Magician keeping eye on Vegas

Nathan Burton says he waited until "the heat of the excitement" to ambush Flamingo Las Vegas president Don Marrandino at the press event announcing his new show.

When Marrandino asked what else he could do to further the cause of Burton's new afternoon residency, the magician didn't hesitate. Presto! He produced the rendering of the giant building wrap that would feature him hanging upside down in a straitjacket.

"I love it. Let's do it," Marrandino said. And what else would he say, in front of the Review-Journal's own Norm Clarke and others?

But then again, the Flamingo Las Vegas had more than good luck with its Toni Braxton mural. The hubba-hubba image has become almost iconic pop art on the Strip. Red-blooded males will hate to see the 50,000-square-foot sign go, even if they are less emotional about the actual show closing.

Burton's wrap is "only" 20,000 square feet by comparison; hey, it's an afternoon revue on a budget. (The Flamingo Las Vegas fronted the bill with SkyTag, the company that does this in Hollywood. Burton apparently will pay it back over time, but the two sides want to keep details between them.)

When the sign went up last week, the results were immediate. "Out of everything we've done (to market the show), it brought the biggest increase in box-office sales," the magician says.

When people can see you from Interstate 15, "they must feel like you're important," Burton says with a laugh. "It makes you seem like you're a bigger deal than you actually are."

Burton says that for the cost of the wrap, he could lease a billboard near the airport for seven months. Or buy a glossy magazine ad for about 30 weeks. But coming out of the airport, "you're bombarded," he says. "They look at (the building wrap) because it's different."

I wrote a feature about the future of the Strip for our Best of Las Vegas section. In it, architect and Las Vegas historian Alan Hess lamented the loss of neon, and hoped the Strip would "regain its leadership in the area of signage."

Hess blamed the infatuation with movie-style LED screens for Strip signage not being "as adventurous as it was." Buildings such as New York-New York are their own signs, he noted, while the new shape-shifting screens at Planet Hollywood Resort blend architecture with signage.

Because we see so much video everywhere, building wraps may be the new equivalent of the entertainer names that leap out from old-Vegas photos. Think of that iconic Rat Pack shot in front of the Sands, with the guys squinting into the desert sun.

But I wouldn't mind at all if the Flamingo Las Vegas opted to take a pass in using its hotel walls to promote the next showroom attraction: Donny and Marie Osmond.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.