It’s been a rocky road for America’s Got Talent: Extreme, but it finally premiers with a four week run on NBC. American Song Contestant has been pushed back to March 21, but the schedule change works, because the pandemic could make ASC’s live shows dicey.
AGT: Extreme taped in front of a studio audience at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, and later, after the NBC paused production after a horrific accident during rehearsal, at the Irwindale Speedway in California. Tonight’s premiere takes place in Georgia. Jonathan Goodwin’s unfortunate accident is never mentioned.
Sitting on the judges panel alongside creator Simon Cowell is motocross legend Travis Pastrana and WWE wrestler and reality star, Nikki Bella. Terry Crews hosts.
The show’s format is similar to regular flavor AGT: The acts audition, at least two yeses sends the act to the next round. However, at home superfans will vote whether an act goes through to the final. However, the Golden Buzzer is in play. Recipients will go straight through to the final. The winner takes home $500,ooo.
The two hour premiere only includes six acts. Some of the clips feel like they could have been edited down. Only two acts were truly impressive–David “Bullet” who shot himself out of a a cannon, and Wheelz, an athlete who performs dangerous stunts in a wheelchair.
Here are tonight’s acts.
Aaron Evans – 31 – Hardcore jumper
Jumps over “anything and everything.” Aaron was born and raised in Milwaukee by a single mother. “I’m a mama’s boy,” he confesses. He works without a crash mat, so everything has to be “perfect.” By day, he’s a fiber technician. Aaron’s boss is very supportive. His big dream is to buy his mom a restaurant. His act consists of somersaulting over three fast moving cars. He celebrates remaining alive at the end with a series of flips on the track. Now he’s in front of the judges on another stage, and it’s obviously hours later, because it’s dark outside. Travis calls it “Fantastic.” He appreciates the timing and showmanship. Nikki calls it “electrifying” and “100 percent extreme.” Simon didn’t particularly like that…of course he ABSOLUTELY BLEEPING LOVED IT. He predicts Aaron will make the final – 3 yeses
Joogsquad – 27-35 – Homegrown extreme stunts
They are three Daredevils from Clearwater, Florida. They upload their stunts to Youtube. The act is complicated–lighting one of the three on fire, a trampoline full of mousetraps and surfing across a swimming pool filled with lighted gasoline. They grew up on Jacka**, obvs. There is a lot going on, but the overall effect is basic. Covered in fire retardent, jumping around, falling on mousetraps in protective clothing. The surfing through fire takes some skill, admittedly. Again FIRE RETARDANT is their friend. Travis wants to say something nice, he notes he’s never seen anything like that before. Simon didn’t like it “dreadful” until the end. But he loves their personalities. Nikki thinks they could have done more. Still, 3 yeses
Verge Aero – 30-56 – Aerial Drone Show – Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer
These guys look like dads. They fly choreographed drones. So not really dangerous. They are computer nerds from Philadelphia. They LOVE drone tech. The four men own a company that creates drone entertainment. They are promoting their company, it seems. The drones take off. It’s very pretty, set against a Coldplay song. This stuff isn’t new. Olympic opening and closing ceremonies have featured spectacular drone presentations, way more awesome than this particular demonstration. It’s still cool though. The act’s big finish is spelling out the AGT logo in red. Nikki calls it “astonishing.” She wanted to see more and more. Travis calls it better than fireworks. Simon calls drones annoying…until now. “Just sensational. Oh wow. Simon hits his golden buzzer. That’s surprising. I’d expect him to choose a very dangerous act, because he loves that.
David “The Bullet” Smith – 44 – Human Cannonball
He’s shoots himself out of a cannon. His dad did it too. An engineer, he constructed his own cannons and ended up in the Guiness Book of World Records. David’s daughter is following in the family’s footsteps. David has been shooting himself out of cannons for 25 years. He’s hoping to break a Guinness record with the stunt. When he shoots out, he’ll go more than 74 miles an hour, 90 feet high, through a ring of fire. A ton of calculating goes into planning a stunt like this. One small mistake, and it’s curtains. Unfortunately, the headwind in the speedway is strong and he stops for a minute to recalibrate the shot. The stunt looks looks dicey, but nevertheless it goes off flawlessly. That was actually impressive. Travis has never seen a cannon act that shot so high in the air. “You wowed me,” says Nikki. “You have enormous balls,” says Simon. Har har. – 3 yeses
Jenna Bandy – 28 – Social Media Sports Influencer
She’s an extreme sports content creator who makes money on social media. Jenna is hoping to break her own Guinness record: Female throwing a football into a target. 91 feet would break her record. She THROWS and she misses. Oops. She throws again. She misses again. Third time, she overshoots. This is embarrassing, as she throws over and over and over again and continues to miss. She throws her last ball…and she misses. Simon buzzes her off – 3 nos
Leeky Da Bikestar – 31 – Street Motocross
He grew up in a rough neighborhood. But riding a dirt biker gave him focus. Eventually, he uploaded his stunts to social media. His strives to inspire his young son. As such, he works with kids to keep them off the streets. During his stunt, he’ll simulate swerving around cars on a busy New York street. Leeky pops wheelies as he weaves in and around cars. He hangs off his bike, and jumps around on the seat. He finishes standing on the seat, no hands. Travis loved the presentation, but wants to know if the bike is tricked out. Nope. Leeky does not adjust the bike at all. “That would be cheating,” he thinks. Travis says most riders would trick the bike out. Simon calls it “spectacular” and compliments his “guts” and “great heart.” – 3 yeses
Next, Simon, Nikkie, Travis and Terry race around the track in wacky crazy cars. Three laps around the track and hilarity ensues.
Aaron “Wheelz” – 29 – Wheelchair Motocross Athlete – Nikki’s Golden Buzzer
The final act is a daredevil in a wheelchair. His stunt starts at the top of a huge ramp, and ends in a flip. Travis and Wheelz know each other, so he won’t be voting. The athlete, who performs skateboard like stunts in a wheelchair, was born with Spina Bifida, resulting in 23 surgeries. He used crutches as a young child, but now prefers a wheelchair. Once he settled on using a wheelchair instead of trying to walk, he felt free. His wife convinced him to audition for AGT. Aaron confesses that he doesn’t always land the huge ramp, which he hasn’t attempted in over a year. Terry climbs to the top of the ramp, demonstrating how high it is. Wheelz pushes himself butt first to the top before getting into the chair. The judges decide to join them at the top of the ramp.
He launches himself down the ramp, flips over. AND OH NO HE CRASHES TOTAL BELLY FLOP. He gets back up and is fine. Not a clean landing, but he did it more or less. He wants to do it again. to get it perfect. Simon promises what he did was enough. However, Wheelz pushes through, and the second time he lands. It SO DRAMATIC. Travis said Wheelz made his day. Simon called it scary to watch. “You define why we make this show. This is what we’re looking for. You have every chance of winning this.” Nikki says “You are the definition of never giving up.” Nikki pushes her Golden Buzzer
