by jdmagic357 » Mar 12th, '11, 10:36
While recently in Vegas I saw the Nathan Burton show and boy was I and my guests disappointed. It seems as though many Vegas acts today are trying to be variety shows, when in fact they're something else. Nathan billed his act as a comedy show, but it wasn't at all funny. It had great illusions fired in rapid succession, with some dancing by the always accompanying show girls. But in no way was it comical except perhaps in the way they were choreographed.
In two spots during the show other performers were introduced, I suspect to give Nathan time to set up other tricks but again they had nothing to do with magic and were only slightly humorous.
I guess I shouldn't complain all that much since I was comped the tickets (a professional curtsy given to most known performers) but still my time is worth more to me than money.
What did work imo, was Nathan telling, how as a child he was diagnosed with some kind of learning disability and how he shouldn't pursue any career dealing with public speaking or performance art. This humanized him and immediately connected him to people in the audience. The problem is it came to late in the show and by the time he related it to us we were already lost in the chaos of the act.
I can't recommend his show, but perhaps in the future we might see some better things come from him.
Jmo 4 what it's worth.