America’s Got Talent: Howie Mandel tricked by fiery escape act

America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel became panicked during a death defying stunt on Tuesday night’s show.

The 64-year-old called for help as Jonathan Goodwin was engulfed by flames during his escape act.

‘Call somebody!’ Howie cried during the act, performed at Falls Lake, an iconic Universal Studios backlot previously used in the films Pirates Of The Caribbean and Jurassic Park.

Goodwin, a 40-year-old Welsh daredevil, also horrified Howie’s fellow judges Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara with his stunt, Trial By Fire, which he said was so scary his mother begged him not to try it.

‘I’ve never done it before,’ Jonathan admitted. ‘I can’t practice this, because every time I do it, it can be fatal. My life is absolutely on the line, and it could go very badly wrong.’ 

He called Heidi up to the set to show it to her firsthand, explaining he would be chained up at the end of a long circular fuse, set to go off the minute someone lit it.

Jonathan’s team then handcuffed him to a set of poles, and covered his face with a flame-resistant jelly as they placed a lockbox over his head.

‘Do they have a medic here?’ Sofia asked Howie, watching nervously.

‘Mom, I’m gonna be fine,’ Jonathan said. ‘Lock the box.’

Once he was secured inside the contraption, his entire body was doused with fuel.

The fuse was then lit, and it raced around a twisted path to Jonathan’s body, giving him just 20 seconds to free his arms and head with a key before he was overtaken.

The judges watched, petrified, as the flames rushed incredibly fast toward Jonathan.

‘Call somebody!’ Howie cried, as fire swamped the man and flew up his body. ‘Oh! He’s on fire!’

‘No, no, no, no, no,’ Sofia said, rising to her feet and clenching her fists tight with worry.

‘Somebody move in,’ Howie urged. ‘Why is everybody just standing there?’

‘Oh, that is scary,’ said a shocked-sounding Heidi.

Jonathan fumbled with the locks, his hands shaking as everyone watched in disbelief, before he finally managed to open all of them.

The fire engulfed his face the moment the lockbox was opened, and was quickly extinguished.

Cheers and applause rose up from all around the set, as the judges looked relieved.

‘Well done,’ said a relieved Mandel. ‘See what I did there with the fire? I thought you were in trouble. I think that’s amazing and I’m glad you are alive.’

‘How can you say anything negative to a man who puts himself on fire to entertain us?’ Heidi asked afterward. ‘You are fully insane. By the way, kids, do not try this at home.’

‘I am so grateful that I am not your mother,’ Sofia said.

Meanwhile, Klum and Vergara feared for their own lives while watching an act perform during the second quarterfinals episode.

The Spyros Bros, diabolo slingers from New York City, appeared as if they might take the two judges’ heads off with their ‘giant yo-yo,’ which they flung around during a performance. 

Heidi, 47, and Sofia, 48, shielded their eyes and nearly fell out of their seats to avoid being struck by Marc Albert and Marco Angelo at Universal Studios Hollywood.

The brothers repeatedly whipped the whirring white hourglass uncomfortably close to the judges’ panel, and even flipped it back and forth over Heidi and Sofia.

‘I think the joy and the enthusiasm that you guys bring to the show is special,’ Sofia told them afterward. ‘I had never seen a diabolo in my life until I met you guys. It gives me fear; I feel like you are going to break my teeth, I feel like something bad is going to happen…’

‘I loved that you used the entire space of Universal,’ Heidi concurred, eyeing them. ‘I just didn’t love you guys using the space right in front of our face. That’s why I was like this the entire time,’ she added, covering her eyes. ‘It’s NOT like a yo-yo. It’s not attached, so it can come off!’

‘You make the diabolo look so easy, and you make judging look so dangerous,’ agreed Howie.

The Spyros Bros. were just one of the 11 acts performing in AGT’s second quarterfinals show, held at Universal Studios Hollywood.

In Simon Cowell’s absence, Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson, 42, filled in as guest judge.

Only five acts will advance to the semifinals and earn a chance to compete for the program’s grand prize of $1 million and a headlining show in Las Vegas.  

The season 15 show started on a sweet note, as Kelvin Dukes, a 14-year-old singer from Burtonsville, Maryland, gave a buoyant performance of Amy Winehouse’s Valerie.

‘Kelvin, I can’t wipe the smile off my face,’ Howie told him. ‘You seem to be a really good actor, a really good singer, a really good dancer. You have a really good career ahead of you.’ 

Next to hit the stage was The Shape, a dance crew of 18 high-school students from Alhambra, California, who had struggled to find a way to practice together amid the pandemic.

In a pre-recorded video, they danced to pop hits on a Los Angeles rooftop, all of them wearing masks with mustaches and carrying canes a la Charlie Chaplin.

‘That was a masterclass of precision and timing,’ said Heidi, though Howie countered, ‘I was at a different show. I didn’t think you had precision. I didn’t think you rose to the level.’

Kameron Ross, a country singer from Dallas, told viewers a moving story about his experience coming out as a gay man, but also failed to wow with his cover of Lady Gaga’s A Million Reasons.

BAD Salsa, a dance duo performing from Kolkata, India, earned a standing ovation with their Bollywood-inspired routine, which fused classic moves with high-speed flips and cartwheels.

‘You guys are so good, I want to say you are the best we have ever had,’ Heidi raved, as Howie echoed, ‘You schooled us… that’s precision in dance, not, like, the other one.’

Vincent Marcus, a 30-year-old singer from El Paso, Texas, got mixed reviews for rapping to children’s nursery rhymes, using the voices of Eminem, Pitbull, Snoop Dogg and others.

‘I didn’t like it as much as your last one, but I think you’re crazy talented,’ Howie told him.

Alexis Brownley, a nine-year-old dog trainer from Weston, Florida, had her gaggle of ‘Puppy Pals’ climb ladders, roll giant cylinders, jump hurdles, and more.

‘You are adorable, your dogs are adorable, this whole act is adorable,’ Heidi offered.

Glam rocker Bonavega, 31, from Toledo, Ohio, also had Heidi’s attention as he stripped down to pink leopard underwear and fishnet stockings while singing The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights.

He then displayed incredible electric guitar skills when he segued into his own song, Hot Over You.

‘I gotta give you your credit, man, for walking the fine line of crazy,’ Kenan said. ‘You’re so bold and so confident that it’s really infectious.’

Daneliya Tuleshova, a 14-year-old singer from Kazakhstan, stunned everyone with her cover of Harry Styles Sign Of The Times, which earned her a standing ovation, too.

‘So much maturity and so much grace at only 14 years old,’ Heidi gasped. ‘It was flawless.’

Up last was the Voices Of Our City Choir, from San Diego, which had earned the Golden Buzzer of show host Terry Crews, 52, during the audition rounds.

The choir members, many of whom had experienced homelessness, debuted a stirring version of Ben E. King’s Stand By Me.

‘I don’t know if you get a kick out of making people cry their eyes out, but that’s what you do every time you hit the stage,’ said Kenan, whose daughter Georgia was a fan.

America’s Got Talent will return with its second quarterfinal results show Wednesday on NBC.