Criss Angel Told To Stop Stunt at Silverton Casino

Vegas’ wildchild magician Criss Angel was filming a dangerous stunt – like he does any other? – at the Silverton this weekend when concerns about his safety caused the casino to nix the performance.

Angel was working on a stunt involving being bound with hand and foot restraints inside a double-locked steel cage that would then be lowered into the depths of the seawater aquarium tank at the Silverton. He would then have to escape the restraints, undo both locks (one of which is a random tumbler lock) and swim to the surface past sharks and stingrays.

During rehearsals, he almost didn’t make it to the surface in time, before he ran out of breath. When divers went in to rescue him, Angel cut his back on the rocks in the tank. Worried about his safety if he continued, hotel officials demanded he produce medical clearances from his doctors that the stunt would not affect his health. They feared that he could easily drown or even damage his ear drums.

Since it was late on Saturday, he was unable to meet those terms and had to cancel the stunt. Though I do hear he still plans to go through this stunt this week, after getting the necessary papers.

The stunt is for one of the last remaining episodes of the third season of Angel’s hit TV show “Mindfreak” on A&E. The series has been renewed for a fourth season.