From 'America’s Got Talent' To The Las Vegas Strip: Mat Franco Celebrates 10 Magical Years

Magician Mat Franco is celebrating a major milestone - 10 years headlining his hit show in Las Vegas at The LINQ’s Mat Franco Theater. With more than 2,750 performances and counting, he continues to wow audiences night after night. 

Known for keeping his show fresh and evolving, Franco has no plans to slow down anytime soon. Being the first magician to win on “America’s Got Talent” and recently being named Magician of the Year by the Academy of Magical Arts at Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle, he continues to earn accolades and reach new milestones on his magical journey.

Magician Mat Franco is living a dream. When his show debuted on the Las Vegas Strip in 2015, he had no idea that ten years later, he would still be doing what he loves in a theater that bears his name. 

Since becoming the first magician to win "America's Got Talent" in 2014, Franco has redefined magic for a new generation. His win helped him to launch his career and lead him to a historic Las Vegas residency. In August 2015 Franco debuted his headline show, "Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly."

“I grew up watching magic on TV and all those shows were filmed in Vegas so the fact that I got to do even one show here was exciting,” Franco told The Blast exclusively.

“When I first started my open-ended deal, I didn’t know if my show was going to last 10 days, or 10 months, and here we are 10 years later doing better than ever.”

It’s been such a wild ride for Franco that he recently was brought “back down to earth” during a situation in the casino with a friend. 

“We have these table felts with my face on them because of course the show is in a casino and there are Mat Franco blackjack tables. Whenever my friends come to Vegas, they want to play at those tables with my face on them and they want me to play with them. It’s really uncomfortable for me, but they get me to do it,” he explained.

“The dealer was not picking up on the fact that the guy sitting at his table is also the guy’s face on the table, and my friends are really playing it up and they’re pointing at the table and at me saying, ‘Hey, do you think he looks like him?’ And the dealer looks at me and looks at the picture on the table and goes, ‘Eh, not really.’”

Franco’s friends don’t let the dealer off just yet, because they then asked him if he’s ever been to the Mat Franco theater and that’s when the funniest, and possibly most insane moment of the experience happened. 

“This guy, no joke, lit up with excitement and he said, ‘I love Mat Franco. Great country music,” Franco shared. “I think I just laughed and continued playing until I lost all my money and went on my way.” 

Franco has done nearly 2,800 performances and counting. With that many shows, some might wonder how the magician keeps the show fresh and evolving.

"I think it happens naturally. There's a fair amount of crowd work that happens during the show, and there's a pretty high level of improvisation that happens with the nature of interactive magic," he told The Blast. "And the way that I do it, it always keeps it fresh and new for me, the audience, and even for my crew."

And it's not just about magic. There's also a comedic element to the show to ensure everyone is having a good time.

For someone who's never seen the show, Franco said he does a "couple of ballads, but mostly up-tempo so you can dance and have a good time." (Of course, he was joking, referring back to being called a country singer.)

"Jokes aside, it is concert-grade in production value. I feel it's really important to have high production value," he said. "I want people to just have an amazing experience that they can't get anywhere else."

His show is interactive, so the audience becomes part of the show. He explained that he has a "map to get from point A to point B, but the audience decides how we get there."

Ten years ago was a very different time for Franco. It was at that point that he became the first ever magician to win "America's Got Talent." He said he learned a lot from that time in his life.

"I had never performed on TV before in my life. So this was my first time stepping on the national stage for the audition in 2014," he told The Blast. "I was 25 years old at the time, so really still a kid."

Franco explained that the experience really taught him how to work in high-pressure situations, since there were cameras rolling and live shows in front of millions of people.

He said "AGT" was a "fun ride" that he really "loves being a part of." Since winning the show in season 9, Franco has been back almost every season as a guest to "do something fun."

"Now it's like going home," he said.

The Vegas show has gone through a couple of major overhauls to rebuild it from the ground up over the past 10 years. For Franco, it's important to stay current.

"I've done that a couple of times just because I know that if you design a show in 2015 and then again in 2020, in 2025, it needs to feel like 2025," he said. "It needs to feel completely current, completely modern. It can't feel like something that's dated. And that's something that I think magic has suffered from over the years, so it's important to me that it feels modern."

When asked if he sees himself still performing in Vegas in another 10 years, Franco said he hopes to "stay here until I'm dead." With two young children and a wife, being able to stay in one location and not have to tour all the time is something he's grateful for.

One thing he does hope to do in the future is collaborate more with other magicians or even people in other art forms.

For more information and to purchase tickets to "Mat Franco: Magic Reinvented Nightly," visit his website.