Criss, Holly birthday bash makes for late night

By Melissa Arseniuk

Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008 | 4:39 p.m.

If Criss Angel is over the hill, the 41-year-old magician still knows how to party.

He and his 28-year-old girlfriend, Holly Madison, celebrated their birthdays Friday night at a combined birthday bash at LAX. The two were born four days and 12 years apart, Angel on Dec 19 and Madison on Dec. 23.

Angel was presented with a birthday cake at 8:30 p.m. at the end of the first performance of “Believe.”

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Angel said as his girlfriend, his mother, Dimitra Sarantakos, Luxor president Felix Rappaport, the voluptuous “Fantasy” cast, and “Believe” Cirque du Soleil performers crowded the stage to present him with the decorated cake.

Angel made a brief speech to thank everyone for their love and support but kept things short because he still had one final illusion for the crowd.

The birthday boy got back to business and performed the final vanish illusion, then reappeared an hour later for the second performance of the night.

Joining Angel’s girlfriend and mother in the audience of the 10 p.m. show were Madison’s “Girls Next Door” co-star, Bridget Marquardt, and artist Michael Goddard.

The four joined Angel across the Luxor casino floor at LAX as the birthday celebrations shifted into high gear after the show.

“I enjoy this, it keeps me young,” Angel’s mother said while taking in the scene from her son’s VIP booth.

Playboy model Allison Waite, country singer Chris Young and members of the rock band Papa Roach also joined the festivities.

Angel arrived at his stage-side VIP table at 12:30 a.m., then the party officially got underway.

Surrounded by family, friends and fans, the “Madifreak” couple was presented with yet another birthday cake, which was topped with fresh flowers and sparklers.

They also marked the occasion with a few cocktails: Angel stuck to his staple libation, rum and Coke, while calorie-counting Madison sipped her signature combination, vodka and water.

“I just don’t have a lot of time to work out,” she said, adding that she rarely exercises. “My excuse is I don’t have any workout clothes here.”

She and Angel thanked fans for coming out to celebrate with them, then “made it rain” Vegas style by showering partygoers with $100 bills as a surprise.

Enjoying both the party and each other’s company, the couple ventured out of the VIP section and onto the dance floor at one point to let loose to the sounds of DJ AL3.

While Angel donned his usual black-with-bling uniform, Madison sparkled in a form-fitting black sequenced number.

“Criss actually picked it out for me,” Madison said of the Marciano mini dress. “He has great taste. I actually hate shopping so we just went to the Forum Shops at Caesars and bought it on Sunday.”

After returning to the comfortable confines of the VIP section, the two kept the party going until 3 a.m.

When the clock struck three, however, they called it a night and headed up to Angel’s suite, where Madison had a special birthday surprise waiting.

“I got it about two weeks ago … at Gallery Michael in Beverly Hills,” Madison said of the signed Salvador Dali lithograph.

“It’s totally crazy, it doesn’t make any sense, like any Salvador Dali picture, but I love it,” she said before leaving the club.

Angel was anxious to see his gift for himself.

“My mother already saw it but I haven’t,” he said with a laugh.

Madison said she was confident Angel would like his surprise, noting that the gift already received the OK from the other woman in Angel’s life.

“It’s got his mother’s stamp of approval,” she said.