implosion stunt...OUTED
So the last few days there was this huge hype build up because Criss Angel of Mind Freak was going to perform some kind of stunt by escaping an imploding hotel that was going to go down on Clearwater Beach. The hotel had 450 stick of dynomite in it. Chris appearently chose Clearwater because it was the only city in the country that would allow him to escape an imploding building. Now Clearwater Beach is like 6 minutes from my house. I wanted to go down there and see a building implode. I went and then changed my mind because parking and getting around was a pain. 10,000 spectators (or locals we call them, since we have so many tourists) went down and watched the Spyglass crumble to pieces. So I watched it at home on TV. I watched it on A and E "live" like the rest of the country. I had never head of Criss Angel, but I found out in that hour episode that he was an illusionist. So already I was thinking this guy isn't a dare devil, he's an illusionist, he's just going to make it LOOK like he escaped. And ladies and gentelmen, that is exactly what he did. Only he failed at his job! I will tell you why.
First of all the plan he told the audience was this: he had four minutes to escape to the roof of the hotel and jump on a ladder at the bottom of a helicopter hovering above the hotel. However, the helicopter was to leave 30 seconds (so really at 3 minutes and 30 seconds) in order to fly to a safe zone so as not to get sucked in to the implosion (that's a bunch of bull to begin with). Anways....
1. he will be handcuffed to a balcony outside a hotel room which he will have to pick in order to get out of (oh and he had a necklace of lock picks around his neck the entire time).
2. he must get inside the hotel room by picking that lock. (when it came time to do this, he couldn't get in and he ended up kicking through the window (a black window--didn't know Gulf view hotel windows were black, thought they were clear so you could see out the window and see the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, but anyways)
3. get through the hotel room to the hallway by picking that lock (there was a camera in the corner of the room so you could see him going through each step)
4. run down the hallway to the stairs(another camera).
5. run from the 7th floor up to the roof. there were 9 floors, and the 10th was the rooftop i guess you could say. Anyways, there was a lock to get into the stairwell, which he had to pick to get through. (camera there)
6. Then to get up on the roof, there were TWO lock he had to pick through.
welll...on live national television last night, Criss Angel got himself out of the handcuffs, couldn't get through the first door, kicked the dark window, picked through all the locks, and then made it to the roof locks...but he couldn't get them in time, the helicopter left, the building imploded and then CRISS ANGEL EMERGED FROM THE RUBBLE! no broken bones, no blood, walking up right like he just woke up from a dream. He had a little dust on him, but nothing else.
Well folks, I went back and watched the video again, because I am a very logical and rational person. I don't believe in magic, I believe in real shit and science. So I saw IMMEDIATELY that as soon as he went through the window into the hotel room and went to start picking the lock, the light coming in from the window behind him where the balcony is, there was SUNLIGHT coming through. However, he peformed this stunt at 10pm eastern time so that it could be live at 7pm Pacific time. Well here in Florida at 10pm, its pitch black dark out. NOT bright and sunny!
So that tells me right there that Criss Angel is NOT an illusionist and that he did not survive an implosion. The Spyglass Hotel on Clearwater Beach went down without any human beings inside. The implosion looked amazing. Criss Angel looks like an idiot.
The whole stunt actually performed inside the hotel was pre-recorded during the day time either that day or the day before. Criss probably got inside and than ran down a stairwell and out the back door, because no one would notice. Everyone was looking up, it was dark, and the police made spectators stay 500 feet back from the implosion.
So yeah. Sorry Criss Angel fans. It wasn't a stunt. I could have gotten up there and ran down the stairwell and out to safety in under 4 minutes.
Nice try though.
One more thing before I go. I don't quite understand why the Australian announcer guy says after the building falls and that he has word that "they are looking for Criss" that he "has never heard a crowd of 15,000 people be so quiet, when all I hear in the food is cheering......???? Can you say staged?!?!?
See it all for yourself