It began with a cup of espresso … and a blindfolded clairvoyant.
As he sat beside me in a restaurant sales space, mentalist Thommy Ten requested me to take out some gadgets from my bag at random.
Rummaging by way of pens and chargers, I needed to seek out one thing that Amélie van Tass, his stage accomplice and spouse, may battle to foretell as she confronted away from us. I handed Ten my passport, my pockets and a bag of almonds.
Speaking towards the wall, Van Tass mentioned, “It’s an ID … is that a passport?” She was proper. “And it expires April 2033?” I didn’t even know that — I checked and apparently, it does.
Van Tass shortly guessed the bag of nuts. It was when she began precisely rattling off my license and Visa card numbers that the phrase “sixth sense” got here to my thoughts.
The Clairvoyants carry out mentalism, the department of magic that encapsulates all issues mind-reading, precognition and extrasensory notion. The duo’s performances are theatrical and infrequently break the fourth wall. They select viewers members at random and might precisely guess their birthdays, their resort room numbers and the precise greenback quantity they received after an evening in Vegas. Many exhibits incorporate their canine, crowd favourite Mr. Koni Hundini. Of the trio, he messes up essentially the most, however the individuals “still love him,” mentioned Ten.
Ten and Van Tass are greatest recognized for coming in second place on Season 11 of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in 2016. Additionally they appeared on two “AGT” spinoffs. Since then, they’ve headlined excursions and Vegas residencies, drawing worldwide recognition within the magic world.
The couple took a quick break from performing in late 2024 to develop their household. “It was always clear, we don’t want to give up our job,” Van Tass mentioned. “They’re just part of the whole circus. We love to call it a circus because now we have two dogs and one baby.”
Amélie van Tass and Thommy Ten at house with their child boy, having fun with downtime throughout their Vegas residency.
(Lukas Rauch)
Ten and Van Tass’ 8-month-old child boy joins the Clairvoyants of their travels, however not on the stage. “We try to be as normal as possible when we’re at home. We’re just Mom and Dad and not the Clairvoyants,” Van Tass mentioned. Ten added, “Of course, we try to keep it comfortable for him, for the dogs and for us. We don’t go crazy with seven shows in seven states a week. We limit it to weekends now.”
It’s solely becoming that the “circus” headed to Vegas for the Clairvoyants’ U.S. comeback. The duo just lately joined “AGT” champion magician Shin Lim in his Las Vegas residency with an act that merged their psychological magic with Lim’s sleight of hand. The Clairvoyants will hit the street as soon as once more in late October for a winter tour, which features a Dec. 20 present in San Jacinto.
Past their modern psychic acts, the Clairvoyants have all the time challenged stereotypes about magic exhibits. “There’s always this picture of a magician and the assistant bringing tables in and out,” Ten mentioned. “That’s the basic understanding of a magician. Our thing was always that we wanted to be equal on stage.”
Ten and Van Tass, each 38, convey totally different skills to the act. “You do more of the magic, magic stuff,” Van Tass mentioned to Ten. “And I’m more the mind reading and feeling and sensing things, which I think is a female thing too.”
The couple first crossed paths on a set in 2011 — they began brainstorming a two-person magic act the subsequent day. Lower than a yr later, the duo carried out their first present, “Second Sight.” It was step one in carving out their area of interest, the trendy, theatrical mentalism that has since develop into their signature act.
The Clairvoyants quickly started touring Europe, increasing their routine right into a full-length present inside the yr. In 2014, they introduced the tour to America, the place they joined “The Illusionists,” the world’s largest touring magic present. Two years later, they went even larger: “America’s Got Talent.”
Over 4 months on “AGT,” the Clairvoyants carried out eight occasions and beat out greater than 100,000 different contestants. The duo got here in second, behind singer Grace VanderWaal. Each episode of their season of “AGT” ranked No. 1 in its NBC time slot. “Suddenly, our season was watched by 16, 17 million viewers,” mentioned Ten. With so many individuals tuning in and voting from house, the Clairvoyants turned a family title.
Additionally they returned in 2019 for the spinoff “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” and in 2024 for “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League.” They had been eradicated within the preliminary spherical on each exhibits.
“In our genre, mentalism, mind-reading, it’s normally very small. Like in a parlor setting or a face-to-face thing,” mentioned Ten. “Our dream was always to make it big so we can perform in front of thousands of people. It should still feel like everybody’s part of it; everyone can be involved.”
Whereas their “AGT” look opened doorways to Broadway and excursions worldwide, they aspired for extra. From 2021 to 2022, the Clairvoyants carried out 500 exhibits in a single yr. After the beginning of their son, they carried out 5 to 10 exhibits every week in Vegas. Their upcoming U.S. tour will take them cross-country over the vacations.
The fanbase they constructed from “AGT” added a layer of each pleasure and stress, nevertheless it isn’t essentially what retains the Clairvoyants shifting at such a formidable tempo.
“We have performed in front of 20 people and were as excited as we would have been in front of 20,000 people,” Van Tass mentioned. “I’m most excited when I know that there are good friends and family in the audience.”
Amelie van Tass dazzles her viewers on a swing, predicting the unknowable whereas blindfolded.
(Lukas Rauch)
The Clairvoyants didn’t simply need a larger viewers, they wanted one. Their spectacular stage performances couldn’t have presumably labored within the parlor rooms of the previous. Efficiency highlights embody Van Tass showcasing her psychological magic whereas submerged in 2,000 liters of water, utilizing a flamethrower and even being suspended within the air, à la Cirque du Soleil.
The Clairvoyants attempt to make their present particular to every viewers member, each night time. “They make it possible that we can do what we do. Every single person deserves the best version and 100%,” mentioned Van Tass. Followers’ experiences are the important thing to conserving the magic alive — and conserving it confidential. After all, the Clairvoyants can’t reveal their secrets and techniques, however that doesn’t cease viewers from speculating. One idea means that viewers members are paid contributors. However when a blindfolded Van Tass predicts what you’ve got in hand, and you recognize you aren’t in on it, that idea falls aside.
Initially from Austria, the couple spends half the yr performing in Europe and the opposite half within the U.S. — in Vegas or on tour. With German as their first language, English as their second and the “tiny bit of Spanish” Van Tass speaks, the Clairvoyants are ready to acclimate. “It’s important that at least we have a couple of words in different languages to adapt to people and to new countries,” Van Tass mentioned.
Performing worldwide has earned the duo awards from throughout Europe and the U.S. In 2015 they had been dubbed the World Champions of Mentalism by the FISM, one of the crucial revered worldwide magic organizations. In 2017, the Academy of Magical Arts and the Magic Fort Hollywood voted Ten and Van Tass Stage Magicians of the Yr. In 2020 they obtained the Mandrakes d’Or — France’s “Oscar of magic.”
From their pre-”AGT” excursions to their Las Vegas residency, the Clairvoyants have an extended streak of studying minds and blowing minds too. And the pair exhibits no indicators of slowing down. Their formidable winter tour goals to unfold vacation magic from coast to coast.
“We just want to take people and bring them into our magical world,” mentioned Van Tass. “Just let them forget everything and feel like kids again.”
