Bullets: Mindfreak’s prank, Blaine’s marathon, Asher’s trip, iTricks’ call for vids

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October 17, 2009

Whadaya know… a correction helps us get that possessives thing we wanted. ANYWAY… click, click, BOOM, here’s some bullets:

Dodd Vickers called it: Criss Angel was never arrested in Mexico, despite all the mysterious tweets and pics. The Mindfreak has been vacationing across the border with his family. But Dodd (can you name a living magician he HASN’T interviewed? We can’t) posts the videos that prove the whole thing wasn’t exactly for realsies.
David Blaine is preparing for a marathon in a contest established by Edward Norton, star of The Illusionist (though he was great, we’ll always love him more for Fight Club). Blaine is asking for your donations in support of the race’s mission: Fundraising to support the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

Card lovers will have a heyday with a recent post in Lee Asher’s Cardstar Diaries: The creator of the Diving Board Double recently attended the joint convention of 52 Plus Joker and the International Playing Card Society in Toronto, Canada. He has pictures of some incredibly cool, antique cards.
Said The Whale, the band that performs the catchy “Camilo (The Magician),” has released the official video for the song. Justin Robert Young had earlier asked magicians to submit videos of their performances for the video, at the request of the band. That project is still in the works, and needs a video editor. Below is the video:

Editor’s note: This post has been corrected. For details, click here: Read more

Posted by Joe Hadsall | Filed Under Criss Angel, David Blaine, General, Magic on TV

Angel’s mass levitation spawns user response videos

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August 28, 2009

Did you try it? Did you float?

In what is sure to become the next great Internet response meme, many watched Wednesday’s episode of Criss Angel’s Mindfreak with a camera turned on themselves. That episode, of course, featured Angel making millions of people at home “levitate.” (By the way, forum member TWB totally called it. So props to him.)

Angel is encouraging people to text their experiences to him. But many have gone further, by recording videos of themselves taking part in the experiment.

See the videos after this jump. Read more

Posted by Joe Hadsall | Filed Under Criss Angel, Magic on TV

Columnist shocked over accessible Angel

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August 16, 2009

Melissa Arseniuk, of the Las Vegas Sun, is freaked out over an allegedly new Mindfreak.

Angel has been making himself accessible much more often over the last few months, and it appears that the trend will continue, Arseniuk writes. There’s some obvious and subtle reasons for that:

The new season of Mindfreak has started.
Angel has partnered with MGM Mirage to open a Criss Angel store in Circus-Circus and to get his name on the Luxor’s center bar, now known as “Criss Angel Liquidity.”
Angel parted ways with his longtime PR man, Steve Flynn. Arseniuk, however, doesn’t mention who has the job now.

That third bullet, although second on Arseniuk’s list, may be the most influential. According to the story, there’s going to be much more Angel out there:

If Angel follows through as planned, this paradigm shift in accessibility will go on for several weeks, if not longer. The in-store signings will continue roughly once a month for the next few months according to sources close to the Angel camp. Meanwhile, he will appear at Liquidity twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday nights, for at least the next month and a half.

So Angel’s working the PR. Is this really a story? Well, YEAH. Angel’s had a rough go of it lately, from the not-so-great reception of his Vegas show to a recent, future VH-1 celebrity battle segment. Angel was even the subject of a column bemoaning the inability to land an interview with him.

So yeah, more accessibility is a good thing, because it means more facetime in front of fans. But it’s clear from Arseniuk’s report that he has a way to go:

Though Angel has repeatedly said, “I have the best fans in the world,” it remains to be seen if his fans have both the stamina and numbers required to keep these appearances well-attended. Yet with five seasons of “Mindfreak” successfully in the can, a signature Cirque du Soleil show, and a surging merchandise-driven empire, it doesn’t look like Angel is going to need to pull a rabbit out of a hat to attract fans. And as long as the Angel loyal keep tuning in to “Mindfreak,” going to see “Believe,” buying merchandise, flocking to appearances, and drinking at Liquidity, Angel should keep smiling, appearing, and talking as he mindfreaks all the way to the bank.

Posted by Joe Hadsall | Filed Under Criss Angel, General

Season five of Mindfreak debuts

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August 13, 2009

Did you catch the season opener of Criss Angel’s Mindfreak last night? What did you think of the White Death? Here’s a few bullets about the latest season:

Next week’s episode (Aug. 19) features a walk through a mine field. Angel talked more about it in this interview with The Deadbolt, as well as a mass levitation episode set for Aug. 26.
Angel talked more about the episode, how Twittered rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated and more in this interview with Good Day L.A. Did he mention something about a magic kit for sale at the end?
The Mindfreak’s naysayers should enjoy a new game on A&E’s Web site: Kill Criss Angel. If only they could, they wish. Those of you with good Web cams will also enjoy this game.

Posted by Joe Hadsall | Filed Under Criss Angel, Magic on TV

Bullets: Magic bar bolstered, icy illusions, Criss’ couch, masterful manipulation

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August 3, 2009

We got bullets, and we’re gonna start shootin’:

Spencer Horsman’s magic shows at Illusions Magic Bar, in Baltimore, Md., have drawn the attention of CNN.com — the site placed the joint on its list of nine places to party like it’s 1929. Sam Sessa, of the Baltimore Sun, tells more about the place. Road trip!
How’s this for a unique show: Magic on ice? Steve Wheeler’s Magic on Ice, which recently completed a U.S. tour, is headed to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The National provides an interesting description of the show.
Attention, PlayStation Home users: Criss Angel has a couch for you. It’s a virtual couch, but it’s shaped like a coffin, and it can be yours on Aug. 6.
Jonathan Bagwell, customer service guru, sent this video of An Ha-Lim performing a card manipulation routine. It’s brilliant, and actually offers some lessons about routining and pacing. Flourishers, take note: