I don't hate Criss Angel, however I am not a fan of his. A friend of mine met him while in Las Vegas last week and told me he is a very nice person. He gave my friend and his son's autographs and took photos with him. He didn't perform any magic.

He is very popular on TV and has brought an interest back into magic. I noticed this week on NBC, Criss Angel and Uri Geller are mentors to wannabe mentalists who compete for $250,000 and the title of "Phenomenon." The show is on Wednesday evening at 8 pm.

I think a lot of people here will recognize Guy Bavli's name.

And many will recall that Gerry McCambridge had a special on network TV a couple years ago. If they're just "wannbe's", then looking back on America's Got Talent I suppose we could say that Kevin James is just a 'wannbe' magician.

From the short bio's here: http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/nbc-r......5912.php

It appears that of the 10 contestants, only 2 claim any paranormal powers. The rest are admitted entertainers and magicians.


Seems like hundreds of winners in a single drawing would have made some headlines when it happened.

I hope the show goes well.

Why hate Criss Angel? plenty of reasons--for one, while he's helped to usher out the public perception of magicians as geeks, he's ushered in a new, equally problematic, public perception of magicians as "weird" and "creepy." Really, it's a new angle on "loser," not the geeky kind, but the creepy, stalker kind. trust me, the kids that are really into Criss Angel at high schools and junior highs across the country are outcasts. It's Angel's whole get-up that miffs me--the whole gothic thing--it's just, well, weird and creepy. And, like Geller, he takes himself way too seriously. I don;t think this is what magic needs.

What we need are smart, witty, personable, artistic and skillful people to help magic--Derren Brown comes to mind. He's not an outcast, he's a star and a true talent. Though it might seem that Angel has helped to bring magic into the mainstream, I truly believe that will ultimately turn out to be false, and that Angel could ulltimately hurt magic.

Just my opinion.

He sure could have passed up on naming out loud "P_ T_____s" and Banachek on national TeeVee...

Why? Average Americans have no idea what that comment meant. As far as saying "Banachek", he's on Angel's show every week so his name is no secret. Criss probably wanted to give him a 'shout out', as the young people say. And "PK Touches" was discussed endlessly here on the Café when it first came out, so it's sure not forbidden to mention it here.

I wouldnt have minded the name drop. But he shouldnt have said what the effect was called.

I can keep hoping can't I?

As for me I liked Chris Angel in the beginning now I don’t watch him anymore. He looks like a punk who thinks he is the strong man of American. He really loves himself to much for me to take. The only thing he did was bring more attention back to magic. I'll take the character and style of David Blain anytime. Plus angel's DVD's Suck Big Time all baby tricks there, highly over rated. Plus this Ma Ma thing is over the top... It get kindcof sickening after a while.. grow up, we all love our Mothers but man, give us a break. This guy is weird to say the least.???

If you really want the answer to this question, perhaps you should ask all of the folks that started with CA but have quit or been fired by him? Basically all of the people that aren't relatives

Why dislike Criss Angel??? Many say that a Picture is worth 1000 words...

wow. Just... wow.

Anyone know where Vernon is buried? I really gotta use the WC.

Sitting on a head stone is considered disrespectful to the deceased. Not as much as actually dancing on the grave, but disrespectful none the less. Sitting on a headstone in a pin-up pose by somebody who claims to revere the man upon whose head stone he is sitting puts me squarely in DerZauberer's camp. Until I saw that I didn't dislike him, just found him annoying.

I dunno, I like his toenail polish.

Tongue planted firmly in cheek