BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Is Criss Angel for real? I have no idea.
Still, it's freaky to see him stand a few feet away from you, swallow some needles and then pull them out of his navel. Logically, you know it's an illusion, but it seems real.
The question is — will it seem real when it's on television? "Criss Angel: Mindfreak" premieres with a pair of episodes Wednesday at 8 and 8:30 p.m. on A&E.
"The truth of the matter is this — look, a lot of what I do is completely real. A lot of it is completely an illusion," Angel said. "What I try to do is blur the lines between both of them and leave it up to the audience to determine what is what."
Including the viewers at home. Angel, the show's producers and A&E programmers insist that no "camera tricks" are used to enhance the performance. In Wednesday's first episode, he appears to set himself on fire. In the second, he simply levitates.
And the illusionist is quick to point out that he's bringing an established act that had a hugely successful run in New York to television.
"The difference is that people know I perform constantly. I did 600 shows," he said. "So what you see on TV is what you get live.
"I'm not saying it's real. I'm not saying it's an illusion. I'm saying it's up to the audience to determine what is what, and hopefully they'll have fun evaluating it with their friends."
"Mindfreak" is, however, more than just taking a live stage act and filming it for television. It's about the buildup to performing various dangerous stunts from a behind-the-scenes perspective.
"One of the unique features of the show is it's not just a series of stunts," said Robert Sharenow, A&E's vice president of alternative programming. "One of the things that sold me was getting inside Criss' head as he's doing them, as he prepares. His concerns, his worries. There's a lot of anxiety that comes with attempting some of these things. They are very dangerous. And that makes it very real when you see Criss getting nervous, his mother crying.
"It's a more complete picture of an illusionist than has ever been offered."
And the show relies as much on Angel's considerable charisma as it does on his illusions. Or stunts. Or whatever they are.
"This is the first show that really unveils the secrecy and lets the viewer actually see the process. . . . It really gets people vested on that emotional level so that when I perform it, hopefully, whether they love me or hate me they're connected to it somehow," he said.
While he admits not everything the audience sees is real, Angel's stunts are not without risk. Sometimes life-threatening risk, we're told.
But he insists he's never afraid.
"Well, there's nothing I fear in life," he said. "I don't fear death, so if you don't fear death, what is there to fear?
"I think that you have to live life to the fullest. I'm not a daredevil. I do my due diligence. I try to really surround myself with a great team and really work hard at my craft. And I think that people have to enjoy life and live it to the fullest, and I try to do that every day."
THERE'S A STRONG warning attached to "Mindfreak" — one of those don't-try-this-at-home messages meant to tell viewers, particularly young viewers, to leave this kind of stuff to Angel and people who know what they're doing.
Of course, even the strongest of warnings can't provide absolute assurance that somebody out there won't do something dumb.
"Let me tell you something — although I look like a maniac and stuff like that, I'm a very caring and loving person. I love humanity. I love people. I love children," Angel said. "And I would never want anybody to attempt something I do and, God forbid, maim themselves or kill themselves."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com