A magician who came to Las Vegas in 1982, Lance Burton performs at the Monte Carlo resort. He has been interested in magic since the age of six, when he attended a Christmas party where magician Harry Collins was performing. He learned magic at a young age and would put on magic shows for the neighborhood children.
In 1980, at age 20, he was the first person to win the gold medal award for excellence from the International Brotherhood of Magicians. In 1982, he was the youngest person and the first American to bring hom the grand prix award as "World Champion Magician" from the Federation Internationale Societe de Magie in Lausanne, Switzerland.
These larger awards led to a 1981 booking on the annual "It's Magic" show in Los Angeles. Within a week, he had landed an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, a magician and comedian, watched the 21 year-old in rehearsal and asked him to do an unprecedented 12-minute routine on the air.
In demand in Vegas, the Monte Carlo eventally landed Lance, with the promise that he could design every aspect of his own theatre. Lance now stars in the number one family magic act in Las Vegas, including doves, geese, and a parakeet named "Elvis" in his show.
As of September 4th, 2010 Lance retired from his 14 year run at the Monte Carlo. The theater that he previously performed in currently stars the Jabbawockeez with the their MÜS.I.C. performance. You may find a short article about his departure here, from his website [Edited by CTS 10/20/11]