of course Criss Angel rocks
If you go to any magic show in Vegas and try to debunk the magician you will not have the same fun as if you let yourself being entertained!
The same with the Mindfreak Show.. i am pretty sure they used camera tricks, i am not sure they use CGI effects, however it is an entertainment show! I didn't fancy the last couple of seasons because it started to be impossible to top the previous performances and that was when the camera tricks became obvious or let's just say the tricks became unbelievable!
Having said that Criss Angel did some very impressive stuff in the first 3 season and even when there was occasional camera tricks involved he did amazing close ups and invented pretty nifty tools to perform the tricks! Nothing is real so he's gotta come up with a solution somehow to perform the bit!
Performing a successful illusion means to hide the tools and techniques from eyes of the audience, if the audience is a TV Camera then this is the benchmark.
I am following his career since his off Broadway show in NYC and what he performed there was way ahead of his time! His Show at the Madison Square garden was that amazing that people couldn't sleep after seeing it! He has payed his dues and he started small, the best mind freak tricks been always the small ones. Of course i know how he walks over the water and of course the people in the pool are payed to act, this however happens on ANY magic stage in there world, there is payed personnel or assistants or hot girls! The Walk over water tick would have looked silly if nobody was around, and if he had chosen random people they would have boinked their heads against the plexy glass stages!
He levitated above the Luxor, period! No matter how many cranes had to hold him he was there and we all been able to see it from any possible angle! This was no camera trick not was it a hologram or whatever skeptics mean to say, he was there and hanging that high above the ground in bright light is impressive alone! Hangin from a Helicopter on fish hooks was quite a stunt as well and even if there was additional security installed he had the hooks in his flesh and anyone was able to see that it must hurt!
So.. people calling him a douchebag or a liar should probably not say that because a douche bag doesn't sign a 100 Million Dollar Deal on the strip, a Douche Bag comes and goes and is not in the spotlight for a decade nor would the magic alliance vote a douche bag to their face to be recognized with!
That guy might not everyones first pick when it comes to magicians but he still got the skills to completely freak anyones mind who is reading this in a close up magic session! Lucky enough I had the opportunity to see that dozens of times and anytime I had no clue how he did it even after seeing the masked magician shows!