Vegas Q&A: Is There Another Magic Burton?POSTED: 7:33 am HST December 12, 2006 Question: Somebody told me that I should go see a magician named Burton in Las Vegas, but said it wasn't Lance. Do you know who he was talking about?Jody in Salt Lake CityAnswer: As a matter of fact, I do. I've been getting a lot of questions about this "other Burton" -- Lance may want to watch his back -- so I decided to go see the show for myself to see what it was all about.The Burton that you're looking for is Nathan Burton, most recently getting a lot of attention through his appearances on the summer NBC show "America's Got Talent" and now with his own afternoon show in the V Theater at the Desert Passage Mall at the Aladdin.Nathan Burton calls his act "comedy magic," which is a bit of a misnomer, especially if you've seen Mac King's afternoon show down the street at Harrah's. Instead of the small tricks and jokes that King does, Burton focuses on more traditional illusions, with a lot of things and people appearing and disappearing from boxes and the like. But it's all done with a genial good nature and a humorous set-up that seems to say, "Yes, it's just a trick and, no, I'm not going to really be killed by the whirling blades of death."For instance, there's one trick that is included in just about every illusionist show that I've ever seen, where the magician gets inside something (a box, a container, etc.) and suddenly appears in the audience within seconds. It's gotten to the point where I almost always see this coming and usually turn around before the illusionist reveals himself because I know what's about to happen.Nathan Burton's version of this, which was performed on "America's Got Talent," has a fun twist. Yes, he gets in a box and we see his hands, supposedly shackled above the box, but then his comely assistants "flatten" him into a poster version of himself and shoot the poster out of a cannon into the audience. It's a great set up and a perfectly executed spin on the kind of trick we've seen a bazillion times.The "mind-reading" segments, where he predicts the type and cost of cereal that an audience member will say, or the details of a "dream date" for another audience member, are done with the same kind of we're-just-having-fun-here spirit.I find this kind of attitude toward magic refreshing. The dramatic poses and grand flourishes that usually accompany this type of show have become a parody of themselves, attempting to force us the audience to be amazed. What a pleasure it is, then, to have an act like Burton's, where we can let the illusions themselves do the amazing, instead of the pretentious theatrics.Vegas4Visitors Grade: B+Nathan Burton's Comedy Magic V Theater Desert Passage Mall at the Aladdin 3663 Las Vegas Blvd. S. 702-932-1818 Showtimes: Daily, except Friday, at 2 p.m. Tickets: $33-42If you have a question you'd like to submit, click here.The Full Story
Rick Garman is the head writer for Vegas4Visitors |
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