Viewers of America’s Got Talent are used to seeing unusual performances, but one recent audition pushed the judges to their limits.
Over the years, the NBC competition has featured all kinds of strange and unexpected acts, from performers with bizarre physical skills to routines that leave the audience unsure whether to clap, laugh, or look away.
But during the Tuesday, June 9 episode of Season 21, the panel seemed genuinely unsettled by a husband-and-wife danger duo with roots in the Pacific Northwest.
The performers were Brad Byers and Tracy Skaer, a married couple now based in Pullman, Washington. Byers grew up in Moscow, Idaho, while Skaer grew up in Nine Mile Falls, Washington, and the pair have built an act around extreme sideshow stunts that are very much not for the faint-hearted.
At first, Brad and Tracy appeared to be a perfectly ordinary couple. That impression quickly changed once their props were revealed, with broken glass, nails, a hammer, swords, and other alarming items becoming part of the routine.
Simon Cowell, Mel B, Howie Mandel, and Sofia Vergara watched as the act moved from uncomfortable to almost unbearable, while host Terry Crews observed from offstage.
One of the earliest moments saw Brad having a piece of plywood hammered to his face, which was enough for Mel B to hit her buzzer and try to stop the performance.
However, because none of the other judges joined her in rejecting the act at that point, Brad and Tracy were allowed to carry on.
The routine then escalated further when Brad lay down over broken glass while Tracy walked across him like he was a plank.
That still wasn’t the end of it. Tracy then handed her husband a sword to swallow before passing him an even larger one, prompting a shocked reaction from Vergara.
“She hates him!”
The Modern Family star was clearly stunned by what she was witnessing.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,”
By that stage, Brad had swallowed seven swords during the performance.
For the final part of the act, he placed a hook through his nose and mouth and used it to swing weights, leaving the judges visibly uncomfortable.
Cowell then compared the performance to Stephen King’s Misery, the story of an obsessive fan who rescues an author before holding him captive and tormenting him.
“Have you ever watched a film called Misery?”
Although the audition looked shocking to viewers, Byers is not new to this kind of performance. He has worked as a sword swallower, juggler, and extreme sideshow artist for decades, and describes his stunts as carefully practiced professional feats rather than tricks for anyone to imitate.
His background also explains why the act appeared so polished despite the chaos on stage. Byers has been billed as a multi-time world record holder, with records connected to sword swallowing and other extreme performance skills, and has performed internationally as well as on programs and stages associated with Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Cirque du Soleil, and major television variety shows.
Tracy is also a major part of the act rather than just an assistant. Before appearing on America’s Got Talent, the couple had performed together in routines involving beds of nails, broken glass, sword swallowing, and other danger-based material.
The act also sparked plenty of reaction from viewers after the clip was shared on YouTube.
“That was nauseating and entertaining at the same time.”
Another viewer was full of praise for the dangerous routine.
“One of the best danger acts we’ve seen on this show.”
A third person summed up the performance as both strange and amusing.
“That was truly bizarre yet oddly humorous.”
Despite Mel B’s early rejection, the other three judges voted to send Brad and Tracy through to the next stage of the competition.
Their advancement did not come with a Golden Buzzer, meaning they were not sent straight to the live shows. Season 21 of America’s Got Talent also includes the Judges Callbacks round, so successful audition acts still have to survive further decisions before viewers see who makes it deeper into the contest.
After an audition like that, the biggest question is what they could possibly do next.