In his DVD special, Mind Freak, Criss Angel performed a trick that most people thought was done by CGI (computer generated imagery). But the fact is, it was real. He did it live without the help of any computer editing.
This is how Criss Angel walks through a solid glass window without breaking it.
What does it look like?
In the trick, Criss Angel visits a shop. He has the people stand outside of the office window.
He then has two people hold up a large piece of paper to cover the area where he will come out of. He makes sure that everyone can see that it is solid glass with no openings.
He walks around to the other side. Then all of a sudden there is a rip made through the large paper and Criss’ hand comes sticking out. The audience is in disbelief.
He goes on and sticks his whole body through the window until he is out onto the other side. They immediately remove the piece of paper, and the window is untouched.
Watch Criss Angel perform the trick:
The trick is revealed
The way he does this is actually pretty brilliant. He does have assistants involved in the trick so the “spectators” in his DVD performance are obviously just actors. You can actually see what a terrible job they do at acting surprised if you watch them carefully.
So how is it done?
The assistants are hiding on the other side, crouching below the window sill. The window is custom built into the frame. It’s actually extremely tall, and has a small opening cut out at the bottom.
It’s tough to see clearly, but thats a rectangle cut out of the window. You can notice the handles on both sides for the assistants to manoeuvre it.
The window is built to slide up and down.
So when the magician moves to the other side of the window, the assistants simply slide the glass up far enough so that the opening is up above the sill.
The opening is still covered by the piece of paper on the other side so it’s impossible to see it from there.
Then, the magician cuts a small hole with a sharp tool like a nail or pocket knife and rips it open with his hand.
On the other side, it looks as if the magician just put his hand through solid glass.
Then, the magician continues to put his entire body through it until his whole body is on the other side.
The glass is slid back down and the paper is removed to show that the glass remains intact.
Watch the full reveal video to see how it’s done
It’s a common theme in a lot of Criss Angel’s videos. The spectators are fake. They’re there just to magnify the effect.
Unfortunately, a lot of people can catch this because their acting is terrible.
In this case, you need assistants to do this trick. It takes a lot of preparation, but the effect of it makes you look like you are some sort of supernatural being.