Criss Angel Gets His Freak On

Wed., May. 23, 2007 3:22 PM PDT by Josh Grossberg

First, he managed to make Cameron Diaz appear at his side. Now, for his next trick, Criss Angel is trying something potentially more spectacular.

The titular star of A&E's Criss Angel Mindfreak has revealed plans to perform a death-defying David Blaine-esque stunt June 4 in New York's Times Square. Angel will encase himself in a block, be hoisted 40 feet off the ground and have 24 hours to escape before it comes crashing down.

The 39-year-old illusionist will be shackled inside a steel-reinforced four-foot by four-foot by four-foot glass cube. The box will then be lifted into the air while simultaneously filled with three inches of concrete in full view of spectators. He will then attempt to free himself and use a rope to climb down before the block drops into a parking lot.

"If you're not scared of death, what is there to fear?" Angel quipped to the Associated Press.

The Houdini-channeling demonstration is part of a publicity push to kick off the third season of Mindfreak, which debuts June 5 on A&E with a special one-hour episode that will see Angel performing a levitation atop Las Vegas' Luxor Hotel and Casino.

The cement stunt is also an obvious challenge to upstage the magician's chief competitor, Blaine, whose latest exploit took place in Times Square a few days before Thanksgiving and saw the latter escape from a giant spinning Gyroscope suspended 40 feet in the air.

Angel's résumé already includes such sadomasochistic feats as sawing himself in half, stopping his pulse in different places of his body, hanging from a helicopter via fish hooks sunk into his flesh and being run over by a steamroller.

Despite Mindfreak being one of A&E's biggest shows, Angel still isn't lavished with the same media attention as Blaine—something he swears doesn't phase him.

"I always try to do things that have never been done before," Angel said, before tweaking his rival. "I was in the water for 24 hours in Times Square for Good Morning America, doing it in 2001. Later somebody else tried to mimic me.

"I am, in my opinion, the best in the world today."

He's certainly got the self-promotion down.

He's also working on upping his celebrity quotient via a made-for-the-tabloids coupling with Diaz. Angel, who was previously linked with Minnie Driver, has been spotted getting cozy with Diaz in Sin City.

As reported by E! Online's Marc Malkin, the twosome turned up Friday for a private dinner at Social House, a posh restaurant at Treasure Island, before heading over to Pure. The next day, they took in Cirque du Soleil's Beatles-themed Love and attended the VH1 Rock Honors together.

Guess the tricks impress the chicks.

Meanwhile, fans wanting to see if he survives the Times Square stunt can monitor his progress on a Webcam at aetv.com.The entire demonstration will also be filmed for a future episode of Mindfreak.