I am reposting this from a magician friend of mine. LAst October
while in NYC performing I had the chance to attend Chris Angel's
show. I koved every second. I also found him friendly and
approachable after the show. Yesterday I got to work with Chris,
his entourage and Miller Brewery. A brief summary follows. But I
just want to add that Chris and his entire troop were some of the
nicest people and performers I have ever - EVER met. They made
the event memorable for all who came to see, participate and work
for. A fabulous job indeed! I am completely impressed.

Here follows Dan's comments:

I wanted to share some of my experiences on January 15th, 2003...
the day that Chris Angel did the straight
jacket escape for the Miller Brewing Company’s 30th Anniversary
Celebration here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It
was also the 80th anniversary of Houdini’s similar escape from a
straight jacket here in Milwaukee.
Rex Sikes had the good fortune of being asked to be a part of the
event, and he was kind enough to invite me to
come along. (Thank you so much, Rex)

Rex and I arrived at the Miller Inn at 6:30 A.M.. (That’s right,
A.M.) We hooked up with a local television
reporter, Gus Gnorski, in the room next to where Chris was
engaged in interviews with different television
personalities around the country via satellite. They had started
around four in the morning and Chris had
conducted roughly 30 interviews.

While that was going on in the other room, Rex was interviewed by
Gus and shared with the local viewing
audience some of his expertise on the history of Houdini. A few
minutes after the interview, Chris entered the
room. We had a little time to chat with Chris after his
interview. Chris instantly struck me as a very likeable
and amiable person, and it was truly a pleasure talking with him.

We left, and Rex and I hooked up again in the afternoon and
headed back to see Chris perform.
We arrived at the Brewery around 5 o’ clock. An hour and a half
before Chris was to attempt the escape. That’s
when I really saw Chris work his magic.

As he was doing his pre-performance check, he would stop and talk
with the workers as they attended to their
various tasks. And he not only talked with them, he showed
sincere interest in what they had to say and gave
them his appreciation for being there helping him.

The escape went beautifully. A little after 6:30 P.M., Donald
Driver from the Green Bay Packers and a Miller
employee strapped Chris into the jacket as tightly as they could.
Rex was the official Houdini Club
representative and checked to make sure that the straight jacket
was secured properly. Then Chris was hoisted
100 feet above the crowd. This was all done outdoors, and the
temperature was just above zero.
As Chris began to wriggle and writhe, starting to free himself
from the straight jacket, still and moving
images of Houdini performing the same escape were projected on
the brewery wall. Laser lights danced all
around. And as Chris freed himself from the jacket, balls of fire
shot up all around him as the crowd burst
into thunderous applause. Truly a spectacular spectacle.

Chris was escorted to an awaiting ambulance and given a clean
bill of health. There were more interviews with
television reporters and then he mingled with his fans, talking
with them and signing autographs.
Some of them were yelling "Mindfreak, Mindfreak" And when Chris
threw his hat up into the air as a memento for
whoever caught it, it went straight up and came back down, right
towards him. It looked as if he was going to
be crushed as thirty people surged in on him trying to catch the
hat. Chris actually ducked down and covered
his head. The guy that caught the hat was on Chris’s back when he
caught it. So next time Chris, for your own
well being, throw the hat as far away from you as you can.

I also had the opportunity to talk with Chris’s brother, Costa.
He is just as gracious as Chris, if not more.
Costa told me that Chris will be doing a few more corporate shows
before they start their Nationwide tour in
Biloxi Mississippi.

I cannot express enough what a gentleman Chris is. I watched the
faces of those who had the privilege of
getting close to him, those who talked with him and those who got
his autograph. Every one of them walked away with a smile on
their face. And it seemed that it was not because they had just
been with a celebrity or
someone famous, it was because of the warmth and caring of
Chris's personality.
If Chris Angel is the future of magic, it is in good hands.

By Dan Pollack aka DannyMagic


http://www.millerbrewing.com

They have Criss Angel event in viewable recorded format. If
you're
interested to see. Cool.

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Its great to hear when big name magicians take time out to chat with fans and really appreciate the work of their ontourage (who are usually very much overlooked. I must admit I have a big soft spot for Angel and would love to see his live stage performance. You mentioned he is going on tour around the US, it would be nice if he ventured across the Atlantic and performed here in the UK (especially Manchester. So if you're reading this Chris get across to the UK and give us all a treat.