talkmagic.co.uk

Let's see, it's 9:30 a.m. I've been up for an hour and on line for roughly 45 minutes... I've seen over a dozen threads on the show PHENOMENA and the one common scream in most all of them is KILL CRISS ANGEL!

He literally names the name of an effect and brags about working with Banachek "one of the guys responsible for that trick..." He shows about as much interest and enthusiasm for being there and involved with the show as termite would be in trying to chomp out sustenance from a block of steel. Worse yet, he proves he's just the arrogant punk most of the world perceives him as being... another poor little rich kid.

I used to like Criss, but his "success" has turned him into a monster; one that has little to NO respect for his peers (let alone, his elders). This has been seen in his attitude for years now but now, with this new show, the public is able to see what insiders have known for a very long time -- HE'S AN ASS!

On one Mentalist Only forum the question was posed... If someone does a book test is Criss going to say "I know Ted Karmalovich who invented the Mother of All Book Tests..." just as he boasted about and names PK Touches... a routine this particular performer is known for doing, has made big $$$s performing and even won a few awards for... but this punk thinks himself god e.g. worthy to say what he wants no matter who it could hurt??? hmmmm



I'm just wondering how many of his fans will now jump onto me for blasting this putz (their hero) for showing such bad form in the public eye?

Jeez Craig, us little guys 'over the puddle' worked this lot out ages ago...

Luckily in the UK it's a case of "Criss Angel who?"

themagicwand wrote:Luckily in the UK it's a case of "Criss Angel who?"

But not nearly enough.

seige wrote:Jeez Craig, us little guys 'over the puddle' worked this lot out ages ago...

Not big news to me either, Seige.

themagicwand wrote:Luckily in the UK it's a case of "Criss Angel who?"

With Gellar being co-host, you may just get this series in your neck of the woods.

Mike.

Michael Jay wrote:
With Gellar being co-host, you may just get this series in your neck of the woods.

So does this mean that Geller is finally admiting that his abilities have been "tricks" all along, or is the fact that he's appearing alongside a professional magician on a TV programmes that showcases mentalists a complete coincidence and his "powers" remain a gift from aliens (or similar)?

Well, when I first heard of this 'find a mentalist' show, I immediately realised that there is no end to reality TV's lack of innovation and inspiration.

Granted—I adore watching the Gordon Ramsey shows. But that's about as much as I can stand.

The 'make a superstar out of a wannabe' shows are in my opinion exploitism... using untrained, unpaid folk to fill an hour slot instead of employing real entertainers.

Oddly enough, Craig, as I sat watching that display of what could at best be described as 'Amature Hour' the person who got really upset about Criss naming PK Touches was my wife. Now, she has no interest in the business other than supporting my shows and cheering me on, but she sat outside on the swing and commented "How could he do that? That just isn't right. I don't want to know how something was done, and now anybody who wants to can look up PK Touches by Banacheck, and there it is for all to see." Now, one could argue that PK Touches could already be looked up, and that would be correct, but who in their right mind would say while they are performing "I will now perform Psicokenetic Silverware by Banacheck" ? or "This move is called the DL, watch this" ?
That was just unprofessional, and uncalled for.

Obviously, it's hard for us small islanders to comment, as we probably won't get this show over here... but quite frankly it's disgusting that two professionals who earned their standing and bread and butter are choosing to bite the hand that has fed them.

Disgusting.

This sounds like the perfect reason to perform your own effects.

Seige wrote:... but quite frankly it's disgusting that two professionals who earned their standing and bread and butter are choosing to bite the hand that has fed them.

Angel was already doing this on his "Mindfreaky" series. The best that I could tell, being a mindfreaky kind of guy wasn't quite enough to get the viewers to tune in, so he started telling how tricks were done in his program. Of course, he left out how edits and stooges work, but, what the hell, eh?

And, of course, this didn't bother the mentalists. They probably just sat back and lamented about what a bunch of losers magicians are (which Browning is so happy to point out to us what a bunch of losers we are at every turn - and we still love him for it).

But, now, Angel is stepping on the mentalist's toes. In a way, I'm not terribly surprised. Eventually, the tides had to shift into their direction, I believe. What I'm interested to see, however, is if this will help to bring the mentalists together with the magicians (the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that).

If Browning's perspective is representative of the general attitude of the mentalist crowd, though, I doubt very much that this will happen (we magicians being losers and all). And, we shall remain a house divided.

Mike.

Craig Browning wrote:This has been seen in his attitude for years now but now, with this new show, the public is able to see what insiders have known for a very long time -- HE'S AN ASS!

I've disliked him since he started Mindfreak... My philosophy is that if you can't perform an effect without paying the entire crowd to act amazed, it's not worth performing. I get annoyed when people mention Criss Angel's "greatness" after my performance. I hear, "Wow, that was great. Did you see that one where Criss Angel levitated over a building? He was surrounded!" And...?

At least his paid actors do a better job than Copperfield et al. "WOW. Now just how DID he do that? Wow! Wow, wow wow!" If you're going to stooge an entire audience, hire some good actors...

On the subject, can I add... when recently performing a very silly sponge routine to a couple of chums, one asked 'How did you do that?'.

The other replied "NO!!! I don't want to hear!"

Which I thought was nice.

Trouble is, if Angel et-al aren't giving a choice of whether or not you need/want to know, then without saying 'turn off your set NOW' the public may be made aware against their will.

However, my more cynical mind fears that this series is just playing to a demanding audience—the bloomin' leachers and 'Tubers.

Along similar lines, if this gets your blood boiling don't put into google "Ellusionist Phenomenon".

After answering the question they proposed ("What is a Mentalist?") there follows this:

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Sigh...

themagicwand wrote:Luckily in the UK it's a case of "Criss Angel who?"

true but everyone keeps saying 'oh can u do the one david blaine does..'

and i agree with siege its nice when people dont want the suprise ruined for them and criss angel is leaving them with no choice by cheating the people created these effects... :/