Young & Strange are Richard Young (born July 24, 1984) and Sam Strange (born November 30, 1984), a British comedy magic and illusion double act from Oxford who bonded over magic at age eight. As of October 2026, they have been performing as a duo for roughly sixteen years, are three-time veterans of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, headline the touring production of Champions of Magic, and finished in the Top 11 of America's Got Talent Season 21 (2026) after being eliminated in the September 16 semifinal results show.

The Double Act

Richard Young and Sam Strange met at school in Oxford and became friends at age eight over a shared fascination with magic. As adults, both ran near-identical solo magic businesses in Oxford, competing for the same private and corporate events. They put on their first joint show together at The Thame Players Theatre in Oxfordshire in 2010 and went on to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for four consecutive years, presenting the biggest illusion shows ever staged at the festival.

Champions of Magic & Live Work

The duo have headlined Champions of Magic, billed as the world's largest international touring magic show, since 2013. The production regularly plays the biggest theatres and arenas across North America and globally. In summer 2021, Young & Strange appeared as one of the main cast members of Wonderville, a variety show at the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End, running from July 16 to August 30. The Magic Circle of London presented them with the Carlton Comedy Award in 2018.

Television

Penn & Teller: Fool Us: Three appearances, in 2011, 2017, and 2025. Penn and Teller figured out the method on every appearance; Young & Strange did not fool the duo on any attempt.
ITV's The Next Great Magician: Featured performers.
NBC's Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon: Featured performers.
The Today Show and Access Hollywood: National morning-show appearances during the AGT 2026 run.
Richard Young also hosts The Magicians' Podcast, available on iTunes and Spotify, with interviews that have included David Copperfield, Derren Brown, and Teller.

America's Got Talent Season 21 (2026)

Young & Strange auditioned for the twenty-first season of America's Got Talent on NBC. Their audition featured a dangerous close-up illusion performed at the judges' table; Simon Cowell expressed muted enthusiasm, drawing audience boos, while Howie Mandel, Mel B, and Sofía Vergara voted yes. They advanced through the quarterfinals without a judges' callback.

Quarter-final 4 (September 8, 2026): The duo opened with a comedic bit about a mismatched unit of measurement, then performed what they billed as a "world-first grand illusion under impossible conditions" — a metamorphosis box built with its front and sides left open throughout, raised off the stage floor to rule out trap doors, and performed under full stage lighting with nowhere to hide. The routine earned a standing ovation from all four judges. Heidi Klum, filling in as guest judge for Simon Cowell (who was recovering from back surgery), declared: "I could see this in Vegas!" Sofía Vergara admitted she wanted to press her live Golden Buzzer for the duo but held onto it for the night, calling their magic "perfection." The pair moved on to the semifinals via America's vote, with Vergara using her Golden Buzzer later in the night on human-robot dance troupe Unitree.

Semi-final (September 15, 2026): A comedy illusion that brought two children from the audience into the routine. Eliminated in the September 16 results show, finishing in the Top 11.

The four magic acts that survived the S21 quarterfinals — Young & Strange, Geno Ploeger, Hundred Fingers, and Kameron Marshall — tied the all-time AGT record for magic acts past a quarterfinal round, matching the mark set in Season 9 (2014) when Mat Franco, David & Leeman, Mike Super, and Smoothini all advanced together on the way to Franco's championship win.

Viral Video (Sky News, 2015)

In July 2015, a video surfaced depicting Young and Strange apparently photobombing a Sky News live broadcast and performing a "shrinking man" illusion behind presenter Ashish Joshi as he appeared to report outside the Houses of Parliament. It was later revealed that Joshi was in on the joke, with Sky News confirming via Twitter that the clip had been produced independently in the style of a Sky News bulletin. The video passed 50 million views across multiple networks and was covered by The Sun, The Mirror, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Radio Times, Time, the Huffington Post, MTV, and Cosmopolitan.

Style

The Young & Strange live act combines two things that rarely share a stage: big illusions and genuine comedy. The laughs lower the audience's guard so the magic lands harder. The act features large-scale stage illusions, pyrotechnics, and high production values, woven together by a running narrative — sometimes a rivalry between the pair, sometimes two ambitious underdogs achieving their goals in hilarious and unorthodox ways.

2027 Plans & Las Vegas Question

As of October 2026, no Las Vegas residency has been announced. Their next major project is Delusionists, a solo headlining tour launching in January 2027: Florida dates (Clearwater Jan 27, Fort Lauderdale Jan 28, Orlando Jan 29, Jacksonville Jan 31), followed by Northeast U.S. dates (Laconia NH Feb 4, Peekskill NY Feb 5, Rutland VT Feb 6, Cranston RI Feb 11, Plymouth MA Feb 12), with additional dates to be announced. Heidi Klum's "I could see this in Vegas" comment during the AGT quarterfinal was a quality descriptor of the act's scale, not a residency booking.