Never mind that until Ste-Croix began suggesting otherwise, Angel -- not Cirque -- had been positioned as the show's headlining draw. To wit, a 43,000-square-foot billboard of the "Mindfreak" star's face stares up from a side of the pyramid-shaped Luxor.
Backstage, Angel bristled at the characterization. Turns out Ste-Croix made similar remarks to a local newspaper that happened to be unfolded in the magician's lap.
"That's not the case," he said, looking to a coterie of managers, publicists, lawyers and illusion specialists in his room for confirmation.
"We need to have a conversation with Mr. Gilles Ste-Croix."
The elusive illusionist
TO THE extent Angel is famous beyond his core fans (who call themselves "The Loyal"), he remains a mystery wrapped inside a nu-metal-loving, motorcycle-riding, distressed-denim-wearing enigma. As someone whose business is "lying to people," as he explains, the magician is very con- trolling of his image. And there are scores of YouTube videos that attempt to debunk Angel's ability to freak minds.
Peering out from behind his curtain of emo hair, he routinely levitates between buildings and makes Lamborghinis and elephants disappear on "Mindfreak." But it's his more brutal illusions that seem to win hearts and minds: being smashed through a brick wall by a muscle car, regurgitating razor blades and dental floss to make a necklace, impaling himself on a spike-tipped fence.
"I consider myself a general practitioner," Angel explained of his magic this past summer, before a taping in Hollywood. "I'm not the most talented person in the world. But what I pride myself on is being creative. I'm pretty good at coming up with new concepts. Just dreaming. Trying to think like a kid with no boundaries. I try to think visually about what I want to accomplish and then work backwards to think what methods could make that happen."
Considered another way, if David Blaine represents a streetwise indie rock approach to magic and David Copperfield is a mainstream, blue-chip brand, Angel, 40, must be the milieu's Marilyn Manson: A performer both beloved and reviled who never triggered a visceral reaction he didn't like.
"He's very cutting-edge, he wants to take you to a different place in magic," said Dale Hindman, former president of the Academy of Magical Arts. "He's using some of the same techniques as traditional magic but dresses them up differently and sometimes for shock value. Some people want 'pure' magic and don't like [Angel's] while some have great admiration and respect for him. Our view in the community is that he's got the name of magic out there. It's a positive thing."
