Courtesy
Shin Lim
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 | 2 a.m.
One-of-a-kind illusionist and sleight-of-hand artist Shin Lim is set to reopen his show “Limitless” at the Mirage this week, returning to live performances on the Las Vegas Strip for the first time in 15 months. But the two-time champion from “America’s Got Talent” is not looking to pick up where he left off; Lim has restructured his performance and added some grand illusions that he’s never performed before anywhere.
“For pretty much all of the [last year] I’ve been super deep into experimenting with new concepts and new effects, doing a lot of trial and error and developing new sleights, all for the show,” he says on this week’s Sun on the Strip podcast. “But also just to have a new repertoire because you don’t want to always do the same stuff and I personally get bored if I keep doing the same thing.”
When he last hit the stage at the Mirage, he was sharing the theater with ventriloquist Terry Fator’s show, as well as the popular Aces of Comedy series and the musical residency of Boyz II Men. With Fator moving to New York-New York, the venue where Siegfried & Roy once performed has been updated and renovated for Lim’s show.
“Before, I had to work around Fator’s theater [setup] and I wasn’t able to touch or move anything so it was difficult for me to do what I wanted to do freely,” he says. "Now the theater is pretty much mine and it’s been completely refurbished. I’m going to be able to do some amazing things there.”
Known for ultra-precise movements that defy explanation, Lim’s act is about to get bigger than ever. But he’s not just adding gigantic illusions, he has woven them into a personal storyline and hidden these fresh feats in layers of magic.
“There are three or four moments that are pretty big illusions, and I’ve never done big illusions before,” Lim says. “Sometimes it takes a long time to set up for the big, massive illusion, so I wanted to sneak it into the middle, within the closeup tricks, so it throws people off. I’m most excited for that because I’ve never done anything like that for audiences before, and I’m very excited to see those reactions. I hope it works.”
Find this week’s Vegas entertainment news, interviews and more every Wednesday with the Sun on the Strip.
