Lance Burton

Biography

William Lance Burton (born March 10, 1960) is an American stage magician. He performed more than 15,000 shows in Las Vegas for over 5,000,000 people until retiring after 31 years in 2010.

Burton first became interested in magic at the age of 5, when he was one of the volunteers at a magic show by Magician Harry Collins. The trick was The Miser's Dream, where Collins "pulled silver dollars out of the sky" and Burton's ears. 

The young Burton was fascinated, and a neighbor, hearing of his interest, gave him a book, Magic Made Easy, which her own (then-grown) children had used. It contained ten tricks, all of which young Burton quickly learned. His first performances were for neighborhood children, charging them a nickel each.

He performed an initial eight-week trial at the Folies Bergère show in Las Vegas and then had his contract extended for a record-breaking nine years. 

In 1982, he competed at the international Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM) competition in Lausanne, Switzerland, and won the "Grand Prix" prize (the main event of the FISM competition). He was the youngest person to ever win the main event, and the first American to do so.

In 2020 Lance Burton performed in Blackpool, England.

In 1986, he guest starred in a fourth season episode of Knight Rider titled "Deadly Knightshade" as the mastermind magician behind the murder of a Foundation trustee.

In 1986, he appeared in Nickelodeon's Halloween special Mystery Magical Special.

In 1991, he produced, directed, and wrote his own show, which opened at the Hacienda Hotel and ran for five years.

He had a brief marriage to magician Melinda Saxe in August 1993, but they divorced shortly after.

In August 1994, Burton signed a 13-year contract (the longest contract given, at that point, to any entertainer in Las Vegas history) with the Monte Carlo Resort in Las Vegas. 

The 1,274-seat Lance Burton Theater was built to Burton's specifications for his show, cost $27 million, and opened on June 21, 1996. Entertainment Today magazine listed it as the #1 family magic act, and during its 13-year run, Burton earned an estimated $110 million.