Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967 and raised in East Meadow, New York. He grew up loving music, playing the drums and always having an interest in magic. Two of his biggest magic influences are Harry Houdini and Richiardi Jr.. His father was also a big influence on him, especially after a long battle with cancer until his death in 1998. As a teenager, he performed as a magician at birthday parties, night clubs and private events. He got his pyrotechnics license at age 18. He also has a 7th degree black belt and a background in dance and gymnastics. Criss played in a band called "AngelDust" with friend Klay Scott, who produced and helped arranged his CD's and music for Criss' Mindfreak show. He performed in "World Of Illusion" at Madison Square Garden in 1998. Criss then scored a show on Broadway titled "Mindfreak", which ran up until Jan. 6, 2003 with almost 600 performances. He has had many television appearances and specials such as The Science of Magic (1997), The Science of Magic II (2003), the ABC Family special Criss Angel Mindfreak (2002), and the Sci-Fi channel's Criss Angel Supernatural (2003). He became a household name with the A&E channel Criss Angel Mindfreak (2005) television series airing every Wednesday night. Seasons 1 & 2 were filmed at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas with season 3 filmed at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.

Angel is the only magician to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award twice: in 2001 and 2004. He holds the world records for longest time submerged underwater (24 hours), the longest body suspension (5 hours, 42 minutes), fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion (under a second) and the fastest straight-jacket escape (2 minutes & 30 seconds). One of his favorite musicians is Korn and he is now a personal friend of Jonathan Davis, who has appeared on his television series.