Criss Angel (born Christopher N. Sarantakos December 19, 1967 in East Meadow, New York) is an American musician, magician, illusionist, escapologist, stunt performer, and the creator and director of the Criss Angel Mindfreak television series on A&E Network.
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Contents
- 1 Musical career
- 2 Career as an Illusionist
- 3 Discography
- 4 External links
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Musical career
Criss Angel was in an industrial band called Angeldust, which he started with Klay Scott (now known as Klayton of Celldweller) after Klayton's previous band Circle of Dust broke up. Angeldust released an album called Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998 and performed in Madison Square Garden. He has since dropped the name Angeldust and released several more CDs as Criss Angel.
Career as an Illusionist
Criss Angel during a performance of
Hümbodik, as shown on his TV special
Supernatural, 2003.
Angel has been doing his Mindfreak performances since 2001; his television show debuted on July 20, 2005. Yet, his skills showcased on TV were developed through stage magic and conjuring in clubs. He also did a television special in 2003 called Supernatural. His brothers and mother are also regulars on the Mindfreak television series.
Among the stunts Angel has performed for television audiences are: Being towed 80 feet into the air while handcuffed inside a barrel filled with water. The barrel was then released after Angel had taken off the handcuffs and tied himself to a safety rope. He also laid atop a bed of nails and had a Hummer drive on top of him. He often levitates himself and strangers off the street. Also he has been hung from fish hooks in his back and dangled from a helicopter. He has been filmed performing the illusion of walking on water. He has also lit and levitated a light bulb.
Angel won the Merlin Award[1] from the International Magicians Society in 2001, 2004 and now in 2005; he is the only two-time, and three-time winner of that award.
He was named 2005 Magician of the Year by The Academy of Magical Arts (AMA) at a press event at Hollywood’s Magic Castle. [2]
Criss Angel is currently starring in the second season of Mindfreak which is filmed at the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Discography
All of these albums were self-released under APITRAG Records.
- Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion (1998, as Angeldust)
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- System 1 in the Trilogy (2000, has the same tracks as Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion)
Featuring Intro Dialogue of Come Alive by Clive Barker.
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- 01. Come Alive
- 02. Down
- 03. Fear
- 04. Thrush
- 05. Procreation
- 06. Die For Me
- 07. Edge of the World
- 08. Darkest Day (JS)
- 09. Hate Me
- 10. Deadlove Calling
- 11. Do You Know
- 12. Metamorphosis (Theatrical Score)
- 13. Forever
- System 2 in the Trilogy (2000)
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- 01. Hümbodik
- 02. Phantasm
- 03. Cocoon
- 04. Inhuman
- 05. Enrapture
- 06. Entranced
- 07. Metamorphosis
- 08. Tremor
- 09. D.A.M.
- 10. XTC
- 11. Underground
- 12. Perelandra.2
- System 3 in the Trilogy (2000)
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- 01. In Two
- 02. Nexus
- 03. Copycat
- 04. Rubber Room
- 05. Firestorm
- 06. Revelation
- 07. Disintegration
- 08. Epilogue
- 09. 2<0
- 10. U
- 11. Why Me
- 12. Amixtika
- Mindfreak (2002; intended as a soundtrack for his Mindfreak show)
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- 01. Scarecrow
- 02. Phantasm
- 03. Cocoon
- 04. Enrapture
- 05. Perelandra.3
- 06. Delusions
- 07. Snow
- 08. In Two
- 09. Tremor
- 10. Metamorphosis
- 11. Revelation
- 12. Closure
- 13. Epilogue
- 14. D.A.M.
All Songs Written, Produced, Arranged, Performed & Mixed by Criss Angel & Klayton.
- Supernatural (2003; Unreleased, exact track listing unavailable; soundtrack for his Supernatural special.)
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- * Xristos
- * Hümbodik
- * Metamorphosis
- * Goodbye
- * N2 (Supernatural)
- * Scarecrow.2
External links
- Official web sites
- Official Criss Angel website
- Official Criss Angel Mindfreak website at A&E
- Official Criss Angel MySpace profile
- Media
- Forbes biography
- New York Times review
- Resources
- Criss Angel at the Internet Movie Database
- Criss Angel at Mymagictricks.net
- Fan sites
- Angel Of Illusion
- Mindfreak Connection
- Believe In Angel
Categories: Living people | 1967 births | American magicians | Greek-Americans | Long Islanders