Twelve-year-old Brynn Cummings from Paw Paw, Michigan, took the America’s Got Talent stage in 2023 as a young performer carrying the weight of a major inspiration. She revealed to the judges that watching Darci Lynne become the first ventriloquist to win the competition served as the defining moment that sparked her own passion for puppetry.
Brynn’s puppet Penelope wasted no time establishing the act’s tone, dramatically announcing that she was done singing and demanding an entirely new routine. The sassy persona created an immediate comedic spark that set the audience at ease, and Brynn pivoted seamlessly into a mentalist routine that had everyone watching intently.
Brynn invited judge Heidi Klum to cut and freely select a playing card, claiming her alleged telepathic abilities would allow her to identify the chosen card through sheer brilliance and mental towers. When Klum revealed the seven of clubs, Brynn nailed the identification, visibly shocking the German supermodel and drawing enthusiastic reactions from the entire panel.
Taking the act to another level, Brynn blindfolded herself and approached Sofia Vergara, who was instructed to hold an object for her to identify. Brynn described feeling the cookie’s texture and confidently declared it was an oatmeal cookie, which Vergara confirmed, sparking more amazement from the judges.
Meanwhile, Penelope hilariously attempted her own blindfolded guess and fumbled predictably, delivering self-aware comedy that had the room laughing.
After Vergara joined the other judges in rising to applaud the performance, Mandel declared the act proof that this season was the season of mashups, praising Brynn for combining puppetry, comedy, and magic into a single seamless performance. Simon Cowell, visibly impressed, stood alongside his fellow judges in a rare moment of unanimous enthusiasm.
The act drew clear parallels to Darci Lynne’s historic AGT victory years earlier, when she became the first ventriloquist to claim the competition’s grand prize. Brynn openly credited that very moment as what inspired her to become a ventriloquist, making her performance feel like a natural continuation of a legacy on the show.
The judges’ warm and united reaction positioned Brynn as one of the most talked-about audition performances of the 2023 season. With her blend of skill, charm, and fearless ambition, she demonstrated a level of stagecraft and comedic timing that many performers twice her age struggle to achieve.