Twenty-five thousand people can’t be wrong, right? Wrong.
That’s the size of the crowd that turned out for the Houdini Light act of Las Vegas illusionist Criss Angel at Clearwater Beach a fortnight ago. As we all know, he emerged unscathed and barely tousled from the imploding, nine-story Spyglass Resort. It seemed more video scam than sleight-of-hand stunt.
Two additional points:
The event cost Clearwater $10,000 in police and traffic overhead. What a savvy investment for the sort of publicity that is well beyond most municipalities’ marketing budgets. The postcard-like Gulf, the picturesque municipal marina, the statuesque palm trees, the new, $30 million BeachWalk: a nationally-televised PR coup. Plus, Clearwater makes way for the Kiran Grand Resort and Spa.
Maybe more intriguing than Angel’s “escape,” was his rationale for his act’s appeal, skewed to a younger fan following. He said it was the same as Houdini’s. “