It would appear that Criss Angel and his biggest and baddest stunt didn’t quite go off as planned or did it? The helicopter that was supposed ot whisk him away to safety left without him and minutes after the Spyglass Hotel in Clearwater imploded Criss Angel walked away covered in dust. Some questions need to be answered
How did he survive a 7 story building implosion with nary a scratch ?
Did he pre-plan not to catch the helicopter all along?
An crowd estimated at 70,000 watched and apparently had quite the party on the beach, shouted approval as he walked away. Something smells really scammy here. Criss Angel knows the truth about the Clearwater implosion. Now if he will just tell us

yea i agree i think that was all bs.
criss was on the helicopter. the frame that showed him struggling to get on the roof was pre-recorded.duh!the first scene,where he broke the window was planned to build tension. he has used the pre-reorded technique before.remember when he fell asleep in that cemented cage.that was a still picture for hours. the truth is that he “woke up” immediately and acted shocked.he was long gone in a black outfit so the crowd didn’t see him leave.brilliant on both counts!!!
he looked pissed/upset that it did go his way…. so i dont think is Bs
Where can I find out about criss angel after the building implosion? wat website.
You bunch of morons.. It went EXACTLY as planned. Prerecorded video was used, and he walked out of the back of the building well before the implosion. When the debris cloud was created, he walked around and appeared as if directly from the imploded building. It was all staged.
Most people here already knew something wasnt going to go as advertised. My problem with it is they could have done a much better job of creating more tension and creating more of a “wow” factor, such as Criss amazingly appearing in the crowd right after the implosion. Very disappointing, considering the illusions he has been a part of in the past.
The only interesting part of the stunt was watching the Spyglass implode.
I think it was pre-recorded too. The announcer I think gave it away when he said that Criss did practice runs. That comment immediately sent a flag up in my mind. I don’t think he was in the helicopter. I think he went down thru the building and out the door.
All I know is if it was planned or not it worked to get to everyone watching. People are saying oh, I knew he would be okay because he is Criss Angel and I beleive in him. Well I believe in him to but I was scared so whether it was set up or not he accomplised something huge. He has half the world sratching there heads today wondering wtf. The man is a genuis no matter what…
Things did not go as planned because when he came out a was not him self
At the very least, he WAS on the balcony in handcuffs in REAL-time…and that alone is amazing to do in less than 4 minutes! Who cares how he got out after he picked the cuffs—he got out! Not many other people can even get from the balcony to the ground in 4 minutes without cuffs and without an implosion!!!!
Uh… Kelly he essentially had a key around his neck , not that big a trick
Even though I know this was all pre-recorde & crap, it was still cool to be there and watch the thing implode.
But for real, if a building fell on you, you would be dead..
Someone in the press needs to speak up and say this was a bunch of crap. It was not an illusion if everybody knows how he did it. It would be like if i were getting married did not go to the ceremony and just waited outside ofr the pictures. What he did is was not being an illusionist. It was not entertaining or amazing. How can you possibly call him amazing????
Sixx you got it completely right.
This was actually very unimpressive comparing it to previous tricks / stunts. This was the first one I figured out as it was happening. What gave it away was the STATIC. Instead of seeing 9 different in-hotel cameras flickering off or going to static individually - they cut to a full-screen fake static shot. Because, as you said, the final frame was pre-recorded. He had over a minute to escape off the building on the backside and get into position for the ending. The last 5 minutes of the broadcast was super awkward - they should have at least pretended to panic a bit more and show some emergency crews rushing to the scene.
He didn’t have a key, he had picks; it’s no secret that he uses picks to get out of ALL his handcuff stunts. Nonetheless, his demos are dangerous, entertaining and leaves the audience wondering what parts are illusion and what parts are reality. That’s what an illusionist does!! (I can GUARANTEE that you would not be able to sit on that balcony WITHOUT handcuffs and sprit down to safety in less than 4 minutes.
kelly-
Quite frankly being in the “best shape of his life”, as he said during the special, makes it all the more easier to run down 6 flights of stairs in 2-3 minutes. But the thing is, apparently there were no stairs to “ensure the building would implode.” But i cant help but wonder why they didn’t destroy the other flights of stairs that he had to run up to. This alone makes it all the more easier to tell it was a hoax because either there were another set of stairs for him to run down and exit the building in or there was another helicopter somewhere. But i just have to say that his tricks and stunts in the past have proved that he is indeed a very talented illusionist but after this load of bs I have lost so much respect for him. I still enjoy watching all the tricks I can’t figure out and that’s what makes it fun but to set something like this up and have the whole world watching and believing and then doing what he did is just setting himself up as a total joke.
I agree with Matt & Sixx. I’m a big fan of Criss, but this wasn’t a great one. The worst part was after the building crumbled & before Criss was found on the grass, the announcer showed no concern at all. It was like he forgot that the whole thing was supposed to be dangerous.
Compared to most of his work this was a flop. I have a feeling he was supposed to appear somewhere else, but actually got behind on a lock (one with a real camera feed)and had to go to plan B.
I must agree with all you, when it comes to pre-recording. I mean some of it must have been. But the way he walked from the destroyed hotel, something didn’t seem right, as if his stunt didn’t go as planned. Looking back at all his other escapes and stunts, don’t you think he would have ended it in a more mindfreak-ish way instead of walking away looking angry. I think he would of suddenly appeared in or near the audience…so I think some of it had to be real. As goes pre runs, he always does pre runs of his stunts, i mean, would you do that right then in there, let alone LIVE? A good stunt, but maybe not his best.
Holy crap you people who buy this sh*t are M-O-R-O-N-S. First of all,…A & E isnt (and cannot,..by law) freaking MURDER someone on TV. Do you REALLY think camera crews, family, strangers and a PRODUCTION COMPANY are going to sit idlely by and watch someone be KILLED? Idiots. ITS ILLEGAL, you morons. Its MURDER. And for those of you twits who are thinking “Well,…he just signed a waiver and…..” No,…you ignorant retard,….you cant sign away your life. If you could,…Dr. Jack Kevorkian wouldnt have done even an HOUR in prison. Its like the morons who think that they are actually starving on “Survivor”. Yup,…..a camera crew just sits there and watches 27 people starve to death. And by the way,….how is this magic????? How is this even an illusion??? Pre-recorded surveillence camera footage and picking locks??? “I got out of my handcuffs,……..Taa Daaaaaa!! ” I see that every night on COPS. This guy, Angel,…is such a narcisist. He thinks he’s a ROCK STAR or something. He’s barely a good f*cking locksmith. I wouldnt trust him to duplicate my house keys.
For all you bashing Criss Angel you can sucks a c**k. Does it really matter if it was real or not you watched it! Its entertainment not freaking reality. Any way you sumerize it for the countless number of stunts and tricks that he has done and knowbody else would even think about doing make him an unorthodox artist. Like him or not he is a creative illusionist
angel is good but out of all things listed here one thing that gave it away was the kicking through a glass window in a beachfront hotel….could never happen its florida and those have to be hurricane proof…. it was terrible the dud annoucing ruined it and i think a%e should appoligize to clearwater….
One word…HANDCUFFS! He got out of the handcuffs and stuffed them in his pocket, they were hanging half out. They were still there, hanging out of his pocket, when he opened the interior hotel room door. Then, all of a sudden in the next shot when he races out of the room and down the hallway, they’re not there anymore. And they remain gone for the rest of the stunt. Kinda obvious that from the point that he leaves the hotel room, the rest was pre-recorded. Pretty bad continuity mistake if you ask me. But I still love Criss Angel. I’m very glad he’s giving up the bs stunts that nobody cared about and going back to the fun magic stuff.
i agree with everyone who said it was a rip off. How is it a trick unlocking handcuffs, running down stairs and then hiding until it’s all over and then miraculously appearing? Does this guy get paid for this? What a joke! I feel stupid now watching the whole thing.
its not real
there was too many breaks
“those have to be hurricane proof”
heck no, that was an old hotel. Only new construction has to meet the new codes. otherwise every dinky old 1950’s era mom-n-pop beach motel would be bankrupt trying to meet the code.
what they do on the coast is get the hell out of dodge when a hurricane is coming, and let insurance handle the aftermath.
I agree with the full screen static being the dead giveaway. how cheesy. with a little effort they could have simulated those cameras going offline in a more of less randon way.
Actually,…the more random, the more believable it would have been. Instead of all going offline at once. Hiding, lying, and acting, isnt “magic”. Its hiding, lying, and acting. Like a soap opera. Besides,….Im not impressed that someone who,… has been trained to pick the lock on handcuffs,……picked the lock on handcuffs. Wow,…what’re you gonna do next, Criss? Write in cursive? Recite State Capitals? The Jokers “pencil” trick in The Dark Knight was more of a “magic” trick than this.
Go to myfoxtampabay.com and follow the links. The local fox news here had a chopper in the air while the stunt happened. They show you exactly how he did it and the inconsitencies. Also, this man is a professional. It took him about 30 seconds just to get the handcuffs picked. He’s been doing this since he was a kid. They should have been off in a matter of seconds. The building imploding was the star of the show.
I noticed the same thing that Robin noticed. The handcuffs were hanging out of Criss’ right pocket after he went through the first door. Then, when he went through the second door, the handcuffs were mysteriously gone! They never fell out, so all footage from the time Criss went through the second door was pre-recorded. At the beginning of the stunt, Criss also had dust on the shoulders of his shirt. After going through the SECOND door, the dust is gone! Also, after going through the SECOND door, Criss is running at full speed, but there was no way he could have built up that much speed after immediately after going through the door. Criss is a MINDFAKE! What will Criss Fakegel do next? Get abducted by aliens and magically appear at my door?
All:
This was an easy one to figure out and we all thought about it after it occured. We knew he couldn’t be almost at a roof when a building was falling down. We knew there was a feed and we all saw the handcuffs missing. Actually my fox shows the only piece that we had guessed at ( the walking over from the other building after the implosion)see myfoxtampabay.com and this will show you Chris walking back to the imploded Spyglass resort. Not his best work at all.
First of all…the building…is super old..not hurricane proof by any means…. its been there for a long time…Second…to say he got on the helicopter is crap… I watched it live…from a newstation feed…from a helicopter…that was near the helicopter that picked him up…. criss angel never got on the helicopter…i think it was there just to build up the tension that he was gonna get through the door and fly off to safety…in all reality…. they zoomed in on the ground….showing criss angel come from AROUND the rubble…. there you go i spoiled it.. the local news station said something to the tune of he was able to get outside the building and be near it enough to get the backdraft of dust all over him…. I hate to see it this was a poor “illusion” or stunt on his part;…. I didnt get to watch the so called “live” a&e thing till today and the whole thing with the cameras breaking up looked so fake..so anyways i hate to spoil it…on live video feed you DID SEE him come from around the rubble… but go figure on A&E’s version when they show criss angel they pan off to the side showing him in the grass or something and not coming from the rubble…so fake.
Recording on a DVD is great. You can pick up on the fine details, like how Chris’s headband got refolded about 1/2 inch higher between breaking through the balcony glass and the first inner door, then getting folded again 1/2 inch lower, as it was on the balcony, when he appeared from the ‘grassy knoll’. Still, a great illusion for those that want instant entertainment, then move on. I did not pick up on the missing handcuffs, though. The really cool part is dropping the building on it’s foundation without surrounding damage. S&W handcuffs? They’re tough. Can’t be shot off or sawn off, but picking with a paperclip is easy.
Check out the FOX news video from Tampa. They show him running from the building next door. LOL I like Criss Angel doing his street stunts, but this was baaaadddd!
Brian for one your not cool enough for Criss Angel to come knocking on your door!
And all of you with the Handcuff theory. Have you never lost something out of your pocket! Did you ever think that they maybe fell out! And you did not notice it!
I love Criss Angel. He is an AMAZING illusionist!
And you all can go suck butterflies!!!
Really!!!
i loved this illusion, my heart was throbbing from the start but i was worried cos he seemed really depressed and i though he was dead from the start cos it didnt seem right he just didnt seem in it that night. ah well i love him anyway he is still the best at what he does in the world!
Yeah, I thought about that, too. Maybe the handcuffs fell out of his pocket. And good point, whoever pointed out that the building was old and probably not up to code regarding the glass.
Regardless of what Criss may or may not have done, it is still dangerous to be that close to an imploding building. Would YOU want to be there? As far as the person looking like they ran out of the building, like the news anchor said, they can’t verify who it was. It could even have been a crew member - they all dress in black. Or some looneytunes person thinking it would be fun to hide somewhere close to the building. Or someone, whether they’re supposed to be there or not, who ran around there after the implosion. And if it was Criss, so what? Why is everyone so traumatized that the stunt may not have been “real”? News flash - you know when magicians saw someone in half and put them back together? Uh, it’s not really real. Sorry to break it to you. At the end of the day, Criss gets people talking and trying to guess how he does his stunts. And no one can say definitively exactly how it was done. That’s the illusion part of it.
This had to be one of Angel’s worst “demonstrations.” I’d have to say that judging from Criss’ track record of stunts “going bad” then he appears safe and sound somewhere else, that his failure to reach the helicopter was planned. I thought it was painfully clear that once Criss got into the hallway the camera feed was no longer live (live TV pictures just have a different look than recorded TV) which would give him the freedom to follow his pre-planned route out of the building to safety. The part of the show that failed MISERABLY was the reaction of the host and “emergency workers.” As soon as the clock hit 30 seconds and the helicopter left, the host should have been going crazy about the wellbeing of Criss. Then as soon as the dust cleared his crew/family should’ve been racing to the building for effect (which they have done numerous other times). I haven’t even mentioned how poorly the effect of the cameras being destroyed and the screens blanking out was executed. If they would’ve done that better and maybe even had Criss do some acting into the camera at the last second before it went out (like crossing himself or telling his mom he loves her) they could have salvaged the thing in my opinion. Overall, I think it was so bad that he might renege on his promise to not do any other life-threatening demonstrations, that is if Cirque and Luxor allow him.
Interesting Thought for Everyone:
As a Clearwater resident, I know that the hotels on the beach are required by law to have windows that can sustain up to a Cat 2 or 3 Hurricane, including the debris flying. They either switched out the glass or pre-recorded that, because there is no way a man can kick through the glass required for those hotels.
I live on Clearwater Beach and drove by the hotel the night before the implosion. There was smoke everywhere, police everywhere, and a helicopter. I’m sure they taped the video on tv the night before. He simply broke the substandard glass the night of the performance, and walked out of the building pre-explosion. Too bad Criss’s national audience saw this. It was a pathetic display of illusion from a man who has much talent. Criss, don’t waste our time unless you’ve got something worthwhile to back up our traffic.
Regardless of the type of glass required in hotels on the beach, the simple fact is that all glass is removed from a structure prior to its implosion. As soon as I saw the glass there, I knew something was up.
haha it was planned no one can survive that, morons.
you no i watched this episode and i was freaking out the whole time and i thought my favorite person on tv was dead and i was cring and now after watching it over again i relized it was fake but i mean im glad it was because could u imagine i he died.and another thing was the guy who was talking on microphone he goes crisses family just run over there i donnt no what there going to or some thing like that and obviusly there going to see criss but his whole thing to his show is to control ur mind emotions and stuff and he did all of them he is a mind freak and even thoug it wasnt real the cut off of cameras would have happened because when the building emploded the camera would be ruined but i all looked to cheesy to be reall i mean when my tv at home goes staticy it dont look like that
Of course it was fake! Do you think a human could survive all that concrete falling in? Impossible. Fox 13 news of tampa caught him running back into the rubble after the building imploded.They have a video of it all… Also, Do you think a resort on the beach is going to have paper thin windows? No, there going to have strong, hurricane proff glass! Also, digital cameras don’t produce static when they get disconnected.