Season 18 of America’s Got Talent got off to a strong start with a premiere that saw a contestant try to revive the “lost art” of shadow puppetry and a history-making golden buzzer for a choir that honored the late Nightbirde. There wasn’t a ton of comedy in the two-hour premiere, but stand-up comic Orlando Leyba was definitely a standout of the night with a Yellowstone-themed set that saw him channeling his inner Kevin Costner as John Dutton. The judges were all-in, but I’d say that Simon Cowell had the best reaction!
As any Yellowstone fan knows – whether they watch episodes live on Paramount Network or streaming via Peacock Premium subscription – the Kevin Costner-led hit definitely isn’t a sitcom, but Orlando Leyba found plenty to laugh about in his AGT set. Take a look:
Apparently, being a fan of Yellowstone and then going to the actual park can manifest some John Dutton-esque behavior. Orlando Leyba may not have been immersed in the drama of the Dutton family (or the dramatic behind-the-scenes rumors about Kevin Costner), but he was ready to start driving a truck and defending his land… even if it just meant the hotel! The judges were loving the Yellowstone tangent, and cracked up even more with his commentary on Old Faithful.
It’s a sign of how well Leyba was performing his set that it seemed pretty much everybody in the theater was in stitches, considering it’s unlikely that every single person in the room was a Yellowstone fan who could catch every in-joke. Is it any surprise that he got a yes from every single judge, including glowing praise from veteran stand-up Howie Mandel?
Still, it was the commentary on Orlando Leyba from Simon Cowell – who tends to love the standout AGT comedians – that was my favorite. He saved it until after the comic left the stage with approval from all four judges, and told Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum, and Howie Mandel this:
I don’t think anyone’s ever come on and basically plugged another show during their audition!
Leyba also shared that he used to work for a network other than NBC, and I for one am curious about which one it was. He didn’t drop the name, but perhaps he’ll shed more light in his next appearance on AGT following his successful audition. Whatever happens, I just hope that he has more good things to say about his wife after all the encouragement he evidently received from her over the years.
For now, though, fans presumably won’t be seeing him back on the AGT stage for some time, as he debuted in the first of several episodes of auditions. His future also isn’t the absolute brightest after he didn’t get a golden buzzer like the Mzansi Youth Choir, but they seemed destined for a buzzer as soon as they started to perform their take on Nightbirde’s “It’s OK,” in honor of the AGT singer who passed away in 2022.
Keep tuning in to NBC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of America’s Got Talent as summer TV takes over the primetime lineup on the broadcast networks.