Criss Angel's Believe retake
August 14, 2009
Criss Angel
People have been hating on Criss Angel’s show Believe ever since it opened at the Luxor and I have felt it was very much undeserved. I saw the show a few months after its opening and I loved it. Last night I had the opportunity to see this show again. It wasn’t my intention to review the show, but hey, I’m paid by the word so a review is what you’re going to get.
I was pleased that the whole ‘confiscate the cameras at the door’ fiasco has ended. The last time I went to this show I had my camera with me, as I always do. They made everyone with cameras line up and bag their cameras and check them. It wasn’t so bad going in, but hundreds of people getting their cameras back on the way out was a nightmare I never want to revisit. So, I’m pleased to report this practice has ended. Taking any photo or recording of the show is prohibited; that is pretty normal for any show.
It is Criss Angel so something has got to be weird. We were searched with metal detector wands. Why? Hell if I know. Security asked me if I had a camera or cell phone or change in my purse because the wand went crazy. I said, “All of above.” He asked to look in there. I opened my purse and he took a quick peek in that black hole us ladies call ‘purse’. He said, “Okay.” Ooookay. What is it they are searching for then? Guns? I do not know. Maybe next time this show reincarnates they’ll have us check all liquids, shampoos and nail clippers at the door.
So there have been many changes to this show since I’ve seen it last. There is a lot more Criss Angel. It is along the lines of shameless self promotion, I’m sad to say. The show starts with a big screen showing a lot of his magic, presumably from his TV Show. Then he comes out and does a trick or two. He uses a ‘fan’ from the audience who has a big “I love Criss” sheet she’s waving. She looked like a plant from the moment he addressed her and it kind of left us going, “Uh huh…”
The show eventually starts and it is still pretty much the same story of Criss getting killed or nearly killed in one of his stunts and the nightmarish rabbit visions he had while out. A little simple magic is mixed in here and there.
The Cirque du Soleil dancers are still perfectly costumed and dance fabulously. The clowns are still funnier than all get-out. They even entertained while people were being seated. On the downside, much of their act has been removed to make room for Criss Angel’s new additions. And.. Well… this is not a good thing.
What made this show so good when it opened is that it was a Cirque show that Criss Angel was in. I felt they were promoting it wrong and that is why they were getting so many bad reviews. People flocked to see a Criss Angel Vegas magic show and got Cirque instead. It pissed off a lot of people. So, now there is a lot of Criss Angel. The show has been chopped and re-chopped up so many times now that it is very disconnected. If I had not already seen the show, I don’t think I’d have a clue as to what the hell is going on because very little connects. There are also a few very long pauses between scenes which makes the audience bored.
Like a good comedian, a show has to get a connection with the audience to tell the story. If this isn’t done then it leaves people watching just wondering what is going on. All jokes fall flat. Apparently all magic will too in that situation. Come to find out. People were not clapping much, just staring. I began to suspect some of the audience clapping I was hearing wasn’t coming from the audience.
Near the end of the show I whispered to the guy next to me, “I hate to say it, but the only thing that could save this show is to lose Criss Angel.” He smiled and nodded in agreement. Then they took a sheet and covered Angel on the stage. Whoosh, the sheet was whisked away and Criss Angel had vanished.
“Works for me!” he said. And with that we started to line up with everyone else to leave.
Even the dancers have lost their finely tuned choreography. They are still great dancers, but you can tell their heart isn’t in it. Angel still can’t act his way out of a box. He spent a lot of time trying to get people to clap and get excited, prancing around like a rock star, “SO ARE WE READY?!” No, Criss, we’re not. I’m afraid it is time to close this puppy and call it done. Why, oh why, didn’t they just promote this show better in the first place? Now it looks like a marriage in Hell with Cirque and Angel battling it out for control. Damn shame Criss Angel is winning that battle. The price of a ticket is over $100 for this show. I wouldn’t recommend it at forty dollars.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on August 14, 2009 at 2:26 pm
You are to be applauded for your forthright review, Pam. You have now joined the esteemed ranks of MANY other reviewers/critics/journalists locally, nationwide and worldwide that run the gamut from sorta positive (”it was good, but it needs work”) to horrible (”baaaaaaad, horribly baaaaaad”) when talking about Criss Angel’s show here at the Luxor. The bad reviews are consistent, on going, outnumber the good reviews about 10 to 1 and will never seem to stop.
I have made many comments about Criss Angel in other web sites (most notably on Richard Abowitz’ Movable Buffet) and I still stick to what I said starting back in April 2008 when Criss Angel flipped off NBC TV cameras during the Miss USA Pageant and threatened to blind Norm Clarke from the Las Vegas Review Journal. He has shown nothing but arrogance, having no respect for anyone, not even himself. This was witnessed in the ensuing months by telling reporters everything from “it’s a matter between me and Norm only” to “it didn’t happen at all.” It got so bad that he basically forgot what he told one reporter to the next. He eventually did apologize to Norm Clarke, but it coincided with the grand premiere of his show (October 31, 2008). This was transparent. You could tell Cirque du Soleil basically slapped him, said go make up and apologize, we got money riding on this, do it and act like the big named entertainer you’re supposed to be and behave and make us some money.
And it came out in the news that his fling with Holly Madison was done in order to take away attention from his failing show here in Las Vegas. And Holly used him to further her ends here in Las Vegas too. And get this….they both, at the time, shared the same publicist. So, it was basically two users sucking the life out of each other, bouncing off of each other’s bling.
And then, in April 2009, during a show which probably had children in the audience, Criss Angel hurled a profanity laced insult at Perez Hilton, who was in the audience. Never mind who he yelled that at…the main thing is he did something you NEVER, EVER do on stage. It shows total unprofessionalism and many entertainers in the past have been fired for doing something like that. But Cirque du Soleil does nothing to him and they apologize for this idiot’s behavior. Criss Angel however is silent. Cirque du Soleil is in this “battered wife” syndrome. They apologize, say it will never happen again, but no reassurance from their star performer. I guess he can basically do it again. So, he’s got free reign to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. Cirque has proved they can’t do anything.
I still say this guy needs to go. He’s a laughing stock here in Las Vegas. Even other entertainers rag on him. The most recent one was a few days ago by Anthony Cools, who recently unveiled a revamped version of his hypnosis show. During the show he said (quote), “If you did not have a good time tonight, my name is Criss Angel.”
The most horrible thing about this is that he has totally ripped off many, many tourists who went to this show and when they left, they wished more to forget it than to remember any of it. Las Vegas is meant to be a place where people are encouraged to return to spend vacation time, not chase them out of the city limits to never ever return again.
Criss Angel continues to demonstrate nightly he possesses absolutely no talent, no ability to have a rapport with a paying audience, nor is he able to put together a show that moves along and flows in order to bear any resemblance to having the ability to entertain. This watch-me-whilst-I-love-myself-and-you-should-throw-money-at-me nonsense has got to stop.
And yes, Pam. I have heard that from many other audience members who attended this show. Cheers, applause, hand claps, whistles and crowd noise is piped into the speakers. Because if they didn’t, the deafening noise of silence mingled with crickets chirping would be the only thing heard during the performance.
Criss Angel is not meant to be on the stage of a multi-million dollar show on the Strip. This pairing of Criss Angel to Cirque du Soleil is the same as if you bought a hot dog and, instead of putting mustard on it, you put whipped cream on it. It just don’t work. And it will never work.
BeLIEve that.
Written by Pam on August 14, 2009 at 3:35 pm
That stunt with Holly finally came out? I smelled a PR rat the first I heard of it. Glad to find out someone else bought a clue on that. Given that it is one of my favorite public relations moves, it was easy to spot.
Soooo, not that you feel strongly or anything, huh Colin? Man! You do not like that guy, haha.
I don’t care about him one way or another. I consider him a street performer and am surprised he landed a deal like he did at the Luxor, but hey, we’re all deserving of the deal we can get signed! More power to him.
I really did enjoy his show the first time around. I thought it was great entertainment and thought it wasn’t professional or nice to just rag on it because of Angel’s perceived personal shortcomings or because it didn’t have good magic in it. Or because it didn’t outdo other Cirque shows. He really isn’t a magician exactly, for Godssakes. The show was damn good entertainment as it was in the beginning. Now, well, it isn’t, in my opinion. Too bad.
I am guessing that in the coming months, Criss Angel, Cirque and the Luxor will all agree to break the contract and get on with something more productive.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on August 14, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Please don’t misunderstand me, Pam. I’m not on a vendetta against Criss Angel. Not at all. It’s just I see through all this transparency. And, believe it or not, I’m trying not to pay attention to any of his crap, but you can’t ignore it. Because it’s thrown out there for ALL to see ALL the time. Criss Angel absolutely loves to get in front of cameras and do that press whore thing, even attracting bad press. And even when he screws up and opens his mouth and says something idiotic, it still helps him. As you know, in Hollywood, good press is good press and bad press is good press too. And this knucklehead proves to be a total embarassment to Las Vegas.
I say that Criss Angel is a jerk, a punk, who basically acts like a manipulative convict that thinks he’s untouchable and an entertainer that should not be paid attention to at all because all he wants is money and fame and don’t care how he attains it. And someone like this should not be the headliner for a multi-million dollar show on the world famous Las Vegas Strip. He has absolutely NO credentials at all that qualify him for this. And he proves that assessment during every show.
My main point is this, Pam. The tourists should NEVER be held accountable to make money for a proven way below average show. Tourists do not have money to blow to just shell it out to see a sub standard show. Someone has to stand up for them. THEY should not suffer for Cirque du Soleil’s horrible business decision. Cirque should be the one held accountable for this fiasco and do the right thing and close it down (or do something). If they continue with this train wreck, make THEM howl in frustration when they look out and see empty seats. And going along with this main point of mine, I want to ensure that if they continue to let this go on, I want the word spread widely so that when Cirque du Soleil looks in their cash register for ticket sales, they see only dust and cobwebs. And I want to ensure this happens every single day, during every single performance, to continue on for the entire ten year commitment (if they choose to pursue the original contract with this bum).
And I’m not the only one saying this about his TITANIC of a show. There is a web site called Yelp, where people from around the world submit comments and rate shows from around the world. Criss Angel BeLIEve in Las Vegas, NV is there. It has a whopping 110 comments so far (last time I checked). People can comment on the show and rate it from one star (lowest) to five stars (highest). This show, after 110 comments of people who saw it, only ranks an abysmal 2 stars, well below average. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good comments too, but the bad reviews far outnumber the good reviews by a ratio of about 10 to 1. There are other web sites that basically say the same thing.
I just hate to see tourists ripped off and misled by yay wide and yay high billboards, big signs that light up, flowery layouts in free hand out magazines and other forms of in-your-face advertisements that basically say it’s something that it simply isn’t.
Tourists are the life blood of Las Vegas. And especially in these times, something like this needs to be fixed. And fixed quick. Because it’s doing nothing but chasing tourists away. The plan of action is usually to try to get tourists to decide to make Las Vegas their tourist vacation destination time and time again. Criss Angel BeLIEve doesn’t come close to accomplishing this and proves totally counter productive.
Written by Pam on August 15, 2009 at 6:50 am
Well, Colin, I agree with you on a lot of that actually. Maybe he was a poor choice for a big show like this. But, there was no way to know that until they did it. I don’t think anyone predicted that Criss Angel would be such a bad publicity move. I was surprised over the ten year contract. Seems like it was a far to risky thing with a new guy on the scene. Maybe they were thinking with Cirque involved it would be a sure winner.
It is a shame that unknowing tourists are paying that ticket price for this show. The way the show is now it certainly isn’t worth it and someone needs to pull the plug. All the revamping they’ve been continually doing is making it worse. Maybe if they closed this one and started two new shows, one of Criss Angel doing his thing and Cirque doing something different.
Actually Cirque is starting a new Elvis type of show that should be opening in a few months. Maybe by December. That will take some attention away from what has become a disaster with this one.