angela funovits
October 2008 
Staged Phenomenon?
Posted on Nov 1st, 2007
by 
~C4Chaos
~C4Chaos
(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)
So I was watching the reality TV show Phenomenon earlier this evening. I was impressed and entertained by the performances of the illusionists and mentalists in the show. Then this Jim Callahan guy did his "paranormal" performance. His
And so it was time for the critics to evaluate Callahan's performance. Uri Geller gave Callahan a good evaluation, saying that his performance was "very convincing." Now it was Criss Angel's turn to say something about Callahan's performance. Instead of evaluating the performance, Angel said, "I think it's comical, quite frankly." And then Angel whipped out an envelope and challenged him and Uri Geller to guess what was in the envelope. Angel said that he would give a million dollars (of his own money) if anyone could guess what was inside. Callahan became confrontational and called Angel an "ideological bigot." And then an altercation ensued.
But enough talk. Here's the video for your entertainment pleasure.
Jim Callahan reveals Criss Angel as an ideological bigot
So why did Criss Angel acted like a jerk and exposed Jim Callahan on live TV. Well, one possibility is that Criss Angel really hates frauds who claim supernatural or paranormal powers. Here's an excerpt from his interview on Larry King the day before the show.
KING: Is that a trick?
ANGEL: That -- put it this way, no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with "Phenomenon." If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust them live and on television. That's what Houdini did for more than half of his life, because those people prey on the vulnerable.
And Criss Angel stuck to his guns. He's been planning this all along. He made a mockery out of Jim Callahan's "paranormal" performance on live TV. Now, it's also possible that this "altercation" was staged from the very beginning to boost ratings and to get clueless bloggers to blog about the incident. Ahem. But even if it was staged it still looked cool on TV. And if it wasn't staged then it's double the coolness. It's entertaining to see frauds get exposed on live TV. If Jim Callahan is the real deal then he could've just accepted Angel's challenge and went home with a million bucks, and made Angel look like an a**hole. But since I'm a skeptic myself, I think it's all an act. There I said it.
But what I really want to see is for Uri Geller and Criss Angel to get it on. I sense a tension between the two. Here's Geller who believes in the supernatural and paranormal while Angel is a skeptic that would make the Amazing Randi proud. Ah, well. Those two were paired for a reason: Good TV.
Anyway, I did enjoy the performances of the other contestants. They're all awesome. But my vote for the evening goes to the lone woman (Angela Funovits). She's got charisma (ok, fine, she's hot too), and her performance was the most emotional. She was literally shaking after her perfomance. I also dig the guy (Guy Bavli) who stopped his heart on live TV. All their tricks were impressive. But it was all about the performance. I'm gonna tune in next week for sure.
UPDATE (11/02/07): Here's Criss Angel talking to Access Hollywood about the incident. Some people may not agree with his views on the paranormal. But I think he has an excellent point.
Criss Angel Talks ' Phenomenon' Confrontation – All Access Magician Criss Angel talks to Access about the confrontation that broke out on the NBC television show “Phenomenon” between himself and Jim Callahan, one of the show's contestants.
Access: PublicTagged with: Phenomenon, Criss Angel, Uri Geller, magic, illusion, NBC, reality TV, videos, Jim Callahan, paranormal, supernatural, Angela Funovits, Guy Bavli
The whole thing is interesting to me. I think the guy (JIM) is a flat out fake…pu-leease! But it was good TV. I dunno…I've met Uri when I was doing some testing at FSU in the 80's for psychic ablity. I was just a kid, (12 or so) but it was an interesting experience to be sure. He was the (Uri) like control subject…and we came in without seeing him or any contact and did experiments that he had also done. His results were amazing…mine where also really cool (to me), but I'm no spoon bender or watch stopper. I would love to see Uri do some more of his clock stopping…we did that with him and he did it on live TV in the 80's. Both times I was involved, the watch I was wearing and my fathers (with the TV show) stopped when he said they would…and never ran again…even with repairs. So…I dunno if it's real or not, I don't twitch and all that when I talk to the other side…so I don't know, but like I said it was good TV. Great post!
Reading your blog post before watching the video made for a humorous experience. While everyone in the audience and on the judging panel was going along with the act, I was ensconced in negativity and judgemental scorn for the poor impotent sap (Jim Callahan).
I'm sure Criss Angel has some basis for drawing the distinctions he does between what he does (authentic) and what other performers do (inauthentic), but… I don't know exactly what those criteria are. Maybe he's just awesome, and others are not? Only God, Supernatural Powers, and Paranormal Phenomenon know for sure.
of course, Criss Angel has basis for drawing distinctions. he's a master in the field of illusion/mentalism. it's his art. and he's cocky too, which makes him more exciting to watch.
then again i still think this is staged in some way, to spice up the show. and/or it was intentionally (or calculated) provoked by Angel since his next season of Mindfreak starts next week. good freakin' promo for his show. just like Houdini, he's a master of PR too :)
speaking of which, i love that show! here are some of the viewer's choice videos. i think by this time, i can say that he's the number #1 guy in this business, er artform.
~C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE45QHIUfiM
read the end of this video and you will see why Jim said what he said…Criss should learn to double check his own stuff. Criss is lost and doesn't know who or what he wants to be.
speaking of Criss Angel as a master of PR, his Loyals love the show!
as for Jim Callahan, c'mon! his act maybe good but he's putting too much emphasis on the paranormal and making a mockery out of dead people.
case in point: here's an advertisement on Callahan's website.
“Jim Callahan is seeking individuals who desire employment after death. I am looking for individuals who would like to participate in my shows and experiments after their deaths. You will be compensated for your participation and time. Find out more here.”
i mean, WTF?! why would you need to get employed after your death? can't we all just move on and not pay taxes from the other side? jeeesh. i think that's the part that made Criss Angel freaked out!
~C
I know Criss has the right to draw the line between what he does and what other people do, I just wasn't sure what regulative ideal or set of basic criteria he was using as a differentiating tool. Now that I devote a little more attention to it, though, I begin to see. Callahan is decidedly silly.
yep. Callahan is silly alright. but you know what? Ken could've joined the contest too. all he has to do was lay down in corpse position and stop his brain waves on live TV. i don't think Criss Angel would diss that! :)
~C
And after Phenomenon he could do Oprah and Ellen. And after doing the View they would change the name of the show to the OverView.
that was great. i doubt the conflict was staged by the show or at least that callahan had anything to do with staging it, but no doubt chris planned it in part knowing he'd get some good publicity from it. i respect chris for standing for people as he does. he knows he could have many people blindly following him in awe, and yet he chooses not to do so. it's amazing how easily people seek to believe in the paranormal. i, too, have never seen any convincing demonstration of the paranormal. what i have seen again and again is people taking advantage of those who are inclined to give up much of the responsibility to think for themselves. there are many subtle techniques anyone can use to have others begin to follow them. many spiritual and self-development teachers and “gurus” slip into this dishonorable position, because it seems to make short-term business sense and it feeds their ego. imo, what the world needs are people who empower others to question and own the full power of the human mind and human spirit.
all staged, including the really well produced but ultimately very kitschy automatic writing trick…
the conflict seems so clearly scripted, their voices projected from the stage, their posturing and the people holding them apart….
fun performance, but come on!
i must say - magic tricks can be really fun - but i think there is somethhing ethically fishy about making money off of claiming paranormal powers or communication with the dead. there's something exploitive about it and it's unfortunate that magicians make more money and gain more notoreity the more they are willing to claim such things…
i may be wrong, but it seems like criss angel is calling him out for claiming something that he himself actually does not claim - so i dont seee the hypocrisy… anywa it's all just for the excitement factor.
exactly! the fun thing about this incident is that Criss Angel directly challenged Uri Geller too. Geller still believes and claims that he has paranormal abilities. but i'd really like someone to win that one million challenge just to put this controversy behind. so far, no takers. so i put this in my agnostic filing cabinet :)
~C
yea and the original million dollar challenge guy - james randi - has reproduced gellers tricks and exposed him on johnny carson quite convincingly, as you know…
If I ever get the opportunity I'll ask Tim Vincent the host. He works for my show too. I'm guessing some staging. They may have ambushed Callahan but Tim “noticed” Criss itching to comment which plays the hand of staging a bit for me. And Callahan was looking down to come up with his defense instead of an instant fight or flight response. In a Malcolm Gladwell Blink kind of deal, I say staged. Fun, frivolous TV which is most of TV.
As I've alluded to many times on Zaadz and ~C4's blog, I had an “interesting” experience with John Edward. His critics say he uses cold reading to pull off his paranormal “gift” but I can't see how he did that to me because I didn't have a clue what he was talking about until over a year later. Edward was frustrated that I couldn't confirm anything he was talking about but it did get confirmed eventually. Can't say I know what happened but I haven't found the trick yet. It wasn't cold reading or genealogical research.
I'd love a cool mil to “experiment” with and found out how he did it.
“If I ever get the opportunity I'll ask Tim Vincent the host. He works for my show too.”
nice. keep us in the loop :)
~C
btw, here's Criss Angel talking to Access Hollywood about the incident. some people may not agree with his views on the paranormal. but i think he has an excellent point.
Criss Angel Talks ' Phenomenon' Confrontation – All Access Magician Criss Angel talks to Access about the confrontation that broke out on the NBC television show “Phenomenon” between himself and Jim Callahan, one of the show's contestants.