210 seconds to beat death: Criss Angel’s last stunt
By Mike Donila @ Tampa Bay Times


With timed detonators ticking down 4 min­utes, illusionist Criss Angel must remove the stainless-steel, police-issued Smith and Wesson handcuffs, pick locks on three doors, then race up four flights of stairs and through two more locks to the roof.
 
But he won’t be safe yet. He still has to grab a ladder hanging from a helicopter that will whisk him 1,000 feet into the air before the building below him implodes.
 
If he does Wednesday night’s stunt at the Spy­glass Resort on Clearwater Beach in 3 minutes, and 30 seconds or less, he’ ll be okay. One second longer and the helicopter won’t get high enough, possibly resulting in the Las Vegas-based escape artist’s death, Angel said Thursday.
 
“When 4,500 tons of cement come barreling to Earth, my mission is not to be under that,” he said. “Because it’s going to come down whether I’m in it or not.”
 
Angel’s show, Mindfreak, A&E’s most­watched, will be broadcast live at 10 p.m. Wednesday. Millions will be watching on TV, and possibly 10,000 more on the beach where the stunt will be performed on the sixth floor of the nine-story Spyglass Resort.
 
So the pressure is on for this post-modern Harry Houdini. To prepare, he has practiced at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport and at the vacant Spyglass itself.
 
Angel, 40, said the escape will be among his “biggest and baddest.’’And live or die, he says it’s going to be his last. From now on, he says he’ ll take fewer risks and perform more magic.
 
The reason?
He doesn’t want to worry his mother any­more.
Picking locks is not a big deal for Angel, who will have picks on his necklace. He’s been doing it since he was 14. But the pressure of facing death can throw him off, so calmness is key. But he also must factor in Clearwater’s fickle weather.
 
Still, when the timer starts ticking at 10:56 p.m., Angel actually figures that with 4 minutes, he has time to spare.
“My goal is to actually do this in 2 minutes and 30 seconds,’’ he said.
 
••• The beach could be packed for the free event. Roughly 7,000 people turned out for his “Ce­ment Block” event last year in Times Square and 10,000 in March attended his “Double Straight Escape” in New Orleans.
 
Angel said he chose Clearwater because of the view and it had a building ready this month for implosion.
 
Already, visitors throughout the Southeast are booking hotels, and city officials say they ex­pect people to camp out the night before.
 
“He suspends belief and suspends reality and your perspective of what reality is,” said Lynne Sutcliffe, 52, a waitress from Lake County who has watched the past three seasons with her daughter, Tess.
 
“He’s freakin’ hot,” said the 13-year-old girl, whose MySpace page is covered with Angel’s pictures. “I’ve always been interested in magic and what he does is inspiring.”
 
Orlando resident Ruth Ivanescu, a 50-year­old marketer, booked a room last week and says her “whole family is crazy” about Angel.
 
“He’s so amazing you can’t figure out how he does (the tricks),” said Ivanescu, who saw him in Times Square. “He leaves everyone bewildered.”
 
••• Although much of the focus has been on An­gel’s stunt, city officials say they’re just thankful that the vacant Spyglass, known for its 100-foot tall mural of a balloon, is coming down to make way for a mega-hotel.
 
“I want the Spyglass to disappear via illusion­­ist, dynamite or bulldozer,” Mayor Frank Hib­bard said. “And if everything is successful, then I think it’s going to be positive publicity for Clear­water.”
 
The event will probably cost the city roughly $5,000 to provide its share for security, since a number of roads will be closed.
 
The plan is for the building to fall in on itself, and the seismic activity should be no stronger than a bus driving by, said city Fire Marshall Steve Strong. The building will fall slightly for­ward, maybe about 30 feet out, but won’t hit the newly installed BeachWalk.
 
The illusionist will be taken up to the sixth floor’s center balcony in a bucket truck along with Vice Mayor George Cretekos and someone from the audience to check the shackles.
 
“It’s a Greek imploding a Greek,” joked Cre­tekos, citing Angel’s and his own heritage.
 
Everyone is hoping for the best, but just the same, the city says all liability papers have been signed.
 
“We’re relying heavily on Mr. Angel’s profes­sional ability as an escape artist to pull this off,” said Fire Chief Jamie Geer.

Trust me you didn't miss much, it was a bad performance.
It was staged poorly.