Shin Lim

Shin Lim, born Liang-Shun Lim on September 25, 1991, in Vancouver, Canada, is a Canadian-American magician known professionally for close-up card magic performed silently and set to music. Of Han Chinese descent, Lim was born to Singapore-born parents while his father was completing postgraduate studies in Vancouver. The family returned to Singapore when he was two years old and later relocated to Acton, Massachusetts, when he was eleven. He attended Acton-Boxborough Regional High School before enrolling at the School of Music at Lee University in Tennessee, where he double majored in piano and telecommunications and participated in the Choral Union ensemble.

Lim's path to magic began in childhood. His grandmother gave him a violin, which he abandoned after smashing it during a practice session, and he transitioned to piano. His older brother Yi introduced him to a simple card trick, and when Lim sought to learn how it was done, his brother directed him to YouTube. Lim taught himself card manipulation and sleight of hand through those videos and eventually began posting his own performances and techniques on the platform. He has cited David Blaine's early television specials as an influence, particularly Blaine's focus on intimate, close-up magic rather than large-scale stage spectacle.

In 2011, at age twenty, Lim was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Because Lee University's music program required up to twenty hours of weekly piano practice, he was forced to choose between music and magic. He took a planned sabbatical from the school and committed to developing his magic career. During that sabbatical, he competed in the 2012 Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques World Championship, finishing in sixth place. In 2013, an agent who had seen that performance offered him a tour across China. Lim accepted, extended his act to approximately twenty minutes, and removed all spoken narration from his routine since he did not speak Chinese. That silent, music-driven format became a defining characteristic of his performances. By the tour's end, he was closing the show as the final act, and he subsequently left Lee University to pursue magic full time. In 2015, Lim won the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques World Championship for Close-up Card Magic.

Shortly after that championship, producers of Penn and Teller: Fool Us contacted Lim after viewing his YouTube videos and invited him to perform on the show. His 2015 appearance successfully fooled Penn and Teller, and the video uploaded to YouTube surpassed fifty million views. Penn Jillette later described Lim as part of a third wave of magicians bridging large-scale spectacle performers such as David Copperfield and Doug Henning with the more intimate approach of magicians like David Blaine. Lim credited that 2015 appearance as the moment he resolved to pursue magic over music. His visibility led to additional engagements, including a residency at the House of Magic in Macau, China. He returned to Fool Us by invitation in 2017 and again fooled Penn and Teller. Around March 2016, Lim injured two tendons in his left thumb while practicing a new trick and required surgery, after which he fully recovered through intensive physical therapy.

After his 2015 Fool Us appearance, producers of America's Got Talent approached Lim, but he declined at the time, feeling he had only one strong act. By 2017, following his second Fool Us appearance, he felt prepared to compete. His fiancée Casey Thomas, a dancer and assistant to another magician, encouraged him and offered advice drawn from her own professional experience. Lim was selected for the thirteenth season of America's Got Talent, and on September 19, 2018, he was announced as the season's winner. The prize included one million dollars and a headline engagement at the Paris Theater at Paris Las Vegas. Judge Simon Cowell advised Lim after his quarterfinal performance to reveal more of his personality and incorporate larger elements beyond the card table, guidance Lim applied in subsequent rounds. He was then invited to compete in the first season of America's Got Talent: The Champions, which began filming immediately after his season thirteen victory, and he won that competition as well, defeating season twelve champion and ventriloquist Darci Lynne.

Following his America's Got Talent success, Lim began a long-term Las Vegas residency at the Terry Fator Theatre at the Mirage Casino Hotel in October 2019. He also joined The Illusionists, a touring theatrical magic production. His Broadway credit includes an appearance in The Illusionists: Magic of the Holidays in 2018.