Criss Angel has, no doubt, put himself in some incredibly dangerous – some might say stupid – situations for his A&E show, “Criss Angel Mindfreak.”
Some might also say that committing to 4,600 performances of his new Cirque du Soleil production, “Believe,” which debuts in October at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, is pretty risky, too.
But before Angel returns to a grueling rehearsal schedule for the Cirque show, he’ll have to extricate himself from an imploding building in three minutes and 30 seconds.
At 10 p.m. Wednesday, Angel’s “Mindfreak” show will air live on A&E, as well as stream on http://www.aetv.com and http://www.crissangel.com, as the Long Island-born illusionist attempts to escape from the Spyglass Resort in Clearwater, Fla., before it implodes.
Last week, a friendly and verbose Angel talked to reporters about the stunt, starting by giving an overview of what the act entails:
“The commander of the SWAT team in Clearwater will be presiding, so whatever handcuffs he wants to provide, they are police issued, as are all of the locks. There’s a pair of handcuffs on my wrists that will be manacled through a six-story balcony, completely visible to the public and the cameras at all times.
I’ll have to pick my way through the handcuffs – the picks are hanging around my neck – and I’ll have a stopwatch on, because it’s critical for me to know moment by moment where I am and how much time I have allocated for each thing in my head and how I’ve been rehearsing it.
The overall running time of the escape is four minutes, but I will have to do it in not a second more than three minutes and 30 seconds. Once I’m out of the handcuffs, I will have to tend to another door, which is the only entrance and exit onto that balcony, which will have a chain and a lock that will also be provided by the police. I will pick my way through that, run down the hall, up three stories of stairs …when I hit the roof, which is nine stories, there will be a roof hatch that will have two locks. I will have to make it through both of them, open the hatch, climb up to the roof, go to the center to grab the 30-foot ladder hanging from the helicopter.
I will grab hold of that ladder and be whisked up 1,000 feet above. We’ll ascend in 30 seconds—that’s why I have to do this in three minutes and 30 seconds. My goal is to be at that rooftop in no more than two minutes and 30 seconds, two forty, tops. Then I’ll have a little time to kill if the helicopter has to adjust itself.”
Angel also talked about the biggest hazards with this type of act.
“Florida has the most unpredictable weather…there’s a lot of factors in orchestrating this escape, one of the most exciting, challenging, the biggest, the baddest escape of my career
I vowed to my mother that if I am successful in doing this, that I will retire from doing these things…I’ve got 4,600 performances to do at the Luxor and they’re freaking out…I won’t be doing things of this nature. Walking on water, that doesn’t have as much risk factor. I’ll still be doing what I do, but not dangling 1,000 feet from helicopters [with] 450 sticks of dynamite [ready to blow.]”
Angel’s mother, who is in her 70s, is insisting on watching the stunt on site with Angel’s brothers.
“I adore her to death. My mother and my father are the reason why I had the opportunity to pursue my dream and I don’t want to put her through this anymore,” he said.
Angel says he’s been preparing for Wednesday’s act, as well as his Cirque show, by doing a lot of cardio exercises, including talking to himself or someone nearby while exercising to help keep his heart rate relaxed.
“I might not be the greatest magician who ever lived, but what am I blessed with is [being] able to work in very high stressful situations and really keep my cool,” he said. “When things go wrong, I don’t panic. I really try to stay focused because panicking will just make my situation worse.”
Angel claims that he isn’t a daredevil, but a highly skilled artist who is methodical and places great value on safety. Still, he probably possesses a lot less fear than the average person.
“If you don’t fear death, what is there to fear? I don’t fear anything, because ultimately, what’s the worst that’s going to happen?” he wondered. “I’m going to die. And I’ve accepted that and I’ve sacrificed my concern to put forth my effort in my art. At the end of the day, you could die from crossing the street.”
Read Less...
RSS 2.0
