Talk:Criss Angel

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[edit] Estedica

Estedica is not a word.

"He will be in estedica for the entire movie. Mandrake will start shooting in March of this year."

It's not a word.

[edit] personal Info

Why is Criss's birth name still up there[im an idiot]? It has been asked several times that it be removed as he goes by, and everyone knows him as,Criss Angel, and nothing else. It needs to be removed. - ImxSoxRad 17:11, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

  • I agree, Criss does not want his personal info ou, so we must respect his privacy.--Happycat93 18:04, 7 July 2006 (UTC)Happycat93
He is a public figure, and there's no compelling reason not to include his relevant biographical info.—Wasabe3543 08:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
How ridiculous. Chris Sarantakos, I mean "Criss Angel", doesn't get to choose what information can be put in his Wikipedia article. What next, removing his birthdate because he's sensitive about how old he is? 172.151.102.217 22:19, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

agreed. he is a public figure. if he doesn't like his info out there then he needs get out of the public and enjoy his privacy in private.

  • What an amazingly pretentious thing to say for somebody who claims to not want himself to overshadow his work. Wikipedia's rules are quite clear on what's allowed and not allowed for articles about living people, and basic verifiable information (such as DoB and birth name) are completely allowed, and can't be censored for such a silly reason. Prgrmr@wrk 01:46, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
  • "It has been asked"*. Who asked? And what made those people who asked "better"? So what if "everyone knows him as ..."? Encyclopedias are about FACTS, not FICTION. And EVEN IF someone legally changes names, an encyclopedia should STILL give the FACTS about their birth names. So who cares if "Maurice J. Micklewhite" is much less known as "Michael Caine"? Or "Thomas Cruise Mapother IV" than "Tom Cruise"? Or "Marion Michael Morrison" than "John Wayne"? This is an ENCYCLOPEDIA. This is about FACTS. NOT about what people WANT to believe or what people SEE.

Exactly. Wikipedia is not in charge of PR for Criss Angel. I wouldn't rely on a thing I found in Wikipedia if I knew it had been vetted by the person or persons mentioned in the article. 63.3.10.130 16:01, 21 August 2007 (UTC)Wrightelz

[edit] Signing talk pages

Can the editors commenting on this page please start signing their comments by typing four tildes ~~~~. It is impossible to work out who said what. Thanks. Sarah Ewart (Talk) 09:19, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

  • I removed the sentence that said he was gay because he is not. he has a girl in the show.
    • And someone who has a girl in the show can't be gay? So a heterosexual individual who has a same-sex partner in a show or something is gay? Are you kidding? Please let's stick to facts here. I have very little knowledge about Criss Angel, so I won't make any remarks as to his sexual preferences. At the same time removing a remark about someone and only giving "I removed the sentence that said he was gay because he is not. he has a girl in the show." as an explanation might be just as short-sighted as the person who originally posted that. Come on, if you are so concerned, then give some more than that. A guy is nice to another guy, so he's gay? A guy says something nice to a girl, so he's not gay? Funny, there are lots of confirmed gay guys who give women the nicest compliments and really mean it. So, even though they openly admit to being gay, that means they are not? As for leaving the tildes... sure, I'll leave them. The only reason I do not use my Wiki-account anymore is that I'm tired of the fights. Under my Wiki-account, I made a LOT of contributions. Now, I only make contributions whenever I feel like it, but, to avoid fights, I make them anonymously. I have better things to do than start flame wars on the internet. 67.8.85.101 02:53, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
      • One more thing before I move on: Use your common sense. That's one of the reasons that I, a big contributor to Wikipedia, left, only to post occasionally and anonymously. You see two guys together somewhere, anywhere, and you conclude they are gay? You see a guy and a girl somewhere, anywhere, and you conclude they are not gay? VERY narrow-minded. 67.8.85.101 02:57, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Boundaries and the Impossible

It looks to me like the exposing Masked Magician brought about a change in TV conjuring. Magic, thanks to Blaine and Angel, is now "in your face" out in the streets where it began, without all the glitter, dancing babes, and mysterious boxes. Some call it reality TV. The TV conjuring of Criss Angel, David Copperfield, Blaine, and others brings up an interesting question. When one entertains using the art of deception on TV can the limit and tricks of the camera or anything else be used to the conjuror's advantage? Aren't the rules to the art of deception, there are no rules? Is magic supposed to be fair? Since when? Informed conjurors know the great Theodore Annemann declared it is only the effect, the prestige, the sense of wonder that is important; not the method with which it is accomplished. The spectator and the average magician doesn't really know how clever conjurors' methods are, he isn't aware of all the subtleties, the sophisticated intricate cancelling out of multiple methods employed to put him in that situation which he perceives as "impossible". Check out James Randi's classic Project Alpha and you will see exactly what I am talking about. Here we deal with proud uninformed scientists. User:Kazuba 26 Jul 06 THis isn't really the place to be discussing the merits of camera tricks in magic. I would suggest a forum for magicians. Magicbunny.com is pretty good. This eassay I believe covers everytthing that needs covering and can also act as citation for the the criticism section http://www.online-visions.com/michaeljay/0604fx.html Schnizzle 16:08, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] false, undocumented accusations

In the "legitimacy" section, I'm seeing some disturbing stuff: Between the weaselly and undocumented accusations "Many viewers and critics allege..." and "This has caused controversy among fellow magicians." an editor added-> The accusations are not false: The proof is on youtube, showing how he uses "DIGITAL COMPOSITING" to do his bike jump, walking up walls, levitations, etc. The helicopter is digitally removed, and replaced with a looping shot of clouds. His show is nothing but edits, and computer generated tricks. I also saw the leg reverse. The stooges he uses are countless. "An example supporting this accusation can be seen on an episode of Mindfreak, during an on-the-street levitation: spectators are asked to hold a woman horizontally, and she crosses her legs right-over-left and hands left-over-right, and is held rigidly that way. After Angel says “very slowly, remove your hands,” there is a cut to a different view, and suddenly the woman’s legs and hands are now reversed, left-over-right and right-over-left despite people holding her feet and shoulders the whole time, pointing to the possibility that wires were attached during the cut and that the spectators are actually actors."

Unfortunately, this is terribly false. I'm assuming the editor is speaking of Episode 2 of season 1 (he fails to cite the source) in which the "featured" illusion was the levitation of an audience member in the street. I have the episode in front of me and i say and repeat: From the lifting of the lady to the letting her float, there are no camera cuts. Where this whole "leg and arm crossing" thing comes from, I can only guess secondhand anecdotal evidence of dubious pedigree.

UPDATE: Bah. Why do i have to do the skeptics' job for them? :) The video in question is: http://www.crissangel.com/data/generic_site/crissangel/video/2003/tslevi.htm And yes, she's being held up by people, then we jump to the other side, and the legs are switched. However, I'm not convinced that this example alone warrants the removed paragraphed as typed; It gives the impression that there's more strength to the "critics" than can be shown. What's remains in the "legitimacy" section (Many viewers and critics allege that Angel uses camera special effects, post-production effects, forced viewing angles, and assistants acting as amazed spectators for the TV audience. Many magicians who perform magic without camera tricks resent these methods while others simply see them as modern tools of magic on television) should suffice.

I left in the weaselly "Many viewers and critics allege..." but took out the even worse "This has caused controversy among fellow magicians."

By the way, someone please nuke the section above (Boundaries and the Impossible) and below (The Cameras): They're pointless. 68.116.93.138 11:39, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Cameras

Why exactly can't he have one camera from one angle recording his whole act? They always have to switch angles or go to the audience or something. Because it's all fake and the audience is fake.

Has anyone here seen this guy CLOSE UP doing his stuff? No. Thank you.

I have seen him close up and in person at the Hard Rock in Vegas in the spring of '06. He is the world's greatest illusionist. I stood right there and watched him perform his "magic". The people were "real"...I talked to them later.

Actually, yeah, we have. Several of his stunts on Mindfreak are shown with a single camera angle, regular people are standing all around him, and people see his live shows, where he does alot of the same stunts. {Great logic you've got there--he's faking everything on TV, yet when he does the exact same stunts onstage, he's not faking? And no s*** it's not real; if you think magic is real to begin with, you're a frightening individual.}

Umm I agree with the first person... most of his stuff is camera tricks - not much "magic" to it. Really easy to edit the video and make it look like "magic".

Wow. I just read your post, but all it said in my eyes was, "DUUUUUUH".

First off, he has virtually no say in what gets done with his show after it's filmed.

BS dude if you look at the credits he is the executive producer, editor, and creator of the show lol

Second, as I stated before, he has done alot of the tricks he does on TV in his live stage shows. Where people see him perform the tricks in person. Right in front of their damn faces.

Third, how come if David Blaine were to do the exact same tricks, no one here would call him a phony? Is this whole thing merely because Angel's relatively recent?

-Performing a levitation on a stage, or a vanish on a stage, or a vertical walk up a wall on stage, is a lot easier to do it on a stage, for technical reasons. This does not prove what he does outside is all true.

Another thing we have to take into account is that there are clear examples of him using camera tricks. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb_fTGasypI one example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFvetRFj7A0 how he levitates, youtube shows many more)86.140.48.102 07:29, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

I see no concrete proof of it being a camera trick. Again: HE HAS LITTLE TO NO SAY IN WHAT GETS USED ON THE SHOW. Okay, it shows you how he does SIMPLE levitation. Now explain how he floated from one building to another in broad daylight with nothing above or below him, above a crowd of ordinary people. Explain how he recently levitated above the pyramid in Las Vegas. Oh, what's that? You can't? Thought so. It's shown on youtube how he levitated from buildind to building. He was suspended by a helicopter, 140 feet above. With "DIGITAL COMPOSITING", the copter was replaced by clouds. It also shows two different landings on the roof, one with his legs bent, another straight. Shadows disappear from one shot to the next. It was pieced together. Also watch the bike jump. Two different shots put together. The jump and then the explosion, composited. The proof is, the explosion lit up the 37 story building behind it, but not the bike. The jump and the explosion were digitally put together. He has all the say what is done with the tape after it's shot.

Again, I'd bet anything that if David Blaine, whom I hate for being a performer of forbidden alchemy, were to do these same stunts, you'd support him all the way. >_> You're probably all targetting Criss because he's the newest guy. He's not the new guy, just the ONLY guy who has to do his magic with computers. He can fool the general public, but not those experienced in VIDEO production.

Let me guess--is he faking every serious injury he gets from his stunts too? I believe he is: Why did his feet bleed only after he walked on the LAST screw driver. After the steamroller farce, done with a hole dug and laying on probably a matress, was there so little blood. The car hitting him through the brick wall was "digital compositing, two seperated shots, proven by the car changeing length as it went through the wall. The bike jump was TWO SEPERATE SHOTS, proven by the building lighting up from the explosion, but not the bike. All of his impossible stunts, ARE IMPOSSIBLE, done with computers. To say he is a fake, fraud and con artist is putting it mildly.

-

Season 1 was at least was full of "illusions" created through editing and digital trickering of the image. Kinda lame in my opinion, as they are not "real" illusions at that point anymore. This is not to say that he would be unable to perform real illusions, as he does the on his live shows.

For example watch the scene where he walks up and down a small white building. This trick is traditionally achieved with very narrow wires, attached to a structure at the top. But there is no structure that the wires could be attached to. Well... There IS a camera up there pointing downwards, because the footage cuts to that camera every once in a while. We see Criss from upwards, from a camera which is 1-3 feet off from the roof. And yet that camera isn't visible on any other cameras, even if it should be.

The only logical explanation is that they digitally removed the structure that was holding both the camera and the wires. The other explanation is that Mindfreak is shot with invisible cameras that can float in the air, but I don't find that explanation believable.

Tuukka Tiensuu

-

[edit] Expose

Sarah, I am confussed why my addin to external link of criss's levitation keeps being removed? Am I missing something here (please don't flame me, I think it has relevance to the article)70.160.240.103 02:20, 4 August 2006 (UTC) otherjohn

Hi John, I don't think the link meets External link guidelines. Also, I feel that labelling it "Criss Angel shows how he performs his levitation" implies it is an official site or somehow approved of by Criss and from what I can see it is not. It seems, in fact, to be a site containing the opinion of someone watching and attempting to deconstruct Angel's magic. Is it your website? Sarah Ewart (Talk) 02:33, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for explaining it. I admit, I didn't read the Eternal Link Guidelines and should have done that first. Now what about writing an addon to the article about public controversy on Criss and his acts (how he seems to move away from performing illusions and into fooling that he himself has powers). That's covering different points of views. The article seems to be very one sided and from a fan based only. -just my 2 cents otherjohn --70.160.240.103 03:16, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
You are welcome to add a "controversy section" to the article if you wish. It is important to make sure edits are of a neutral point of view, do not contain your personal opinion and are verifiable. If you'd like more information, the relevant policies are WP:NPOV, WP:V and WP:OR. Sarah Ewart (Talk) 03:54, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discography table?

I thought the Discography section might look more organized in a table, so I created one and put it on my user page here. I thought I'd get the opinions of those who edit this article first, rather than adding it right away, but if you'd like to use it you can copy the code straight from my page. I'm not fantastic with tables, though, so someone else might be able to do a better one. There are some examples of discographies with images under WikiProject Albums: Discography. —Helfaery 07:37, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Hey Helfaery, well, no one has raised any objection in the last week, so I reckon you should put it into the article and we can see how it looks. If people decide they don't like it, it can always be removed. Personally, I think it looks good, though it's hard to tell when it's on a page on its own. Sarah Ewart (Talk) 04:33, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
I'm in the process of putting it up now. The table is in; now I'm updating it with the information added since I created the table (in case anyone is wondering where it went). —Helfaery 21:01, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 1.1 Legitimacy

The above doesn't cite its sources, nor does it seem NPOV. Am I wrong? --Balcerzak 15:19, 4 September 2006 (UTC)Balcerzak

Thanks, I've removed it. Please feel free to delete anything like that in future; it is considered vandalism. Cheers, Sarah Ewart (Talk) 15:27, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

It amazes me that he gets away with these camera tricks. The edits are so obvious, and not even well done. The girl appearing in the bag at the Military site. Notice, in the rear shot, his hands are far apart..They cut to the front shot, his hands are together. During this "EDIT", they place a mirror behind the little platform, making it appear you can still see under it. The girl simply hides behind it and comes up through the bag. Throwing cards at the bus windshield. He spreads out the cards and asks her (Accomplice) if the card is still there. Notice the slight change in his hands between shots. During this "EDIT", the chosen card is place on top. The force of the deck causes the top card, coated with wax to stick to the glass. Then, they don't even show him getting off the bus..Wonder how the card got outside.DUHHHH Same thing with the chain around his neck, the manhole cover that he rolls up. ETC. ETC. ETC. It just shows how gullible people are. If I was a REAL magician, i'd be insulted by his mockery of the trade. His magic is "VIDEO EFFECTS". PHONY in the dictionary should be defined as Criss Angel.


Has the statement "Angel often claims that several of the levitations, teleports and demonstrations of telekinesis he performs are done through the power of the mind, body and spirit attained through meditation" been verified? He puts out DVD's on how to accomplish some of his tricks, including the levitation trick. Many of his stunts, though, do require extreme mental and physical stresses which would be aided by meditative techniques... 68.148.121.132 03:19, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

I renamed this section to "Career in Magic and Entertainment" because it does not discuss the legitimacy of his work at all. It's more biographical in nature than an analysis of the validity of his magic. Anyhow, calling it "Legitimacy" implies that his work is in anyway "illegitimate" (and there is need to prove otherwise), which doesn't really make sense from a technical point of view. Magic may be a form of entertainment that is based on illusion, but all of his "illusions" are in fact performed and exist, making his work by definition, "legitimate". Whether or not his stunts are REAL or not, is another question, and does not really make him an "illegitimate" performer (performer is the keyword here). Magic is not meant to be real, I'm pretty sure even Criss knows this; his career, however, is legitimate, the same way any performer's is. Also, if someone has a better wording than "Magic and Entertainment", please fix. -- 24.203.151.126 22:28, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Inaccurate References

I removed the Vegas blog (which is, not surprisingly, ad driven) link because it briefly mentions rumors of Angel in Vegas and didn't confirm any of the statements in the article about Angel's actual contract (basically its a spam link). I also revised the massive spin someone placed in the article using unrelated references. In the article cited, there's no mention of Penn Jillette, and the only real mention of a challenge is one that Blaine extended to him, that Angel never accepted. Seems like a few fans are trying to spin this as a less-famous Angel dropping challenges that Blaine won't accept, when the same articles cited prove the exact opposite.

[edit] Camera tricks, etc

The article says "Many viewers and critics allege that Angel uses camera special effects, post-production effects, forced viewing angles, and assistants acting as amazed spectators for the TV audience." Isn't this obvious? In one show, even I saw two cases of the use of camera tricks. Bubba73 (talk), 18:53, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Not as obvious. I don't know what it's like with most of his tricks, but I caught an impromptu performance when my husband and I were in Vegas as we were coming out of Carrot Top's show (I even had to sign a release). Everything was performed live when I was there, and I was truly shocked and surprised (it's a trick that might be in season 3 -- producer has yet to tell me when it's going to air). I can tell you from my experience, it's live. Scoop 20:21, 1 January 2007 (UTC) ScoopPC11

Some of the "tricks" or whatever you want to call them might be live. But ask yourself - what is art and magic and what is "making money" ? Let me put it this way: Cheap tricks for a lot of money - not better or worse than cheap music, cheap design and a bad kind of cultural consumption (loss ?). PS: The one with the amputee i hate most :-|

It's magic when the performer isn't using the obvious tricks, like video manipulation, audience plants, or amputees. If they are using a "cheat" like that, they're just a performer, not a magician. I know it's not real, and I expect fiction, but it's rude to outright lie to the audience. Prgrmr@wrk 06:21, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

He does use some camera tricks. On the opening on one of his episodes he said he won't be using any camera tricks at all throughout the episode.64.178.154.131 22:27, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Money? I know he makes money from the show, but I thought his audience was always able to watch for free. That's the impression I got from the show, anyway.. Mathew Williams 10:40, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Provocateur

From my understanding, a provocateur is a sort of sleeper cell, causing unrest within a group, usually politically. So why is Criss Angel being labeled one? He is a television magician and ocasionally a musician, not a political agent. If I'm wrong I'm open to correction, but if I'm right i'm removing the mention. Anton1234 06:34, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Deleted for now… (diff) — atchius (msg) 04:12, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
Thanks. If anyone has any information or sources confirming Mr. Angel's supposed "provocateuring", discuss it here before adding it to the page. Anton1234 21:59, 27 February 2007 (UTC)


I would think the word would be used in the sense that he is causing unrest within the traditional magicians group 76.201.111.201 18:39, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] CSI guest appearance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criss_Angel#Career_as_an_Illusionist talks about an episode of "CSI" -- I saw most of it, but missed the last 15 minutes. Does anyone know how it ended, i.e. was he being framed, or was Criss Angel actually okay with portraying a murderer? :-\ 199.214.27.11 18:23, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Although I don't know I have to ask why you thought this would in any way be a good place for asking? Dad?

[edit] Why does everyone criticize him?

Criss Angel, is a magician, he's got to have some ability or he wouldn't keep his career running smoothly. Or, sort of smoothly. I guess I agree with most of you, he does fake some of his tricks, and that is unappealing. I think he's hot for 40. By the way, the end of the c.s.i episode was he was portrayed as a murderer, I'm obsessed with him, so I had definitely watched c.s.i. P.S. Is Joann his wife? I can't help but ask, even though I doubt an accurate answer. Dude, whoever ( this is Taylor) is messing with my file knock it off, cause you wrote stuff on mine!!! Taylor208.100.204.183 20:06, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Why does everyone criticize him? "Criss Angel, is a magician" Seems fair enough to me. Mike Murray 03:54, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

He's not emo and he's not magician he's an illusionist I think that he's the best but every body has is own opinion and they all have the right to say at loud what they think about any thing so I guest that is why he's being very criticized there's also lot's of jalousie behind that because he's pretty rich and all that stuff but every body talk about every thing and every body that the human nature from : JadouxXx

In most cases it's probably because 40 year olds being "faux emo" is annoying, or because special effects should never be passed off as an actual performance (magic or otherwise). It would be equivalent to actors on Star Trek claiming they're real pilots because their characters flew a spaceship.Prgrmr@wrk 18:36, 20 June 2007 (UTC)
He's not a magician he's a Mind freak lol lrn2fanboi (and emo as hell) also David Blaine is a lot better 24.63.170.16 (talk) 17:20, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Problem being with that argument is that the Trek actors never said they were anything but actors (Famous line: It's just a show), however CA says he's for real. Whether this is true or not revolves mainly around whether you believe that kind of thing is possible. Personally, I'm a firm believer in the Supernatural, and do think a lot of what he does is for real. In other words, there's no one (Outside of, I'm sure, some mentally unstable fans) who think Star Trek is anything but a show. For Criss Angel, it's different. 70.70.97.117 (talk) 06:29, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recent vandalism

I just took out a week's worth of edits to this article because somebody inserted copyrighted material and several vandals from different IP addresses hit the article. In case I took out any substantial content, you can look at this diff to see if there is anything worth adding back. --Idont Havaname (Talk) 01:31, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

Holy crap, a lot of the stuff edited out looks like an advertisement. Not exactly neutral, it's a good thing it was edited out. Another comment I have is the use of "fagology" in the article. It sounds like vandalism to me, and I pretty sure it's not even a real word. I'd remove it myself, but I would know what to replace it with.

Mathew Williams 10:45, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps it might not be such a bad idea to request protection against editing from new or recent editors status for this article? Trusilver 04:12, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

When i first saw the show he looked like he was 29 now I find out he is almost 40 i was amazed and i dont want to start any fight either

[edit] Introduction of the page

Someone with some knowledge of wiki-syntax should fix the first line of this article... "|name=Criss Angel |caption=Criss Angel |birth_date=December 19, ..." and so on...

I fixed it; thanks for posting about it. It was just more vandalism from that person who keeps adding remarks about "Tanner" to the article. --Idont Havaname (Talk) 11:55, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Opinion statement needs removal

At the very end of the legitimacy section it states, "Without a doubt, Criss Angel is single-handedly responsible for magic’s most recent resurgence in popular culture." This comment is not factual - it is merely opinion. Unless it is included as a quote by someone (i.e., "___ has sated taht ...")I think it needs to be removed. Melissa Dilo 22:27, 7 May 2007 (UTC)Melissa Dilo

Yep, you're right, I have taken this sentence out. It's good to bring up more controversial edits on article talk pages, but with more clear-cut problems (like this) you can usually be bold and fix it yourself. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 23:53, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Hehe...I am always afraid to delete things. But, I'll try and be more proactive next time :-) Thanks! Melissa Dilo 03:05, 10 May 2007 (UTC)Melissa Dilo

[edit] 2008 Magician of the Year?

How can he be the 2008 Magician of the Year when it's only 2007?--69.113.131.124 22:03, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

that's exactly what I came here to ask about! what's up with that?

Maybe it's a typo? 70.55.0.138 11:41, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Oh c'mon guys... It's magic. Mike Murray 03:51, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

== Criss's Height == IMDB has false information the person who edited his bio gave the wrong height. he IS 6' tall he's said it in radio interviews on his tv show its even in his own book. stop changing it i'm sick of coming in here and cleaning it up. in fact im also going to go over to imdb and report the person who gave false info on Criss.

Until you can cite evidence (with a WP:Reliable source that 5'10" is incorrect, please do not change it. OhNoitsJamie Talk 20:53, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

http://www.mindfreakconnection.com/archives.html http://www.mindfreakconnection.com/bionew.html UNDER THE NEWS...THE OWNER OF THAT SITE WAS FRIENDS WITH CRISS FOR 5YEARS

Using all-caps does not supersede WP:Reliable sources. OhNoitsJamie Talk 05:53, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

I cited evidence it's published it's straight from his mouth. I'm just gonna contact someone worth contacting on Wikipedia. Now I know why so many people complain about the information here.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kayleighluffscriss (talk • contribs).

If he's 6 feet tall then he ways more then 165lbs. He looks too muscular to only way 165 at 6 feet tall.... I think he's shorter then 6 feet as he is shown as shorter then a lot of people when he stands nextto them on his show. I'd say maybe 5'6 at the shortest to 5'9 at the most.

[edit] Protection

Does anyone else think this page should be semi-protected? If I keep having to restore his basic biographical info, somebody's going to think I'm a fan, and I'd hate for that to happen. It doesn't matter that Criss 'Angel' says he doesn't want his age and birth name known, it's public info and already widely available. People removing this info based on the fact that "true fans wouldn't put it up" forget that this is an encyclopedia, not a fanzine.

Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons#Privacy_of_birthdays

Note that since he complains about publishing his birthday, we can change it to showing just his year of birth, not just his day of birth. In this case, even that is debateable, since the info is widely known already. Prgrmr@wrk 14:21, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Lately it seems like there's been only one anon user removing the info. I've warned the user, and will block if they persist. Protection would be appropriate if the information was repeatedly removed by multiple IPs/users. OhNoitsJamie Talk 14:43, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
Well if he doesn't want people to find out, why not wait to put it on when he dies from some crazy stunt xD.--Eloc Jcg
I just want to add that I was recently watching an episode of Mindfreak where Criss himself said that the day that he was doing his main trick was actually his birthday, and he himself said that the date was December 19th. Although he didn't say how old he was turning, if he was willing to offer the month and day of his birth then I don't think he cares about this stuff as much as some people think. Karabeara126 08:18, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mindfreek?

The article describes Criss Angel as a "Mindfreek" or "Mindfreak" I forget how it is spelled. What the hell is a Mindfreek and how does somebody become it? Does the name of his show, "Mindfreek" make him a "Mindfreek." For instance, John Madden may have "John Madden SportsMinute" but that does not make Madden himself a Sports Minute. I think that a similar rule should apply for Criss Angel. Mike Murray 03:45, 20 June 2007 (UTC) the reaso why he is a mind freak is cuz he is a freakin awesome illusionist. watch the show--drumman8510 00:47, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

I understand what you're saying. Criss does not like being called an "illusionist" or even simply a "magician" (he always refers to his tricks as "demonstrations" rather than "illusions") so he just uses "mystifyer" instead. Of course, Mindfreak is just his nickname. Neither of those are occupations so removing them from the infobox was a good call. ~EnviroboyTalkContribs - 03:41, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Magicians say: "It's all tricks" Mindfreaks say: "This is real." Although it's more of a nickname than an actual title. 70.70.97.117 (talk) 06:32, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

He calls himself a "Mindfreak" on his MySpace page etc. It's his "profession" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.104.224.65 (talk) 06:12, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

He originally wanted it to be Mindf*** but that wasn't marketable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.189.90.72 (talk) 01:23, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Marriage and Divorce

Why is there not a lot of mention of his Marriage to Joanne Sarantakos?

I just read on TMZ that his wife has filed for divorce. I know the article says it was kept "secret" but surely there should have been more on it. According to TMZ his wife has filed for divorce. Criss Angel's wife Joanne Sarantakos filed for divorce yesterday in a Long Island court. She claims that their 15-year marriage, which Angel insisted was kept secret to boost his image to women, was destroyed by his freaky fame and his recent relationship with blonde bombshell Cameron Diaz.

The Post reports that Sarantakos' lawyer will subpoena Diaz for the divorce trial. For his part, neither Angel nor his lawyer have denied the affair. http://www.tmz.com/2007/06/30/cameron-diaz-homewrecker/

User:Me 15:41, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Joann Sarantakos has in fact filed for divorce from Criss Angel. -Fall Of Darkness 20:20, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
Joanne filed for divorce way back in late 2006, also the couple married in 2002 so it was only 5 years, Not 15. -riseabovethis

[edit] NPOV

This page seems pretty biased. It doesn't mention any of the rumored controversies surrounding its subject and reads more like a media release than a wiki article. Scullser1981 01:56, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

I completely agree. It reads like a list of his "achievements" with none of the controversy. But I am too busy to edit it right now, so you can do it if it irks you that much. The great kawa 01:17, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] what?

So he can marry his best friend who is no one else but Klayton Scott. They got the idea from hit movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.--Kingforaday1620 21:44, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Grammar

Who is editing this page? This is one of the worst pages I've seen on Wikipedia. "...disappearing a lambo..." Who writes like that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.80.145.124 (talk • contribs)

Feel free to help. --Tom 17:13, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] mistake?

Poemisaglock 01:15, 16 August 2007 (UTC) The article says "Criss Angel won the Academy of Magical Arts' Magician of the Year award in 2005[4] and the IMS Magician of the year in 2001, 2004,[5] 2007 and 2008.[6]", but 2008 hasn't rolled around yet.

[edit] Copyvio

The whole body of the article is copyvio from http://www.crissaholicsanonymous.zoomshare.com/rss.xml, with a poor attempt having been made at rewording it. I've removed it and put up the template. --Nucleusboy 02:51, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

It seems that someone cut'n'pasted the whole Wikipedia article onto the criss blog, without referencing the source. GFDL violation. Sigh. --Alvestrand 05:03, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Height?

What's his height?Cuz before it said he was 5'9",now it says he's 6'0",which one is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.140.128.34 (talk) 23:00, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Scoring" a show

This article is kind of messy and I'll do what I can to clean up. However, I'm confused by the line: 'Criss then scored a show on Broadway titled "Criss Angel Mindfreak," which ran up until January 6, 2003 ...' The article earlier lists him as a musician - did he actually write the score to his own show? Or can we assume that the writer meant "starred in" or "wrote" or "produced"? I'll clean up what I can grammatically but don't know enough about the guy to reword facts. 64.222.153.188 17:06, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

This is kinda strange. On the one hand, Criss Angel does write the music for most of his shows, working with Klay Scott (as mentioned in the article.) On the other hand, in the context of the article as it stands, I think "scored" is an informal statement meaning "won" or "earned" and should probably change. But I can't tell. gnfnrf 16:08, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Phenomenon

Um how cum on the main page there is nothing about the one tv show on nbc Phenomenon? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.245.232.227 (talk) 22:29, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tricks

I've noticed a few tricks Criss uses. For example in the episode where he makes his cat disappear in front of people, when he pulls the lady in the hat from the audience, she's already standing in front of the guardrail, instead of behind it with the other audience members. Seems like a plant to me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.93.61.181 (talk) 05:36, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

So? He's a magician, of course what he does are tricks. However, that has no business in this article. C56C 20:49, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A Mistake/Vandalism

I noticed that under the section Early Life it says that his father is from Iran and the name is wrong. Just pointing it out though, it should be fixed.Anthestria 00:49, 3 November 2007 (UTC)


i think that no one has the right to put his information on here, he he doesnt wish to have it on here. yes, he is a public figure, but would you want your things posted al over? some in which arent true? no, probly not. i think people just need to leave him alone about what he wants out and what he doesnt. theres no reason to know everything, and anything about him. its stupid, soo get over it. i love criss<3

hm... well learn how to type, and then say something. i love criss more.


Dude, Criss Angel's father is Iranian. Accept it and get over it. His mother is Greek and his father is Iranian of Persian heritage.

Stop the editing already.

Agreed. And as long as information exists and isn't copyrighted or otherwise protected, it should be given out. 70.70.97.117 (talk) 06:35, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Please stop deleting Criss's Iranian heritage

Criss Angel's father is Persian from Iran. He is not Greek.

Stop editing the above from Criss's profile.

Thank You

If you can find a reliable source indicating his father's heritage, feel free to add it. OhNoitsJamie Talk 17:51, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Where do you get your "reliable source" from? Should we ask Criss Angel himself to email you!?

Please stop changing the information, his father is Iranian and his mother is Greek.

If you continue to add unsourced information to Wikipedia, you will be blocked from editing. OhNoitsJamie Talk 01:48, 18 November 2007 (UTC)


Please look at the reference to Criss's book at the end. He talks about his father in his book. Stop this prejudicial behaviour please.

Can you provide me with proof that Criss Angel the illusionist’s father is Greek???

It is your verison which is unsourced and not mine.

I will place the same version that several people before me have posted its more detailed and it comes from Criss's own mouth in his book titled (mind-freak) and from friends that know him personally.


PS: I am currently in communication with Wikipedia in relation to this issue.

Criss says in his book Mindfreak:Secret Revalations that both of his parents are Greek. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.189.90.72 (talk) 01:26, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] "always had an interest in magic"

In Early Life, "and has always had an interest in magic" is contradicted later by "Criss Angel first became interested in magic at the age 6". It's also not very ...something. Bitwiseb (talk) 15:07, 19 November 2007 (UTC)


That's because the person who keeps deleting the true version of his early life (OhNoitsJamie) is refusing to accept other people’s versions.

He has been deleting my and other people’s versions of Criss's early life fanatically. He sites the reason for doing so that my version is not sourced. But his version is not sourced either.

There is no reason to expect anything less. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.144.237 (talk • contribs) 04:38, 20 November 2007

You should sign your posts with a ~~~~ and also thread them by beginning them with the appropriate number of colons. It would be less confusing :D. Bitwiseb (talk) 19:53, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

I think "and has always had an interest in magic" and Criss Angel first became interested in magic at the age of 6" are pretty much the same. I think 6 is pretty young and can be considered "always". If it was had "and has always had an interest in magic" and then "Criss Angel first became interested in magic at the age 16". Then thats worth the change. 75.68.165.212 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 03:33, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mandrake

He's not playing the title character anymore,some dude named Jonathan Rhys Meyers is. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.140.128.34 (talk) 15:26, 23 November 2007 (UTC) EDIT:He is,however,designing the illusions and might have a small role.It's supposed to be filmed in China and the US.I don't know exactly where in the US,though.

It says in the article that he will be "in estedica" for the production. What the heck? Karisuestokes (talk) 23:49, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mentalists challenging Criss

Insertformulahere A number of mentalists have challenged Criss, much like how Criss did to Blaine, I feel it should be mentioned in the article. Why does it keep getting deleted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.2.70.169 (talk) 03:31, 19 January 2008 (UTC)