S09.E02: Auditions, Week 2

[Guest]

Hopefuls from across the country audition for the judges.

 

[HowdyTV]

So on the 'phrenology' magic act, Howie was in on it, right? So far, it's pretty entertaining. I do like the pace being picked up. Wish they had shown a slo-mo of the Korean man slicing the chopsticks with a dollar bill. It looked more like his fingers did the breaking to me.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

AGT delivered again.  AI was pretty great at the start this past season, as well, so I best not get too excited.  Hearing Come On, Get Happy absolutely set a tremendous tone for me.

 

The magicians making a fool out of Howie were so excellent.  I looooooved when the one guy whipped out the plastic glove for the germaphobic Mandel.

 

White Boyz tappers weren't even fully in sync.  I get the cuteness factor, but dance ability is not up to standard.  To use a Sternism - not a million dollar act.

 

Howie totally gave away that the jidges are given direction as to whether a given act is "worthy" when he screamed at the crowd to not turn on Kung Fool.  I did laugh out loud, though, when the lady stood mute when Howie asked her if she were an interpreter.  

 

X Games bikers are a one trick pony and have the added burden of an outside proscenium.  No way they can win.  

 

Editing was not quite as tight as last week, but I did appreciate the montages for jumping and kids acts.

 

That last salsa dance was the closest thing to pairs ice skating I have seen without ice.  Having said that, I am certain I do not want to see them dance anything in hold, especially tango of any kind.

 

I saw maybe two acts I could put in the final.

[Babalooie]

The Willis Family has already had their  own reality show.  Not sure of the rules of the show.  I guess past experience doesn't matter.

 

http://www.gactv.com/gac/pac_ctnt/text/0,,GAC_26058_107286,00.html

[Diana Berry]

I'm thinking that the magician had a hidden mirror. Howie was reading the word from the mirror so it was backwards? I noticed when Howie tried to pronounce the word they tended to stop him pretty fast. Just a guess. Any magicians want to weigh in?

[car54]

I thought there was something about how the cards that the judges could read were printed.    You know those plastic pictures where there are fine grooves in them and if you tilt in one direction you see one picture and if you look from another angle you see something else?  I have no idea what you call them but I thought that is how the cards worked.   There was something wavy or textured in how the print that made me think that.

[peggy06]

That first family never should have been put through. Just average, and relying on the cute factor of the littlest one. I can't say I was totally wowed by any act, but most of them were at least entertaining. First magicians (phrenologists) were good. I also thought it might be the angle of the card. Motocross guys were exciting, but I don't really see them as a headlining act, especially as they need to perform outdoors. Neither singer really grabbed me, but maybe I've watched too many singing shows. The 15-year-old was mostly a surprise because who expects a kid of that age to sing jazz? Her voice was good, she used it well, but I don't think good enough to win this show. Ditto for the 21-year-old guy. The card thrower was something I haven't seen before. I was mostly impressed that he could throw it so far. But again with the child acts - I don't see them winning, and it's hard for the judges to judge them fairly without seeming mean. Tap dancers were good, not great. Aerial animation as well.

 

I do appreciate that they show mostly decent acts, rather than trainwrecks. One trainwreck per episode is all I can tolerate.

[A Boston Gal]

We had a return to the horrid camera work of seasons past with the aerialist and video screen performer. Constant cutaways to the judges just ruined the flow for me, and although it looked like a great act, I certainly couldn't get the full effect of it. Arrgh! Very frustrating!

[marketdoctor]

I thought the oldest member of the Willis family reminded me of Carrie Underwood with lots of siblings.  I couldn't get as strong of a read as to the talent, though I thought Mel B. was right about taking advantage of the harmonies (also horray useful comment from a judge!).  As to the rules--you can be moderately famous but still be on the show, as long as you don't have a competing contract.

 

For the magicians, you might be able to tell depending on if they showed Howie the cards at an angle vs. showing them to the judges.  That's why the "phrenology" would work, because it forced him to hold his head steady so they could angle the cards.  Still, a nice use of misdirection combined with technology (and the plastic glove was a nice thought.)  The switching nametags was cool, too.  I thought the "card up his butt" magician did the trick well enough, but gross=/=million dollar act to me. (It was innovative, if gross, and he'll probably get more work from the exposure.)

 

The best camera work was with the stunt motorcycles, where there wasn't an audience to cut to.  I'm not sure how to make that into a stage act, though.  (MIghty Atom Jr. from last week could have had the car on stage--just prob. not worth trying to arrange for an audition.)  Because why see something new and original when we can see random strangers being really impressed by something? (Is it that hard to have more than one camera also showing the act?  That way you can get the cuts they enjoy making and still have the talent we enjoy seeing.)

 

And maybe I'm getting softer, but I didn't hate the kids this week--possibly because the kids had real talent, or were less LOOK AT ME I'M A KID props and more background props. 

 

 

The screen dancers from last week are going to have a harder time against the areilist with a screen.  That was a way to make a type of act we've seen before into something really original.

Edited June 4, 2014 by marketdoctor

[tominboston]

I thought the card trick magician who made interesting use of his, uh, anatomy was hysterical, especially since he picked Howard (the onetime king of radio raunch) to retrieve the card. I'd love to know how the magician planted the card. Or maybe not.

 

The young jazz singer and the aerielist-with-animation were the two acts from last night that I want to see again.

Edited June 4, 2014 by tominboston

[LoneHaranguer]

 

For the magicians, you might be able to tell depending on if they showed Howie the cards at an angle vs. showing them to the judges.  That's why the "phrenology" would work, because it forced him to hold his head steady so they could angle the cards.

There were camera shots from an angle where the cards were perfectly readable. Of course, if the producers were in on it, whatever effect was confusing Howie could have easily been filtered out for broadcast. The "phrenology" spin is not implausible; you can take advantage of quirks in the human nervous system to get senses to interfere with each other and vision is the most complex sense.

 

Based on the judges comments, we got a very abbreviated look at the bikers. Good call by the producers; I thought what we were shown was boring enough as it was.

[helenamonster]

At first I thought the phrenology act depended on the angle of the card, but after the one guy removed his hand from Howie's head, they still held the cards at the same angle as they had previously (at least I thought they did). Either way, I thought those two guys had great charisma and showmanship (the thing with the name tags was great) and I'd like to see what else they can do.

 

I thought the other magician was funny, if gross, and he clearly had talent. Part of me was hoping Heidi would have used her golden buzzer opportunity on him.

 

The Duggar--I mean, the Willis kids were ok. I thought the fact that they did an original arrangement was pretty cool, but I'm not particularly excited to see them again.

 

Why oh why did they not keep the camera still for that aerial act? I thought it was really good but we barely got to see any of it. Also, I think it might have been after her act, the camera cut to a pan of the audience, I guess because she was getting a standing O? Either way, idk if it was the color on my television but I couldn't see anyone, and it just really hit home how not good the editing team on this show is. Why show a cut of something that we can't even see properly?

 

As someone who took tap class from when she was six, all the way through the end of high school, I would have appreciated more actual tapping from the duo. I think they relied too much on their facial expressions and didn't demonstrate any extraordinary skill.

 

The triplet card throwing act was pretty cute, and that kid was good. But I could barely understand a word any of them were saying.

 

Wasn't super impressed by either of the singers. The song the 21-year-old sang ("Too Close" by Alex Clare) was used during the audition of that guy from last year with the beard who made it to the live rounds.

[A Boston Gal]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one incredibly frustrated by the camera work during the aerial act, helenamonster.  Let us watch the performers, TPTB! Is that so much to ask??

[Ohwell]

The only two I liked were the tango guys and the aerialist with the screen.

 

In general, I don't like magic acts or card tricks, so I didn't like any of those acts last night.

 

I've seen NotDuggar family somewhere else but I don't remember on what show it was.  The little girl was just a cute prop, and I know she was little but there was no "dancing" going on there.   I hope they don't make it to the finals.

[theatremouse]

I was completely surprised when the judges were so gaga over the aerialist with the animation. Unless she also animated it herself, I don't see how it shows very much talent. If you picture her act without the animation behind her, the aerial tricks she was doing were not that impressive at all. I also didn't think the story was particularly inventive. Mel B said something about being moved by the story? That really confused me. Run away from a bear...fall...swim away from a shark...get in a boat. Ok and...? 

 

The look of the piece was cool, and I think it's a great idea in general. So good on her for coming up with it but what was actually presented to me read more like a super basic proof of concept, not an actual story or something that could be expanded into an actual piece.

 

I've disagreed with the judges about acts before, but usually at least I can see why they would like it even though I didn't. This is I think one of the only times where I was really flummoxed that they were all so enthusiastic.

[Gimmick Genius]

Another guess on the word cards in the 'phrenology' act -- the judges and the cameras were reading the cards from many feet away; Howie from only a very few inches. They may have been printed with some subtle 'interference pattern' that obscures them up close, but not at a distance. I've seen an illusion on facebook that works like that; depending on viewing distance it's a photo of Marilyn Monroe ... or Albert Einstein! Kind of fine line detail you can 'read' up close, but soft-focus shading that overwealms it from a distance. Finally, when they did allow Howie to successfully read the cards the magician MIGHT have switched to different set (of the same words) without being noticed. Just a guess.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

The best camera work was with the stunt motorcycles, where there wasn't an audience to cut to.

I don't even agree with that.  We were never shown a complete stunt from beginning to end!  Thus I never felt the Christian motorcyclists were that impressive -  I felt like I was just seeing the same part of the same stunt over and over -.and I couldn't judge what they were really doing.

Was creeped out by the un-Duggars.  Perhaps more exposure will change my mind but now that I find out from thjs thread that they are reality TV veterans I take a pass on them.

 

was completely surprised when the judges were so gaga over the aerialist with the animation. Unless she also animated it herself, I don't see how it shows very much talent. If you picture her act without the animation behind her, the aerial tricks she was doing were not that impressive at all.

This!!! I did not get the enthusiasm for this act AT ALL, other than that I appreciated the love of silent movies she showed in the Gertie the Dinosaur style of animation and the ship being called the Damfino (a Buster Keaton reference). 

Edited June 5, 2014 by ratgirlagogo

[helenamonster]

Yeah, I felt like I might have enjoyed the motorcycle thing if I'd actually seen it in person, but I didn't feel it translated well to television.

 

I felt like it was implied that the woman in the aerial act animated the backdrop, but she might not have. I hope she did though, because that takes serious talent. Idk, I'm a sucker for screen/shadow/light acts. I'd much rather watch them than any of the singers. No matter how good a singer on this show might be, I get so goddamned bored with them. That's the reason I don't watch strictly singing competitions, except for occasionally The Voice with my mom, but even then I'm more interested in the production quality of the show than the contestants.

[DrLar]

I don't know why but I think the show still has the same camera director that always seem to ruin the acts, constantly cutting off to the judges/audience, not showing some important part of the act, etc..  for example on the bike team we barely saw what the other 2 guys were doing and they focused more on the jumping guy.

 

The aerialist? act ruined for us at home....

 

Didn't see much promising acts, maybe the 15 y/o jazz singer

 

I hated that the judges said that they never seen anything like that when Nick kicked the kung fu guy in the nuts... hello?

[Shermie]

I thought the animation aerialist said she did the animation work herself. I thought it was a clever and entertaining act - which is what I think this show is all about. Well, what I SAW of it was clever and entertaining; I'm talking to you director/editor/monkeys in charge.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

for example on the bike team we barely saw what the other 2 guys were doing and they focused more on the jumping guy.

Actually, there were 3 other guys; we saw them all lined up when they cut to the arena. One was on a bicycle and did tricks like schoolkids do. The other two were doing tricks similar to each other and the director seemed to favor the one riding the big flashy model so the other was mostly in the background.

[Kromm]

The Willis Family has already had their  own reality show.  Not sure of the rules of the show.  I guess past experience doesn't matter.

 

http://www.gactv.com/gac/pac_ctnt/text/0,,GAC_26058_107286,00.html

It's been made clear over the years that the rules are that technically ANYONE is eligible.  Theoretically Howie could audition as a comedian, lets say, if he didn't have a conflict of interest.

 

Tom Cotter, for example, had already been on Last Comic Standing, already had a Comedy Central special, done multiple appearances on The Tonight Show, won the Grand Prizes of the Boston and Las Vegas Comedy Festivals, and had a 6 episode TV series called "Two Funny: Cotter & Louise" (admittedly on a shit channel nobody has ever heard of, the WE channel).

Edited June 5, 2014 by Kromm

[Kromm]

Another guess on the word cards in the 'phrenology' act -- the judges and the cameras were reading the cards from many feet away; Howie from only a very few inches. They may have been printed with some subtle 'interference pattern' that obscures them up close, but not at a distance. I've seen an illusion on facebook that works like that; depending on viewing distance it's a photo of Marilyn Monroe ... or Albert Einstein! Kind of fine line detail you can 'read' up close, but soft-focus shading that overwealms it from a distance. Finally, when they did allow Howie to successfully read the cards the magician MIGHT have switched to different set (of the same words) without being noticed. Just a guess.

This was my guess too (although there was a closeup camera shot at one point--which would have to mean that its an interference pattern that only is visible to the human eye).

Edited June 5, 2014 by Kromm

[daughtersofanarchy]

Regarding Tom Cotter - yes, all that background and he didn't even win AGT.  heh

 

Couldn't possibly agree more that the aerialist got short-changed on camera coverage.  And the same for the ministry biker guys.  I didn't see the guy on the regular bicycle even once, and I thought afterward that I might have had a micro-sleep moment or something.

 

The singer guy with the guitar has a nice voice, but no, not another guy with a hat growing on his head.  Please singer guy, rip off that hat and put a match to it.

 

The tapping guys were very personable, but I agree that they were out of sync several times.  When there are only two of you and your aren't matching up, it's pretty glaring.

 

Singing girl did a decent job on the higher, louder parts, but needs a lot of work on the softer stuff.  You can't get away with speaking the words or cutting off notes in the style of singing she is attempting.

 

Thought the magicians had just the right tone and pacing.  Interested to see what comes next.

 

The big family was pretty good.  Their arrangement was much better than I expected.  I had never heard of them before.

 

Wonder if there will be an animal act next time.  Maybe puppies riding lawn tractors in front of a projection screen showing giant dog biscuits and kibble raining down?

[Kromm]

I can almost guarantee we see copycats of Aerialist Animation Girl on Britain's Got Talent (viewable always here) in it's next edition (because that's happened for every new type of act like this--Simon Cowell's people fish around Europe for someone to copy something from AGT), and perhaps some ramped up version (probably with multiple people all at once) on AGT in some future season (because that also happens--bigger versions of the same idea).

 

Oh, the funniest part will be that at least for the inevitable BGT copy, even though Cowell will have been the one to put it together, the judges there will exclaim about how original it is and how they've never seen anything like it before.  

Edited June 5, 2014 by Kromm

[backformore]

I thought there was something about how the cards that the judges could read were printed.    You know those plastic pictures where there are fine grooves in them and if you tilt in one direction you see one picture and if you look from another angle you see something else?  I have no idea what you call them but I thought that is how the cards worked.   There was something wavy or textured in how the print that made me think that.

 

Yeah, I've seen somerthing like this before, wish i could recall where.  The giveaway for me was that the words were brownish, not black,  and not a clear crisp font. 

 

I wasn't crazy about the big family, didn't see a ton of talent there, especially from the younger ones.   4 year old kids don't have to do much to be "AWWWWW"  cute, but is that talent?   No, it's being 4.

 

The triplets with the card-throwing was another one I didn't get.   He can throw cards.  OK.   I'm not sure how that translates to another performance. 

 

ETA:  about the cards Howie coudn't read -   I Just got it!  yep, looked it up, Howie Mandel is COLOR-BLIND!   they used, I'm sure, a variation of a colorblind test called Ishihara plates.http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.asp  because of the color variations, it looks one way to people who can see color, and a different way to those who are colorblind. 

Edited June 8, 2014 by backformore

[Dilandau]

Yeah, but how did they turn the trick off then?

[ratgirlagogo]

 

The triplets with the card-throwing was another one I didn't get.   He can throw cards.  OK.   I'm not sure how that translates to another performance

The first magician I ever saw do this was Ricky Jay and of course he was and is amazing.  This kid has the trick, but he hasn't worked out the act.  Another reason why I don't care for the kid acts - he really is good at the card throwing and given a few years I think he's likely to be a better magician than a lot of the ones we've seen on this show.  But not now.

[EVS]

Hi. First post. Another TWoP refuge. I hope this is ok to post:

The Willis kids are the grandkids of the couple who was kind of at the center of the license for bribes scandal here in Illinois. The grandparents lost their 6 youngest children as a result of an accident caused by a truck driver with an illegally obtained license. I read that the family does not want this used as a backstory on the show.

[Kromm]

Yeah, but how did they turn the trick off then?

Whether it was because of Howie being colorblind, or any other printing technique where the print wouldn't be visible to him, the end bit was simple sleight of hand. Pulling other similar cards out of that deck at the end and presenting them as if they were the same ones he'd been shown earlier.

 

That said, the color stuff would explain why when the camera caught the cards, they looked readable.  The ultimate test would be if a colorblind person at home has written somewhere on the net about not being able to read those cards (also, according to the statistics, enough of the audience should have been colorblind as well that the trick also depended on none of them being vocal enough to be noticed on the subject--admittedly fairly likely in a big performance space like that).

[DrLar]

Wow didn't know Howie was color blind.. I guess dressing in flashy colors will not do anything for him other than the performance..