Beginning when he was six years old, Criss Angel immersed himself in a multitude of art forms, from performance artist and musician to mystifier and provocateur. Since then, a relentless work ethic combined with enormous talent, skill and vision has perpetuated Criss as one of the most provocative artists of our day. From creator, executive producer and director of his #1 rated television series on A&E (Criss Angel MINDFREAK) countless television specials, live shows, music albums, and more - Criss has redefined the term "artist" for the 21st Century.
Criss had the highest advance tickets sales during his fourteen month/600 performance off-broadway run of Criss Angel MINDFREAK of which he created, produced, directed and starred in. Criss Angel MINDFREAK (the television show) is currently on schedule to film its 70th episode in its unprecedented third season shot at The Luxor Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. The television show notably ranks #1 in countless international markets and the first 2 season dvds have consistently been the #1 and #2 best selling DVDs in A&E's history. Prominent publishing house, Harper Collins released Criss' highly anticipated first book, Criss Angel MINDFREAK: Secret Revelations in April 2007 and he has already added the accolade of best selling author to his credit as his book made it to the LA TIMES bestseller list.
Criss has also received numerous awards throughout his career. He was named 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 Magician of the Year, making him the first five-time / back-to-back recipient ever to be awarded these most prestigious accolades. Criss was also unanimously selected as the recipient of the 22nd Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. Throughout the years, Criss Angel has also been featured on NBC's Las Vegas, The Late Show With David Letterman, Late Nite with Conan O'Brien, the Late, Late show with Craig Fergusen, the Ryan Seacrest morning show, The Opie and Anthony show, Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel Live, CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, Foxs News Channel, E!, Spike, MTV, The Howard Stern Show, WB, VHI, TLC, UPN, TNN, Playboy Channel, and The Discovery Channel and has garnered international coverage on the largest rated television networks in the world.
Criss Angel MINDFREAK season 3 premiered to unprecedented ratings drawing close to 3 million viewers making it the # 1 cable television show in its timeslot. Season 4, slated to start pre-production in September 2007, will culminate in a memorable 100th episode, a mark seldom reached by any television show in history.
Most recently, Criss was featured as Luke Blade, in an episode of CSI:NY of which scored unprecedented highs for the series in the 18-49 year old demographic and was the #1 show in its timeslot. In addition, Criss has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, the VH1 Rock-Honors Awards performing and introducing legendary honoree Ozzy Osbourne, as well as having a cover story done on him in the popular auto mag, DUB.
Criss has been both the #2 and #1 most searched name on Yahoo.com in consecutive weeks, is an accomplished musician having produced and performed on five self-titled cd's, has appeared in arenas coast-to-coast including Madison Square Garden in which he performed for over 80,000 people over a short sold-out run, and broke all-time records at Borders Books and Music, For Your Entertainment, Virgin Megastores and countless other outlets for most fans to attend a signing. Criss held the most successful merchandise signing of the complete North American chain of Borders Books and Music for the year 2006.
Criss Angel's overwhelmingly dominates the internet as his demonstrations have been viewed on YouTube.com a staggering 5 times more frequently than David Blaine and 10 times more frequently than David Copperfield. CrissAngel.com is visited by more unique visitors each month than any magician in internet history. Criss' merchandise sales have exceedingly surpassed any artist of his kind and rival the most influential artists in any music genre today.
Criss most recently inked his first network deal to star as a judge on NBC's "PHENOMENOM." The reality series will showcase self- proclaimed Mentalists as they perform "so-called" supernatural demonstrations in the hopes of being crowned the world's "next great Mentalist."
In an unprecedented collaboration, Criss has partnered with Cirque Du Soleil to on a new live show which will be opening late summer at the Luxor Hotel and Casino Las Vegas. Without a doubt, Criss Angel is single-handedly responsible for magic's most recent resurgence in popular culture. In August 2008, Criss was rated the top male reality spot on Yahoo.com., and over 50000 fans showed up for his Building Implosion Escape live on A&E, AETV.com
