Magician Angel a talented ‘freak’

I’m not one for scary movies and easily jump out of my own skin if home alone while watching “CSI” or “Law & Order,” but on Halloween I was trying to fall asleep when “Criss Angel Mindfreak” came on A&E.

To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s really scary or just freaky.

The first episode I caught was a special in which Angel invited celebrity friends to a seance. I’ve never been much for communicating with the dead, but this one was bizarre.

Because magician Harry Houdini is one of his idols, Angel wanted to commemorate and honor Houdini’s Oct. 31, 1926, death by executing a Houdini-inspired performance.

The group communicated with a little girl who was killed in the house they were visiting, figuring out what she was wearing in an old photograph before they saw it and spelling out her name before being told what it was.

The second episode showed Angel in performance mode. He amazed audience members by swallowing five sewing needles and a piece of thread and then pulling them from his belly button – each of the needles strung on the thread.

The musician, performance artist, mystic, magician – he has numerous titles – is multi-faceted in his freaky offerings and worth a few minutes of your time.

You can find “Criss Angel Mindfreak” at 10 p.m. Wednesdays on A&E.

Speaking of freaky, I saw where a freak accident occurred at the Roloff Farm, site of TLC’s “Little People, Big World.”

According to the TLC Web site, 9-year-old Jacob Roloff and family friend Mike Detjen, 58, were launching a pumpkin in a trebuchet – a catapultlike device – when the trigger let go too early and both were struck several times by a 2,000-pound block of concrete that acts as a counterweight to the motion of the apparatus.

Both were rushed to the hospital, and are expected to make a full recovery.

Taping for the show was going on at the time of the accident, but TLC officials said the accident was not part of production for the series.

To send a message to the Roloff family, visit www.tlc.discovery.com and go to the show’s Web site.