Shin Lim Wins America’s Got Talent 2018
The 26-year-old magician is known for his card magic. He’s appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, which led to international fame, and has toured internationally as a magician. Lim’s first appearance on Fool Us has earned over 50 million views, and led to an offer for him to appear on the show again. He is the only magician in the history of the series to fool Penn and Teller twice.
Lim is the reigning world FISM champion for close-up magic. He studied music at Lee University prior to his appearance on AGT. Lim was a double major in piano and telecommunications at school, according to The Cleveland Banner. During his time at University, he also continued practicing magic.
Then, in 2011, at 20-years-old, Lim was diagnosed with carpal tunnel and was forced to choose between music or magic. The Cleveland Banner reports, “He opted to stick to his passion for magic, taking a sabbatical from Lee, and eventually dropping out to return to his parents’ home.”
Shin Lim “9 of Hearts Act” AGT
As the Cleveland Banner points out, unlike other competitors on the show, Lim is not unknown.
He has produced a variety of award-winning acts, like the “Dream Act” and “52 Shades of Red.” And how did he learn all these skills? According to the outlet, he is mostly self-taught, having used YouTube as a tool for learning the tricks.
In a 2015 interview with Digital Journal, asked why he decided to pursue magic, he said, “I got into magic during high school, where my brother showed me the slip force and told me to go to YouTube to figure it out. From there I learned as much free magic on YouTube as I could. And because money was an issue for me, I couldn’t afford to purchase books or gimmicks at magic trick stores, so a deck of cards was the most economical.
The great thing about YouTube is that I could see the greats performing on there. The biggest influences were Tommy Wonder, David Stone, Jean Pierre Vallarino, David Sousa, Yu ho Jin, Yan Frisch, and many more which have influenced me in many ways.” Lim goes on to say that you should never give up, and should not listen to anyone else’s advice but your own. “The moment you start feeding off other people’s opinions you lose your own character,” he tells Digital Journal.
Congratulation to Shin Lim!
Source: http://www.magicnewzealand.com/ezine-archive/2018-Jan-to-Dec-2018/1471-Sep23-2018.html
