Or he could be hanging off wires. Take your pick.

I wonder what's easier... some quasi-technobable about quantum mechanics, or rigging up a crane, and paying off a few spectators. I wonder what a TV show produced for extended cable would choose. You'd think if such things were really possible, they could at least make network TV. Or he could maybe do his tricks without holding up a piece of paper to block our view.

That anyone thinks this is real blows my mind. These are tricks, plain and simple. He may have refined methods, invented some new apparatus, but these are classic tricks that have been performed for years.

Originally posted by BlackGuardXIII
I don't have an answer, but one thing I do know is that virtually all the answers I have read on here are not correct.

thank God

again, i would love to see what you saw...

Originally posted by deepness
I find this discussion most interesting indeed.

thanks...

i am glad you enjoy...

"Criss Angel Cuts himself in half!

Infront of a crowd while people hold his seperate halves! Crazy!"

Infront of a crown means diddly squat I wonder how much he paid them. This is an age of fakery and tv magic. Nothing more then a special effect like seriously.

If anyone think he does real magic etc then they are stupid nothing personal or anything but people these days are getting more naive by the second.

new episode on tonight!!!

let's see what angel does next...

then we can talk about it here...

Nothing really exciting on this week's show. Just plain old slight of hand. Heck, he even shows you how to do one trick.

[edit on 22-6-2006 by nataylor]

Originally posted by nataylor
Nothing really exciting on this week's show.

Say what???

He "levitated" from one building's rooftop to another! I'd say that was pretty cool. Now, don't misunderstand me. I don't think the guy's got "powers" but I do think he's a pretty great illusionist. I'm not one to want to stand backstage before the show and watch the magician cram the pigeons into his coat. I just like stage magic.

That was an older show, the first of this season. The new show last night was him doing "party" magic. Making chips disappear, making napkins dance and stuff.

hes an admited illusionist.. and im preddy sure he had a show in vegas, dont know waht tricks he performed tho....he doesn't claim to have magik powers....some of his tricks are obvious setups and some are really good even on tv... id still like to see him live in real life..... personaly i think hes better then david blain. i dont like the way blain tries to make u think hes a crazy luny just to distract you from wahts really going on.. always stares at people like hes going to kill them

Folks I will tell you that in fact the audience IS "preselected" ( like when you go to Hollywood/ Sunset Blvd. there are people handing out tickets for live taped t.v. shows filiming that day, i.e. Jay Leno ) We were in Las Vegas the weekend of December 16th (not exactly PEAK season either which should be relevant !!) and I remember walking the "old downtown" section of Las Vegas around 11pm when we came upon what we believed to be a movie filming. In fact it was Chris Angel.

The entire block ( four ways ) was cornered off to prevent "strays" (like ourselves) from joining what seemed to be a very well-organized crowd/ audience around an intersection, (which themselves were backed and sourrounded by "Police gates" and all. ) Anyways folks, I live in Los Angeles and have seen as well as participated as an "extra" in many movies. THIS WAS A PRODUCTION !! The entire thing must have gone on all night and I do not really know exaclty WHEN the actual trick was performed. I witnessed (from our distant vantage point) "Fluffers" ( chicks/ dudes dancing, rallying, etc.) pumping up the crowd in intervals ( every 20 mins. or so) as the crowd (who seemed to all KNOW each other- probably from standing around HOURS before we arrived (which is Hollywood standard) seemed restless and weary.

Long story short, there were PA's and Techies preparing the "stage" if you will, with their Pyrotechnics, and shcematics, there was a friggin' catering truck handing out BOOZE even. It did NOT seem like the "random Mardi Gras" lively group that aired on the show some months later. My point being is that I don't know HOW many times the illusion was "performed" or rehearsed in front of that crowd, but KNOW THIS...the REAL crowd including us, were greater in numbers surrounding the area and we were NOT permitted inside, the intersection had room for MANY more ( Like when Fear Factor shot on locale, the streets were PACKED !! Believe what you want, I will post the damn pics ( which suck ) but you can clearly see FOUR large wooden walls assembled and a bunch of tired looking people....PRESTO !!!

w0w MisterSHOOSH...

great story

i would love to see those pics...

Originally posted by they see ALL

Originally posted by BlackGuardXIII
I don't have an answer, but one thing I do know is that virtually all the answers I have read on here are not correct.

thank God
again, i would love to see what you saw...

Originally posted by deepness
I find this discussion most interesting indeed.

thanks...
i am glad you enjoy...

ditto, especially deepnesses very good post, which Bucky Fuller, of geodesic dome fame, also echoed. We are aware of so little. I recommend going to see Copperfield, and if possible get close up just for the ludicrousness factor. You are right there, but your brain is saying, can't be, cant be.... so I giggled a lot.
My analytical, rational, critical thinking skills went out the window... You see it and know that its not camera tricks, cables, or paid audiences for sure. I know, and thats good enough for me. If some don't believe me, good for them. Go see it.

He has a thing where he shows how he levitates.. its a trick of the eye.. he pulls his foot out of his shoe and puts his foot on a box or any object thats a little off the ground and stands on his toes while he moves his arms to create an effect.. my brother does it all the time now.. kinda funny since people dont notice what hes doin

I'm so sick and tired of hearing people say that its obvious camera magic. I myself am a magician. I don't know how Criss Angel does some of the stuff that he does but you know, someone that needs to pay off a 20 or 30 people and then still have to pay the money to edit the actual film is a horrible magician. There's a reason he's so famous... he's a revolutionary for illusionists. He will make the history books... he's spent just as much time trying to figure out how to pull off these tricks and Jimi Hendrix did writing songs. I do know a good way to approach his tricks. Example, the ring in the ice. Notice, he never pulls anything out of that cup. He had it with him the entire time. There are ways to make a ring vanish... that in it self is an amature trick. (coin vanishes) Same deal. If you notice, his hands are very briefly well hidden as he directs your attention to the glass. There are fake ice cubes for different tricks. Its possible he froze his own write before performing this trick in a developent that he could slip a ring inside... why wouldn't he? He is a professional... this is his job. Then as he goes to reach in there, through his sleeve or some kind of slide of hand, he pulls out the ice cube, making you believe he pulled it out of the glass. The only reason I'm exposing this trick is because I thought of it as a little more amature than the some of the other ones he's done so I'm not doing any real damage to his career. But yeah, thats pretty much how that trick goes. If you do it right, it'll look great. But the guy doesn't use camera magic. He's a professional magician. This is just what he does... If he wasn't any good at it, he probably wouldn't be as popular as he is.

[edit on 7-7-2006 by guitarbr0]

I know of personal experiences like the one by the poster who offered a levitation account which used a box as the support in the performance of the 'trick'. I've seen Angel on tv show step by step exactly how to do a trick too, advising that with a little practice anyone could make it work. In the magic shows I saw, David Copperfield did tricks which I felt confident I'd seen how they were done. But, and for me, a really big but, some of the most dramatic and elaborate tricks were just ridiculously impossible looking, from very close up, right in front of me. To my puzzlement, I saw things I knew were not even close to being scientifically possible, which boldly and publically defied the laws of physics. They made me giggle at times, it was so crazy. Still, I was in a position near enough, well lit enough, and unobstructed enough to discount many of the later answers offered as to how they were done. These offers were by people who were not there, and not once included an explanation I felt was satisfactory. I know not how they do it, but feel convinced that many of the methods which people have suggested are not correct. I'd love to hear ones I could believe, and would even promise to never use nor share that knowledge were I asked not to. Just knowing what the heck it was that I saw happen right in front of me, would be enough reward for me.

[edit on 03 22 2005 by BlackGuardXIII]

Deformed person with no legs plus a pair of prosthetic legs. If you're ever watched "Maury" on TV, you've probably seen people with this deformity.

Regarding the cut in two illusion....

Originally posted by nataylor
Deformed person with no legs plus a pair of prosthetic legs. If you're ever watched "Maury" on TV, you've probably seen people with this deformity.

I saw Copperfield cut in half, maybe 20?, feet away from me. I doubt he has no legs, though I don't know for sure. Still, I have seen footage of him doing a laser illusion where he is cut in two, and his legs walk while his upper body holds on from the side for a ride. It is beyond me how they do it. Walk on water, call the lotto numbers, fly, disappear, etc. I have not a clue how, but, and this I do know, the explanations I always hear from others are not likely. In the first place, I, of course, already thought of them, plus many more, and in the second place, they are often offered by those who haven't seen such things up close and personal live. When you have done so, camera tricks, post-editting, paid audiences, cables, mirrors, etc., are no longer viable options. I saw the man fly, along with 1000's of others, so if he used cables, etc., the chance of no one seeing even one of them, imo, is near nil. The people on Blaine's street magic, who gasp at him lift off the ground 5 feet away... they aren't idiots. If he didn't lift off, would you be fooled by him on tip toes? Neither would I, nor they. It's something else.
Best guess? A combination of skills, including hypnotism, concentration, and all the other magicians arts, like distraction, sleight of hand, smoke, mirrors, hidden trapdoors, etc. for a start. But, for the biggies .... the grand finales ... its something more. It's pretty wild to see up close and live. My doubts about magicians abilities were quickly changed and my conclusions about how ... went down the drain. I don't know how they do it, I just know they do it.

if its all fake then explain how criss lifted a taxis front end off the ground