Criss Angel Escapes Building Implosion!

The star of A&E television series Criss Angel Mindfreak escaped a building implosion on July 30, 2008. "Building Implosion Escape" is Criss Angel's first live episode for Mindfreak. Loyals watched as their hero broke free of handcuffs, kicked out a window, and picked locks to reach a helicopter hovering over a hotel soon to implode. Thousands gathered in Clearwater, FL to view the demonstration while many more watched it live on A&E.

It was clear that Criss spent much time preparing for this demonstration. The live special included clips of him exercising. He wanted to be ready for the physical and psychological demands of this escape. Criss planned every detail despite the fact anything could go wrong. When Criss finally made it to the building, the Mindfreak team experienced audio difficulties and rain.

On the 7^th story of the hotel, Criss yelled to start the clock. He had three and a half minutes to reach the ladder dangling from the helicopter. The first obstacle came with the first door when Criss had trouble picking the lock. He kicked a window and went on. There were unmanned cameras watching Criss throughout the escape. He ran to the top floor with two locks on the last door. The helicopter left and Criss was still picking locks. The building was to implode in 30 seconds. Experts said Criss would die if he did not escape because tons of concrete would fall on him. What could go wrong, did go wrong.

The building falls and the crowd goes quiet. Criss did not escape as we expected. Is he hurt? Where is he? Finally Criss stumbles from the rubble covered in dust. Of course, he is not injured because he is Criss mindfreakin' Angel. He hugs his family and they pour water on him. The loyals scream "MINDFREAK!" The webcast on AETV.com continued after the live show. JD, Criss's brother, took time out to talk to the web viewers with his family. During the webcast, JD held the first piece of rubble from the site which will hopefully be on display at Criss's merchandise store in Las Vegas, NV.

Criss made it clear to the world that this would be his last life threatening demonstration. He swore this to his mother, but some still have doubts about his promise as mentioned during the webcast. Some of his past dangerous demonstrations include "Underwater Car Escape", "Wine Barrel Escape", "Cement Block", and "Buried Alive".

Along with excitement for season four of Mindfreak, loyals are looking forward to Criss's new Vegas stage show. Beginning in October, Criss Angel will star in a Cirque du Soleil show titled Criss Angel Believe at the Luxor.