We've all heard stories about how a young, largely-unknown stand-up comic went on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, did well, got some signal of approval from Carson and, the next day, that young comic had a different, highly successful career. These days, no one appearance on any show — possible occasional exception: America's Got Talent — has anywhere near the star-making power of a thumbs-up from The King of Late Night.
The power of The Tonight Show was actually fading in Johnny's last years on that beat. The rise of channels like HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central, and a flurry of new talk and comedy shows opened up new paths to stardom. Success in stand-up comedy also changed from getting your own sitcom (Seinfeld, Carey, Prinze) to packing huge auditoriums (Hart, Chapelle, Burr). Six good minutes on a talk show where you can't use the "f" word ain't that much help filling stadiums.
But for a few years there, Carson had star-making power…and it wasn't just for comedians.
In 1981, 21-year-old Lance Burton was winning awards for his magic, most notably for a wordless 12-minute routine in which he made cards, doves, candles and other items appear and disappear to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." His breakthrough came on October 28th of that year when he appeared on Carson's show.
As the story is told, Burton came in that afternoon and did his entire 12-minute routine in rehearsal so that the show's producers could select the six-or-so minutes that he'd perform on that evening's show. But Johnny, himself a fan and practitioner of magic — came down to watch that rehearsal and when it was over, he said, "Let's have him do the whole thing."
When Freddie Prinze did his first stand-up spot with Johnny, he got five-and-a-half minutes. Burton got twice that much and, obviously, the biggest possible endorsement from Mr. Carson. The magician was instantly flooded with offers and he selected headlining the "Folies Bergere" show at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. He stayed there for nine years and could have stayed longer except that he moved across the street to the Hacienda to headline his own show. Then that led to him having his own showroom at the Monte Carlo for the next 26 years.
I saw him many times in Vegas and even got to hangout backstage. He always started each performance with some version of this routine which he did on the Carson show. A lot of magicians would tell you it is the all-time best of its kind…