Magic Jack Noel: Success doesn’t always mean coming in first

Magic Jack Noel is a well-known Cape Region personality, not only for his longtime magic show performances, but also competing in local races and recently publishing a book, “Little Red Truck at the Beach.”

Now 85, he’s still running races, although not as fast, and a new venture has brought more excitement. Last August, Noel started the audition process for the 2024 season of “America's Got Talent” on NBC. 

“What an adventure!” he said. “This process has many hoops to jump through to achieve ultimate success. You have to be invited to each successive step to move on through the competition; AGT only responds if you're actually advancing to the next audition.” 

First, he registered for AGT by providing information about his age, interests, talent, performing experience and accomplishments. Feeling hopeful, he included anything that might make him seem unique and interesting. 

Clearing that hoop, he was given a performer ID number and additional legal forms to complete. “They responded quickly, requesting I create a 90-second video of my performance for the live show; you are only allowed 90 seconds to perform,” he said.

He produced the video but couldn’t work out how to upload it to the AGT producers – and fate stepped in.

Just by chance, while shopping at an outdoor farm market, he walked up to a vendor selling interesting kinds of coffee. “I didn't know the owner; we were just small talking,” he said, but  she recognized him as Magic Jack, and when he mentioned the difficulty trying to upload his video to AGT, she volunteered to try right there with his cellphone. In 15 minutes, his video was accepted. 

“Wow! What’s the chances I would walk up to this nice lady? And I don't even drink coffee,” said Noel.

Two weeks later, AGT responded, inviting him to do a live, 90-second virtual audition with a producer. They scheduled the date and time, and knowing that cellphone cameras produce a better picture, Noel used that instead of his laptop – but shortly before his time slot, his phone went dead.

“I forgot to keep it on charge!” he said. “I plugged it in, rushed to my laptop but could not log into Zoom on the computer. My phone reached 15% charge, so I logged in on it. The producer was talking, 10 seconds later he’s introducing his next audition, Magic Jack Noel from Lewes, Delaware. The timing was perfect!” 

Another two weeks went by, and Noel was invited to the Pasadena Convention Center for a live audition with an AGT producer; again, only 90 seconds were allowed for each performer. There were about 1,000 performers there, he said.

“Before my audition, several producers from NBC, Yahoo and many other news teams pulled me and 15 other performers out of all those present to do interviews. What a great experience!” His scheduled audition with a live producer went very well, but along with many other performers, he wasn’t selected for the live show. 

Summing up his overall experience, Noel said, “Really great three days in LA and with ‘America's Got Talent.’ At age 85, I'm still dreaming new dreams. I traveled all that way alone with no problems. Met and will always  remember so many good people. I had the time of my life.

“I was a little disappointed at first, but I guess God's plan is always better than mine. I think I will try again next year – what do I have to lose? Just like the races I still run, success isn't always coming in first.”