'Mindfreak' magician Criss Angel now calls the pyramid-shaped Luxor "home." He's begun filming the 3rd season of his hit A&E series and I joined him for the very first shoot of the 26, half-hour episodes planned for season three, which will end with a 1-hour finale. Here's our candid conversation about him risking death by levitating inside the Luxor's spotlight and his early days of bleak poverty arriving in Vegas.
Robin Leach: Why make the Luxor your new home?
Criss Angel: This pyramid is a symbol of Mysticism. It is the best home that I could possibly be in, in Las Vegas to perform my television series. I really want to float in the light, in the pyramid, which is the strongest light in the world. You can actually see it from outer space. There are only two things you can see from outer space the light from the Luxor and the Great Wall of China. I plan on floating in the light right in the Luxor, people are welcome to come down and see me actually floating. It is so high that you don't want to look down. I think it's 30 stories and some 400 feet high.
RL: Will this be the highest you have ever done?
CA: Yes, this will be the highest I have ever levitated. I am looking forward to doing that to kick off season 3 of 'Mindfreak.' I am going to actually compete with all the other magicians Penn & Teller, Lance Burton, Amazing Jonathan, on my December 19 birthday. I think they are going to do some sort of roasting for me and I am going to convince them to come down here. It is my ploy to get them all in the same building. So I can make them all disappear, including the Luxor temporarily.
RL: There is also a report that you are going to go into the top of the atrium in the lobby and vanish the Fantasy girls?
CA: If I vanish the Fantasy girls I can tell you one thing, that I will reappear with them somewhere where nobody will know because it would truly be my fantasy.
RL: The other story I heard is that you are going to race the Lamborghini that you arrived in today, at some phenomenal speed and vanish in the middle of doing it?
CA: Yes. I will be doing that between 150-180 mph and I am going to be the first person to ever vanish in a moving vehicle. That will be completely open to the public to see. It has never been done before. 
RL: How has magic changed from the days of Houdini? You said that he was your inspiration when you opened the gift book from Luxor president, Felix Rappaport.
CA: Well I think magic and what Houdini did with it is really phenomenal, but magic has not kept up with the times. It has not been provocative or popular culture. We still have magicians shoving girls in leotards in boxes and for the time it has not gotten the respect it deserves, it has gotten to be a novelty in entertainment. What I want to do is change that perception by creating demonstrations between the mind, body, and spirit that blur the line between reality and illusion. Hopefully by doing this it will get the respect that I know it deserves. It is just a wonderful art, but needs a kick in the ass to be up with the times and popular culture.
RL: You're shooting 26, half-hour TV shows and a 1-hour finale. How long does that all take to do?
CA: We will be shooting here at the Luxor for five-and-a-half-months, we have a production office, retail store, so everyone is welcome to come down. A lot of people watch my show on television and they all think it has to be trick photography. But with me, what you see is what you get. What you see on TV is what I am going to be doing live and we welcome everybody to watch me do the impossible and it doesn't cost anything. Come by the Luxor, we welcome you to participate in the tapings because your mind will be freaked. This is going to be a part of the opening episode which we hope to do we are still working on it, but we are hoping to do part of it live on May 31st, spring of '07.
RL: Partly live?
CA: Yes, that is what we hope. If we can get A&E to get onboard with that. By the end of the season we will have 70, half-hour episodes of television. We have already done more magic on TV than any other magician in the history of magic. 
RL: It is still the top rated show on A&E?
CA: Yeah. We are the number one best selling DVD of A&E, the number 3 best selling DVD at Best Buy, the number one show on A&E, the best demographics in A&E's history. We are breaking all sorts of records and I just want to thank everyone that watches the show for their support. I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for the fans. About 12 years ago I came to Las Vegas, I had no money, I slept in a hotel right down the block, I rented the cheapest car I could rent, I used to drive up and down the street and look at a Siegfried & Roy billboard and just fantasize and dream about one day ascertaining the kind of success that I could only imagine, I just lived every day of my life to achieve that dream. I took my mother's house, re-financed it, and did the show in Times Square right after 9/11. I did 600 performances, and I just lived each and everyday to get these dreams and if it wasn't for the help of my incredible manager and producer, none of this would have been possible. He believed in me and I believed in myself and it just goes to show that if you believe in yourself, that you too can ascertain any dream. Now, I actually drive down the Strip in a brand new Lamborghini and I am going to be sleeping, over-looking the Strip, in a panoramic view here at the Luxor and I just pinch myself because there is no substitute for hard work. 
RL: What is the secret to the greatest magic in the world?
CA: It is to be unique. I don't care about how things work. I think the reason that we have connected to the public is because my mantra is to connect to people on an emotional level. It doesn't matter how you do something, it matters how you feel when you watch it. I think that when you are able to connect with people on an emotional level that is true magic.
Criss will be staying in the 30th floor Presidential Suite -- the uppermost suite in the resort's pyramid -- for the 'Mindfreak' filming spree. It's a 2-bedroom, 3 bath, 6,000-square-foot palace with its own kitchen and directly beneath the amazing Luxor spotlight beam. Since moving in Criss has been seen all over the hotel but also in New York's Coyote Ugly bar and at the TI's Social House restaurant with a new blonde bombshell that's definitely not Paris Hilton this go-round!
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1. I have been pleasured by the world's greatest illusionist. I am a devout fan of Criss' and just like any other straight woman, I tend to fantacize about him. I do not like his money, or his cars or whatever, I love him for the way his skills and talents make me feel. I adore him, and being Wiccan and practicing on my own level, I appreciate his actions. On Television that is. Criss, all I have to say is I hope one day I meet you. And I hope that my lack of plasticity does not hinder the hot kiss that you are going to give me. The eyes say it all, Gorgeous. Oh yeah, that mass hypnosis you did at the restaurant, is it possible to put the at home audience in an acute trance by doing that? Because I felt a little stoned at that moment.Anyway, I love who you are, and I hope that is who you really are, even if I never get to be mindfreaked by you.
Keggan at 7:42PM on Nov 16th 2006