AMERICAS GOT TALENT YOUTUBE SHOW- Rudy Coby and Puck

For British Viewers, This Article May Contain Spoilers 

After a three-week break, Americas got Talent returned with the Youtube heat. Among the twelve acts were   Rudy Coby, the self-proclaimed "Coolest Magician on Earth", and  Close-up magician Puck. 

How did Rudy and Puck Do?

Rudy Coby proved to be yet another disappointing magic act. Like Brett Daniels from last year's Youtube heat, he had a good strong trick,but failed due to substandard presentation. For his performance, Rudy put a small clown puppet in a box, then went to the side of the stage as a giant clown puppet appeared from the box. It cut the strings holding it with a sword, then went after Rudy, appearing to decapitate him. However, Rudy was revealed to have been the clown the whole time. Though this was a creative spin on a very cliched trick, too much time was spent watching the clown dance and cut itself free of the strings. Furthermore, the music ("Puppet Boy" by Devo) was inappropriate, and ruined any chance of generating the intended creepy atmosphere. The shorter version of this trick he submitted to Youtube was much better.

Puck, meanwhile, chose to do a close-up trick with a handkerchief. At first, his routine resembled the sort of cheap magic the judges routinely reject at the auditions. By the end though, as he made the handkerchief dart in and out of his pockets and leap out of a sealed glass bottle, Puck's routine had reached Vegas Week level. He was the best of tonight's magicians.

What Did the Judges Say?

Rudy Coby received 2 X's from Howard and Sharon and was booed by some of the audience. Howard criticized the overlong build-up, telling Rudy "You can't waste that much time. The audience gets bored." . Howie, however, praised the act's unique nature. Sharon, like Howard, criticized the bad timing and Rudy's dress sense.

Puck, on the other hand, gained a better reception. Howard praised Puck's presentation, but said he needed "More wow factor". Howie told Puck "You have Talent and you have luck" referring to the less-the-stellar competition. Sharon echoed Howard and Howie's comments. All three expressed hope that Puck would go through.

What was the competition like?

This was one of the worst live shows in Americas Got Talent History. In one show, we saw almost as many X's as we saw in the last four weeks. Novelty Act Eric Buss, who released spring snakes to music, air guitarist Romeo Dance Cheetah and instrumentalist Cast in Bronze were particularly bad. Also failing were bland rock group Reverse Order, the slow and boring 7 in Unison,  and unfunny comedienne Melinda Hill. Several of the Youtube candidates shown on the Americas Got Talent website but not selected, such as Myoa Band, Brett Druck , Dayana Seitz, and Bambi Van Burch (Another magician), were FAR better then this lot. However, the act that won the viewer's vote, singer Drew Erwin, wasn't great either, trading in the unique song choice we saw in his audition video for a dull and generic one ("Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia") . Apart from Puck, there were only three acts noteworthy for the right reasons: Clint Carvalho, trained a parrot to fly from the top of a nearby hotel, into the theatre, and onto the stage, exceeding the expectations set by his dull and generic audition video. Bria Kelly is inexperienced, but has plenty of potential. Last of all were the only act in the whole episode who looked like they really deserved a place in the live shows, let alone the top 24; Academy of Villains, who blended energy and creativity with a routine that easily trumped last years most successful Youtube act, West Springfield Dance Academy. Rudy Coby and Puck were not among the worst acts of the night, but neither would have made the live shows if they had auditioned the conventional way.

What are Rudy and Puck's chance's

Rudy Coby has almost no chance of making the next round, but, in the face of such lackluster competition, Puck is guaranteed at least a spot in the top 5. He really has to up his game next time, though.