About Criss Angel
For more than two decades, Criss Angel has dominated the world of magic as the biggest name on the planet. From his role as star, creator, executive producer, and director of the most successful magic television series of all time, Criss Angel MINDFREAK on A&E Network, to his #1 best-selling Las Vegas stage show Criss Angel MINDFREAK, smash Broadway and tour runs of RAW, to countless critically acclaimed television specials and series, best-selling books, top-grossing retail products, music CDs and more, Angel is the most influential and imitated magician of the modern era. Hailing spectacular reviews from outlets such as Bloomberg Businessweek – who called him “the biggest name in Las Vegas magic” – Angel brings “an estimated $150 million a year into the local economy” (Newsweek) and generates a whopping “$70 million a year” personally (Businessweek), proving time and again that he is the most successful magician ever.
His hit series MINDFREAK on A&E is the most successful magic show in television history, resulting in more hours of magic during primetime than any other magic show ever. The series was viewed regularly by more than 100 million viewers in over 90 countries. The live broadcast of the show’s “Building Implosion” episode drew in excess of 50,000 people to the venue – resulting in the largest crowd ever for any magician, rivaling Houdini. “Criss is the best, THE BEST,” said Oprah Winfrey. Angel’s next television series, Criss Angel BeLIEve, premiered on Spike TV on October 15, 2013 as the network’s most-watched original series premiere in over 18 months, and the show was aired in over 100 countries worldwide. Angel made a return to A&E in October 2016 with Trick’dUP. The one-hour Halloween special aired on October 12th.
2022 sees Criss returning to television with his new series for The CW Network, Criss Angel’s Magic with the Stars. In each of the ten 1-hour episodes, two celebrities train with professional magicians and compete to create a show-stopping series of magic performances. The celebrity competitors are tasked with mastering three major categories of magic, which they perform in front of a team of judges led by Criss.
For almost a decade, Criss Angel BeLIEve was hailed as the #1 best-selling magic show in Las Vegas (Extra). Following the show’s 7th anniversary celebration in 2015, Angel unleashed the future, bringing his brand-new creation MINDFREAK® LIVE! to the Luxor Hotel & Casino in June 2016. The production – based on the wildly successful touring version, which was hailed as the “Magic Event of a Lifetime” (Huffington Post) – replaced the critically acclaimed BeLIEve. Angel served as writer, director, illusion designer, star and executive producer of MINDFREAK® LIVE!. The Las Vegas Review-Journal called the show “The #1 Magic Show of All Time!”
2019 marked the end of Criss’ historic 10-year run at the Luxor, with the grand opening of Criss Angel MINDFREAK® in the Criss Angel Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Las Vegas. Debuting never-before-seen sequences – including a revolutionary finale nearly twenty years in the making – the state-of-the-art theatrical production features countless fully immersive special effects. The production has Las Vegas’ first high-tech experiential lobby with cutting-edge interactive elements, and a fully reimagined stage outfitted with the most sophisticated technology the world of entertainment has ever seen. The visual feast includes in excess of half a billion pixels of video on over 100 surfaces, over 2000 lights, custom-made fire and pyrotechnic effects, and advanced 3D holographic and immersive projection technology. Vanish Magazine, the world’s largest magic publication, called MINDFREAK®“the greatest magic show of all time!” Celebrity Radio rates it as “the best show in Las Vegas!”, and the BBC gave it “10 stars!”.
In 2021, Criss Angel and Franco Dragone (who each separately revolutionized entertainment on the Las Vegas Strip) teamed up to create AMYSTIKA, a fantastical and mysterious production which immerses the audience in a spectacle of euphoric, stunning illusions, one-of-a-kind special effects, jaw-dropping stunts – touted by Sirius/XM as “The most exciting live show in Vegas!”. The collaboration between Franco Dragone (Mystère, “O”, Celine Dion’s “A New Day”) and Criss Angel came from a common desire to bring the audience into the show and the show into the audience and had a successful 26-week run in Las Vegas before moving on to international touring destinations.
In late 2014, Angel unveiled his touring production — featuring his first performances outside of Las Vegas in more than six years — with MINDFREAK® Live! The show’s premiere run of 18 shows were a smash hit, selling out one month prior to opening. In 2017 the touring show made its international debut in Buenos Aires, Argentina with multiple sold-out performances at the famous Gran Rex Theater. 2015 saw the launch of a second touring show, written and directed by Criss: The SUPERNATURALISTS™, featuring 9 mind-blowing magicians that “destroy reality and revolutionize the live magic ensemble experience.” Having sold 40,000 tickets in a single location – forits premiere four-week engagement at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut – The Supernaturalists™ was the most successful, record-breaking launch of ANY ensemble magic show in history with critical acclaim and reaching more than 251,250,640 people via global media over the course of its opening weekend. Criss Angel RAW – The Mindfreak Unplugged, Criss’ third and most recent touring production, debuted in January of 2018 with sold-out shows in nine cities. RAW brings Angel’s famous sleight-of-hand street magic, mentalism, and even some of his most iconic illusions to life – all performed in an intimate, raw setting. The show continues to perform for capacity houses around the globe, including a blockbuster week on Broadway in July 2019 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and six sold-out shows in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2022.
Angel is the most watched magician in history. His 2022 appearances during the NFL Draft garnered in excess of three BILLION impressions across television, print, radio, and online. His “Walk on Water” clip has generated over 60 million views on YouTube alone, bringing him to over 4 BILLION views. Criss also has the largest social media following of any illusionist, with nearly 7 million followers.
Angel’s book, Criss Angel MINDFREAK: Secret Revelations (Harper Collins) was a national bestseller and is now in multiple printings. Criss is also an accomplished musician, having produced and performed on five self-titled CDs, which are featured in his live performances and TV appearances.
Angel has received numerous awards throughout his career. Criss was honored with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The award was presented at the 2018 I.B.M. Convention, and he is the youngest recipient of this distinguished honor – which was approved unanimously by the I.B.M. Board of Trustees at its Midyear Meeting. “This incomparable honor has only been presented previously to two legendary commercial magicians – Siegfried & Roy; now Criss Angel joins them as the most successful magician of our day,” said Simone Marron, International Secretary for the International Brotherhood of Magicians. In 2019 he also received “The Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T)” Award by Vanish Magazine. The prestigious award, decided by a panel of professional magicians to honor outstanding artists in the magic industry, adds to Criss’ long list of accolades as the most awarded magician by magicians. Marron continues, “…the global brotherhood of magicians unanimously and enthusiastically cements Criss’ immortal mark on the industry announcing him as ‘The Greatest of All Time.’” 2022 saw Angel receiving accolades and the highest honor from the most prestigious magic organization, The Magic Circle. The award was given “…in recognition of the very best that magic has to offer.”
In July of 2017, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honored Criss with the 2,615th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was dedicated at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard next to the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and across the street from the star of Houdini.
Criss has been named “Magician of the Year” an unprecedented six times, including from The Magic Castle, and was the youngest magician inducted into the International Magicians Society Hall of Fame. Criss was also presented with a lifetime achievement award, The World Magic Legacy Award “A Living Legend,” at The World of Magic Seminar in Las Vegas. Additionally, Angel was named the first recipient of “Magician of the Decade,” as well as “Magician of the Century” and “Innovator of the Decade.” Angel received an International Magic Lifetime Achievement Award and was unanimously selected as the recipient of the 22nd Louie Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Art of Magic. In 2021 Criss was received the Gold Mandrake Award from the prestigious long-standing international magic festival, Mandrake D’Or.
Angel’s Johnny Crisstopher Children’s Charitable Foundation (formerly Believe Anything Is Possible), was renamed in early 2016 after his then two-year-old son Johnny was diagnosed with leukemia. 100% of all donations to the foundation (no deductions are taken for administration or expenses) go to childhood cancer research, treatment and ultimately a cure. His first-ever benefit event, H.E.L.P. (Heal Every Life Possible), brought in over $1m during the one-night live production in Las Vegas. Criss has been awarded both Male Wish Granter of the Year (2010) and the Chris Greicius Award (2007) – the highest honor bestowed by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 2018 saw Criss receiving the first American Cancer Society Compassionate Heart Award – presented by Barrick, and in 2022 he was named Cure 4 The Kids Foundation Philanthropist of The Year 2022. Criss continues to raise millions of dollars for pediatric cancer causes.