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Viewers Can't Escape Feeling Punked By Daredevil Walking Away From Implosion

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 1, 2008

Criss Angel fans seem to be one step ahead of him. Many of the freak-

ophiles who came to Clearwater Beach to see him escape from the Spyglass implosion Wednesday never expected him to get away via helicopter.

Strolling along the beach Wednesday evening, I heard the same prediction over and over. "I bet it will look like he is trapped in the building and he'll come up right out of the crowd," said Michael O'Toole of Temple Terrace.

"He's got something planned to surprise us," said Heather Menotti of Daytona Beach. "He won't get on that helicopter, but he'll be all right."

Apparently, he would have surprised his fans if everything had gone according to the publicized plan. But if he had slipped out of the handcuffs, picked all the padlocks and made it to the roof to hop a helicopter to safety, fans would have been disappointed.

Everyone was expecting a trick because that's what magicians do. No one ever expected David Copperfield to really make the Statue of Liberty disappear.

All that matters is how well the stunt is pulled off. We buy into the hokum and accept it for what it is. We just ask to be amazed by how it's done.

Angel's escape from the Spyglass was his most ambitious effort, but it fell short of being his most effective.

For the media covering the escape, it was a major bore until the building fell and we later talked to Angel (who showed us a burn scar on his thigh that happened in a previous stunt).

We were so far away from the action that Angel could have been in Vegas. People watching at home actually had a better view of the stunt.

The most impressive thing about being there was the blast itself and the toppled building, but we were distracted from the art of the implosion by wondering what was going on with the stunt. Most people on the beach wound up watching the show on the big screens set up near the media platform.

After it was over, I had 12- and 13-year-olds telling me how he did it. The escape attempt inside the building was on tape, they said. Angel came down and out. We all thought that we had been punked.

Every door lock gave him trouble? Right. And he has been doing this since he was 14? Announcer Tim Vincent swore afterward that those cameras were live and the stunt was unplanned. But come on.

It was all so anticlimactic, something of a let-down after 55 minutes of hype that turned "Criss Angel Mindfreak" into a long commercial for his upcoming Vegas show.

I say his fans will forgive him because he has great abs, rippling biceps, great hair, soulful eyes and loads of charm. Good looks and charm will carry you a long way. I've interviewed him twice now, up close and personal, and aside from sounding like Rocky Balboa, he's a smooth operator.

ON THE LOOSE: With the addition of Pamela Anderson's new reality show, the E! network moves another step closer to becoming the Estrogen Network. Known more for her figure than her acting (was she on "Baywatch"?), Anderson joins the network's stable of rich, pampered women that includes Denise Richards; Kim Kardashian; Lindsay Lohan's mother, Dina; and the three Playboy bunnies who take care of Hugh Hefner.

Anderson's new reality show, "Pam: Girl on the Loose," debuts Sunday at 10 p.m. Each episode has a name like "The Uncensored Confessions of a Trailer Camp Tramp" because this gal prides herself on being a little on the trashy side. But it's all contrived to look a little silly, a little sweet and a little sexy and to give the rest of us a glimpse at the life of a celebrity.

The most shocking "uncensored" thing is her age: She's 41. Also amazing is how easily she transitions from a nude photo shoot to a neighborhood garage sale.

ON TV TONIGHT

The Fog, 8 p.m., Fox

Residents of a coastal town are terrorized by a vengeful ghost. Uh, OK, as long as the town isn't Tampa.

20/20, 10 p.m., ABC

It's the all-musical edition, sort of, featuring the Jonas Brothers and France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, about her singing career.

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