The bar for magical acts in this year’s America’s Got Talent has already been set ridiculously high by an amazing first episode performance by Shin Lim, but Belgian mentalist, magician, and martial artist Aaron Crow is a strong competitor, if his hilariously tongue-in-cheek danger act from the latest episode is anything to go by. 

Stalking around the stage in what looked like a homemade Blade costume circa 1998 while shooting smouldering glances at the camera like a kind of off-brand Zoolander, the strangely chiselled, silent performer had me laughing from the get go. I just couldn’t tell if he was in on the joke.

By the time he’d finished applying his ridiculous blindfold, which consisted of wax, bandages, duct tape, and a final layer of tin foil, I was convinced he’s actually a comedy genius.

Looking like a jacket potato that had joined the League of Shadows, Crow proceeded to perform an elaborate kata, whipping out various weapons as he went. During the routine, he stabbed a paper bag held by one volunteer, smashed a wooden board held by another, and finally chopped a pineapple suspended above Howie Mandel’s head in half.  

If this seems familiar, Crow performed a very similar routine on Britain’s Got Talent back in 2013. Here’s hoping he makes it further into AGT so we can see what further bladed ridiculousness he has to offer.