Criss Angel (born Christopher N. Sarantakos on December 19, 1967 in East Meadow, New York) is a musician, magician, illusionist, escapologist, stunt performer, and the creator and director of the Criss Angel Mindfreak television series on A&E Network.
Musical career
Criss Angel was in an industrial band called Angeldust, which he started with Klay Scott (now known as Klayton of Celldweller) after Klayton's previous band Circle of Dust broke up. Angeldust released an album called Magical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998 and performed in Madison Square Garden. He has since dropped the name Angeldust and released several more CD's as Criss Angel.
Career as an illusionist
Angel has been doing his Mindfreak performances since 2001; his television show debuted on July 20, 2005. Yet, his skills showcased on TV were developed through stage magic and conjuring in clubs. He also did a television special in 2003 called Supernatural. His brothers and mother are also regulars on the Mindfreak television series.
Among the stunts Angel has performed for television audiences are being towed 80 feet into the air while handcuffed inside a barrel filled with water, then releasing the barrel after Angel had taken off the handcuffs and tied himself to a safety rope; and laying on top of a bed of nails and having a Hummer drive on top of him, levitating himself and strangers off the street, also being hung from fish hooks into his back while being dangled from a helicopter. People who are not professional magicians are strongly discouraged from performing these stunts.
Angel won the Merlin Award from the International Society of Magicians in 2001, 2004 and now in 2005; he is the only two-time, and three-time winner of that award.
He was named 2005 Magician of the Year by The Academy of Magical Arts (AMA) at a press event at Hollywood’s Magic Castle
Trivia
·Angel said on his television show that he considers another well-known magician, Lance Burton, to be a good friend.
·Angel is very private about his personal life. While several sources, such as Forbes Magazine and others, have confirmed his birth name to be Christopher Sarantakos, Angel's exact birth date remains undisclosed. Angel prefers to list his birth date as merely "December 19", omitting his birth year. The Internet Movie Database and other websites list his birth year as 1968.
·In Criss Angel's music albums System 2 in the Trilogy, System 3 in the Trilogy, and Mindfreak, the main Female Vox is Victoria Kay Faiella, and other Female Dialogs were done by Christie Allen and JoAnna.
Discography
All of these albums were self-released under APITRAG Records.
·Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion (1998, as Angeldust)
·System 1 in the Trilogy (2000, has the same tracks as Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion)
o01. Come Alive
o02. Down
o03. Fear
o04. Thrush
o05. Procreation
o06. Die For Me
o07. Edge of the World
o08. Darkest Day (JS)
o09. Hate Me
o10. Deadlove Calling
o11. Do You Know
o12. Metamorphosis (Theatrical Score)
o13. Forever
System 2 in the Trilogy (2000)
o01. Hümbodik
o02. Phantasm
o03. Cocoon
o04. Inhuman
o05. Enrapture
o06. Entranced
o07. Metamorphosis
o08. Tremor
o09. D.A.M.
o10. XTC
o11. Underground
o12. Perelandra.2
System 3 in the Trilogy (2000)
o01. In Two
o02. Nexus
o03. Copycat
o04. Rubber Room
o05. Firestorm
o06. Revelation
o07. Disintegration
o08. Epilogue
o09. 2<0
o10. U
o11. Why Me
o12. Amixtika
Mindfreak (2002; intended as a soundtrack for his Mindfreak show)
o01. Scarecrow
o02. Phantasm
o03. Cocoon
o04. Enrapture
o05. Perelandra.3
o06. Delusions
o07. Snow
o08. In Two
o09. Tremor
o10. Metamorphosis
o11. Revelation
o12. Closure
o13. Epilogue
o14. D.A.M.
All Songs Written, Produced, Arranged, Performed & Mixed by Criss Angel & Klayton.
