Does Criss Angel's Cirque du Soleil Show at the Luxor Really Suck That Much?

September 30, 2008 at 4:54 PM | 4 Comments

When hotels open, they've got kinks. We're usually willing to forgive those little issues that are clearly a product of the just-opened jitters -- lack of training, new facilities, green staff, the whole bit. And as we've always thought of hospitality as a sort of performance art, we imagine that the opening of actual performances -- like Criss Angel's Cirque du Soleil show at the Luxor (we use the term "performance art" loosely) -- would be no different. The show has been getting some pretty bad buzz, but we were willing to cut it some slack since it was still technically called a "preview."

If you're lost: the show -- called "Believe" -- was originally set to debut on September 1st but was delayed until September 26. The show has been in "preview" mode since then, and will continue to be touted as a "preview" until October 28th.

And there has been a lot of buzz going around lately that's been saying the show is, well, crap. We ignored it until some commenters came into our house and told us about it in the comment thread of our last story.

EastDakota started it off with:

A group of us in town from Boston saw the Chris Angel show last night. I had a free ticket and I still felt ripped off. It is sad to watch Cirque, which I generally have enjoyed over the years, put their name on something so awful.
...
Unlike "Le Reve" or "Ka" or some of the other Cirque-like shows that started bad but they have tinkered with and made fairly good, the Chris Angel show seems unlikely to be fixable because the concept itself is so flawed.

Then northlasvegasgir seconded that sentiment and came out with a visual that made us giggle:

At the end of the show, Criss comes out and lipsynchs the "Mindfreak" song and the clowns are behind him acting as his back-up dancers! Any illusions I might have had that Criss Angel was "cool" evaporated during this grotesque display.

Even jg agreed. But do you know who does not agree? Angel's publicist.

In response to a post much like this one which merely reported claims that the show was "a big piece of poo," Angel's publicist wrote in to Perez Hilton to clear up any confusion: the show is, in fact, in its preview period, and the person who reported that it sucked was a bad journalist. Seriously:

Just because the reporter chose not to find anyone that said anything positive, or rather did and didn't use quotes from them, is no true indication of the direction that the show is headed.
I do want to thank you for mentioning the preview period, because that was a key element that went lacking in the story. The show will be more than ready by Halloween night. I'd like to invite you personally to come see it, meet Criss and judge for yourself.

Yeah, that's not very convincing. Really. We'll come out there too -- post-Halloween, if you can assure us that we will be seeing the "finished product."

Just like hotels with opening kinks, we'd like to believe this show is still in its, er, "soft-opening" period and that things will get better. But we're still sure this is Criss Angel we're talking about, right?

Tags: Hotel News / Criss Angel / Viva Vegas / Perez Hilton / Las Vegas Hotels

by Jenna

Worst Show in the HIstory of the World

First of all, this is NOT a magic show. The most elaborate magic trick this idiot did was to pull doves out of his cape. BIG DEAL. Every trick was obvious. At one point he runs behind a screen and comes out in a different outfit within seconds. That might have been an ok trick if it wasn't obvious that every other time he appeared from behind the screen it was a double. Hey Criss buy a better wig for your double, he doesn't even look like you! Even more ridiculous are visible trap doors all over the stage so the tricks involving disappearing and reappearing are not magical, they are just stupid. At one point the trap door didn't go down all the way so someone from underneath the stage had to reach up and pull it down making everyone in my vicinity burst out laughing. At another point the levitating lady trick was painful to watch as you could see the wires attached to her. At anohter point when he is "electricuted" and is supposed to be dead, the person next to me said, please don't save him, let him die! I shared this feeling. At another point in the show Angel comes out and sits in a chair and talks to his four ushers, ignores the audience completely, and is so boring I wanted to leave right there. I think what kept most people there is they were thinking..something good must happen soon...unfortunately nothing did. This guy obviously needs to do his "magic" on camera where it can all be edited to look good because in person he was a joke.

In between all of the ridiculous tricks you will be treated to a bunch of dancers dressed like demonic rabbits who come out and dance around like they are having muscle spasms. I know they are supposed to be Cirque de Soleil performers, but they must be the reject performers that didn't make the cut for the good Cirque shows like "O" and "Mystere."

I cannot overstate that this is the worst show I have ever seen, from the concept, to the tricks, to the lame performances. What a mistake the Luxor made paying this guy a dime. They should make this idiot pay back every penny they paid him as I'm sure that the sheer lameness of this show must be a breach of the contract, not to mention the emotional harm he does to his audience every night when they have to pay money to watch this nightmare.

Just to give people a taste of what people thought of the show...here are a few quotes of what I overheard people saying when my group left the theater..."Criss Angel - Mindless" "The magician at my 8th birthday party was better" "Is there a meet and beat after the show?" "The only magic this a$$hole did was make my money disappear." "The Luxor got rid of Blue Man Group for this $hit??" "What a rip off!" "I want to sue this dickkwadd for wasting two hours of my life."

So to all of you thinking about spending your hard earned cash on this show, don't...any other show on the strip is better, actually any lounge act is better than this. Give your money to a slot machine instead, at least you will buy a chance to make yourself happy.

4 Comments

Return to » Does Criss Angel's Cirque du Soleil Show at the Luxor Really Suck That Much?

babysistah

HotelChatter Member
September 30, 2008 at 7:54 PM

Another Opinion
I'll admit that I have not yet seen the show. But I'll tell you one thing, until I get a comp ticket it will stay that way.
The television advertisements are awful and are played back to back on almost every major station in LV.
It's a major blow for the Luxor, who had upped it's reputation in my book after their recent rooms renovation.

emlofti

HotelChatter Member
October 6, 2008 at 3:39 PM

Waste of time and money
The show is horrible and a big disappointment. If you are going because of Cirque Du Soliel - don't bother, it is an afterthought. If you are going because of Chris Angel - it is grade school magic at best. I really couldn't believe how bad it was! Don't go.

texas pedro

HotelChatter Member
October 19, 2008 at 10:38 PM

Disappointment
I was horrible and a waste of money. I was ready to see a magic show of the Great Criss Angel just like his hit TV show. On Oct 13 I got the chance to see the show and as I waited outside the lobby area I notice the reaction of the crowd coming out of the show. Everyone look disappointed, nobody talking about Criss's magic tricks as they exit the theater. First clue that should have told me to run away and take your money with you. The stage was very impressive with a dark feeling to it, just like Criss Angel charater. Then 3 clowns/jesters were greeting the audience, which I thought that was the best part of the show. To make long story short...lots of dancing and 5 to 6 magic tricks by Criss. He should had called it Criss Angel the Musical. I fell asleep during the show...warning..save your money and time. I wish I should of read the reviews before purchasing the tickets.

tinykitty

HotelChatter Member
November 17, 2008 at 5:56 PM

Worst Show in the HIstory of the World
This post is meant for anyone who is even contemplating going to see this show...DON'T. You will be completely disappointed and pissed off that you spent even one dollar or one minute of your life seeing this utter nnonsense.
First of all, this is NOT a magic show. The most elaborate magic trick this idiot did was to pull doves out of his cape. BIG DEAL. Every trick was obvious. At one point he runs behind a screen and comes out in a different outfit within seconds. That might have been an ok trick if it wasn't obvious that every other time he appeared from behind the screen it was a double. Hey Criss buy a better wig for your double, he doesn't even look like you! Even more ridiculous are visible trap doors all over the stage so the tricks involving disappearing and reappearing are not magical, they are just stupid. At one point the trap door didn't go down all the way so someone from underneath the stage had to reach up and pull it down making everyone in my vicinity burst out laughing. At another point the levitating lady trick was painful to watch as you could see the wires attached to her. At anohter point when he is "electricuted" and is supposed to be dead, the person next to me said, please don't save him, let him die! I shared this feeling. At another point in the show Angel comes out and sits in a chair and talks to his four ushers, ignores the audience completely, and is so boring I wanted to leave right there. I think what kept most people there is they were thinking..something good must happen soon...unfortunately nothing did. This guy obviously needs to do his "magic" on camera where it can all be edited to look good because in person he was a joke.
In between all of the ridiculous tricks you will be treated to a bunch of dancers dressed like demonic rabbits who come out and dance around like they are having muscle spasms. I know they are supposed to be Cirque de Soleil performers, but they must be the reject performers that didn't make the cut for the good Cirque shows like "O" and "Mystere."
I cannot overstate that this is the worst show I have ever seen, from the concept, to the tricks, to the lame performances. What a mistake the Luxor made paying this guy a dime. They should make this idiot pay back every penny they paid him as I'm sure that the sheer lameness of this show must be a breach of the contract, not to mention the emotional harm he does to his audience every night when they have to pay money to watch this nightmare.
Just to give people a taste of what people thought of the show...here are a few quotes of what I overheard people saying when my group left the theater..."Criss Angel - Mindless" "The magician at my 8th birthday party was better" "Is there a meet and beat after the show?" "The only magic this a$$hole did was make my money disappear." "The Luxor got rid of Blue Man Group for this $hit??" "What a rip off!" "I want to sue this dickkwadd for wasting two hours of my life."
So to all of you thinking about spending your hard earned cash on this show, don't...any other show on the strip is better, actually any lounge act is better than this. Give your money to a slot machine instead, at least you will buy a chance to make yourself happy.

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