Lance Burton first became interested in magic at the age of five in his hometown, Louisville, KY. In 1980, shortly after his 20th birthday, he was awarded a "Gold Medal of Excellence" from the International Brotherhood of Magicians. After that, he moved to Southern California, where within a week he appeared on The Tonight Show. Host Johnny Carson watched him in rehearsal, and allowed him to do an unprecedented 12-minute routine. Through the course of Burton's career he was invited back for a total of ten performances while Johnny Carson was host, and another ten performances during Jay Leno's tenure.
He performed an initial eight week trial at the Folies Bergere show in Las Vegas, and this was then 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 "Grande Prix" prize, (the main event of the FISM competition) the youngest person to ever win the main event, and the first American to do so.
Since 1994, Lance has been performing in his own theatre at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.