Magician Criss Angel’s positivity becomes his legendary career

As Criss Angel celebrates his birthday and prepares to open his new Planet Hollywood show, examine his magical legacy in this week’s Deeper Cut.

Today, Criss Angel is celebrating his birthday. Next week, he’ll launch his new live show at Planet Hollywood. The magician of the modern era is continuing to push forward a career that’s already transformed entertainment, as examined in this week’s Deeper Cut.

You don’t need to know magic to understand Criss Angel. You’ve heard of him in one way or another—as a magician, a producer, an actor, an author, and a musician. He’s made a name for himself around the world with multiple successful live shows, touring productions, and two TV series.

Criss Angel Mindfreak, which is also the name of his Planet Hollywood production, ran for six seasons and almost 100 episodes from 2005 to 2010; it was one of the series that helped put A&E on the map. It was also the first magic program on television in 40 years.

But making history is par for the course with Criss Angel. His entire modus operandi is to break boundaries, push limits, stare into the unknown. The whole name of his show, Mindfreak, implies messing with the mind. After all, that’s what magic is; it’s making the impossible seem possible, entertaining an audience when you catch them by surprise. It’s what makes magicians so fun and mysterious, because their whole profession is to do what can’t be done.

Angel has taken that ethos and propelled it to the next level. He’s one of the handful of magicians who updated magic for the modern era, moving it away from the tuxedo-and-top-hat archetype and into today’s world. He’s the one who’s done the most to push the profession forward. He has a very distinct style, combining magic with rock music and horror elements, making it “cool” and not “safe.”

Everything he does inherently dispels all the preconceptions about magic, and says, why not? Why can’t we do more? Why can’t we look at this the same way we look at a concert, or a big movie, or a TV show?

That’s where Angel is head and shoulders above the rest. He’s approached his craft from a fresh vantage point. Not to discount the contributions of other talented artists like David Copperfield or David Blaine (to name but two). But before Criss Angel Mindfreak, for audiences to experience magic they had to attend a live show, or wait for Copperfield or Blaine to produce their next TV special. And magic’s not like going to the movies, you can’t just drive to your local theater and see a magic performance. It takes a lot of work to make the Statue of Liberty disappear.

By taking his act to television, Criss Angel made it instantly accessible to millions of people in their homes, for free, on a consistent basis. His show hit just six years after the DVR was invented, so it was easier than ever before for people to record and rewatch. Instead of waiting for audiences to discover magic, he put it in their faces, and showed it to them in a way that had never been seen before.

Now, he’s about to change things again with his Planet Hollywood show—a new adventure after headlining at Luxor Hotel & Casino for more than a decade.

What makes it more fascinating is that’s only half the story.

Criss Angel may be a magic legend, but he’s a very different—yet equally remarkable—person off stage. I first met him in 2013, when his second TV series Criss Angel BeLIEVE was premiering on what’s now called Paramount Network; I was asked to interview him ahead of the first episode, and being both a journalist and a one-time aspiring magician, I was excited to sit down with one of the biggest names in the business.

But that’s not at all how he conducts himself. Criss Angel the performer is a worldwide name and larger than life; Criss Angel the person is as genuine and humble as anyone I’ve ever met in almost two decades in the entertainment industry. He may have created this awesome persona and been able to earn all these accolades, but all that has come from an honest love for his craft and every piece that goes into it.

And that is an equal component of what makes him a superstar.

Everyone’s heard the phrase “style over substance.” Well, with magic it’s the same way. You can put on an impressive act with all kinds of smoke and mirrors, but it doesn’t truly click unless there is something behind it. It seems counter-intuitive, that a profession centered on illusion would require a fundamental truth, but that’s actually what makes it work. Good magicians can make the audience believe the illusion; great magicians bring the audience into the illusion with them.

Over the last five years I’ve continued working with Criss and his entire team on many different projects, so I can say this from personal experience: more impressive than any of his illusions is his grasp of storytelling and the big picture. What motivates him isn’t just doing mind-bending stuff like swallowing razorblades for fun; it’s what performing all these feats means, and how he can affect people through doing them.

Criss Angel is as much a storyteller as a magician. He doesn’t focus on the illusion or how it makes him look; he’s focused on the audience and the illusions are how he connects with them. Each one has a story, many of them with a personal connection. In the Luxor incarnation of his live show, he walked audiences through his life and career, with particular emphasis on growing up in New York as part of a wonderful, loving and hard-working family.

So instead of the “gotcha” moment when the trick is pulled off, audiences feel like they’re part of the story that ends in the illusion. He turns the inherent negative—misleading the viewer—into a positive. And he uses his platform in positive ways.

By showing people the impossible and doing so in a more welcoming way, he leaves them with a positive feeling. He encourages them to appreciate the impossible and thus maybe even aspire to it, shifting the focus away from the tired old questions of how he did it or what they didn’t notice. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t figure out how it’s done; what matters at a Criss Angel show is just enjoying the moment. One simple shift in approach truly changes everything.

He doesn’t stop there either. Angel has done his best to pay it forward, whether it’s engaging with fans, through charity work with his own organization and others, or working with other magicians on variety shows like Criss Angel MAGICjam. The way he approaches his craft is the way he also approaches life, and it makes him stand out among magicians—and among most people.

Magic is an exceptional art form that deserves the same appreciation as any other type of entertainment. It has a rich history, immense creativity, and requires skill and hard work not only from the performer, but so many crew members who make every artist’s act possible. It’s people like Criss Angel, David Blaine, Michael Grandinetti and many others who are pushing magic back into the limelight where it belongs.

But looking at how magic has evolved, and where it’s going in the future, it’s impossible not to start with Criss Angel. He has changed the way magic is presented and perceived. He’s proven that just because you’re an illusionist, doesn’t mean you can’t stay true to who you are. He’s created a whole awesome public image, but he’s also just as interesting in real life. Maybe more so because it’s hard not to be in awe of how much he loves what he does.

I’ll close this column with my first Criss Angel moment. When I met him in 2013, I hadn’t practiced magic in over a decade; it had been one of my childhood hobbies, but I gave it up when the friend who had been my “assistant” was killed in a car accident. After that, the wonder was gone, and I just lost interest in something that I associated with a terrible loss.

But when I started working with Criss, when I saw not only what he could do but what went into it and how much enthusiasm he had for it, it enabled me to rediscover what I loved. He made me fall in love with magic again. I’m still no better at it than I was when I was 14, but I’m one of the many people he’s inspired, influenced and just caught completely by surprise.

Now as he prepares to take the stage at Planet Hollywood, who knows what he has in store for audiences next? Because as long as Criss Angel is performing, literally anything is possible.

Criss Angel Mindfreak opens at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Las Vegas on Dec. 26. Tickets are available here. Find the latest Deeper Cut every Wednesday in the Entertainment category at FanSided.