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Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Mel B indicated that no, they could not see the problem with his eye. So Coughlin turned away for a moment, then whipped back around with a giant eyeball on his face.
“How about now?” Buzz.
Unfortunately for Coughlin, the buzzer meant that the joke did not fly with the judges, and that he was eliminated from the NBC talent competition. But the comedian-mime-magician remains upbeat.
“There was some disappointment, sure,” he said. “But looking back on it now, I’m really glad I did it.”
Months earlier, Coughlin had made it past the first round of auditions, which took place in late January at an open call in New York City — and which, for him, was an adventure in itself. He’d gotten lost and arrived late to his audition, but was still able to present his routine.
“I started out as just a face in the crowd,” he said. “But then they took me into another room with only a few people in it, and told me they were very interested in what I was doing.”
Looking back on his performance on America’s Got Talent, Coughlin acknowledged that he wasn’t quite at the top of his game. He was sleep-deprived from his 6 a.m. flight out to Pasadena, Calif., for filming, and had made a judgment call to save his most impressive material for later in the competition.
“It’s not like I thought I was going to win it all,” he said. “But when I heard the buzzer go off, I was like, ‘Oh no, should I do something differently? Should I sing? Should I juggle?’ ”
Stage fright had kicked in for Coughlin by this point, which he said was quite unusual for him. It certainly wasn’t his first time performing in front of an audience; a longtime professional entertainer, Coughlin first started experimenting with magic as a kid, doing birthday parties and talent shows.
“I wasn’t very good at sports, so it was one thing I was good at,” he said.
He honed his craft by studying with professional magicians and mimes, and since then has showcased his talents at such large-scale venues as the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., and at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
In addition to what he calls his “original surprise comedy” — which includes gags like the giant eyeball — he juggles, performs yo-yo tricks and can imitate a duck with aplomb.
Though he is disappointed that he didn’t make it further in the competition, he has no beef.
“I went on the show because I love it,” he said. “I still love it, and I still like all the judges, too.”
He added that he might like to try out again in the future, possibly as a collaborative act with performers he befriended during the audition process.
But if he ends up in front of Simon Cowell again, he said, he plans to bring out the big guns right away.
“My only regret,” he said of the experience, “is not juggling.”
EmmaJean Holley can be reached at eholley@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.