criss angel discussion...

reply to post by sylvie

The show was Phenomenon.

Yes this is the debate. I'm not sure Eyewitness thinks CA is doing magick, as in conjuring. He thinks CA has a gift. He can correct me on this. He also believes Blaine has the gift too, and copperfield maybe.

Another member on here believed CA acquired his gifts from discarnate entities that apparantly hold council meetings in another realm.

They refuse to accept CA denying he has powers, that it's a lie to hide his true gifts. There's another thread on ATS were some believe he's Jesus.

It's an interesting debate, and I do like Criss Angel. I'm not a CA hater. Mindfreak is my favourite TV show anyways.

Just so everyone on here knows, Chris Angel is a magician, he does tricks, he does a heavy ton of video fakery, and I'm not just talking about cutting and pasting vids together, he actually uses aftereffects to achieve some of his "tricks", I like david blaine more, he seems to be a little more credible, CA is a magician, they all follow a code where they make sure they don't say that it's real.

Also, I think that the footage of him in the implosion video is real, but the part where he is trying to unlock the last door is just a ping pong loop. That to me was pretty obvious.

-Jimmy

[edit on 13-8-2008 by jimmyjackblack]

Is Criss Angel:Mindfreak a twin?

I just watched one of Chris Angels latest episodes on A&E where he jumped off a boat at distance from the shore of 1000 yards and re-appeared amidst a group of ladies near the shore almost simutaneously (one continuous camera shot). Since I do not believe in magic, the only possible conclusion I can reach is that he has a twin and many of his tricks are possible due to that fact. The only other plausible explanation would be camera tricks and spectators that are in on the trick. Anyone have a similar opinion? I am a longtime lurker, first tim poster. If this has been adressed already I apologize.

reply to post by foolkiller71


do you have a link to a watchable video ?

we obviously need to see it to offer an opinion

but i will say :

mr angels version of ` one take ` often contains edit beaks

reply to post by foolkiller71

I'm not sure which show that was, in Mexico right? If it's the one where he was sealed in a red barrel, tossed in the water, then appeared further out to sea having freed himself from the barrel, then I think I figured that one out. While they were showing you the top of the red barrel being locked, you were distracted by making sure they were really locking him in. You don't see the bottom of the barrel, where he is already escaping out from underneath it. So now he's really on the boat, but you think they toss him in the water. Then swimmers from this boat go to retrieve him after he escaped from the locked barrel. It's a long shot, so you can't see close up until they get there. The illusion is he was one of the swimmers jumping off the boat. He is often one of the people "helping" him!

If that's the one you meant, there were two episodes in Cancun, Mexico. Maybe you meant the hula hoop one and I forgot how that one went.

As far as I know he doesn't have a twin or body double. He has brothers who look a bit like him, but one could hardly confuse them. At least I wouldn't .... I'm always being distracted by his beauty ....

Did you see him being cremated? That was good.

Has anyone seen the episode where her pulled a woman in two. It was in the middle of a park and she starting freaking out and crawling away from him with her hands. It was completely insane and not like the typical 'saw a woman in half in a box' trick either.

reply to post by mateandbucky06


yes we did - and it has been addressed several time

the short sharp reply - is it was FAKE , and the ` top half ` of the " woman " was rose siggins a truelly remarkable woman

who for some reason acts as a shill - and is curiously is uncredited for her ` preformance ` - i wonder why that is

I'm not sure which show that was, in Mexico right? If it's the one where he was sealed in a red barrel, tossed in the water, then appeared further out to sea having freed himself from the barrel, then I think I figured that one out. While they were showing you the top of the red barrel being locked, you were distracted by making sure they were really locking him in. You don't see the bottom of the barrel, where he is already escaping out from underneath it. So now he's really on the boat, but you think they toss him in the water. Then swimmers from this boat go to retrieve him after he escaped from the locked barrel. It's a long shot, so you can't see close up until they get there. The illusion is he was one of the swimmers jumping off the boat. He is often one of the people "helping" him!

If that's the one you meant, there were two episodes in Cancun, Mexico. Maybe you meant the hula hoop one and I forgot how that one went.

It was recent show but I do not have link. He jumps off a boat 200 yards from shore and pops up through hula hoop being held by four ladies near the shore almost immediatelt. This was done in one continous camera shot.

I think that one is called "water teleportation". It's on youtube, but vid wouldn't load for me.

I caught another one of his actor spectators again tonight. Filmed in New Orleans, he did a very cool trick with a cup, balls, apple and coffee. At the end, a blond girl says "Criss is amazing". I recognized she was the same girl from another season when he put his hand through glass in the vending machine (one of my favorite illusions of his) at the Luxor Hotel in Vegas. It really spoilt it for me, because it was done so well, and it just blows it when you put 2 and 2 together and know he takes these actors along on his travels to be planted spectators. It makes you think if he could do this stuff live with sleight of hand, he wouldn't need the actors, and so one can only conclude he must be using camera tricks. I'd really hoped he didn't do this. Doesn't he clue in people are going to notice the same "random" people he's "never met before"? Seeing that same girl completely destroyed the wow factor.

The only alternative is they're just groupies following him around, in which case he should say you've been on once, can't be on again.

Another thing that makes it obvious is when he's giving instructions like stop, hold your hand, blah blah, and they're doing it before he even asked yet.

[edit on 21-8-2008 by violet]

Umm people on here think CA is actually magic? hahaha thats funny. Heres an idea go on youtube and type in chris angel revealed. You will be very surprised at just how simple the majority of his tricks are ( a lot of them simply require a group of actors and a lot of editing. The thing I dont like about the guy also is the fact he seems to beleive his magic and then his brother with his stupid ohhh im so scared for chris talks before every trick.

The mindfreak shows are truely entertaining however I am positive his "magic" is 100% hollywood. You think these shots are 100% unedited shots? No way.
Plz note that he never does live performances. Everyone on the show is paid to be there. Believe it.

what u gotta realize is that criss angel is an Illisionist. not a magician. he creates an illusion for us and we get a kick out of it. im a huuuge fan of criss and know how to do a few of his tricks (yes that includes his levitation tricks) and once you know its not that great so sometimes its better to stay in the dark about things and just enjoy them

Originally posted by stevo351
what u gotta realize is that criss angel is an Illisionist. not a magician. he creates an illusion for us and we get a kick out of it. im a huuuge fan of criss and know how to do a few of his tricks (yes that includes his levitation tricks) and once you know its not that great so sometimes its better to stay in the dark about things and just enjoy them

I'm a big fan too - believe it or not, and I agree it's best to stay in the dark. But, it's hard to do that when he reveals his ownself, by using the same spectator more than once. That blond girl spoilt not one, but two illusions for me. Time and time again we catch these previously used witnesses.

Eyewitness, one member in this thread that believes CA is doing real magic, should by now have offered a better argument. If I was EW, I would say Criss is really doing this stuff with real powers, and I admit I notice these planted spectators (he never admits he does, even when he asks us to prove it) and they're planted in there to be caught to prove CA fakes it, so no-one catches on he's got these powers. And EW could add that CA is always saying "I know I can be caught on youtube, 5 minutes after I've aired ...." then EW could then suggest that's a hint that he knows he can be caught faking he is caught!

Okay,

I just watched Criss Angel walking on water in Vegas on YouTube and it was so unbelievably obvious in the POV shots looking down at his feet that he was suspended from a harness I can't believe they put them in.

His feet were sinking further into the water than in the long shots. He wasn't travelling forward at the same speed, in fact you could see his feet "dragging" backwards through the water relative to his forward movement.

Too easy to see.

As for the woman who swam between his legs, note how she carefully moved in a straight line matching him, not across his direction.

And why do you think they put the black circle around the hand-held camera in the pool? Plus there were those handy splashes on the lens to obscure things a bit more. Also, did anybody else notice that it was just a cheap handy-cam, not a rather more expensive broadcast quality digi (or even a Betacam)?

All the screaming and whooping just made it worse. Typical "reality tv/15 minutes" generation crap. You know why old-time magicians use silence so much...silence is genuine awe-struckness, cheering is for the high-school basketball team...

Originally posted by Jaryn
I have one very simple question to ask: if Criss Angel's performances are before real audiences, where are the first-hand descriptions?

See that's one of those observations that's so brilliant I wouldn't have thought of it. Well-played.

reply to post by stevo351


Exactly. He's a talented showman. I don't exactly like the pouty-troubled-goth style he uses, but heck - a few of his tricks have made me sit up and ask how he did it. Obviously any rational person won't jump to "well he must be really flying/walking on water/making a car disappear/teleporting", as that is abous as far from rational behaviour as we can get.

Luckily the believers are in the minority, which somewhat restores my faith in humanity. I still feel sorry for them, though - it makes me wonder what else they have illogically assumed to be real or false, which could possibly affect their lives.

His latest show with up close magic was very good. Smoking a cigarette through a glass table was cool, and the cards sleight of hand at the casino table.

I've also been watching some of his old stuff, before he got his MF show and there aren't really any parts where you start thinking the spectators are planted. It comes across alot better anyways. He's also not acting so egotistical, which I know for some is a put-off.

I think next week he's going to interact through the TV, or something like that.

I will keep asking even though no one ever gives an intellegent answer:

If Criss is just using props that cannot be seen and paid witnesses, then WHY ON EARTH is he the only one making money? Are you saying that you really believe that anyone with some talent and a willingness to trick video and pay off witnesses can do what he does? If so, then WHY is no one else doing it? Is Criss the only ' illusionist' to like money and fame? Are ALL the other performers OK with always being second act to Criss?

Is the nature of competition and performing one of laid back acceptance of others acts or is it an aggressive industry with talented newcomers trying to break in and make a name? I think we all know that the latter is the one that makes sense.

So, Criss feats are NEVER duplicated...and you guys just don't see anything odd about that, correct? And the FACT that NO one does daylight levitations and teleportations in front of mass crowds means nothing...right? Unreal...sometimes I think that most of you have lost your critical reasoning abilities....why do you think I believe that Criss uses esoteric ability as well as doing conventional illusions? What convinced me and a few others here that SOME of Criss acts were unexplainable except by means of innate ability to alter the elements and the forces of physics?

Here it is: The TOTAL and UTTER absence os ANY evidence of the following: Paid witnesses that remain silent forever; props that could account for the event, as none are seen or possible under certain conditions, or they WOULD be seen; any other performer doing the EXACT same event WITH props and showing us how it is done.

Thats another major issue: If Criss is doing some high class trickery and thats all it is, why have we not seen an expose of any kind duplicating the events? Daylight levitations, like the golf course event, are not duplicatable with props that cannot be seen!! So of course no one ever tries to refute it; the refutation seems idiotic, does it not? " Criss had a crane that was at the edge and paid all the people to act suprised and the wires are all invisible". That reeks as a way to explain the plain and simple event: Criss showed up on a golf course and levitated in front of a crowd of strangers, who were flabbergasted at what they saw.

Why is the simple truth so trying for some of you? What is so strange about human levitation? It has been documented for eons and unbelief and doubt, along with other reasons, account for us not seeing more. Criss is the King of certain elements, as proven by the effort Blain uses in a two inch levitation...Cyril Takayama can manipulate elements as well, but cannot levitate. The three men currently using esoteric abilities for profit and fame prove that ordinary explanations fail at every attempt:

The supposed ' proof' of it all being an illusion is so ludicrous and silly that it is easier and much more sensible to simply accept what you are seeing as real. Of COURSE Criss uses common and proven tricks and stunts at times...but not ALL of what he does can be done by others, and the fact that not ONE OTHER human being dares to replicate Criss events like high levitations and teleportations says a lot...at least to those of us blessed with critical reasoning abilities...the rest of you simply refuse to believe the plain truth and will accept the most far out and totally UNPROVEN assumptions about how it is done before you will see the truth...but that is a fault of your character and your inability to accept the facts blinds you to always falling back on the most mundane and easy to imagine answer....given a limited imagination, that is.

Criss CAN levitate, and has done so in ways that NO ONE can replicate WITH props so next time you see him do an event like walk on water or teleport, do not assume that some other guy could do it...he can't, or he would. Have a nice day and open your minds!!