Tom Cotter advances to finals of America’s Got Talent 2012

The viewing audience has spoken! Their votes last night put stand-up comedian Tom Cotter through to the finals of the 2012 season of NBC’s America’s Got Talent.

Cotter, a 48-year-old who won the Seattle competition in 1994 and Boston’s contest in 2004, is the first comedian to reach the finals of AGT since Grandma Lee made it to the top 10 in 2009. Singing ventriloquist Terry Fator, who headlines a show at The Mirage in Las Vegas, is the only funnyman to have won AGT’s grand prize (he did so in season two).

“I have digestive issues I can’t discuss right now because of nerves,” Cotter told Nick Cannon upon hearing the news delivered on live TV last night that he was still in the running, “but it feels tremendous. Thank you very much.” He felt much better when, later in the program, he found out he was one of the first three finalists named for this seventh season.

https://www.hulu.com/watch/396405

For his semifinal performance that put him through, Cotter emerged onstage with a giant projection behind him offering eight different topics — he then asked judge Howie Mandel to pick a topic, and Cotter proceeded to tell a couple of minutes of jokes on said topic. Roll it.

https://www.hulu.com/watch/395777

Ventriloquist Todd Oliver was the final elimination in last night’s semifinal round. Oliver currently has an ongoing show with his “talking” dogs in Branson, Mo.

One more stand-up comedian, Jacob Williams, remains in the running this season. Williams will perform in his semifinal round on Tuesday, Sept. 4.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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2 thoughts on “Tom Cotter advances to finals of America’s Got Talent 2012

  1. Tom Cotter is a funny guy, and I’m glad he had a chance to entertain us again. He needs to get over those nerves though; he looks way too terrified to be standing up there. His jokes were a topic many people could relate to (but less and less all the time) as many have gone to college. As much as I love the show, when my Dish coworker comes over, sometimes we skip the interviews, but this time they were very good. We also get in another show to watch by watching, commercial free with Auto Hop on the PrimeTime Anytime recordings.

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