Criss Angel Review

Reviewed by babiphatkat129 from New Jersey on 8/2/09
Criss Angel’s show was beyond disappointing. Had I read reviews before wasting my time and money on this show, I could have spent a night in Vegas doing something more worthwhile. I WAS a big Criss Angel fan, but after seeing his Vegas show I know he’s just a huge fraud.

At one point, bunny rabbits are dancing around on stage carrying dismembered body parts. That should tell you enough. The show was absolutely NOTHING like Criss Angel’s TV show. In the very beginning, they tease you by showing video footage from his TV show when he levitated in an open field, made other people levitate on a NY sidewalk, etc. So I was expecting some of the same raw illusions and thought maybe Criss Angel would pull people from the audience and make them levitate or do something equally crazy. Well my expectations weren’t just shattered, they were bitch slapped and called a hoe.

Criss Angel performed magic that a guy one year out of magic school could perform. He employed EVERY gimmick in the book—he sported an enormous cloak and pulled doves from his sleeves. Come on! Whenever he “levitated” a large black screen was in place behind him and fog and fire would come up from the ground. After the show, I heard people who sat in the first few rows complain of seeing the wires. He “chopped” himself in half—a trick we’ve seen a thousand times over. The worst thing for a magician to hear is “I know how he did that” but with Criss Angel I was thinking, “Damn, I could do that!”

Criss was on stage from at MOST 20 minutes. The large majority of the show consisted of dancing rabbits and Criss’s assistants—these annoying toadies that looked like they escaped from a Cirque du Soleil show and were supposed to offer comedic relief but were more annoying than funny. The storyline consisting of a battle between the pretty white princess and the evil black monster was just dumb. The entire show just proved Criss Angel is too lame and phony to carry on a 90-minute show alone.

Criss himself should not talk. His banter with the audience was awkward and not even crickets would laugh at his “jokes.” The audio throughout the show was so unnecessarily loud and created a big hype to go with his anticlimactic magic. There was never a huge uproar of applause from the audience, as the audience was just NOT into it. I spotted multiple people leave and walk out early. My mom was in a deep sleep from the very beginning and my dad kept dozing off. Frustrated with the pace of the show, the guys behind me shouted: “Can we get free food? Free drinks? Come on show us something already!” And I, plus many other spectators around me, couldn’t agree even more!

I’m pissed that I wasted a good night in Vegas on this show. You’re better off seeing Penn and Teller as I hear they’re actually funny. I don’t understand why the Cirque du Soleil name is attached to this show. It’s misleading and frankly not a good business move for them. All in all, the Criss Angel show was a horrendous waste of time, money, and brain cells.

Reviewed by mrmom3sons from Portland, Oregon on 10/28/08
This show was not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. I am not an avid fan of Mindfreak. I watch the show occasionaly. I love the Cirque Du Soleil productions and have seen 6 not including Believe. This is a good marriage of Cirque and Mindfreak.

As with any Cirque show if you understand the story it makes it more entertaining. This is a good story and it is different. The way Cirque and Criss work together to make his idea come thru is good. It does need some tweaking and I am sure the 2 will come together and make it work.

If you like Cirque and you like Criss and you go not expecting a traditional Cirque show nor a Mindfreak show you will enjoy this.

Reviewed by bythalake from Chicago on 10/24/08
I'm a HUGE fan of Criss Angel and a huge fan of magic. I saw the Criss Angel Believe show on 10/21 and it was the WORST show that I've ever seen. I had no idea that this show wasn't about magic but even so the show was just stupid. Criss is not an actor so he doesn't need to be in a production show acting. I can count the number of tricks that he did on 1 hand. Pulling birds out of a handkerchief is for new magicians. The old straight jacket act that we've seen 1000 times was weak. The men that opened were stupid and acted like children. I hate that I wasted over $200 for this garbage. I feel that I wasted 90 minutes of my life on this BS.

Reviewed by xmlwx75 from Los Angeles, CA on 10/21/08
WORSE than awful. I actually felt sorry FOR HIM. Suggestion: Criss, just get naked and stand still for 90-minutes. Your (live) "magic" and cheezy break-dancing stink on ice. My 5-year-old nephew does more "believable" tricks. I honestly think this show is UN-salvagable...unless Cirque takes their theater & music and does a complete re-do. (Criss needs to stick w/tv camera tricks and paid actors who "act" mesmerized.) And I'm getting really sick of people saying this show wasn't "supposed" to be a magic show. What did they need Criss for then?! People know (of) Criss by his illusions, so of course that's what they "think" they are paying to see. If it's simply another "Cirque" show, may I suggest Criss audition for "O" the next time they have an opening? Poor birds- how did they get caught up in this train wreck?

Reviewed by brichmon1982 from Seattle on 10/18/08
Seriously. Show started bad and never got better. I am a big fan of the Criss Angel tv show, but his live performance was a total disappointment. There were zero impressive magic tricks accomplished. He fell through visible trap doors to "disappear", he levitated by a visible harness, and the cirque de sole stuff has boring and not impressive. People at my show were actually leaving early cause it was SOOO bad. DO NOT GO! Btw, the Luxor did comp me and my group a free meal at their buffet cause the show was so pathetic.

Reviewed by bad from PA on 10/1/08
1- only because I couldn't go lower.. Attended the 09/27 Luxor Believe show and would not recommend ANYONE to see this loser. From the lack of illusion- visible trap doors (and items that got stuck in them), non-life like dummies, a double that looked nothing like Angel, the "plot" and dancing rabbits and moles.. WOW! Just bad! Unfortunately, we paid to attend this trash and then they announce "it's not perfect yet"- there are not enough hours in a day for them to practice and make this thing worth seeing. Put the cash in a machine and at least you'll get free drinks!

Reviewed by madmomma from Canada on 9/30/08
A big fat ZERO is what it deserves. Attended the much anticipated Criss Angel's Believe show at the Luxor in Vegas. What a total rip off! There was no magic there, I became a non-believer within 15min, it was a HUGE waste of my precious time and $$$! Actually so bad that my buddy snored through the show, audience members walked out mid-show, people were enraged and wanted their money back! Simply embarrassing for Criss