Because he’s defied death on more than one occasion, Criss Angel seems to take on almost mythical proportions. But the Luxor illusionist is indeed mortal, as his January shoulder surgery proved. Instead of shuttering his Believe theater until he returns in April, he’s undertaken hosting duties in a new venture, CRISS ANGEL MAGICjam, which features illusionists and specialty acts on the same stage where Angel performs his Cirque du Soleil spectacular. Vegas DeLuxe’s Robin Leach spoke with Angel on LasVegasSun.com about his recovery and the new show.
Q: You had some negative comments thrown at you when you took off for surgery. People accused you of taking two months off and everybody would be out of a job. They didn’t realize that you were ...coming back with your own show to keep people working.
A: I haven’t really talked about that. One of the things that I feel as an artist, and as somebody who has been really blessed, I feel it’s my obligation and my responsibility to take care of those who take care of me. Without them, I couldn’t do the show. Without me, they could still go off to work and do stuff because there are other artists, but I just feel like we’re in it together. Everybody here really worked together so wonderfully. It was unspoken, but we could have all been out of a paycheck for three to six months.
Q: Let’s go through the rundown of the show.
A: Nathan (Burton) kicks off with his really fast act. We have a comedy bit with Nathan’s ex-girlfriend that leads into Jason Byrne or Tony Clark’s bird-manipulation act. I make Krystyn (Lambert) appear from a painting. Armando (Vera) then is right in the audience with his card tricks, and that leads to the greatest mentalist of all, Banachek, with his incredible and unbelievable skills. We have two specialty acts with a circus family and their troupe of performing dogs that captivates the audience, plus Russ Merlin, who has them howling with his masked volunteers.
Q: Will you risk doing the straitjacket ever again?
A: Well, I think I’m going to come back, I mean, in my mind-set, I do. I’m obsessed about getting strong again. I walked 3 miles today. I’m doing everything that I have to do. I believe the mind controls the body. I believe that I’m going to come back stronger than I’ve ever been. I think that I’m smarter with understanding what happened to me and what went wrong, and I’m going to avoid that at all costs.
Q: You had a good and appreciative audience tonight. Nobody was disappointed, thinking they were missing out on Believe.
A: The fact that I am not canceling my show, the fact that my friends helped me put this together and we’re making it an entertaining and fun show for everyone and that I’m really giving it 1,000 percent even though I have only one arm to use, I think that reads to the audience. ... We had to deal with a major problem and make the best of it, and everybody is happy what we’ve pulled off. I’m the happiest—and now to get really well again and back to normal with two arms.
