Magicians in Vegas disappear (and reappear at new venues)

Magicians have called the Las Vegas Strip home for years. Resident headliners like Siegfried & Roy and Lance Burton have entertained generations.

But as magic shows often have an appearing-disappearing-reappearing nature, the same is often true for their home base.

Goth-style magician Criss Angel has called the Luxor Hotel and Casino home for a decade. His last performance at the property will be Sunday, Oct. 28. He disappears only to reappear at his original 2005 Las Vegas stage at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.

The world-renowned illusionist’s brand-new massive-scale production “Criss Angel MINDFREAK” will open in the renamed Criss Angel Theater on Dec. 19. The new stage will incorporate cutting-edge technology and boasts more than 75 illusions with 20 never-before-seen effects. Tickets for his upcoming 7 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday performances start at $69.

Angel’s move to Planet Hollywood may cause a domino effect for two magic shows in the hotel’s much smaller Sin City Theater, those of Murray Sawchuck from “America’s Got Talent” and Xavier Mortimer. They may be relocated to other properties, as Angel can demand to be the only magic show at a specific venue.

The relative newcomer from Luxembourg, David Goldrake, took a chance and opened his show “Imaginarium” a year ago at Tropicana Las Vegas. After success at the hotel performing more than 300 shows, grand illusionist Goldrake is holding his final show there on Sunday, Sept. 30. It’s not his final curtain call -- he plans to create and introduce a new headlining magic production next spring at a different venue TBA.

While it’s hard to get your own show in a major showroom on the Strip, winning “America’s Got Talent” has proven invaluable to Mat Franco’s success at The Linq. He recently celebrated his third anniversary there and now has the showroom named after him. Franco completely engages and surprises his audience, just as he did on television.

World-famous mesmerizer David Copperfield continues his mainstay in the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand. However, “Masters of Illusion,” which opened at Bally’s in the Jubilee Theater last December and featured multiple reality TV manipulators, closed earlier this month.

If it seems like there’s an overwhelming amount of magic on the Strip, it’s possible -- but the illusionists who survive the competition for eyeballs have pulled off the greatest trick of all.

-Jackie Brett, Custom Publishing Writer