Howie Mandel puts comedian Jordan Conley on par with Kevin Hart after ‘America’s Got Talent’ audition [WATCH]
Night 5 of auditions on “America’s Got Talent” season 17 continued on June 21 with another slate of audition performances from acts vying for this year’s $1 million prize. Host Terry Crews was back in the theater with series judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel for a fifth week of round 1 auditions. Known to be a stickler when it comes to stand up on the show, Howie actually gave comedy hopeful Jordan Conley the huge compliment of saying he was just as good as Kevin Hart. Watch the full audition in the video above.
What stuck out in Howie’s critique of Jordan’s stand up set was the idea of authenticity. Howie explained that what makes comics stars is the audience’s belief that “there’s no separation between who that person is and this is not an act.” He compared him to Hart in the sense that people will also say “I love Jordan Conley” because what they get on stage is exactly who he already is. Howie’s strong reaction to Jordan was largely due to the fact that his set centered his experience as the child of two military parents with stories about his goofy responses to their requests that he follow in their footsteps.
The other judges loved Jordan just as much as Howie did. Sofia said that his energy is “spectacular” and he has a big future ahead of him. Simon called him “naturally fun” because he’s “super, super talented” and said that it was a good audition. Heidi noted how fast his comedy was from one topic to the other, but she was still able to follow and that made it great for her. By the sound of it, Jordan may very well be able to live out his own dream and one day exceed the crowd size of a Kevin Hart show!
How much did YOU like Jordan and do you think he can take home the $1 million prize? Sound off on them and the rest of the new season in the comments below and with other fans in our reality TV forum. Also be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds.