Las Vegas Weekly

December 10, 2010 · 12:29 PM

Criss Angel continues to give, give and give during his birthday week

By Robin Leach

Criss Angel with Cashel at a Make-a-Wish Foundation event.

Photo: Courtesy

This has been some birthday week for illusionist Criss Angel, as he simultaneously marks his 1,000th Cirque du Soleil Believe show. He throws a double celebration tomorrow night at the Luxor home of Believe and afterward at the nearby nightclub LAX.

But it’s been his extraordinary generosity to the community the past few days that proves the better to give than receive motto he lives by -- instead of him receiving birthday gifts, he’s been giving them away.

Over the years, the Mindfreak star has quietly, away from the headlines, granted more than 35 wishes to children battling life-threatening illnesses. The Make-a-Wish Foundation even presented its MVP Chris Grecius Award to him last year. (Make-a-Wish began with its first dream for a 7-year-old Arizona boy who wanted to be a police officer for a day and died one month later.)

This week to mark his birthday, Criss donated $25,000 to the group on top of the tens of thousands he’s already donated. Criss contributed $10,000 to the children’s annual Christmas party yesterday at The Rio. Criss donated 350 of his magic kits, signed autographs and took photos with all the kids. He also granted a wish for 13-year-old Cashel, who wanted a tour of his private estate Serenity here in Las Vegas.

Earlier this week, Criss made a $15,000 donation, plus a gift package, to the KLUC 98.5 FM 12th annual toy drive. And Criss kept on going! He turned up for an appearance on Fox 5’s morning show More and spun a roulette wheel to match a gift to the Nevada Cancer Institute. It hit $250, but instead of just doubling it, he added another $5,000, the largest celebrity donation to date.

“I have been so blessed in my life,” Criss told me. “I never forget my own tough times, and now that I have the Mindfreak TV series and The Strip show, it’s my joy to help others, especially at this time of the year. We’re also reaching our 1,000th show and my birthday at the same time, so it’s great to include everybody in the celebration week and show my thanks this way.”

Criss, who has been named Magician of the Century, will feature 39 of his new illusions in tomorrow’s Believe show. He’d hoped to have his disappearing Skeleton motorcycle trick added but couldn’t win the safety inspections in time, so it will be introduced in January as the final component of his all-new production.

“Believe will constantly change, though,” Criss said. “We’ll keep on adding new elements all the time. But I’m now very proud of the show and the magic we’ve achieved. Our Loyals are there with standing ovations, cheers and applause every night. Everybody is loving it, and that’s the best gift I could get for my birthday.”

I’ll join Criss tomorrow, along with contributing photographer Tom Donoghue, who is shooting all of the party and red carpet show photos. We’ll have the full report and photo gallery right here at VegasDeLuxe.com.

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 at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

Share This