Big news this week and for past several weeks has been the NBA All-Star Game, to be played this Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center. To say the town's in a frenzy would be an understatement. Great for Las Vegas, both financially, as millions of dollars will be left behind, as well as world-wide television exposure. And of course, the hope, the BIG hope, that this will be a prelude to us getting our own basketball franchise here--most likely the Sacramento Kings--but only if we can supply an arena for them. Hizzoner Oscar Goodman has been hard at work trying to make that a reality and nobody does it better, so I'd say our chances were much better than 50-50 and in Vegas, those are good odds.
MAGIC MAN
Every so often, as I've mentioned before in my column, I like to give you a closer look at some of the entertainers who perform on Las Vegas stages. Recently, I had a chance to sit down with master illusionist Lance Burton, who has been wowing audiences almost from the time he did his first trick at the tender age of 6.
His 13-year contract with the Monte Carlo, in a theater named for him, is the longest legal agreement ever given to any entertainer in Las Vegas history. This soft-spoken native of Louisville, Kentucky has become a favorite son of our town, due largely to his unending contributions to local charities.
Relaxing in his dressing room after a show, he says he got into magic because "I can't do anything else, so I didn't have a choice." He remembers his early life spending a lot of time on his grandfather's farm where he acquired his work ethic. "I'd go there on the weekends and during the summer and would help bale hay and tobacco and milk cows at 4 a.m. with my grandfather. It was a working farm and farm work is really hard work."
In 1981, he left Kentucky in a beat-up old car with his tuxedo and seven ducks, but within a week of arriving in Los Angeles, he earned a gig on the Johnny Carson show. I asked him how that came about.
"As the old saying goes, 'Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.' I was 21 when I moved out west. I'd been working hard preparing for it. In the summertime, my friend Mac King (now a staple at Harrah's) and I worked at a little theme park called Tombstone Junction. It was a small theme park which looked like a western town. They'd have gun fights in the street, three times a day. These guys would come in and rob the bank, have gun fights while a country and western music band played on the outdoor stage. We performed magic in the Red Garter Saloon. I'd been doing my act there three times a day, seven days a week, all summer long for three summers.
"When I moved out west, the act had progressed pretty far for someone that young. I had two week's work lined up and decided to come out and see what happened. Someone from the Carson show saw me, liked what he saw and I got booked. That was my big break."
Like many magicians, Burton includes animals in his act. "I used to watch a magician called Harry Collins and he used doves so as a young kid I always had that image in my mind of a magician with animals. I think I was 14 when I got my first pair of doves. Now we have doves, a parakeet named Elvis, ducks, a goose and we have a chicken, pigeons. It's a bit like having a little farm."
One of his new illusions is called Solid Gold Lady where Burton makes $10 million in gold bricks and coins disappear, which has become a hit with audiences. Burton says the hardest part was "not figuring out the trick itself, but convincing the hotel to supply me with the $10 million in gold. It's not my gold. That would be stupid. Really stupid if you had $10 million in gold and you're going to make it disappear. It would only make sense if the gold belonged to someone else," he says laughing.
His act is a favorite with families and Burton always invites kids up on stage. I asked if any stood out in his mind. "Even after having been in magic for 40 years, I still get surprised by what kids will say. One time, I had a little boy onstage who had an English accent and I said, 'What's your name?' And he says, 'Miles.' I asked, 'How old are you, Miles?' And he replied, 'Five.' Then I asked, 'Are you married or do you have a girlfriend?' He answered, No.' I asked, 'Do you want to meet one of the girls in my show?' He says, 'No, we can't afford one of those.' Broke me up."
When asked to what he attributes his success, he said, "I think it's my haircut. That's what people look for when they go to a showÑa good haircut." Finally a guy with a sense of humor.
AMAZING ANNOUNCEMENT
Another magician, but certainly cut from a different cloth had some good news recently. The Sahara announced that it is extending The Amazing Johnathan Show for another year. Amazing Johnathan recently debuted the one-hour special "The Amazing Johnathan - Wrong on Every Level" on Comedy Central. The new material and special surprises he developed for the special have since been incorporated into his nightly act on the Las Vegas Strip. It's a fun show and I can easily see why the resort wants him to stay on.
Good luck and I'll see you on the Strip. And don't forget to check out www.valleyblogs.com.
If you have a question or a Las Vegas experience you would like to share with my readers, please e-mail me at lennylv@cox.net. Please include your full name and the city or town where you live.
