Criss Angel "Believe," Where's the Magic?

"There's just no wonder in it," said Joe Brown in his review in the Las Vegas Sun. "That — among its many, more obvious failings - is the fatal flaw at the heart of "Criss Angel: Believe."

Critics have largely panned "Criss Angel: Believe," the Las Vegas illusion show that is the result of an artistic merger between Criss Angel and Cirque du Soleil. But there's a common theme coming from these reviews by non-magicians. They continually mention the lack of magic and wonder.

Are expectations for the magic too high? Is the magic second rate? Here are some thoughts on the recent comments regarding the magic. (For the record, I have not yet seen the production.)

TV Versus Live
Some comments compare the magnitude of the feats that Criss Angel accomplishes on television against those in his live show, as shown in the quotes that follow - something that many magicians eagerly anticipated.

"...the stage show isn't able to re-create the caliber of illusions he does on TV" said Melissa Heckscher in her review that ran in "The San Gabriel Tribune," my local home town paper. "...Angel's trademark levitation trick, for instance, looks great on television; but on the Luxor's misty, tripped-out stage it just looks like a neat special effect."

"If you are a Criss Angel fan, there will not be nearly enough of his style of magic," said Richard Abowitz of the Los Angeles Times. "The magic is much closer to standard theater illusions that do not really recall his television show as much as they do, say, Monte Carlo's Lance Burton (who does a far better magic show, being more comfortable and expert at this more traditional magic presentation)."

Magic "Shortchanged"
Many critics were unimpressed with the illusions. I wonder if expectations were set too high as some criticisms strike me as ultra-critical. On the other hand, if lay spectators are mentioning them, they likely indicate problems.

"When Angel 'jumps' into a movie screen and comes out the other side wearing a different outfit, it's all too clear he's just jumped behind the screen and walked to the other side," says Heckscher. "He can change clothes fast, I'll give him that, but it doesn't quite leave anyone amazed."

There are numerous performers who have successfully combined magic with video screens - David Copperfield, Marco Tempest and Tony Chapek immediately come to mind. These routines effectively blur the line between reality and video by combining traditional magic and sleight of hand with cleverly edited film footage.

I've found these routines to be intriguing and entertaining. The audience knows that the magician is not actually reaching or walking into the screen. It's all about the clever interaction and relationship between the performer and the screen. But the critic here did not think that the concept was clever.

"...magic-lovers are shortchanged," says Joe Brown of the Las Vegas Sun. "We get a remote-writing trick involving a suspended locked box, a flock of doves that appear and fly above audience, some piddling flashpaper fire-work, lots of clever screenplay, with Angel popping in and out of the projected images...Illusion is elusive in Angel's 'Believe'" (Brown did enjoy the “sawing” segment.)

"Angel was split fully in half by a saw that had not actually cut across him yet," says Richard Abowitz in his review for the Los Angeles Times. "In 'Believe,' making doves appear, or escaping from a straitjacket while suspended in the air, or vanishing in puff of smoke and flash simply comes off as stagecraft...How can you be impressed when Angel levitates when you see the cords on the aerialists in the show?"

"The touted innovation is that instead of boxes and cabinets, the trickery is concealed by the fabric of fans or cloaks, or fog machines...Big whoop," says Mike Weatherford of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"The real answer might have been simpler if obvious: take what works so well for Angel on television and find a way to translate that to the stage," says Abowitz."Perhaps, in the end, breaking new ground for magic was not what needed to be done."

Angel Element?
Is Angel’s magic simply lost among the visual Cirque theatrical elements? Is Criss Angel out of his element? Some critics mentioned that the show's beginning, when Angel is pretty much his television persona and performing a traditional magic show, is the strongest part of the production.

"The early moments, by the way, flaws and all, in which Angel is just being himself are actually the highlight of the show," says Abowizt. "Once Cirque takes over, the show turns into a hopeless muddle of plots, subplots and recurring-yet-pointless and poorly defined characters...to maintain a sense of the magical in a theatrical production absent any magic-related context or presentation is an insurmountable challenge."

"The magic makes it painfully obvious that Angel is a showman whose gift was creating his persona, not anything new in his field," says Weatherford. "Moments like that make you wonder what this show could have been if Cirque and David Copperfield had come together 10 years ago...Copperfield understands that the best illusions are little one-act plays, each building to a carefully constructed payoff that isn't just an effect, but the climax of the story."

"CRISS ANGEL Believe by Cirque du Soleil" is performed Fridays through Tuesdays at the Luxor Las Vegas with two shows nightly at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

You can read the full reviews:

Nothing Much Magical About Angel's 'Believe' By Melissa Heckscher
The Movable Buffet: Dispatches from Las Vegas by Richard Abowitz Criss Angel's 'Believe' hard to believe
Illusion is elusive in Angel's "Believe" by Joe Brown
Show Review: 'Criss Angel Believe' By Mike Weatherford

More Reading:
Criss Angel "Believe" - First Review In
Give Time to "Believe" in Criss Angel
Criss Angel "Believe": More Reader Feedback
Readers Talk About "CRISS ANGEL Believe" Previews