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Criss Angel is gearing up for his most dangerous stunt yet, as it airs live on A&E on Wednesday night. It seems like every time we see this guy on TV he’s doing something more to absolutely shock us, and this next one will be no exception. Recently I got a chance to participate in a conference call with the magician/illusionist to learn more about what we’ll see tuning in this week to Criss Angel Mindfreak.

Seemingly, Criss can do anything, with one of his most famous stunts from his self-titled show showing him walking on water. This time, Criss will be shackled with handcuffs to a building set to implode and must make his escape within four minutes. With 456 sticks of dynamite set to go off, it won’t be able to be stopped, and once the process has begun, he’ll need to escape the cuffs, pick through four different doors that are chained and locked, run up a flight of stairs, and except to the rooftop of a nine story building. He’ll climb onto the roof, grab onto a ladder attached to a helicopter, and be pulled to safety.

Along with having a set to pick locks around his neck, Criss will also have a stopwatch with him needing to keep on track. Timed down to the second, he’ll need to make it to the rooftop by three minutes and thirty seconds, as it will take the helicopter thirty seconds to make its ascent and get out of the way of the impending implosion. One second later, and it would throw everything off. He plans to do this in two minutes and thirty seconds, though, to give himself a cushion, not knowing what incidentals could come up, such as helicopter difficulties or shifting inclement weather.

This stunt will take place in a building already set for destruction in Clearwater, Florida. Criss picked this site for two reasons, the first being that he was already familiar with the area having visited before, and he thought it would provide a very picturesque backdrop. The other reason was that it was necessary to find a building that was already set for implosion, and this particular building met all the requirements that he felt would need to be in place to completely pull this off.

For all the doubting Thomases out there, while this stunt has been performed in some aspect by different illusionists, for the first time it will be done live, with Criss in complete view at all times. Some lucky fan will get the chance to experience this closer than anyone else, as just before the beginning of the stunt, Criss will drop a wristband, and whoever catches it will have the option to come up in the bucket of a fire department truck to inspect the locks and the setup.

While Criss plans to continue his show on A&E and his performances at the Luxor in Las Vegas, if he is successful, this will be his last death-defying stunt. The reason being is that this man that seems to have no fears has made a promise to his mother. Family is very important to him, and with her in her 70s, he just doesn’t want to continue to put her through this stress. It’s so in him and so in his blood, I think semi-retirement will be harder than he thinks.

You can catch Criss Angel do his most dangerous stunt ever this Wednesday night at 10 PM ET on A&E.

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