Illusionist Criss Angel is speaking publicly for the first time about what may have been the cause of the straitjacket incident gone wrong which landed him in the hospital over the weekend.
On March 10, Angel was performing his double-straitjacket trick, in which he hangs upside and must escape, when he lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital. Only 10 minutes into his show at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, a stunt he has performed before, went horribly wrong. Angel is now talking about what he thinks went wrong that night.
"Once I started going up, I was told that I began my escape, and that's all I remembered until I woke up and I was literally surrounded by paramedics and people putting things in my arms," he explained. "I felt like [my unconsciousness] was really attributed to not eating properly. I've only been sleeping about two hours a night the past few days and I don't think I was hydrated."
So Angel blames lack of adequate sleep and dehydration for the cause of this stunt gone wrong.
"I actually left the hospital early because I was so angry because I wanted to get back to doing my show and thrill the audience with a show and a spectacle that the world of magic has never seen before," he continued after he had been told the hospital wanted to keep him overnight for observation.
The following evening, Angel did perform and successfully executed the stunt much to the wild applause of the audience.
This is real," he stated. "I blur the line between reality and illusion, but this demonstration and the risks that are at stake are no joke. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,and for me it's always about pushing my envelope."