Las Vegas Weekly

September 1, 2009 · 8:14 AM

Criss Angel’s mass levitation a success; David Blaine headed to Vegas?

By Robin Leach

Criss Angel opens his store in Circus Circus.

Photo: Scott Harrison/Retna/www.harrisonphotos.com

Mindfreak magician Criss Angel scored record ratings and huge audience reaction with his episode “Mass Levitation” on his A&E series. Before the mass levitation, Criss, who stars in the Cirque du Soleil show Believe at the Luxor here, proved his own levitation skills.

Criss demonstrated his own levitation more than 500 feet above the Strip and has floated through the spotlight atop the Luxor from one building to another. He’s also shown the levitation skill up close with the public right on the sidewalk.

Photo: A&E

Criss Angel walks on (swimming pool) water.

The 41-year-old superstar not only succeeded in levitating a large group of spectators, but fans who watched around the world also sent emails from as far away as India. They all said that they’d felt weightlessness and lift-off while participating in the at-home experiment Criss urged them to follow along.

“You freaked my mind, man. I floated off my living room floor,” wrote one. “I felt weightless and in the sky like I was a floating balloon,” wrote another.

Photo: A&E

Criss Angel's A&E series Mindfreak.

The episode, the third of Season 5, also chalked up record ratings and wound up the top-rated cable show for the hour and the entire night, even beating several regular network shows.

Criss said: “It was one of the most dangerous stunts I’ve ever done because I had so many members of the public suspended at once. One wrong move and they would have all crashed to the floor, and I could have injured them. Miraculously, it went off exactly as planned.”

More magic news

Now I’m hearing from very reliable sources that one-time fellow street magician David Blaine is looking for a Las Vegas outpost for his magic acts. David was in Vegas for Stan Allan’s Magic Magazine 101 course a week ago.

Photo: Shadow PR

Magician David Blaine with his fiance Alizee Guinochet at Yellowtail in the Bellagio.

While here, I’m told he met with executives from BASE Entertainment and Planet Hollywood about appearing in either the about to reopen Theatre for the Performing Arts in the Miracle Mile or as a companion production to Peepshow. David has appeared on numerous TV specials with his street magic and escape stunts.

Vegas DeLuxe will continue to follow this developing story.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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