They say "anything can happen" on live TV. But nobody really expects anything that weird or unplanned to actually happen. At least not until a man gets shot in the chest by a flaming arrow.
That's precisely what put a temporary halt to the fun on America's Got Talent. During the live quarterfinals, Ryan Stock and his performing fiancé Amber Lynn Walker had a stunt go quite wrong.
The whole performance featured the Canadian stuntman performing two "brand new, extremely dangerous" stunts, in his own words. First, Stock swallowed a bent sword. Then, Walker provided him with an arrow to swallow. Fun for the whole family!
Stock then took one of the prop lamps from the set, revealing a target on the bottom. Of course, he swallowed that too.
Walker then climbed to her perch on a ladder, which obviously featured a laser-sighted crossbow. As Stock gets in position, the laser dot clearly lands on the target. But when Walker pulls the trigger, the arrow clearly does not.
The crowd gasps and the judges look on stunned. Ironically, the horribly timed music kicks back on. From off stage, host Nick Cannon calls out to ask if Stock is OK. The crowd claps, and Cannon reiterates, "Are you sure?"
Thankfully, the flaming arrow didn't penetrate Stock's collarbone. And the fire didn't leave any lasting damage. Other than the psychological damage on the in-house audience, probably.
So Stock took to Twitter to let everybody know he's going to be fine.
https://twitter.com/comedydaredevil/status/760651157878353921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The official America's Got Talent feed took a slightly less dire tone.
You NEVER know what will happen when #AGT is live.
— America’s Got Talent (@AGT) August 3, 2016
Well, if it's any consolation to Stock and Walker, anybody who can be shot by their fiancé with a flaming arrow and not immediately call off the wedding clearly does have talent.
They've got my vote.
This post was originally published on August 3, 2016.
