I am Brandon Parnes and after unfortunately missing last week’s premiere due to a pre-planned vacation, I am back for the summer covering magic for Season 8 of America’s Got Talent! I was welcomed back to not 1 but 3 magic acts this week, and here’s what went down.
The first magic-oriented act of the night was found in San Antonio of a man by the name of Brad Byers. This flamboyantly dressed 53 year old is a sword swallower. Sword swallowing acts haven’t been as popular on AGT as magicians with only 6 being televised. But Byers put not 1 but 2 twists on it. First, he swallowed 9 swords. Second, he did it while being hooked up to a x-ray machine for authenticity.
Doesn’t Brad look familiar? Here’s a refresher from Season 4.
Then came 16 year old Collins Key. He is a close up magician, which is different for AGT. The last 2 people to do close up magic both got eliminated in Vegas, but Collins, Collins is different. Being a young magician close to his age and his story, this guy really hit home for me. His 90 seconds consisted of a bill flight from being burned to inside a bag of popcorn. And even though the judges were a bit distracted by money and food, Collins won them over and went straight to Vegas.
And lastly is Alexandria the Great, a 51 year old female escape artist. For her act she chained herself up at the bottom of a pool and escaped in less than 2 minutes.
See you next week!
Recaps are written by Brandon Parnes.
