10 years into his Monte Carlo run, Lance Burton seems more and more the classic magician
The tuxedo looks just right on him now, after wearing one since childhood. "I'm one of the old guys now," says 46-year-old magician Lance Burton.
"He always, even as a kid, was pretty set in his ways," says Mac King, a Harrah's Las Vegas comedy-magician and Burton's friend since they were teens in Louisville, Ky.
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It often has been told that Burton first decided to become a magician at age 5, when he attended a party at the Frito-Lay plant where his mom worked and a magician pulled a coin from behind his ear.
"He never changed his mind since he was 5 years old," his mother, Hilma, confirms. "Most kids, one week they want to do something, another week they want to do something else. But he never changed his mind."
It's less known that the party magician, Harry Collins, went on to become Burton's mentor. It was Collins, King says, who taught Burton, "If you're going to be a magician, you should look like a magician. Lance really wanted to be the classical magician, with the iconic look."
And so it remained last week, as Burton entertained friends and fellow performers in a special performance marking his 10 years at the Monte Carlo. He looked more and more the part he has played since his days as a silent variety act; especially in contrast to magic's new star, Criss Angel, who worked the after-party in black T-shirt, M?tley Cr?e hair and tilted ballcap.
"He represents the traditional magician better than anybody does. I represent more the magician of today. Both are relevant approaches," Angel says. "Because he comes from different worlds, we work well together."
It also helps Burton stick to his guns on a Strip that's changed around him. "I don't look around and try to second-guess, 'What is the public going to want to see? Will this appeal to that demographic?' " he says on the phone the day after the party, slightly huffing because he is running on a treadmill.
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Fred Ericksen for MagicZoom
