In October, 2022, Nigerian comedian Josh Alfred — better known by his online moniker Josh2Funny — released a viral sketch in which he plays a speed reader named Ebenezer the Reader auditioning for a talent show. “I read a 1,679-page book within two seconds,†he tells the show’s astonished but skeptical judges. After a few more similarly outlandish claims, he proceeds to demonstrate his “talent†by rifling through a few books’ pages at lightning speed and reciting a bunch of indecipherable gibberish, infuriating the judges in the process. When they impatiently ask him to explain the contents of the books he supposedly just read, he starts to reach for one of the books to check, which elicits death stares. “Ay, I will bite your ear. I will chew your meat!†one of the judges threatens. The sketch, part of a popular series called “The Audition,†in which Alfred plays a talent-show contestant purporting to possess skills he doesn’t actually possess, ended up on our roundup of the best comedy shorts of the month.
Apparently, someone in the talent department of NBC’s America’s Got Talent has been paying attention to the latest in Nigerian sketch comedy because on August 8, the show invited Alfred on to perform a few of his “talents†live. And while none of the judges got mad enough at Alfred to threaten to “chew his meat,†they did seem equally unenthused with his speed-reading act. Not to be deterred, Alfred returned to the stage two more times in different costumes — first in character as the “fastest rapper in the world†and then as an accomplished magician — and slowly won the crowd over with his goofy persistence. As the latter, he beckoned the show’s host Terry Crews to the stage and announced, “I’m going to control Terry’s mind.†Then he made a series of basic requests like “Please, raise your hand†and “Please, smile,†and when Crews politely complied, Alfred made a triumphant gesture and exclaimed, “I controlled his mind!â€
It’s not the first time AGT has brought on a buzzy online act to perform live. In 2019, it asked comedian Andy Rowell to perform his viral stunt in which he filmed himself at a karaoke bar doing the largely instrumental song “Tequila.†But unlike Rowell, Alfred didn’t get sent through to the next round. It’s a shame: A casual glance at Alfred’s YouTube page proves he still has so many talents he didn’t get a chance to display.