Criss Angel

World-renowned magician Criss Angel may have the knack for facing or playing with death through his illusions, magic acts or “demonstrations” as he calls it, and surviving them. His purpose though is not just to entertain, nor give viewers an adrenaline rush. His goal is to inspire people to face their personal fears!

“For me it is about confronting people’s fears in my art and in my demonstration,” he explained during a phone interview with Manila Bulletin. “It is to show people that there’s nothing to fear in life. You can achieve anything you want in life. You work towards accomplishing it.”

He added that even if it takes longer to achieve one’s goal than expected, people shouldn’t give up easily.

“When something is difficult to accomplish it becomes very rewarding when you achieve it… people who work hard reap the fruits of their labor,” he said.

More than the fame and fortune that has fallen on his lap with his career’s success, Criss expressed that knowing that he has inspired people, from whatever parts of the world, is very fulfilling.

“I’ve been very fortunate to do demonstrations that have connected with people all over the world… when somebody comes to me and say I saw you inside a coffin, under a snow in a white vest. And it allowed me to confront my fear of being claustrophobic and getting help for it in a plane. Now I can live my life fuller and richer, that’s the greatest compliment I get,” he related.

Criss Angel hopes to inspire Asian viewers and fans alike as his fifth and latest season of the “Criss Angel: Mindfreak” street magic reality series entitled “The 5 Lives of Criss Angel” premieres on Feb. 4, at 11 p.m. on AXN Beyond.

“The 5 Lives of Criss Angel” is an intense one-hour series of specials that is said to be a breath-taking ride through unimaginable dangers of his “demonstrations.” Aside from putting his life in danger through nerve-wrecking “demonstrations,” what to expect is Criss’ unfathomable goal – to perform mass hypnosis and levitation on an entire crowd in Las Vegas and people watching his show on television.

“This season is amazing as I was able to make this into a full one-hour show. I like that format better because it gives me the opportunity to make the demonstration in the end of the show to really show the complexity and depth of that particular demonstration throughout that one hour. So I really have more time to show people what goes into it as supposed to the half-hour format… I’m very proud of the materials, which are awesome, and wonderful demonstrations in very different environment,” he explained in the interview.

What to watch for are the following: “Death Field,” the segment wherein Criss Angel takes on the challenge to find and thread the one safe path through a field lined with 28 landmines.

“White Death,” where he is buried alive on freezing temperatures at 10,000 feet above sea level on California’s Mammoth Mountain. Shackled in a transparent coffin he must get free and dig through six feet of soil, ice and snow or die of suffocation and hypothermia. “Terminal Velocity,” Criss drops an object 250 feet above the Las Vegas strip and then teleport himself at the bottom in time to catch it. The last is called “Death Crash” which is dubbed “Russian roulette with a three-ton bullet.” In this stunt or demonstration, Criss hides in one of five upright coffins. Fitted with internal cameras, viewers will witness if the chosen coffin of Criss would be the one smashed by the speeding car!

So in general, how long is the process in preparing his “demonstrations?”

“Each demonstration whether it is in my live shows – I perform 450 shows, 10 times a week in Las Vegas or in my TV show – each demonstration is different from the other. Sometimes they require a lot of training and many years to evolve and develop the concept and the technical parameters to allow me to achieve it. So it’s really hard to say, but the one thing that is true with every single demonstration that I come up with, that I want to accomplish, it might not happen the way I want it to happen but eventually I have to do it and accomplish it in order to move on to the next one,” he replied.

Viewers will get a chance to see how Criss prepares his “rigorous training regime” when his “White Death” segment is aired. He will be seen practicing getting out of shackles in a walk-in freezer and soaking 20 minutes in ice baths!

As of press time, the 6th Season of “Criss Angel: Mindfreak” series is already in the works. He hinted that he would be doing new demonstrations that he has never done before.

Criss, who calls himself a magician, said “I’m very passionate and I’m pretty determined when I get something in my mind… I have to be successful with what I want!”

He also calls himself a living proof that people can reach their dreams and live them by going after their dreams and just do them!