Nathan Burton: Levitating Simon Cowell on ‘AGT’ is a recent highlight
Editor’s Note: As Robin Leach winds down his month-long Italian family vacation with a visit to Rome and gets ready for his annual month-long stay in La Jolla, our next guest columnists today and Friday are one of the puppets opening Friday evening in the new show PUPPET UP! UNCENSORED at The Venetian; 11-year Strip performer Nathan Burton; Nick Hawk, the controversial star of GIGOLOS, set in Las Vegas, on Showtime; and Larry Blackmon, who has led Cameo for four decades. The band is now headlining at Westgate Las Vegas.
Here is Nathan, who recently levitated crusty AMERICA’S GOT TALENT judge Simon Cowell in what has to be a television first!
By Nathan Burton
I always know summer has arrived when it’s time to write a guest column for Robin Leach! Thank you, Robin, for allowing me to take over the column for a day. My name is Nathan Burton, and I headline NATHAN BURTON’S COMEDY MAGIC in Saxe Theater in The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to be celebrating my 11th year of performing in Las Vegas. Not only am I living my life-long dream of performing daily, but I also genuinely love what I do. It’s a joy to put on a show with friends and family and interact with the audience each day after the show.
My show has always been a family operation with my hard-working and hilarious mother, Nancy, manning ticket sales. My sister, Emily Burton, is production manager and handles my special events and TV performances. My beautiful wife, Amie, is a dancer and dance captain for our great group of dancers.
My favorite part of the show is when I bring my son, Ryder, onstage. Ryder, 14 months, is my first child and already very comfortable in front of an audience! Each day, Ryder delights the crowd by applauding, smiling and waving. I have a feeling that he will be taking his first steps onstage.
I also am very proud of my sister Emily who recently took on the role of head stage manager for the large charity production ONE NIGHT FOR ONE DROP by Cirque du Soleil. The production includes 100 volunteer Las Vegas performers and crew from all the Cirque shows here. Robin kindly supports the show each year, as well.
Summer in Las Vegas is my favorite time of the year for many reasons – enjoying my swimming pool with my family, sold-out audiences and more TV performances. I had the honor of filming a TV show recently hosted by two famous magicians where they challenged me to perform my best. I’m not allowed to say any more than that, but you will soon see it on air.
A TV show that I can talk about freely is MASTERS OF ILLUSION on The CW. MASTERS OF ILLUSION is the ultimate magic show featuring dozens of magicians from all over the world. We have a great time each year filming the show at a studio in L.A. It airs each Friday on The CW, and you can catch past episodes at CWTV.com/shows/masters-of-illusion/.
I also filmed a fun cameo on one of my all-time favorite shows, AMERICA’S GOT TALENT on NBC. I competed on the first season of AGT when no one knew yet what a hit the show would be. My performances on AGT helped launch my Las Vegas show, and it will always be my honor to perform on AGT.
I have performed on AGT throughout the years, but this year was the most exciting because the show’s creator, Simon Cowell, is a judge for the first time. I had a blast levitating Simon onstage to the roaring approval of the live audience and Simon’s fellow judges. Watch out for this fun cameo, and, no, I can’t tell you how I did it!
My show performs each day at 4 p.m. at Saxe Theater inside The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. Come escape the summer heat with our 75-minute show full of fun illusions, stunning showgirls and guest acts. Lastly, I want to thank all of you who have supported my show over the years, and I look forward to the year ahead!
Be sure to check out our other guest column today from one of the outrageous stars of the new show PUPPET UP! UNCENSORED that celebrates its grand opening Friday night in Sands Showroom at The Venetian.
