet Catch or Mental Roulette shows (both of which A&E has decided not to air).
I assume all of that material will be on the DVD set for the second season.
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Guest » October 31st, 2005, 8:55 pm

I have had this on my calendar for a couple weeks, and it turned out to be ... excellent!

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pete Biro » October 31st, 2005, 9:56 pm

I couldn't talk about this before, but now that it has aired... the illusion where he leaps through Joaquin Ayalla was UNBELIEVEABLE LIVE... it was done live, one take, no edits. I was standing just off to the side (alongside one of the TV Camera operators) shooting still photos and it happened so fast and so clean I didn't know if I got the shot... I DID.

Criss was great to work for... caring and always made sure I got the shots I wanted and made sure everyone involved was taken care of.

Following the shoot he invited all the audience members to join him to chat and signed autographs. He spent almost two hours with them and posed for pictures and talked with everyone. Some of his fans flew all the way from New York to be in the audience at the Magic Castle.

Yanovich is one great directore/editor and USUALLY the "still photographer" is considered IN THE WAY... but this crew treated me great and always made sure I was OK with what I needed.
Stay tooned.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Rafael » November 1st, 2005, 2:56 am

Dear Pete,

Can we see this picture somewhere?

Best regards,
Rafael

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pepka » November 1st, 2005, 4:03 am

The vanish into Ayala's body looked incredible! I always have mixed feelings about more "surreal" illusions like this, but that was just too damn cool. At the end, the woodchipper thing was reminiscent of Lance in the car crusher a few years ago. I think he waited a little too long before reappearing. You guys think his mom and brothers are in on it? If so, mom could have one an emmy last night.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Ryan Matney » November 1st, 2005, 4:28 am

I enjoyed the special more than the regular episodes I think.

Who designed/suggested the jumping into the body illusion? Buster Keaton did this in 'Sherlock jr' Is there a Keaton fan on the consultants list?

I think Johnny Thompson sold the wood chipper better than any other 'end of show' illusion yet. Good choice, nobody else on the show could have presented and acted as well.
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Guest » November 1st, 2005, 6:00 am

I have not seen the special but the "jumping into body" illusion sounds very much like an illusion John Gaughan showed me a couple of years ago. He created it and it looked pretty amazing.

Regards,

D

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » November 1st, 2005, 6:33 am

I agree with everyone else about the jumping into the body illusion -- it was done perfectly. It caught me completely off guard and for the first time since the series began airing, I was absolutely stunned. However, I felt that the slow motion replay ruined the illusion a bit -- it gave away too much information and I have an idea of how it works now. But that moment when he just dove onto the stage, right into Ayala's body...that was sweet.

About the chipper: I absolutely hate "escapes" of this sort. It really cheapens the whole thing. I felt the same when Lance did the car crusher and when Jeff McBride was burned at the stake. I think the thing that bugs me is that, as an escape, it's a good idea -- a race against time and if you fail, you pay the ultimate price. However, as an illusion, you're left with the feeling that 1. he wasn't really in the box (even if he was there, that's the feeling you get) and 2. he wasn't really tied up, handcuffed, etc. (again, even if he actually was).

But, it was nice to see my old magic shop (The Magic Shop in Hicksville) featured on the show.

The very end when Johnny was talking to "Criss" was pretty funny. My wife felt it was the best part of the show (though I think she missed the Ayala segment since she was talking on the phone).

-Jim

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Bill Wells » November 1st, 2005, 6:42 am

The best of his shows so far. Like everyone else, I thought the jump through body was great. Johnny with the kids at the end was a great finish!!

Bill
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Steve Bryant » November 1st, 2005, 7:38 am

Awesome show. Weird to see all those people at the Castle in jeans though.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pete Biro » November 1st, 2005, 9:17 am

It was in the afternoon, and like Sunday Brunch Jeans are ok.

I gotta tell you that jumping through Ayalla FLAT DESTROYED the live audience. Even tho' I had seen it in rehearsal, when they did it LIVE in front of an audience and did it PERFECTLY... it fried everyone... even those of us that know how it was done and were expecting it.

If you check the credits in the crawl at the end of the show, Johnny Gaughan is mentioned and I think (but I don't know for sure) that illusion came from him. I'll ask him when I see him next week at the Conference of Magical History.

As far as any photos I took... SORRY, I cannot release or show any of them as they all belong to Angel Productions, Inc., and they are the only ones that can release or show them. You might keep checking their website to see if they put any up.
Stay tooned.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Guest » November 1st, 2005, 10:23 am

I finally had a chance to watch last night and while the Jumping through body illusion was very good real time I think it was a poor choice to show it in slow motion. I had a few people watching with me last night and they all were wowed by the illusion and then when they showed the slow motion I heard a couple "Oh's and I get it" now I don't know if they did "get it" but still it opened it up with the slow motion view.
Overall I thought it was good but the lay people at my house (about 5) didn't like his presentation. A couple of ladies said he looked like a freak (I wanted to point out the title of Mindfreak" but held my tongue) and they said they would never let their kids near him. Please don't take this post the wrong way,I'm not bashing him and wish him all the best but I'm just posting what the people at my house thought about him. I think that any magic on TV or anywhere is good for all magicians personally.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Guest » November 1st, 2005, 10:36 am

Dang that Criss Angel is growing on me. I agree, bad choice to show a slow mo on the jumping through body. Another thing I found a bit odd was the wood muncher (whatever that thing is called) part when they noticibly sped up the film. I enjoyed the show. I've one question, how tall is Criss Angel? Sometimes he looks to be a lil' feller and then he is shown next to other men and he looks tall (of course they could be 5'2" tall and he looks big).
Steve V

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pete Biro » November 1st, 2005, 10:44 am

What really matters...??? He has been signed for another full season. The ratings are the proof.
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pepka » November 1st, 2005, 1:44 pm

I also loved seeing Steinmeyer's method for the needle and thread. However, I didn't care for pulling them from his navel. But hey, that's what makes him Chris Angel. The vanish however, looked great.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 1st, 2005, 6:08 pm

I'm 5' 10", and Criss is several inches taller than me. I'd say 6' or 6' 1".

Yes, the illusion of jumping into someone's body comes from Johnny Gaughan.

I think the Wood Chipper was inspired by the Halloween special Paul Daniels did years ago where things went wrong and they killed him at the end of the show. And the show ended. Got great press. Unfortunately you just can't do that in the US, so Criss had to step out at the end. But, I thought it looked great.
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Jonathan Townsend » November 1st, 2005, 6:28 pm

when in the show is the "jump through" ?
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pepka » November 1st, 2005, 7:05 pm

Paul Daniels was "killed" at the end of a show and that was it? I bet that was a surprising ending. You said that can't be done in the US, but didn't Penn and Teller end a special one tme with Teller drowned in a tank? More details please Richard.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pete Biro » November 1st, 2005, 7:19 pm

Jump through was done very early in the show.
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby CraigMitchell » November 1st, 2005, 11:56 pm

The Halloween Special will be available for purchase in mid-December from A&E

http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=74561

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby MaxNY » November 2nd, 2005, 4:53 am

Just a quick example of the sign of the times... A very young Morgan Fairchild, (with lots of hairspray) caught a bullet in her teeth on a "Circus of the Stars" show back in the early 80's. And, she did it without a jerk, or twitch...just that twinkle in her eye! I guess if you really act out the catch, fall to the ground,and groan, it appears too real, and some kid might try it. On the other hand, if you are a super model, and you can do it without loosing an eyelash...bingo! It's in.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Steve Hook » November 2nd, 2005, 4:58 am

VCR alert:

The Halloween Special will be rebroadcast on A&E:

Nov. 5, 1pm EST

Nov. 6, 10am EST

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Richard Kaufman » November 2nd, 2005, 7:58 am

Interesting thing about the A&E release:

"This DVD is one of the many titles in our DVD Library and is created in the DVD+R format. This disc does not feature menu pages or special features like standard DVDs, simply the high quality programming you've come to expect from us. Click here for more details."

They are going to burn them as they sell them! DVD on demand. For people with older machines who can't play DVD+R format, this could cause problems.
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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby CraigMitchell » November 2nd, 2005, 10:43 am

Makes sense not having to worry about stock.

Have bought from them before - and the quality is first rate. And you would really need to have a fairly old DVD player not to be able to play DVD+R ...

Its really great that Criss / A&E are commercially releasing the specials. Far too many magic specials never see the light of day as commercial DVD releases or take years to come out ( how about a boxed Worlds Greatest Magic set )

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby MaxNY » November 2nd, 2005, 12:31 pm

You may have a problem playing them down. Older DVD players (anything older than 4 years ago) will have trouble... The reason that there is no Chapters...deep cost. Anything with Titles and Chapters goes into an Authoring process, lots of money can be spent. I reproduce DVD's for 60 Minutes, and they too, are pretty straight forward. Auto play, Chg..Chang, Loops, Ch..Ching. this was probably negotiated as an A&E release, not a Criss release. Most DVD's in mass replicated now are DVD-R's.They probably won't have a copy-guard either.

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Guest » November 2nd, 2005, 8:12 pm

I predict that in next week's episode ... Criss will take his shirt off, three times ;)

as a recent fan, I really like the "expect the unexpected"

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Re: Criss Angel's Halloween TV Special

Postby Pete Biro » November 2nd, 2005, 9:28 pm

How many of us will try to steal the "catch an arrow" bit? Not me!
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