Lance Burton returns at last with charity shows at the Orleans
One of the most recognizable headlining performers in the history of the Las Vegas Strip is coming out of retirement for a couple of shows this week. Master magician Lance Burton still lives in Las Vegas but hasn’t done a proper Vegas show since ending his residency at the Monte Carlo (now Park MGM) in 2010 after more than 15,000 performances over the course of his 30-year-plus career. He returns to the stage tonight and Saturday at the Orleans Showroom and is bringing some magical friends along for the ride, with proceeds from the shows going to the Variety Children’s Charity of Southern Nevada.
Burton still loves to perform — especially for a great cause — but this weekend is not the start of something more.
“About a year ago we did a show in Des Moines, Iowa, and in March we did a show in Louisville, Ky., and September in Albuquerque. I’ve been doing two or three shows a year, and it’s been fun,” he says. “I like to tell people it’s like getting together with your buddies to go on a fishing trip, but we don’t fish. This is the right pace for me. It’s still fun and exciting.”
Burton, who also serves as the grand marshal of this year’s opportunity Village Santa Run on Dec. 1, spoke with the Sun about these shows, the state of magic in Las Vegas and how this publication helped connect him with the charity he’s so passionate about.
You’ve been working with the Variety Children’s Charity of Southern Nevada for quite a while now. How did you find out about the organization?
Did you know Joe Delaney? I met him in 1982 when I first came to town, and he was a highly respected entertainment writer (for the Sun) in Las Vegas and very involved in the community. I met him during one of the St. Jude’s Ranch fundraisers. In the early ’90s I was at the Hacienda and Joe called me and said he wanted to have lunch and told me about Variety and I have never heard of it, but how it had been around since the early 1900s and was started in Pennsylvania by some guys who were in show business. He told me how the one in Las Vegas does a lot for kids with special needs and said, ‘They want you to be the spokesman.’ It was founded here in the ’50s. I went out for a visit and met the kids and the staff, and I’ve been involved ever since. I go do a show every year at the Christmas party. And these shows came about at the perfect time because I was talking to them about doing some other fundraisers around town. So a portion of the proceeds goes to Variety and it’s also great because Fielding West, who is performing, is now on the board of directors.
You’ve maintained your Vegas residence since you retired from performing on the Strip. Have you kept your eyes on the entertainment scene?
I haven’t kept up. After 30 years of
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