I've been watching America's Got Talent lately — occasional peeks at the show on NBC and, more often, on YouTube. I like a lot of what goes on there. Sure, much of the show is configured to create inspirational, tearjerker moments. Fine. But they do it well, certainly better than any of their imitators. That show James Corden did a few months ago was so forced and unreal that it made me appreciate the simplicity of AGT all the more.
But you know what I don't like? I don't like "Watch me risk killing myself" acts.
I didn't always feel this way. In fact, I worked for a few years on a TV show that featured some of them and it didn't bother me there, possibly because my behind-the-scenes position enabled me to see that the stunts weren't as dangerous as their performers (and my show) made them out to be. There sometimes was an element of danger and a few people did get hurt on our program but you think, "Well, this is the profession they chose for themselves. They all weighed the possible risks versus the possible rewards and decided to go ahead."
I still feel some of that way but I less and less want to watch it. My thought process now goes more or less like this: Is it an out-and-out magic trick that looks dangerous but in reality, there's zero chance of actual harm? I can enjoy some of those but at times, there's an element of deception that bothers me. On the other hand, is there a real chance that the performer will be injured or killed? Increasingly, I don't want to watch it and don't think it should be encouraged.
I started writing this piece a few days ago, stopped with the paragraph directly above and decided to get back to it some other time. I'm back finishing it because I just read this news item…
A magician was taken to hospital over the weekend after reportedly being struck on the head with an arrow during an on-stage performance gone wrong. Entertainer Li Lau, who works under the name "One Crazy China," suffered an injury at the 2019 National Arts Festival in Makhanda, South Africa.
It was a trick wherein "One Crazy China" (apt name) was supposed to escape from some kind of restraints so that a crossbow fired by an assistant would not strike him in the head. Something went wrong and it struck him in the head. This line in the news report helped shape my view of the incident…
The art organization's chief executive, Tony Lankester, told the paper that trauma counseling would be made available to members of the audience who witnessed the accident.
There is something wrong with an act for which trauma counseling is ever necessary. And why didn't they offer it that time I went to see Jackie Mason perform?