Two-time ‘AGT’ champion Shin Lim reveals post-Mirage plans
Shin Lim’s taking his act to where “Jersey Boys,” a Sinatra show and “Baz” once romped.
The two-time “America’s Got Talent” champ has made official his move to Palazzo Theatre at The Venetian. His “Limitless” show opens in October. The show shuts down at the Mirage Theater on July 14. The magician’s dates are on sale the next day at venetianlasvegas.com.
Lim performed more than 800 shows to nearly 1 million fans at The Mirage, where he opened in 2019 and took over for ventriloquial star Terry Fator as the theater’s main headliner in 2020. His expected plans to move to Palazzo was reported in this space in May.
Lim had performed alongside mentalist/guest star Colin Cloud in his show at the Mirage. Cloud is opening his own production at Harrah’s Cabaret on Tuesday.
Lim performs much of his show on felt, using cards and coins. His methods are simple. The result is spellbinding.
“We’re planning a very modern magic show, with a cinematic feel to it,” Lim said in a phone chat Wednesday. “We want people to feel like they are watching a movie.”
Lim’s wife and fellow performer, Casey Thomas, joined the Mirage show in late April, and she will be on stage at Palazzo Theater. She will return a rare card-manipulation act, performed in a lyra hoop above the stage.
A rotation of guest stars is being considered for the new show, among them the “AGT” magic duo The Clairvoyants, comic mind-reader Peter Antonio, and headlining mentalist Lior Suchard.
The venue opened as the home for the original “Jersey Boys” show from 2008-2011 and has since been the home of several stage shows, including the Sinatra-inspired “Frank: The Man. The Music” starring Bob Anderson, the Baz Luhrmann-inspired musical compilation “Baz,” and the limited run of “Six: The Musical.”
As Lim notes, the theater is being renovated for his show, and he is building a new set for his next chapter.
“We’re having the theater built to replicate the Mirage, essentially9,” the 32-year-old headliner. “It’s a design that is really good for magic.”
A specialist in close-up magic and a classically trained pianist, Lim became a national name after winning season 13 of “America’s Got Talent” in 2018. He followed by taking the title in “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” a year later, and is the only two-time champ in “AGT’s” history.
Lim is planning a national-TV push to promote the show, with appearances planned on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in late-September. The two should be wowed by Lim’s card artistry, if not his fly-away hairstyle.
Lim is the latest star to grace a stage at a very busy property for live entertainment.
“Shin Lim has been mesmerizing audiences in Las Vegas since 2019, and we cannot wait for our guests to experience the magic of ‘Limitless,’” The Venetian President and CEO Patrick Nichols said in a statement. “Limitless fills out the entertainment programming in our four theatres creating the most diverse entertainment under one roof on the Las Vegas Strip.”
Palazzo Theater, Summit Showroom, The Venetian Theatre and Voltaire are those theaters. You can add the adjacent Sphere, too, on the hotel’s powerhouse entertainment roster.
Lim said he fielded overtures from several potential presenters, including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and event Hard Rock International, which offered up a run at Seminole Hard Rock in Florida. But Lim has become a Vegas personality.
“It’s going to be very bittersweet, leaving the Mirage, because that started everything for me, as far as my own show,” Lim said. “It’s hitting me now, with the days dwindling down. But I am excited about the Venetian, and my future here, definitely.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.