‘America’s Got Talent’: ‘Sideshow Freak’ Auzzy Blood Swallows a Sword With Help From Howie Mandel

America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel took an active role in a death-defying stunt performed by self-described “sideshow freak” Auzzy Blood during Tuesday’s episode of the NBC talent competition show. Auzzy, who hails from Las Vegas, had the judges on the edge of their seats with his terrifying act, which included swallowing a sword before dropping down to do push-ups with the handle still extending from his mouth.

“I basically like to endanger my life for other people’s entertainment, to show other people, you can truly accomplish anything you put your mind to,” Auzzy told the panel. Mid-performance, Auzzy also enlisted Mandel’s help, calling him up to help put a sword down his throat. “Oh, it’s stuck,” Mandel said while lightly pushing the sword down Auzzy’s throat. “I can feel it.” Walking back to the panel after the stunt’s completion, the comedian joked, “I’m gonna throw up.”

Asked by Cowell, “If you were to go into the next round, what would we see next? Because I have seen that before,” Auzzy responded, “How about next time we break a world record on television?” Mandel, meanwhile, chimed in, “I’m disgusted and entertained. You are like the Beetlejuice of sideshows.” In the end, Auzzy got four passes through to the next round from Mandel, Cowell, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara. 

Auzzy isn’t the only act this season getting unanimous praise from the judges. Singing trio Chapel Hart earned not only a collective Golden Buzzer from the panel and host Terry Crews for their new take on Dolly Parton’s iconic song “Jolene,” but they also earned praise from the country icon herself.

After performing their creative new spin on the classic, “You Can Have Him, Jolene,” Parton took to Twitter to let Chapel Hart know how much she appreciated their take on her song, inspired back in 1974 by Parton’s longtime husband Carl Dean. “What a fun new take on my song!” she tweeted after the America’s Got Talent performance went viral. She added with a cheeky wink, “Carl’s birthday is today so I think I’ll hang on to him, and I’m not notifying Jolene that today is his birthday.”