Wednesday, June 11, 2014

NBC's "America's Got Talent": night 3 of auditions


I wasn't always paying full attention during last night's episode of "America's Got Talent," and I didn't take notes, but the official website does have video clips which kind of remind me of which acts I liked:

* Smoothini - This guy was fantastic! He did up close magic tricks with just sleight of hand. making multiple cards appear out of thin air; pouring salt into his hand, making it disappear, and then reappear; and other stuff like that. With the benefit of TiVo's ability to rewind and pause, I was able to spot some of his tricks, but there were others that still left me baffled. Besides the arsenal of tricks performed at a rapid-fire pace, he's got charm and the kind of backstory that "AGT" loves, as he's a former U.S. Marine who honed his skills while serving in Kuwait. Best act of the night, and of the show so far.

* Andrey Moraru - Another very impressive act. He called himself a "hand balancer," and that's what he did: support his entire body in the air on one hand, at impressive angles, including one neat pose where his arm in the air and his legs are arranged in parallel to the ground. I think he'll progress into the voting rounds, but these sorts of gymnastic/strength acts don't seem to have the deep support that singers, etc. tend to get.

* Ballet Jasmine Flower - This was an all Asian women dance troupe that used colorful fans to great effect with their coordinated movements. Very pretty to watch.

* Bob Markworth & Mayana - 70-something year old guy with a crossbow shoots at balloons held by his young female assistant. Except sometimes he doesn't shoot the balloons, but at articles of her clothing. Funny act, but the crossbow acts seem to have trouble coming up with newer and seemingly more dangerous stunts to keep wowing the judges.

* Mudslinger on the Pig - I have a soft spot for pigs. This act had a cute pink pig . . . with small tusks! It made me look up whether all pigs have tusks, which led to the answer that hogs do. Which in turn led me to wonder, what is the difference between pigs and hogs.

* Jodi Miller - This comedienne did an entire riff on men being cats and women being dogs, which had pretty good body acting in tandem with the jokes. But I've always thought that as far as gender and pet stereotypes go, men are more like dogs and women more like cats. After all, cats are cleaner than dogs. Anyway, she was funny, but I think the comedian from the first night was funnier.

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