PASADENA, CALIFORNIA: Josh Alfred is a 32-year-old Nigerian actor and musician who also does stand-up comedy. He appeared on 'America's Got Talent' Season 18 not once, but three times on the August 8 episode, which angered the audience.
Josh has 2.7 million Instagram followers and 2.4 million TikTok followers. His most popular skit, titled 'The fastest Reader in the world' has over 250K likes and 6.7 million views on YouTube.
He originally gained notoriety after Buzzfeed and other news media publicized the "Don't Leave Me" challenge on TikTok. He now appeared as a contestant on the NBC program, but things didn't go as expected.
Josh Alfred is a speed reader, rapper and magician
Recreating his famous skit, the Nigerian performer glanced through three books while he "read" them and then urged the judges to ask him questions regarding the books. Sofia Vergara buzzed Josh before he could finish his performance while the audience booed his performance. "That was the most ridiculous act I've ever seen," stated Howie Mandel.
Josh returned in a large afro wig and a basketball shirt. This time, he declared, "I'm the fastest rapper in the world." This was an excellent setup. Heidi Klum and Sofia both buzzed him and they all shouted "no" once more.
He's returned in a different disguise for the third time. Howie buzzed the magician as he began his trick by going through a deck of cards. He then pretended to control Terry Crews' mind after Sofia and Heidi also buzzed him out. While the judges admitted that his act was funny, they believed that it did not fit the 'AGT' stage.
'Somebody call security'
Disappointed fans slammed NBC as one tweeted, "Why do u keep letting him come back?" One person asked, "Did they run out of contestants?" Another wrote, "I don't understand why he was allowed to keep returning to the stage? I am turned off by his antics."
A fourth user tweeted, "Lemme guess, the Nigerian mumble rapper will now come out for a third time, sing a song, knock it out of the park, crowd goes wild, standing ovation by the judges and four yeses? This show is embarrassingly overproduced."
One user wondered, "How many times can you try out in one year before they just ban you? Cause there have been others that have tried out multiple times, but it seems like it was once every year. This guy seems like he's about on his 3rd time in one year."
A fifth viewer added, "Third time is NOT the charm!!" Some users were shocked as they exclaimed, "They let him in a THIRD TIME?!? SERIOUSLY? FIRE these LAZY PA's FOR REAL." One user stated, "Oh no. Not that guy again. Somebody call security."
New episodes of 'America's Got Talent' Season 18 air every Tuesday on NBC at 8 pm ET.
