{"id":11129,"date":"2026-08-11T15:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T22:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=11129"},"modified":"2026-08-30T16:43:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T23:43:57","slug":"thoroughly-modern-mentalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/thoroughly-modern-mentalists\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoroughly Modern Mentalists"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chic<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Advertisement<\/center><\/p>\n

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\"MIND2MIND\"<\/span><\/div><\/div>

James Harrington and Marina Liani of MIND2MIND<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Thoroughly Modern Mentalists<\/h1>\n

By Stacey Gualandi \/\/ Photography courtesy of MIND2MIND<\/p>\n<\/div>

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They had me at \u201cseahorse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not one to avoid audience participation, I played right along as James Harrington and Marina Liani picked me for their \u201cguess what animal is on my card\u201d trick. Also not one to be speechless, I yelled \u2013 loudly \u2013 \u201cOh my God\u201d when they guessed seahorse. It blew my, well \u2026 mind!<\/p>\n

Harrington (from the U.K.) and Liani (from Ukraine) are the married mentalists behind MIND2MIND, the intimate, interactive and immersive magic show now taking up (head) space on the Las Vegas Strip.<\/p>\n

They recently celebrated their 50th show at the Azul Lounge inside Fontainebleau and are taking mindfulness to a whole new level.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"James<\/span><\/div><\/div>

James Harrington and Marina Liani of MIND2MIND<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

To put your mind at ease, every show is different because you, the audience member, become part of the show.<\/p>\n

They are currently performing every week, Friday through Tuesday, with two shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Each show includes a pre-sleight-of-hand cocktail hour, followed by a post-show meet-and-greet.<\/p>\n

This charismatic couple \u2013 also reappearing this season on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d \u2013 has come a long way from home. (Harrington was once named the best close-up magician in Dubai!)<\/p>\n

From Tinder to \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d and \u201cBritain\u2019s Got Talent\u201d; Royal Command Performances to becoming the 2025 FISM World Champions of Mentalism; Magic Castle\u2019s Stage Magicians of the Year to their Sin City residency (thanks to The Magician\u2019s Study), mind games are their modus operandi.<\/p>\n<\/div>

For this duo, it\u2019s about dedication and redefining connection across the globe. They wanted to create something different: \u201can experience that leaves people questioning what\u2019s possible long after they leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

I still can\u2019t get my head around Liani guessing every object in that box!<\/p>\n

To find out how they do it, I recently pressed them on their digitation. But don\u2019t worry, guys: Your secrets are safe with me.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Marina<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Marina Liani, Stacey Gualandi, Dee Gualandi and James Harrington after MIND2MIND<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

Chic Compass: You have earned your global fame. But did you always want a residency in Las Vegas?<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Harrington: <\/strong>Vegas was always the dream. This is absolutely incredible. We can't really believe that we are here, to be honest. It's all happened really quickly. Every year, we've spent a lot of time just focusing on building our brand and building our acts. We decided during COVID that we didn't care about the money. What we care about is being known as the best in the world at what we do. It really became more about legacy than anything financial. So, we've just invested everything that we earned back into ourselves.<\/p>\n

Chic Compass: I think it\u2019s about time Vegas got MIND2MIND!<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Harrington: <\/strong>We\u2019ve had a few different offers from different Vegas venues. Some of them were too big; some of them were too small. It wasn't just about getting into Vegas for the sake of being in Vegas. We wanted it to be right. Then the producer from The Magician\u2019s Study had seen us at a few magic conventions performing and loved what we do. He came to see us at the Magic Castle. He had this \u201cin\u201d at Fontainebleau and said, \u201cDo you want to try this?\u201d And we said, \u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"James<\/span><\/div><\/div>

James Harrington and Marina Liani during the finale of MIND2MIND<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

Chic Compass: It sounds like it took a little magic. Ha!<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Harrington: <\/strong>Honestly, had we not done the whole training for the World Championships, we wouldn't have been ready; had we not done our theater show in Dubai for two years, we wouldn't have been ready; and had we not gotten O-1 visas \u2014 which we got on the off chance something like this might happen \u2013 none of this would have been possible.<\/p>\n

Chic Compass: You each have a specific role.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marina Liani: <\/strong>James is the charisma. He is the presenter. He's the showman, and he looks at people and collects all the necessary pieces for me to gather and then decode later. I don't speak that much. I do talk, but when I say things, I only say things that I feel are really important.<\/p>\n

Chic Compass: I am not shy, but many people don\u2019t like to be picked to play!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marina Liani:<\/strong> We\u2019ll always try, but we don't force people into it; it\u2019s only if you would like to. But James is a professional in that he knows how to pick the right people.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"James<\/span><\/div><\/div>

James Harrington and Marina Liani of MIND2MIND<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

Chic Compass: How does your act differ from other mentalist performers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Harrington:<\/strong> The show is what we call an \u201coutward-facing\u201d show. We want to give energy to the audience rather than taking it. It's not a \u201clook at us and how clever we are\u201d show. It's a show about connection, love and kindness. We do demonstrate what we can do with our connection, but then we go on to giving those abilities to people in the audience. We have a bit where a couple actually hear each other's thoughts, which we did with Tom Brady and [friend, billionaire real estate developer] Jeffrey Soffer.<\/p>\n

Chic Compass: Not too many people can do what you two do.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Harrington: <\/strong>What we've focused on is a very, very rare form of mentalism called \u201cSecond Sight.\u201d In effect, Marina has the ability to see through my eyes, so she can be blindfolded or somebody can be covering her eyes. I go into the audience, and Marina's able to detect things about people in the audience that I'm close to. We don\u2019t use any form of electronics, no gimmicks; it\u2019s only us and thousands of hours of dedicated practice to master, which is why this type of mentalism is so rare. It's almost like it's the closest thing you could get to sleight of hand of the mind.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"James<\/span><\/div><\/div>

James Harrington and Marina Liani of MIND2MIND<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

Chic Compass: Did you really meet on a dating app?<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Harrington:<\/strong> Yes! We matched on Tinder in 2017 and started working on our act very soon after that. I did do a lot of tricks for her on our first date. I think I bent a coin.<\/p>\n

Marina Liani: <\/strong>Yes, and he vanished the bill, and then it appeared in his wallet. It was crazy. He did the whole magic show for me!<\/p>\n

James Harrington:<\/strong> That\u2019s another reason this act is so rare: It\u2019s really hard to find two people who are so willing to dedicate such a large chunk of every single day for their entire lives to mastering something. I love that Michelangelo quote: \u201cIf people saw how much work we put into this, they'd realize we have no talent at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Can one person really see through another\u2019s eyes? Stacey Gualandi goes inside the mind-bending world of MIND2MIND, where married mentalists James Harrington and Marina Liani turn extraordinary connection into an intimate, interactive Las Vegas experience. From Tinder and international competitions to America\u2019s Got Talent and their Fontainebleau residency, the world champions reveal the dedication, chemistry and thousands of hours of practice behind their thoroughly modern approach to mentalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2360,4520],"tags":[4369,4109,3167,4228,4229,4511,3128],"class_list":["post-11129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-entertainment","tag-entertainer","tag-entertainers","tag-entertainment","tag-magic","tag-magician","tag-mind2mind","tag-stacey-gualandi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11262,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11129\/revisions\/11262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}