PASADENA, CALIFORNIA: A Texas guy came to the 'America's Got Talent' stage with a dream and a dream board, inspired by a previous 'AGT' winner. Sunny Chatum, the ukulele-wielding guy, was not what he looked to be.
According to her website, Krista Komondor is a New York-based comedienne and clown with several faces. Madame Komondor, a mute clown dubbed "Piano," and "Mr. Saturday Night," a figure described as "a cross between Johnny Cash, The Bard, and a Village Idiot," are among the characters. Sunny is another one of Krista's numerous faces. Krista incorporates standup, improv, clowning, and playwriting into her acts, which have been described as "absurd, poignant, and captivating."
'Suddenly, everybody loves you'
Sunny is originally from Paris, Texas. He specializes in bespoke automobiles and trucks. He claims to be influenced by Grace Vanderwaal. Furthermore, he displayed his "dream board" to the judges. It's bizarre and definitely a joke. He was finally buzzed by Howie Mandel. This guy seemed to have no intention of ever singing. He's a stand-up comedian. As if on cue, the audience began booing. Simon Cowell buzzed him as well. The audience started chanting, "Sing a song..." Sofia Vergara was up next. Heidi Klum threatened to hit her buzzer. She hit it when he didn't sing anymore.
At the conclusion, he exposed himself as a Brooklyn-based comedian. Howie likened him to Andy Kaufman and retracted his buzzer. "Based on that, I like you," Howie replied, nodding to the comic. "You've gone from being the most annoying contestant to suddenly, everybody loves you," Simon added.
The comic receives enough yeses and advances to the next round!
'This was beyond stupid & annoying'
Even though Sunny managed to impress the judges in the end, viewers took offense and called out the act on social media. One viewer tweeted, "I'm not gonna lie, I did not like this. As some who is Autistic, this made me very uncomfortable and I felt bad because I thought he was having anxiety or something and they were being so damn mean. I did not like this." Another person chimed in, "as someone who’s autistic, this makes me incredibly upset - this is so clearly making fun of autism & anxiety. it’s not funny at all. this is why stigma still exists. everyone was laughing at the “act” - compromised of usual signs that someone may be on the spectrum. wow." Agreeing with Heidi, one person tweeted, "Im with Heidi on that one. A funny comedian could have pulled that off. Sunny, not so much." A fourth user noted, "I don't know who I'm more annoyed at, him or the judges. This type of act for making fun of those who struggle with communication and interacting with others or the judges harsh reaction. This was not fun and the surprising thing about it felt icky and gross."
One user also wrote, "That made fun of autism! Terrible act!" Others added, "This was beyond stupid & annoying. How in the world does that qualify as talent? There has not been that many good acts this year."
'America's Got Talent' Season 18 airs every Tuesday on NBC at 8 PM ET.
