{"id":75639,"date":"2018-05-01T15:21:14","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T19:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=75639"},"modified":"2018-05-01T15:21:14","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T19:21:14","slug":"interview-kayla-blood-driver-monster-jams-el-toro-loco-2-2-2-3-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=75639","title":{"rendered":"Criss Angel: Raw \u2013 The Mindfreak Unplugged @ The Sands Bethlehem Event Center | Review By: Janel Spiegel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?cat=2575\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Review By: Janel Spiegel <\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Criss Angel: RAW- The Mindfreak Unplugged<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Monday, April 30, 2018 at Sands Bethlehem Event Center<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">THERE ARE NO WORDS AND SO MANY WORDS FOR HOW AMAZING CRISS ANGEL IS.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\">If you want to see an incredible show,<\/span><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> You NEED TO SEE CRISS ANGEL! There isn\u2019t another way to put it. The Sands Bethlehem Event Center was packed. My friend (Hi Christa) and I went to see his show, Criss Angel: RAW- The Mindfreak Unplugged. The <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2gbZvjd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SANDS<\/a> was rocking tonight! It was packed, and as always the nice people working at the Sands were incredible. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It may have been the full moon that peaked out behind the dark clouds, but there was something in the air tonight. Criss Angel made a quite an impressive entrance. He is different than other magicians or illusionist. If you never think about magic and illusion or even if you have ever thought of seeing a magician or illusionist. I would say, go see Chris Angel. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He appeared on the stage and performed a trick that involved him eating razors (and safely advising people to not try this at home) a girl who looked like she crawled right out of \u201cThe Ring\u201d movies. The audience was immediately fascinated. He was in perfect synch with his \u201cassistant\u201d as he got some string and then all of a sudden the razors were attached to the strings, and he was slow-motion pulling them out of his mouth.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I am a skeptical person and constantly have questions. How did he do this? How did the girl stay so in-synch with him? But, you watch him do this and the way he does it. All the questions turn into, \u201cOh my God!\u201d \u201cWow!\u201d \u201cHow did he do that?\u201d \u201cWHAAAATTTTT!\u201d (That was a favorite of the night!) He is a fascinating, mesmerizing creature. He makes things even more magical than they can possibly be?! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you watched his show \u201cMindfreak\u201d you know he legit freaks some people out. After he did this illusion, he talked to the crowd. He spoke about his days visiting and his family that is in Pennsylvania. He talked about his father and memories. He thanked the crowd, and you could feel the genuine heart and soul vibes from this man. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He also did a lot of sleight-of-hand magic and right in front of cameras and the audience. It is mind-blowing. You want to figure it out, yet you are too mesmerized. He also predicted what would happen before he got to the show (I apparently am good at this as well) He asked for someone in the crowd to participate and I think the entire audience wanted to participate. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He brought a gentleman on-stage, and he asked him to hold a case enclosed in a case. He threw a wristband into the audience, and a gentleman caught it. His name is Mike! Mike threw the wristband to a lady who Criss asked her to pick her favorite color. She said blue. She threw the wristband again at random, and a young lady caught it,Then he asked her to pick her favorite number. She picked the number four. He then calmly opened the case with a jar inside and a black, sealed envelope. He had the nice gentleman on-stage unseal the envelope and open it. Criss revealed all the answers that these random audience members picked and the name MIKE! Once again, how does he do this? He moved on to something more complicated. He paid tribute and homage to the late great Harry Houdini whom Criss Angel has broken several of Mr. Houdini\u2019s magic\/illusion records. He combined the straight-jacket act with the Metamorphosis act. Criss asked the audience for help again! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Once again, the entire audience volunteered! A gentleman who went by \u201cB\u201d and Criss casually asked him if his name started with a B? It did! He had this gentleman inspect the trunk that Criss would be locked in. He inspected the straight-jacket and assured the audience that no tools or anything odd was going on. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So, Criss Angel gets wrapped in a straight-jacket, and his assistant comes out and stands on this locked, tied up trunk with the curtain that they drop over and once again,\u00a0 a WOW moment. Criss appears on top of the trunk, and the assistant (with abs of steel) is now locked in the trunk and wrapped in the sack that Criss was just in\u2026. only moments ago! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It makes you wonder. He also brought out two special guests. He brought out the famous card manipulator Stefan Vanel who was part of his \u201cSupernaturalists\u201d show. This guy started with what appeared to be two decks of cards and just did not stop! I don\u2019t even know where these cards could possibly be coming from? He had on a hooded sort of sleeveless shirt so it\u2019s not as if the man could hide all these cards. He just kept making cards appear. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Criss also had a mentalist on-stage. (We were so into this, we totally got lost on what his name is. So tell me if someone knows. But it was not Joseph Dunninger) But a mentalist who again went to the audience for help. He asked two people to come on-stage and lined up stuffed animals, and he asked the lady to draw the animal she would pick and the two audience members had to sort of transfer the images to one another, mentally. They stared at one another as the mentalist asked the gentleman to pick the animals that he doesn\u2019t want to pick.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The gentleman on-stage picked out the stuffed animals and then the two remaining he picked the lion and well, it wasn\u2019t a lion. It was a lion, but it wasn\u2019t. The gentleman picked the lion and took out the stuffed dog, he didn\u2019t want to pick the dog, but it was a dog. It wasn\u2019t a dog at first. It was a lion. He asked the gentleman to stand the lion up, and the lion didn\u2019t want to stand up. It was just slumping over like a stuffed animal. Again he asked the man to pretend to \u201cshoot the lion\u201d so after a few gasps from the crowd the man \u201cshot the lion\u201d this is supposed to be a STUFFED LION! A LION! It wasn\u2019t a lion. He pretends to shoot the stuffed lion, and it fell over very slowly. The stuffed lion slumped over like an old stuffed animal that has been sitting for years. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This mentalist said to this man. Are you sure you wanted to pick the lion? The lady drew a dog- I know spoilers. This was crazy. The lady drew a dog, and the mentalist picked up the \u201cstuffed lion\u201d and REVEALED it to be a DOG! A real life, adorable dog. Again, skeptical and wondering how did this happen? How does this dog stay so still? How did they randomly just keep moving things around on-stage and the dog just sits? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Criss Angel came back again and did more magic. He does everything in front of cameras, in front of people. It is mind-blowing. He makes the show better than you could ever imagine. He engages the audience. He talks to people as if he were just in his home or maybe out with friends. One of the most outrageous and fun moments was he came down in the audience because he said he is taking four women \u201cto the club\u201d and he walked (no levitating tonight) down the steps and commented about \u201cbeing old\u201d \u2013 he looks young and acts young and fun. He doesn\u2019t age. (Sorcery or good genes, his mother looks young.) He picked four random women from the crowd, and it was a packed show! He sold out the SANDS on a MONDAY! How does one even do that? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He brought four women on-stage and asked each one what \u201cfears\u201d they have? This was crazy because you have to wonder what an entire audience of people is afraid of. Criss Angel will tell them. He joked around, technically or not? Stole a watch and then gifted it back to the nice lady he swiped it from. (Sleight-of-hand) Which was sort of obvious when he asked for the time? It was a fun moment and a classic illusionist moment. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He asked the ladies what they were afraid of. There answered revealed that two ladies were scared of snakes, one was afraid of spiders, and one was scared of death. So, in a way \u201ctime\u201d which is why Criss may have swiped her watch with sleight-of-hand. As he asked the other ladies about fears the crowd seemed to get the feeling something creepy crawly may be appearing. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Criss asked one lady to type in her fear on his iPad. She typed in \u201cspiders,\u201d and Criss smiled like a kid about to get away with something he should never even be doing. It was awful and amazing at the same time. He placed the iPad on the makeshift \u201cClub\u201d table and ohhhh to our surprise a nice tarantula comes crawling out! The crowd went CRAZY! \u201cHow did he do that?\u201d \u201cAMAZING\u201d the sounds of a gasping crowd and my screaming friend Christa (I was screaming too!) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This is what a show should be! Criss Angel embodies what magic and illusions have become. This man is some kind of otherworldly even though I am sure there is a perfect explanation for each illusion. He makes it fun, he makes it scary, and he makes you rub your eyes like when you are really tired but trying to stay awake because you are not exactly sure what you just saw? But, it happened right in front of you. He also made the ladies who are afraid of snakes fear come to life. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He asked the audience members not to bring a purse on-stage, but one woman did. Not sure about this one but, it was amazing. He emptied her purse after asking her, and she just asked him to avoid her make-up bag. He did. She may never go in her purse again, but the illusion was awesome. He reached into her purse and pulled out a snake. The poor ladies took off running to the side of the stage. The snake didn\u2019t seem fazed by any of this at all. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(Some of this may be in different order. It was just incredibly exciting and he truly is amazing) Criss Angel also dedicated the end of the show to the victims, survivors and first responders of all the tragedies we have had all over the country. The mother of his son Johnny who was at the show with Criss\u2019 son, wrote a beautiful song with Criss and she sang it. He ended the show but gave an encore to dedicate this to these people who went through a great deal, and he wanted to \u201cuse his art\u201d as he often does to help spread love and help people through hard times. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He did just this as a moving tribute played and the song. He sat on-stage and seemed to be deep in thought as the moving tribute played behind him. The song is beautiful. Afterward, he had a red paper heart that he tore and began turning into confetti. This show is exciting; it is fun. It is family-friendly, and you can tell he loves what he does. He puts time and thought into every detail. He is also funny and warm. He had the audience laughing with \u201ctrue stories\u201d as he shared moments from his life. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Over the years there have been magicians and of course legends like Houdini but Criss Angel is one of a kind. He is a master at what he does. A master showman also. The show is amazing from start to the very end. He also brings a little bit of Las Vegas with him and the magic, extra sparkle and fun. He has a glimmer in his eyes that shows he has love and respect for the fans. You get the genuine feeling he loves what he does and always wants it to be better. But how can he outdo himself? I suppose we will never know because he was named the Magician of the Century and he is just incredible. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you have not seen his show, you need to see it. He may freak some people out, but it is in the most spectacular ways. Thank you, Criss Angel, for bringing magic and illusion to the <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2gbZvjd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sands Bethlehem Event Center<\/a> and making all of us feel like we were in on a secret before the full moon that ended his incredible evening. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">GO SEE HIM ON TOUR <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/crissangel.com\/\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\">https:\/\/crissangel.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER &amp; INSTAGRAM @CRISSANGEL <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">YOUTUBE <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/CrissAngel\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/CrissAngel<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span>#FOLLOW ME @BUTTERFLYJMS<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?cat=2575\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;\">For more articles by Janel on The Valley Ledger Click Here<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Interviews &amp; Articles By: Janel Spiegel <\/b><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><b>&#8220;May your nightmares inspire you.&#8221; JMS<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><b><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #222222;\">JanelSpiegel@outlook.com<\/span><\/a> <\/b><\/div>\n<div><b><a href=\"http:\/\/horrornews.net\/about\/interviews-getting-interviewed-horrornews-net\/\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\">http:\/\/horrornews.net\/<\/span><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/horrornews.net\/about\/interviews-getting-interviewed-horrornews-net\/\"><wbr \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/horrornews.net\/about\/interviews-getting-interviewed-horrornews-net\/\">interviews\/<\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> -Interviewer\/Writer<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\">http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.<\/span><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/\"><wbr \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/\">com\/<\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-Interviewer\/Writer<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/fromnightmaretolife.over-blog.com\/\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\">http:\/\/fromnightmaretolife.<\/span><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/fromnightmaretolife.over-blog.com\/\"><wbr \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/fromnightmaretolife.over-blog.com\/\">over-blog.com\/<\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>My Interview\/Blog Magazine <\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><b>@Butterflyms on Instagram <\/b><\/div>\n<div><b>@ButterflyJMS on Twitter <\/b><\/div>\n<div><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/janelspiegel\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/janelspiegel\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><wbr \/><\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/janelspiegel\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">janelspiegel\/<\/span><\/a><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<div class='adkingprobanner sidebar banner3023'><a href='http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/' target=\"_blank\" data-id='3023' data-ga='{\"campaign\":\"\",\"banner\":\"\",\"implemented\":\"universal\",\"imp_action\":\"Impression\",\"click_action\":\"Click\"}'><img src='https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/inpostblank.jpg' alt='' \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class='adkingprobanner sidebar banner7036'><a href='http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com' target=\"_blank\" data-id='7036' data-ga='{\"campaign\":\"\",\"banner\":\"\",\"implemented\":\"universal\",\"imp_action\":\"Impression\",\"click_action\":\"Click\"}'><img src='https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/inpostblank.jpg' alt='' \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?post_type=adverts_posts&p=7036\" class=\"read-more\">Click here to read more... <\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,1024,69,2575],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-calendar-events","category-entertainment","category-in-the-valley","category-janel-spiegel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/criss-angel-review.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75639"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/75644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}