Regarding the success of his own magic show at The Linq in Las Vegas, Franco said, “It has been fantastic. I can’t believe we are over 200 shows in. We have the one year anniversary coming up. Time flies by, but it has been a ton of fun so far. It has a nice variety of material.”
He has been praised by two of his greatest influences in magic, including Lance Burton and Jeff McBride. “That was awesome. I grew up watching Lance Burton on TV, and it is amazing to have opportunities to see him in town. It is surreal to sit down with one of your idols and have a normal conversation with them,” he said. “I tell a story during the show, where I reference Jeff McBride and seeing him on TV when I was a little kid. It was amazing to have Jeff come to the show and to acknowledge him in front of the audience after I shared the story. It was just a really nice moment.”
Another fond moment for Franco were the rave reviews that he earned from then-judge Howard Stern during his tenure on America’s Got Talent. “Those were fantastic. I miss him on America’s Got Talent now that he is gone,” he said.
He considers his teleportation across world’s biggest observation wheel one of the biggest stunts that he has ever done. “It was crazy because that was many hundreds of feet in the air. That observation wheel at the Linq is bigger than the London Eye. That was a really tough one to pull off and it took months and months of preparation to make that come to fruition. I am glad it worked out,” Franco said.
Franco defined success as “happiness.” “I really believe that. A lot of times people think fame and money, but it’s more about the relationships that you keep around you and staying happy,” he said.
For information on magician Mat Franco and his show, check out his official homepage.
