In 2016, Austria natives Thommy Ten and Amélie van Tass, better known as The Clairvoyants, captivated millions of viewers when they appeared on season 11 of America’s Got Talent.
While blindfolded, van Tass was able to state the brand and shade number of lipstick her partner procured from judge Heidi Klum’s purse. She also somehow knew the expiration date of an audience member’s bottle of eyedrops.
“There’s only one explanation,” judge Simon Cowell told her. “You’re a witch.”
After four months, six different mind-boggling performances and more than 100,000 contestants, The Clairvoyants came in second place, and shortly after appeared at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas with the season winner, Grace Vanderwaal.
Ever since, the duo has enjoyed an ever-growing career sharing their illusions with the world. Currently, Ten and van Tass are preparing to introduce a fresh experience – The Clairvoyants Christmas – which will hit Parx Casino’s Xcite Center in Bensalem on Saturday, Dec. 14. This is The Clairvoyants’ second time appearing at the casino, where they performed a sold-out show in 2018.
Ahead of the holiday-themed show, The Times caught up with Ten, who said he and van Tass are ecstatic about helping fans in the United States get into the Christmas spirit.
“We love Christmas time. It was the perfect match,” he said.
According to Ten, even if someone has seen The Clairvoyants multiple times, they don’t have to worry about repetition.
“Every night is a little bit different because we work a lot with the people, with their thoughts and with their objects they’re bringing to the show. So, we never can guarantee that every show is the same. It’s always different, so that makes it fun for us,” he said. “And especially for Christmas, we’ve prepared a couple of things, like we do mind reading with gingerbread. It’s something very new, something very unusual.”
For Ten and van Tass, who met in October 2011, being able to share their “second sight” act on such a large scale is a dream come true. They wanted to create something that had never been seen before, and so far, people are loving it.
“We were always interested in being on stage and we just like phenomenons. You’re thinking about a person you haven’t seen in a while and in that moment, this person is calling you. We tried to take these phenomenons and bring it on another level,” Ten explained. “We want to break the wall between the stage and the audience. We want to go into the audience, bring people on stage. We’ll make predictions. We’ll read their minds and make a big show out of it.”
In addition to earning second place on America’s Got Talent, The Clairvoyants have performed their show at the Sydney Opera House and, in winter 2016, headlined the show The Illusionists – Turn of the Century at the Palace Theatre on Broadway. The show was the best-selling magic show in Broadway history. They also appeared twice on NBC’s new show America’s Got Talent: The Champions in the beginning of 2019.
Over the years, Ten and van Tass have collected awards, including The German Champions of Mentalism, Magicians of the Year 2015, World Champions of Mentalism and Stage Magicians of the Year 2016.
The Clairvoyants Christmas is one of several holiday shows coming to Parx Casino this season. Leann Rimes will bring her You and Me Christmas Tour 2019 on Thursday, Dec. 5; and The Philly POPS Big Band will bring Christmas in the City 2 on Friday, Dec. 20. Other acts include Sinbad on Thursday, Dec. 12, and Brett Young on Friday, Dec. 13. ••
If you go…
The Clairvoyants Christmas takes place at Parx Casino’s Xcite Center, 2999 Street Road, Bensalem, on Saturday, Dec. 14. Doors open at 7 p.m. and showtime is at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $25-$65 at parxcasino.com/xcitecenter or 888-588-7279. Visit theclairvoyants.com for further information.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
