This is getting interesting.

First, Criss Angel calls out Perez Hilton for bashing “Believe” while seated at the Luxor in the audience. Cirque du Soleil and MGM Mirage issued an apology. A well-known Vegas columnist says said rant went too far and calls for his removal.

Now, iTricks breaks the news that people from that show are asking for refunds. Using info and intel from an unnamed source at the Luxor box office, Justin Robert Young writes:

…Many groups of theater-goers have asked for their money back en masse. With tickets selling for as high as $160 a piece, that would mean a party of five could cost the production $800. Group of seven? $1120. Ten offended patrons? $1600. Granted, group rates and general discounts likely put those numbers at the high end of what’s actually being given back. But the trend itself, according to our source, is very real.

Young also points out that Luxor President Felix Rappaport, a senior vice president for MGM Mirage Marketing and Gene Simmons saw the show on Tuesday night. Young gets major reps for an outstanding reference to Kremlinology, which should more than make up for the bashing that thread is going to take from the Loyal.

Another rough weekend for Criss Angel:

• Angel closed out his “Believe” run by calling out gossip hound Perez Hilton, calling him a “douche bag A-hole” at the end of the performance. Hilton allegedly responded by thanking him for the free tickets. According to a ton of gossip sites that ripped off Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke, Hilton had berated Angel by making fun of Believe on his Twitter. But iTricks’ Justin Robert Young speculates that it’s bad blood for all the teasing Hilton has poured on the Mindfreak.
• Jon Heder, star of “Napoleon Dynamite,” plays an Angel-looking street magician in the romantic comedy “When in Rome.” Backlot Buzz provides this first look; Heder shows up at about 1:35.

Those of you looking for an interview with Criss Angel about “Believe” can cross the Los Angeles Times’ Richard Abowitz off your Google Alerts. The columnist who compared “Believe” to “Showgirls,” filed a column about how he can’t get an interview with Angel. From his report:

I finally was able to pry a definitive answer from Angel’s publicist, who said he must first talk it over with Criss. As I suspected, it appears the policy about no exclusive interviews proved a smokescreen for Angel’s sensitive response to what I’ve written about him. According to his publicist: “As far as Criss is concerned, the Q&A won’t happen for a myriad of reasons. Mainly because I’m not happy with the shots you’ve taken at him in the past. Whatever assurance you can give against that happening in this story isn’t enough to forget what has already happened.”

The “what has already happened” likely includes the previously mentioned Showgirls comparison, a mockery of girlfriend Holly Madison’s review of the show and the quick discount of ticket prices.

I’m not saying that Abowitz doesn’t make any good points. Angel shouldn’t be denying ANYONE interviews, because the media give him a chance to speak to fans directly about tough issues. Interviews aren’t gifts from a celebrity to a journalist; they are mutually beneficial conversations that help both sides inform readers. But if I try to land an interview with the Mindfreak, and am told “no” because of my past writing — I’m just not sure that’s worth so many words. All I’m sayin’.

Photo courtesy Toronto Star

Criss Angel, in one of the first responses to critics of “Believe,” said snarky comments about he and new girlfriend Holly Madison don’t bug him nearly as much as comments about the realism of his show. He sat down with Richard Ouzounian, theater columnist for the Toronto Star, and said this:

“I’ve taken a lot of chances in my career and I’ve got the scars to prove it,” he asserts and – considering he’s wearing a leather vest and no shirt – it’s easy to see the validity of his point. “I’ve hung from four fishhooks stuck in my back from a helicopter in the past. And this show is insanely dangerous. I’m dealing with a wall of fire 30 feet wide and 15 feet high only 6 feet away from me. I could kill myself at every performance.”

Ouzounian writes his column poetically about Angel, but doesn’t reveal any new news about the confrontation between Cirque officials or the nature of the show’s upcoming break. But, Angel does say that, despite critics wondering whether Cirque and Mindfreak was a good combination, Angel knew it would be like Reese’s:

“I’ve been in awe of Cirque for years. When I saw ‘O,’ I was completely mesmerized. I felt more of a sense of magic there than I did at most conventional magic shows.”

Time to break out the bullets. No, not this. These:

• David Blaine’s latest stunt is officially legit, now that it has been immortalized in a gangsta rap song with the likes of President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. Clipse, in a special release for Play Cloths (link definitely not safe for work because of offensive lyrics), raps the following in their song “Intro”: It’s the hood’s Obama shoveling McCain / Out the project windows, the drama’s insane / The rap game’s upside-down like David Blaine / You fans is Times Square for following them lanes.
• So, you might have heard some rumors that Believe, Criss Angel’s collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, is headed for early closure because critics hate it and Angel isn’t happy with it. As usual, iTricks sets us straight and breaks the news of what’s really going on: The show will break throughout most of January so Angel can take a vacation. But the show will also undergo a major revamping in that time.
• Magic Newswire reports that Brian Brushwood’s Scam School, a 37-part dissertation in deceit, was selected as one of iTunes best podcasts of 2008. Dodd Vickers also features a podcast interview with Brushwood.