From YouTube to Las Vegas: Canada-born, Singapore-raised magician Shin Lim on getting his start, a China education, and hitting the big time
- Shin Lim was studying piano when an injury led him to magic lessons on YouTube. An early tour of China helped hone his act and he won America’s Got Talent 2018
- Born in Vancouver and raised in Singapore and Boston, he says earning a residency in Las Vegas was a dream come true. And he explains why he performs in silence
Up until Covid-19 hit, Shin Lim had 2020 planned down to the day. He had just started a residency at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, for which he moved from his previous Los Angeles base. And he had also launched his Limitless 2020 tour, booking engagements around the country.
“I’m spending time creating new material for my show,” says the award-winning magician.
The 28-year-old rocketed to superstardom on the back of the 2018 edition of America’s Got Talent, where he took the top prize for a sleight-of-hand card sequence that included miraculously embossing a queen of spades onto his chest and causing the hand of host Tyra Banks to suddenly start smoking.
Winning, he says, was as life-changing as he expected. But even Lim could not have anticipated securing a Las Vegas residency, the Holy Grail for many performers.
“I never imagined I’d be moving to Vegas, and having my own show,” he tells the Post. “It’s a dream for magicians. We think of David Copperfield and Penn & Teller, legends we all look up to. It’s wishful thinking for us, something you don’t think could ever happen.”