Magician Nathan Burton’s hectic life as a bi-coastal headliner

TVT

Nathan Burton and Don Marrandino.

By Robin Leach (contact)

Sunday, July 18, 2010 | 9:30 a.m.

Nathan Burton's Atlantic City Show

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Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Nathan Burton at the grand opening of Wayne Newton's Once Before I Go at the Tropicana on Oct. 28, 2009.

From July 14 through Aug. 4, Robin Leach will be relaxing under the Tuscan sun on his annual vacation and will keep his eyes on what’s happening in Las Vegas from Italy. Meantime, a kindly crew of Las Vegas celebrities and VIPs has agreed to write guest columns for Vegas DeLuxe.

By Nathan Burton, guest columnist

Nathan Burton here. It’s been a busy time since I wrote last year’s guest column. I have had the pleasure of celebrating my second anniversary at the Flamingo, and I also have been performing at Harrah’s Atlantic City in between performing my Las Vegas shows at the Flamingo.

Don Marrandino, our former president at the Flamingo and now Eastern Division president of Harrah’s, called to ask me to perform at Harrah’s Atlantic City. My team and I were thrilled to bring our show to the East Coast and to be headlining in Las Vegas and Atlantic City simultaneously.

Below is an example of just one of the hectic bi-coastal headlining weekends.

Friday, 4 p.m.: Perform our Las Vegas show at the Flamingo. After the show, we pack up a few costumes and props.

Friday, 9 p.m.: Head to the airport to catch our 10:35 p.m. red-eye to Philadelphia. Usually on our flight, we have my sister/production manager Emily, our showroom photographer Patrick Walthers, a guest act and me.

Saturday, 6 a.m.: Arrive in Philadelphia at 6 a.m., which is the exact time that the airport Chick-Fil-A opens. Because my sister and I grew up in Arkansas with Chick-Fil-A and no Chick-Fil-A exists in Las Vegas, we now have a tradition of eating Chick-Fil-A in the limo from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. We arrive at the beautiful Harrah’s Atlantic City with just enough time to check in and catch a few hours of sleep.

Saturday, 3 p.m.: Dress rehearsal for Harrah’s Atlantic City show. We finish in time to treat the cast and crew to pizzas before show time.

Saturday, 8 p.m.: Atlantic City show. We perform in the wonderful concert venue at Harrah’s Atlantic City to a great crowd. After the show, I sign autographs, and we pack everything away until our next trip. After the show, we often go out and enjoy Atlantic City’s fun and extremely crazy nightlife.

Sunday, 4:30 a.m.: Limo back to Philly. One of the more memorable moments of the trip is waking up after a few hours of sleep to catch our limo back to the airport. At 4:30 a.m., Harrah’s nightclub The Pool is just winding down, and the valet area is full of incredibly intoxicated and rowdy clubgoers.

Sunday, 7:05 a.m.: Early flight to Las Vegas. We arrive home and take a quick nap. Then comes the most difficult part of the trip, waking up after a few hours to go perform my show at the Flamingo.

Sunday, 4 p.m.: Perform at the Flamingo after a whirlwind weekend of three shows on two coasts.

We’ll be performing in Atlantic City every other weekend beginning in September. This opportunity would not be possible without Don Marrandino and the support we receive from Flamingo executives.

I also am happy to announce that I will be back on NBC’s America’s Got Talent on July 28 as a special guest star. Be sure to check that out, and come see our shows in Las Vegas and Atlantic City!

Tomorrow’s guests columnists are Phantom -- the Las Vegas Spectacular stars Anthony Crivello, Kristi Holden and Andrew Ragone.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.