DUBAI: Dubai-based magician-and-mentalist duo James Harrington and Marina Liani of “Mind2Mind: Connected” are making waves in the entertainment world, with their Las Vegas-style spectacles earning praise from industry titans such as British TV personality Simon Cowell, who lauded their act as “mind-blowing.”

The couple, who met in 2017 in the UAE, perform weekly at Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The couple’s goal is to “perform three or four times a week, basically the Vegas show model, which doesn’t exist in Dubai yet,” they told Arab News.

“It’s the best thing we’ve ever done,” Harrington, who is British, added. “It’s incredibly satisfying. Every week we have kind of a gathering after the show where we get to meet and talk to people who have just seen the show, and the feedback so far has been incredible.”

“I think it’s kind of almost there already,” added Ukrainian Liani. “It’s just that one thing that’s missing — a little bit more shows.” 

The pair won the golden buzzer on “Ukraine's Got Talent,” performed on “Britain's Got Talent” in 2019 and enjoyed a warm reception on “America's Got Talent” in 2022.

“When we performed at The Magic Circle, which is the world’s most prestigious magic organization based in London, they awarded us with something that I never thought I would get, which is membership to the Inner Magic Circle,” Harrington said. “There can only ever be 200 members of the Inner Magic Circle. And I think currently, there are only about 10 of them that are women. So, the fact that Marina was awarded it as well is incredible.”

The pair will also take part in the coveted International Federation of Magic Societies (FISM) convention, scheduled for the summer of 2025 in Italy. 

Like many magicians and mentalists, the couple often face accusations of employing planted audience members and covert electronic devices for communication. 

“Those are things that we go to incredible lengths with within our show to prove that we’re not using,” Harrington said. “We also have $100,000 reward to anyone that can prove we use actors or secret electronics, because we don’t, and I think it would be incredibly boring. There would be no art in it if we were just faking those things.”