“I can’t believe it,” rapping magician Mervant Vera said when he first stepped onto the “America’s Got Talent” stage during the May 31 premiere of Season 17. The 33-year-old Philadelphia resident at first remained tight-lipped about his act, merely telling judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara that he was a magician. But as soon as his performance began, the panelists’ mouths dropped open when he started rapping along with his eye-popping card tricks. Watch the “AGT” performance video above.
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When asked why he got into magic, Mervant explained, “Watching magic it kind of made me feel like you have a real superpower. Growing up I always loved comics and stuff and that’s the closest thing, right?” He later added, “If you can do it on this stage you can do it anywhere.” His dream is to have a Vegas show and to tour the world, and he also wants to write a hip-hop musical featuring magic.
In the past year Mervant lost his grandmother, who was one of his “biggest supporters” in magic. “I remember a couple of years ago I wanted to quit magic and she said, ‘Don’t you dare ever do that,'” he recalled. Before his performance, Mervant raised his hand to the sky and crossed his heart in honor of his grandmother.
“He is nervous as can be,” declared Heidi before the magic act began. But the nerves didn’t show during the performance, as he effortlessly rapped and told a story while doing a card trick that wowed the judges and audience members. Does Mervant have what it takes to join the “AGT” winners list alongside former magician champs like Mat Franco (Season 9), Shin Lim (Season 13) and Dustin Tavella (Season 16)?
Simon seems to think so. “That was honestly incredible,” raved the British judge. “I mean, really, really incredible. I’m actually quite angry with you because why haven’t you auditioned before? It was so slick. We were all literally like, ‘How the hell did you do that?'” Mervant easily earned four “yes” votes from the panel — technically, “4,000 yeses” from Simon alone — so he’ll next be seen in the Judge Cuts round.
