PASADENA, CALIFORNIA: Andrew Stanton is a sword swallower who made it to the semi-finals of 'Britain's Got Talent' Series 16. He appeared on the July 11 episode of 'America's Got Talent,' but fans couldn't help but compare his stunt to that of classic danger acts, leaving many disappointed.
Due to the fact that his performance on 'BGT' aired just before the 9 o'clock watershed, it drew criticism from a number of fans on social media who felt that the act was inappropriate to be shown on the show at the time because young people might have been watching. They described the act as absolutely horrifying and thought it was inappropriate for anyone of any age to even watch. The Daily Mail reported on May 3, 2023, that 83 complaints had been made over Andrew's performance to Ofcom. Following his debut on 'AGT,' Andrew had mixed reactions, with some claiming that his acts were too risky to be aired and others claiming that the danger-act was not 'dangerous' enough.
'Change your name to shish ka bob'
Sofia Vergara shrieked in fear as the sword swallower stormed onto the stage and smashed a sword down his throat with a hammer. Heidi Klum turned away from the stage, closing her eyes and covering her ears. Sofia told the judges as the performer removed his shirt, "This can't be worth than what he just did." The danger-act performer shouted, prompting Heidi to crouch and hide behind the judges' panel. As the judges screamed and reacted in surprise, Howie jumped up from the table and spun his body around a pointed rod. According to Howie Mandel, "It's amazing, it's dangerous, it's crazy, it's wrong."
Heidi was left speechless following the performance, even when Simon Cowell asked if she was okay. "This is very disturbing and fun at the same time," Sofia added. "You should change your name to shish ka bob," quipped Howie.
'It’s cool but in the context of history, rather tame'
After seeing Andrew perform, fans on Twitter claim, "People in the past did much more wild stunts. Not impressed. It’s cool but in the context of history, rather tame." While others urged, "Can sword-swallowers just stop already." One person tweeted, "I would have buzzed Andrew Stanton! That was disgusting!" A fourh user quipped, "Ngl I thought of this bit where Abu pulls the sword from the guys mouth."
Slamming the show for allowing such acts, one person wrote on Twitter, "It was impressive, but how much longer can we watch people almost kill themselves before It's literally just gore? I don't know how you top spinning on an arrow on your stomach." While others joked, "Let me know when this guy gets a light saber and then we'll talk."
Tune into NBC on Tuesdays to catch new episodes of 'America's Got Talent' Season 18 at 8 pm ET.
