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Dirk Arthur Returns to the Strip, Freaky Vegas Rejoices

Where: 3555 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89109
August 26, 2010 at 1:10 PM | by juliab | 1 Comment

Normally, as you know, we wait until Freaky Friday to impart this kind of news, but today we have magic news of such breathtaking importance that we thought we should do it straight up and freakify Thursday as well. Dirk Arthur is coming to O’Sheas!

Not just Dirk, either, but his tigers as well. Uncaged. Doing their shizzle between 10 and 40 feet away from you in the showroom upstairs. Incredible.

The 60 minute show – called Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic - starts September 13 and will run at 7pm and 9pm every night except Wednesday and Friday. They’re promising:

A high-energy show that blends comedy, dance, magic and a rare opportunity to see the largest collection of awe-inspiring large, exotic cats in Las Vegas.

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Criss Angel Doesn't Care if He's a Magic Joke, Because He's 'Already Paid'

August 20, 2010 at 4:28 PM | by juliana | 3 Comments

We all know how reviled controversial Criss Angel is here in Las Vegas (even Carrot Top makes fun of him) but Angel's reputation in the magic world is an actual joke (Yeah, despite that whole Magician of the Century award.)

At the Magic Castle in Los Angeles (which is THE academy for magicians), Criss Angel's "magic" was ridiculed several times onstage during one act from a magician-comedian who called Angel's magic secret "editing" and said his next TV show after "Mindfreak" would be called "Brainfart." Magician catfight!

Later when we mentioned to another magician that Angel was an actual joke during the act, that magician said, "He should be." So it's safe to say that Criss Angel will probably not be welcomed with open arms inside The Magic Castle.

He also will not be welcomed with open arms at the house of this angry show-goer who left a review of "Believe" on our sister site, HotelChatter. GoldHunt writes:

We attended this worthless show on Aug 11, 2010 the last night of our honeymoon. What a complete letdown and horrific waste of our time and money. We were ripped off to the tune of $144.00 by false advertising (read lies) from the show promoters.

More from Goldhunt can be found below.

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There's a Magician Roaming Around Wynn and Encore

Where: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South [map], 89109
June 17, 2010 at 11:36 PM | by Mr Pappagiorgio | 0 Comments

All your bobbles belong to me.

We’re not sure how we’ve missed this one up until now but Wynn and Encore have had a resident magician/illusionist for the past few months. Shimshi. That’s it, just Shimshi. His resume includes stints at Mirage and Planet Hollywood. In 2008, he was the “last magician standing” on America’s Got Talent. We couldn’t find exactly when he was eliminated other than he didn’t make the final ten. But we’re guessing there was at least one magician that season and he beat them all.

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The Luxor Really Wants Us To Believe

Where: 3900 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89119
June 11, 2010 at 11:30 AM | by juliab | 0 Comments

You know, if we didn’t know any better, we’d think someone was trying to give us a subliminal message or something. Because this is what we received when we checked in at Luxor last week.

The key to our room: Criss Angel Believe. The folder that the key came in: Criss Angel Believe. And what’s that, a nice welcome letter from the Luxor peeps to those of us checking in? Naw, it’s a note from Criss Angel, asking us to come and experience “an amazing evening of mind-blowing illusions” (if he’s meaning the one that should have given us the impression our room was clean, then someone needs to tell him, that illusion aint working).

On the back are some celeb quotes. Celine, calling it entertaining. J Lo, saying it’s a “beautiful, spectaular, emotional, magical journey” (did she maybe say that when she was pregnant and the hormones were going wild?). Gene Simmons calling it an “imaginative spectacle”. And good old Robin Leach’s verdict: “The Greatest Magic Show in the World” (sic).

Criss signs off:

Are you ready!?

No, pet, not quite yet we’re not. Not quite yet.

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Can You Believe It? Criss Angel Is 'Magician Of The Century'

Where: 3900 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89119
April 30, 2010 at 3:06 PM | by juliab | 0 Comments

Sexy. Charming. Talented. But that’s enough about Copperfield, congrats to Criss Angel

Sorry for not speaking about this two days ago, when it happened, but it’s taken us a while to process this (and check it’s not some new kind of hilarious ‘stunt’). Luxor’s top lothario, who also does a passable impression of being a magician, Criss Angel, has been officially declared Magician of the Century.

There are many things wrong with this. As centuries go, this one's still pretty young, for a start. As far as we know, he’s not all that good at magic, for another. And lastly, as far as we were aware, Believe is the laughing stock of Vegas – quite an achievement in a town which has such improbably titled shows as Dixie Dooley Master Mystifier, Naughty Boys Hypnosis Show and Steve Dacri In Your Face: The Up Close Magic Experience.

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Believe Re-Opens Tonight, Let's Hope It's Better

Where: 3900 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89119
April 20, 2010 at 12:13 PM | by juliab | 0 Comments

On Friday after our unexpectedly positive Carrot Top experience, we thought we’d enquire after Luxor’s other minger in residence: Criss Angel.

Apparently, Criss was on holiday last week but is returning tonight with the reworked version of Believe. And just as we were getting ready to scoff at it, a Luxor lady told us that Criss is nothing like his public image and actually very nice.

Having said that, she also said he was a hit with the ladies and Believe was a good show, so we’re not sure exactly how much we should be trusting her judgment. But we would like to give Believe another chance, and hope it's miraculously improved, for everyone's sake. We’ll be holding out for the cut price tickets though. Not taking any chances.

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Old Material and Not Enough Glitz: Why Penn and Teller Didn't Enchant Us

Where: 3700 West Flamingo Road [map], 89103
April 9, 2010 at 4:15 PM | by juliab | 3 Comments

We’d be smirking if we made $$$$ off recycling our old work, too

Not that we want to kick Vegas magic when it’s down, but as we said yesterday, we checked out Penn and Teller a couple of weeks back at the Rio, and boy were we unimpressed.

To be fair, they’re not our kind of magicians to start with. We love magic, and we love being magicked. We don’t want to see Lance Burton’s wires caught up in the stage lighting (whoopsies). We don’t want to hear that Luke Jermay uses cue cards. And we definitely don’t want Penn and Teller to do a trick and then show us how they did it. Call us numbskulls Luddites, but we’d rather think it really is magic.

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Criss Angel's Latest Deal Is Not Really One To Believe In

Where: 3900 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89119
March 26, 2010 at 11:58 AM | by juliab | 0 Comments

Unless, of course, you actually want those Believe tickets

A few weeks back, we were walking through Luxor (don’t worry, we were only cutting through to Mandalay Place) when we saw some ads for Criss Angel’s Believe and the tantalizing prospect of a “mystery offer” and “video clip” if we took a picture of a weird “Believe Snap Tag” and sent it to an equally weird phone number/email address.

Assuming it was a scam, like the whole win a car thing appears to be, we thought we’d enter. Although, mindful of our reader who said that signing up for the car deal had earned him a load of cold callers, we thought we’d enter via email – an email address that we created just for this, so we wouldn’t have to deal with any spam that might come with it.

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It's Not Been a Good Week For Magic In Vegas

February 26, 2010 at 4:08 PM | by juliab | 0 Comments

Lots of news in the struggling freaky world of Vegas this week. Whether it’s good or bad depends on whether you like the acts in the first place.

Dirk Arthur has announced he’s closing his Xtreme Magic show on March 12 (to which we say boo to losing the cheese, but hooray for the poor tigers).

Everyone’s least favorite magician Criss Angel is revamping his beleaguered show, and looks to be cutting out most of the Cirque dancers and upping the magic factor (only problem--as far as we know--is that Criss Angel really can't do magic.)

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Lance Burton Knows How To Stop You Taking Photos

Where: 3770 Las Vegas Blvd S [map], 89109
February 25, 2010 at 12:07 PM | by juliab | 0 Comments

Well, here’s one way of stopping those pests who like nothing better than to spend an entire concert/show/speech taking photos (unless, of course, those pests are us, taking entirely necessary snaps for this website. Ahem).

We noticed this strict little sign at the Lance Burton Theater at the Monte Carlo last night. It says that not only are cameras etc prohibited during the performance (like anyone takes any notice of those signs) but that if you do do as everyone else does and break the rules, your equipment will be seized and your film destroyed.

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You Too Can Win Criss Angel's Corvette. Still. You Just Have to Believe It

Where: 3900 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89119
January 22, 2010 at 1:47 PM | by juliab | 4 Comments

Tickets to Believe thankfully not included

If only life were as simple as Criss Angel would like us to think it is. For one thing, we could win a $25,000 car if we just wanted to hard enough (and if we knew whether this was a real offer). For another, if we screwed our eyes shut really tight, we could imagine that Believe wasn’t as much of a massive, steaming pile of poo as by all accounts it is.

Enough negativity though, let’s focus on believing. Cos we just entered the competition to win Criss’ Corvette.

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If You're Going to Arrest a Magician, Make Sure You Cuff 'Em Good

December 11, 2009 at 5:02 PM | by juliab | 0 Comments

It’s Friday… let's get freaky! Every week we’re going to give you the lowdown on the Vegas magic scene. Interviews, show reviews and, erm, domestic violence arrests. Got something you think we should cover? Email us! Tips@VegasChatter.com

Always take precautions when dealing with magicians. Not our motto (we barely ever meet them, we’re sorry to say) but that of the Vegas police force, who must have to be pretty clued up on the etiquette of magician detention.

So when they arrested Rachel Jessee, star of Scarlett and her Seductive Ladies of Magic, they stuck her in “double-locked and properly fitting handcuffs”. Good thinking policemen!

Rachel-Scarlett was nicked for assaulting her 67-year-old boyfriend at home in Henderson, but we’re far more interested in her show, which sadly ended its run at the Riviera in September. According to this review, she had a dog dressed as Elvis and her “seductive ladies” both went topless and gave the audience “a choice between natural or implants.” How fabulous! We’re gutted it’s over. Scarlett, quit doing a Nordegren and do us another show!

[Photo: Las Vegas Review-Journal]