Criss Angel to perform mind expanding magic Sunday

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Criss Angel has earned a reputation as a great magician over the past 30 years. 

Tanner Owens, T_Owens031

Criss Angel, known for his dazzling tricks and popular TV shows, will perform this week in Ames.

Angel will perform Sunday at Stephens Auditorium, bringing with him an extensive repertoire of tricks and stunts spanning several decades. Tickets for the event start at $52 and top out at $92. Student RUSH tickets will be available for $20 Friday and on the day of the show.

The event is part of Angel’s “Criss Angel RAW: The Mindfreak Unplugged” tour. It will feature Angel and company performing his most iconic magic tricks and dabbling in mentalism and hand street magic. The show will commence at 7 p.m.

The event is billed as a “raw” event, meaning the audience will be up-close and personal with Angel as he performs his world-renowned tricks. The event will not be encumbered by flashy theatrics but will instead serve as an intimate experience for both audience and performer. 

“I had to get (someone) from NASA involved,” Angel said in a Newsday interview. “I performed it in Vegas first. I levitate, and fly. Magicians have done levitation with props in the dark but I do it in full, bright light. I’m flying, spinning, flipping. People in the business have no concept of how I do it. None.”

Angel has solidified himself as a legend in the magic and entertainment industry. Largely considered one of the greatest to ever perform magic, Angel was named “Magician of the Century” in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. Angel was named “Magician of the Decade” the previous year. Angel has also partnered with Cirque du Soleil and Luxor Las Vegas to produce his shows. 

Known for his mind-boggling illusions and dark aura, Angel has become a household name. The magician’s levitation illusion has become a thing of legend and garnered him widespread notoriety during the 2000s. He also won over audiences with his famous 2002 stunt involving a water tank. Angel, using 16 oxygen tanks, shackled himself inside of a phone-booth-sized container completely submerged in water and stayed there without a break for 24 hours.

The stunt happened in Times Square, drew a massive crowd and resulted in Angel being hospitalized from overheating, severe dehydration and jaw-fatigue from holding an oxygen tube for 24 hours. 

Angel’s popularity skyrocketed with the release of his own cable show, “Criss Angel Mindfreak,” which aired from 2005 until 2010. Angel served as the creator, director, star and producer of the show. The third season became A&E’s most-watched show, with over 1.5 million weekly viewers. 

Tickets for the event are available through Ticketmaster.com, over the phone or through the Iowa State Center Ticket Office.