Who is Criss Angel? While by profession he’s a magician, illusionist, and stunt performer, his work has been the source of a much controversy with fans and critics alike: some claim he simply is what he is: a magician/illusionist who performs mind-boggling tricks; others maintain he’s a complete fraud and fake, using staged audiences and camera tricks on television to make his “magic” seem believable; and still others believe he actually possesses supernatural powers, labeling him as either angelic (as per his stage name) or demonic. Whoever he is and however he does what he does, the award-winning magician Criss Angel has created quite the international stir, with fans and critics alike on a quest to figure out his tricks. Angel, a Greek-American, was born as “Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos” in East Meadow, New York, on December 19, 1967—this year marking his 40th. In addition to his career as a magician, illusionist, and stuntman, Angel is also a bit of a musician. As a child, his two big loves were music—he played the accordion and the drums, and later formed the band AngelDust with pal Klayton Scott—and magic, his influences reportedly being Harry Houdini (naturally), Aldo Richiardi, and his dad, who died from cancer. After his official “debut” magic performance at Madison Square Garden’s World of Illusion in 1998 (although he’d been performing at parties, night clubs, and private functions since he was a kid), Angel landed a Broadway show, MINDFREAK, running until early 2003. On July 20, 2005, Angel’s new show, the A&E Network series Criss Angel Mindfreak, premiered, and quickly became the magician’s claim to fame. The series, which is filmed in Las Vegas and has already aired three seasons, is currently slated to run for a full six seasons, with the filming for the fourth season scheduled for September 2007.
Criss Angel Mindfreak has included celebrity guests such as Mandy Moore, Ice Cube, Jonathan Davis from Korn, Jeff McBride, Lance Burton, Celldweller, Rod Zombie, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Penn & Teller, Vince Neil, Carrot Top, Jason Hervey, and the Amazing Johnathan. Angel’s most famous and controversial magic tricks or illusions (or whatever you’d like to call them!) include walking on water, levitations, walking up walls, cutting others (and himself) in half right in front of audiences, and floating in the air between buildings. Although Angel has revealed a few of his “secrets” and methods in interviews, online, and in his new book, Mindfreak: Secret Revelations (April 24, 2007), he tends to only talk about his smaller, minor tricks, and conveniently leaves out how he floats, levitates, and cuts people in half. He’s set to star in a new show, an illusion-based Cirque du Soleil production in Las Vegas, starting in September 2008, and which he says he hopes will run for a solid decade. On television, Angel has also made guest appearances on CSI: NY, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O Brien, among others. In his personal life, Angel, who was awarded the Academy of Magical Arts’ Magician of the Year award in 2005, among other awards, was romantically involved with Joanne Winkhart/Sarantakos for 15 years, and married to her for five before their separation in 2006. Angel most recently made the headlines for his alleged romance with Cameron Diaz (a relationship that has been denied by both parties) as well as for the newly developed divorce scandal. His estranged wife, whom has been allegedly kept "secret" all these years so as not to disappoint Angel's female fans, is suing him for having an affair with Diaz, not sharing his millions of earnings, mental cruelty, and abandonment. |
