I've always loved magic. Illusions, slight of hand, spectacles, love to see them. Many people outgrow the novelty of it, like Santa Claus or pro wrestling. Fact is, they're all real! Because even if something is fake, the experience is real! Don't get me wrong, I would never, ever, say Santa Claus is fake! :)

Last fall I came across this show on the A&E network, called Criss Angel: Mindfreak. He's a "magician." Every magician has a schtick. Angel's is kind of Goth. And I'm not a big Goth fan. But he does some great tricks! He's kind of moved away from the Goth thing. He's going more mainstream. He wants to kick David Blaine's ass! (that's another, better known magician). Anyhow, Mindfreak's third season debuted tonight, and it was okay. Every episode, he has a big trick he's going to do, and he does little tricks leading up to the big one. Rather than talk about it, I checked out some youtube.com entries, and thought I would share them. Now, watching youtube is not as good as watching it on tv, but here's a few examples:

There's different kinds of magic. One of the most appealing is the illusion. Making someone disappear is standard fare. Here's an example of how Angel makes someone disappear:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VRR30Tll6wY

I had to include this one. He climbs through a plate glass window! It's a couple of minutes long, but worth the payoff!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ruorW4P3Uw8

Another great illusion is the girl cut in half. This one's kind of creepy, but fun to watch:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r3m9AcWYDUw

Another form of magic is slight of hand. It's the purest form of magic. No special effects, just the hands and the eyes! This one shows the art of misdirection. Sometimes he shows how he does his stuff!:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=m9LvsBZ6oU4

Yet another form of magic is mentalism. Like the magician can read your mind, better than you can! Here Angel is with a guy that hosts American Justice and Cold Case Files, kind of a celebrity. It's elaborate, but it blows the subject's mind!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d3ZOxGrU94w

And finally, there's the spectacle. This is when Angel has his big moment. Sometimes it's a feat of endurance, sometimes it's mind boggling, almost superhero stunts. He loves levitation. Here's an example:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uOCbXpRiw8k

Of course all the tricks have a secret! I mean, that last one, there MUST have been a helicopter carrying him! :) And he's done better stuff, I just couldn't find the youtube videos to show them. If you want to see more, do a youtube search: Criss Angel! Perhaps many of you are familiar with Criss, he's breaking into the mainstream right now. Would love to see him make a guest appearance on House! Don't you know the Good Doctor would have a special dislike for magicians?!! :)

TG