Magicians’ social-media numbers explode beyond their live appeal..
By MIKE WEATHERFORD – LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
What were you doing on New Year’s Eve? Looking at fireworks or the bottom of a Champagne glass? Or were you among the 1.4 million people who watched at least some of a two-hour game of Jenga, played by Rick Lax and his friends on Facebook.
It was a fitting way for Lax to end the year. The magician spent most of it building up a phenomenal Facebook following for the short, interactive magic tricks he creates on a laptop in his Henderson condominium.
If you haven’t heard of Lax, you aren’t one of his 3.3 million Facebook followers. Or one of the 61 million people who have played along with a couple of his mind-reading tricks.
But don’t feel too bad. Lax isn’t a live performer on the Strip. He sold the concept for SyFy’s “Wizard Wars” but never performed on that competition show either.
“I don’t want to do a Vegas show. There’s a lot of good shows on the Strip. I’m not going to make the mistake of the ‘Band of Magicians,’” he says, referring to a recent Tropicana flop involving some of his performer friends. Read more..