Collins Key

Collins Key is a magician act from Season 8 of America's Got Talent.

Background
Collins Key likes to steal magic tricks from real magicians and poorly execute them. He is the least deserving of the top 12 and the producers are aware of this. He hired Hollywood Vine Group marketing company to manage his website and social media which has led people to believe that he is desperately trying to connect with teenage girls and that he has rich parents. His marketing efforts speak more than his talent. Collins Key’s choice to become an entertainer started when he was young. Collins always loved to perform. A favorite childhood story is Collins’ first flight at six months, which included him drawing a crowd at the airport and being passed to the row behind him because of his attention stealing blue eyes, smile and laughter.

As a kid, Collins took any chance possible to perform. Collins started in theater at the age of four playing a lion. He fell in love with acting. His favorite audition was the one where he stepped out of the car, met the director, and was hired on the spot. Out of his first five auditions he landed three roles. Collins definitely knew he was onto something when he discovered magic at age twelve. He realized that wherever he was, he could walk up to strangers and ask if they wanted to see a magic trick and perform. In the past when he would perform handstands, Karate, or whatever he thought would be entertaining, it never went over as well as Magic.

After he had been practicing magic for nine months, his mom heard about the Magic Castle’s Junior program. Three days after hearing about the program, he tried out and was accepted. Since that time, he has been performing at private events, the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire,  and the Magic Castle, in addition to acting. 1

Audition
Collins Key's audition in Episode 802 consisted of creating the close-up illusion of teleporting a dollar into a popcorn bag. Key first borrowed a dollar bill from Howie Mandel and later had its serial code number written down. He then folded Howie's dollar and seemingly lit it on fire. A sealed popcorn bag that Mel B was holding above her head was then opened up with the dollar bill with the same serial number inside the bag. Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B, and Howie all voted "Yes," sending Collins Key to the Vegas Round.



Vegas Round
Collins Key was sorted into the "Magicians" category in the Vegas Round. His performance in Episode 809 consisted of demonstrating a trick that involved him sealing an envelope and having Heidi Klum sit on it, Howie Mandel bookmark a section of a copy of his book, and Mel B and Howard Stern identifying the page number and first word. Collins then proceeded to "visualize" himself tearing out the page, writing the first word on the back of it, and inserting it into the envelope. The envelope was then revealed to have the page inside it, exactly as described. Collins' audition was strong enough for the judges to send him to the Quarterfinals along with Illusionist Leon Etienne & Romy Low in the same episode.



Quarterfinals
Collins Key's Week 1 Quarterfinals performance in Episode 810 consisted of appearing to correctly predict tweets made by the judges, apparently having written, after having witnessed a "premonition" days prior, what they tweeted (posted on Twitter) on a sheet of paper inside a box suspended from the ceiling before the start of his performance. He received enough votes to be sent to the Semifinals in Episode 811 instead of TellAvision.



Semifinals
Collins Key's Week 1 Semifinals performance in Episode 820 consisted of each judge picking up one ball  with words describing a girl Collins would go on a date with from a bag, each audience member opening a sealed envelope with cards in them, and one audience member pulling out a marked red card meaning she would join Collins on a date. The judges then read the messages on their balls, the four of which all described the audience member. Collins received enough votes to be sent to the Finals in Episode 821.