Criss Angel freaks on one-eyed journalist after Miss USA pageant
April 14, 2008 | 12:03
pm
I've written before about the peculiar and insider nature of covering Vegas. For example, only a few of us are paid to cover Vegas production shows as part of our everyday job. And unlike most other cities where a headliner does a show and goes on to the next city, Las Vegas famously keeps the headliners (and critics) and imports new audiences.
So when Vegas headliners leave the neon Strip, they return home to their gated communities about town and often read what the local media are writing about them.
This has resulted in some epic feuds. And some silly ones. But certainly one of the ugliest -- with threats of violence -- happened on Friday night after the Miss USA contest between Criss Angel and the Review-Journal's Norm Clarke.
Angel's girlfriend, Veronica Grabowski, the reigning Miss Nevada, did not win the Miss USA contest (making her one of 50 other contestants who weren't Miss Texas -- the final winner this year).
As silly as it seems to take a beauty pageant owned by Donald Trump and hosted by Donny and Marie Osmond, with Paul McCartney's ex-wife as a judge, at all seriously, this apparently makes for pretty high emotional stakes in the world of Criss Angel. According to Clarke, Angel flashed an obscene gesture on the NBC telecast after his girlfriend was out of the competition.
But that was just the beginning of Angel's tantrum. His real eruption apparently happened after the pageant. Angel presumably was upset by coverage Clarke wrote earlier about how Angel had urged a judge to give "my girl" high marks. Clarke also reported that Trump was disturbed by Angel's talk with the judge. All of this was moot, as it turned out the judge in question had already turned in her vote.
Anyway, Clarke reports that after the pageant, Angel, along with his brothers and a bodyguard, charged over to him, with Angel yelling obscenities. Clarke has battled serious medical issues and wears an eye patch because his eye was removed. Angel, according to Clarke, didn't shy away from tasteless threatening: "Don't ever write another word about me, or you'll need an eyepatch over your other eye." Real clever.
After this unbelievable behavior, Angel headed off to party at LAX with "his girl." According to a press release:
"Angel was joined by his girlfriend Miss Nevada Veronica Grabowski and a slew of friends as he reveled at a lavish table on the main VIP stage. The group enjoyed some Montecristo Rum and Belvedere Vodka cocktails and danced to the sounds of DJ Hollywood well into the early morning hours."
"Angel was joined by his girlfriend Miss Nevada Veronica Grabowski and a slew of friends as he reveled at a lavish table on the main VIP stage. The group enjoyed some Montecristo Rum and Belvedere Vodka cocktails and danced to the sounds of DJ Hollywood well into the early morning hours."
I have reached out to everyone involved for comment and will report more information if I talk to the principals.
Meanwhile, Angel is to start rehearsals this week on Cirque's new $100-million show that is to feature him at the Luxor. Certainly, this was not the way Cirque intended to launch the start of the rehearsals. But this is also not the first incident showing Angel's sensitivity to perceived slights and ability to hold a grudge.
At Cirque's welcoming press conference to announce the Angel show at Luxor, the Mindfreak magician surprised all by offering an extended rap against all of the people in his life who he felt never believed in him sufficiently, and during this speech he also offered a little obscenity to keep the suits nervous.
Meanwhile, Angel is to start rehearsals this week on Cirque's new $100-million show that is to feature him at the Luxor. Certainly, this was not the way Cirque intended to launch the start of the rehearsals. But this is also not the first incident showing Angel's sensitivity to perceived slights and ability to hold a grudge.
At Cirque's welcoming press conference to announce the Angel show at Luxor, the Mindfreak magician surprised all by offering an extended rap against all of the people in his life who he felt never believed in him sufficiently, and during this speech he also offered a little obscenity to keep the suits nervous.
Angel is certainly proving a unique presence on the Strip.
Update: A representative from Cirque got back to me to say that Cirque sees
this confrontation as an issue between illusionist Criss Angel and reporter Norm Clarke.
Cirque hopes they work this out, but does not see this incident as connected to
Angel's Cirque show in any way.
(Angel and Veronica Grabowski party at LAX, courtesy photo)
I'm not disgruntled at all. And I'm not a former employee of his....And I didn't ask you to believe what I said in my previous post. I have no interest (or need) to "pretend" to be anyone other than myself. I'm sure with a little research, everything in my previous post CAN be verified. I state the truth, you can believe it or not believe it...doesn't really matter. For those of you interested in learning more, try reading this:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=249877&forum=82
And for those of you who would like to read the article about Criss firing Banachek (to verify what I said), ask a local magician if he has a copy of March 2008 M.U.M. Magazine. The full article with details in the editorial...Page 8.
I never said it was wrong to hire consultants...if that's what they're actually doing...CONSULTING. I agree that consultants are sometimes necessary. Even more necessary when the magician is a hack. Television magicians buy the performace rights to another creator's tricks. What happens when the creator won't sell the rights? Remember when Criss did his "Walking on Water" illusion? He approached the creator of that effect. He refused to sell it, so Criss stole the creation. Lawsuits are still occurring.
Posted by: Michal | July 09, 2008 at 03:56 PM