Lance Burton

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April 13, 2009 · 6:13 p.m.

Master magician Lance Burton performs at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino.

Bill Smith of Bill Smith's Magic Ventures at his workshop in Las Vegas on Wednesday, November 7, 2012.

Illusion builder stands behind Las Vegas' top magic acts: Entertainment:; Saturday, November 24, 2012; By Brian Nordli; Bill Smith works in a building surrounded by secrets only he can understand. They’re on his cluttered desk, pieces of graph paper with schematics of boxes and torturous-looking contraptions bursting out of a rack of manila folders. Some are recorded on VHS tapes stacked 10-high on his television to be copied to DVD, for his eyes and his customers’ eyes only.

Comedic magician Nathan Burton, 36, performs his afternoon show Wednesday in the Flamingo showroom.

Two Burtons make magic: Review: Nathan is winsomely funny; Lance slick and expert. Both shows on the Strip are crowd-pleasers.; Monday, November 9, 2009; By Joe Brown; Following the success of the tiger-taming twosome, Vegas became an abracadabra destination and magicians gradually stepped up in status, from part of a variety lineup to headliner status.

Master magician Lance Burton performs one of his magical acts as he makes a woman float in air Tuesday night, July 9, 1996, inside the Lance Burton Theater at the new Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. With an unprecedented 13-year contract that could reach nine figures, Lance Burton is a big believer in magic.

Magic touch on command: THE STRIP: Kentuckian Lance Burton says you're not for real until you've performed at a family cookout; Wednesday, July 22, 2009; By Jerry Fink; Most nights magician Lance Burton performs in his multimillion-dollar theater at the Monte Carlo, surrounded by the bright lights of the Strip.

Lance Burton to stay 6 more years on Strip: Tuesday, June 30, 2009; By Melissa Arseniuk; Legendary magician Lance Burton may be known to make things disappear, but his show won’t be vanishing any time soon.

Headliner Lance Burton cancels shows through June 2: Broken bone in foot needed surgery; Friday, May 8, 2009; By Mary Manning; Las Vegas performer Lance Burton will be offstage at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino until June 2 after he broke a bone in his right foot.

Tricks of the trade: Monday, August 14, 2006; Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun; One has been a headliner on the Strip for 15 years; the other for two months. Lance Burton and Gerry McCambridge perform tricks. Amazing tricks. Jaw-dropping, head-scratching tricks. Tricks that astound audiences even though they know they are tricks.

Burton's magic takes many forms at Monte Carlo: Friday, January 17, 2003; By Jerry Fink; More than 1,000 amateur and professional magicians were in town this week to attend the 26th annual World Magic Seminar, founded by Siegfried & Roy. At least 50 of them were at the Lance Burton performance one night at Monte Carlo. What they got was two magic shows for the price of one.

Columnist Joe Delaney: Burton banks his sixth year at Monte Carlo: Friday, June 28, 2002; Joe Delaney; Belated bests, Lance Burton, personal manager Peter Reveen and all concerned at Monte Carlo ... Burton was feted backstage between shows Friday on his sixth anniversary at the hotel, and was wished best wishes for the next seven years ... We were there at the start of the 1980s when Burton made his debut as a featured act in the Tropicana's "Folies Bergere."

Illusion Allusion: Saturday, January 27, 2001; Kimberley Mcgee; It began with a silver dollar.

Columnist Joe Delaney: Burton's community endeavors deserve applause: Friday, October 6, 2000; Joe Delaney; Master magician Lance Burton is now in his fifth year of an 11-year run in his Lance Burton Theatre at the Monte Carlo ... We have followed his career from a 12-minute act in the 1980s, appearing in the Tropicana's "Folies Bergere," and cheered his progress when he moved to the Hacienda as star of his own production ... His Monte Carlo engagement, in a custom-built $27-million theater, was a winner from the beginning. During the past 20 years he has won top awards from the most prestigious sources ... These have been well-chronicled in the Sun and elsewhere ...

Magician makes B-2 disappear, plays chicken with roller coaster: Wednesday, February 24, 1999; Robert Macy; LAS VEGAS - Magician Lance Burton has been buried alive and shackled in a water-filled chamber, but he says his game of chicken with a speeding roller coaster is the scariest experience of his career.

Columnist Joe Delaney: A textbook lesson on Burton's career: Friday, September 25, 1998; Joe Delaney; The young Kentuckian was the featured act for a number of years in a previous edition of the Tropicana's "Les Folies Bergere." ... His forte was prestidigitation and he did 12 minutes of incredible hand manipulation, no dialogue, dressed in tails, already an international award-winner.

Master magician makes tastelessness disappear: Friday, January 23, 1998; Lisa Ferguson; So, I didn't expect to be flabbergasted the last time I caught magician Lance Burton's act five or so years ago at the since-imploded Hacienda hotel-casino.

Columnist Joe Delaney: Burton No. 1 prestidigitator: Friday, July 11, 1997; Joe Delaney; Born into a Kentucky farm family, not too far from Louisville, on March 10, 1960, Lance was 5 years old when a magician named Harry Collins asked the lad to assist him onstage. ... The die was cast. ... A neighbor gifted him with a small book of magic and a career was launched.

Burton's trick for TV special almost was too much magic: Friday, February 21, 1997; Robert Macy; But that was before he attempted a water torture stunt that magic legend Harry Houdini concocted but never performed.

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Lance Burton

Occupation: Master Magician
Venue: Lance Burton Theatre at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino
Official Web page: www.lanceburton.com
Years performing: 1977 to present.
Birthday: March 10, 1960, Columbia, Ky.
Early career: He became interested in magic at the age of 5 and began putting on neighborhood shows as a boy. He entered his first competiton as a junior magicians at a convention in 1977 and took first prize.
Breakthrough: In 1980, at age 20, he was the first winner of the "Gold Medal for Excellence" from the International Brotherhood of Magicians. He then moved to Southern California and appeared on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Carson invited him back nine times.
Early career: Performed at the "Folies Bergere" at the Tropicana for for nine years. In 1991, he opened his own show at the Hacienda Hotel, which ran for five years.
Current: In 1994, he signed on to a contract with the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino and has been there ever since.
Notable: He has been awarded "Magician of the Year" twice by the Academy of Magical Arts. In 1982, he won the Grand Prix Award at the international Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM) competition in Lausanne, Switzerland. He also won the 1998 Blackstone Theatre Award. He has performed for Queen Elizabeth and for President Ronald Reagan. In 1994, he was given the honor of havine the "Mantle of Magic" passed to him from Master Magician Lee Grabel.
Tickets: Vegas.com

Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch

Lance Burton introduces his silent unsung hero Michael Goudeau

Michael Goudeau performs with Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo.

Updated August 14, 2009 (9:22 a.m.)

Michael has been my silent unsung hero since 1991. He gives me a break at halftime and entertains the audience while I prepare for the rest of the show.

Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch

Lance Burton to resume shows June 2 after surgery for broken bone

Lance Burton performs a magic trick with Pamela Anderson during a taping of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 11, 2004.

Updated May 9, 2009 (5:20 p.m.)

The accident occurred 10 to 12 minutes into his show last night at the Monte Carlo, but he finished the performance, not knowing that it was a fracture in his right foot requiring surgery.

Culture and Entertainment

Lance Burton makes money reappear

Updated October 30, 2008 (2:14 p.m.)

Lance Burton, the "Master Magician" headlining at the Monte Carlo, saw his Friday and Saturday night shows vanish in a puff of smoke.

Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch

The official swimsuit photo of the Miss USA 2009 pageant

The Miss USA 2009 official swimsuit photo of all 51 contestants and reigning queen Crystle Stewart at Planet Hollywood.

Updated April 9, 2009 (4:38 p.m.)

Glamour photographers love to shoot at first light, and this morning, the 51 Miss USA 2009 contestants were up way before dawn busy with hair and makeup.

Las Vegas Sun

Lance Burton

Lance Burton