‘AGT’ ‘bad guy’ Jonathan Goodwin reaches semis

Jonathan Goodwin is a tough dude, snatching arrows aimed for his forehead while blindfolded. Facing a ring of fire while his noggin is locked in a metal box.

But bring a weepy 8-year-old girl to his side … that’ll bring the daredevil to a knee.

Goodwin survived his latest escape stunt on “America’s Got Talent” on Tuesday night, releasing himself from a suit of padlocks and shackles as fire raced over his body. But Goodwin needed the nationwide vote to advance to the semifinals, as the judges split their votes between him and Alexis Brownley & The Puppy Pals doggy act.

A classic case of good vs. evil.

The performer with the most votes would advance to the semifinals, announced on Wednesday’s live results show. Goodwin and Brownley were positioned onstage for the suspenseful reveal, then the show cut to commercial.

“It’s me and little Alexis,” Goodwin said Thursday afternoon. “It was excruciating. She started to cry. I’m a dad; I have a daughter the same age as her. I thought, ‘Hang on a minute,’ and knelt and told her how awesome and brave it was for a girl her age to go in front of theses judges and the entire nation. It was very, very difficult.”

After the break, host Terry Crews announced Goodwin had won the national vote and would move on to the semifinals.

“So I’m the bad guy,” Goodwin said. “But that is literally how the game works.”

Goodwin joins multi-act performer Brett Loudermilk as Las Vegas reps to reach the show’s semifinals. Aerialist Alan Silva and mentalist Max Major are both scheduled to be back Tuesday night.

Goodwin’s winning fire act was chaotic by design, but complicated as wind swept the hillside location at Universal Studios. A circular trail of fire raced toward him faster than the 20 seconds he expected. When the fire reached Goodwin, doused in clean-burning white gasoline and locked in his Houdini-style suit, the wind prevented a full-flame immersion. Thus, the act did not appear as death-defying as it actually was.

“You want it to be the biggest spectacular it can be, but this can happen when you are on live TV and working with the elements,” Goodwin said. “There could have been, and should have been, more fire. Two hours before we were supposed to do it, the air was still and perfect, so it muted how spectacular it was.”

The wind didn’t mute the judges’ response.

“Do they have a medic here?” Sofía Vergara called out. “I don’t want to see this.”

Howie Mandel made his own call to action.

“He’s on fire — somebody move in,” Mandel said. “Why is everybody just standing there?”

The act ended in a burst of fire extinguishers. As they say, any stunt you walk away from is a good stunt.

“The producers were happy, the director was happy, and ultimately it was successful,” Goodwin said. “It got me through to the semifinal.”

He was Frank

Five years ago, I attended a photo shoot with Frank Cullotta at the Mob Museum. It was for a magazine cover story. Cullotta loved being the focus of attention.

“I get a spread?” he said that day while posing among the museum’s displays. “I’ve never had a spread.”

Cullotta died late Wednesday night at age 81. As I wrote back in 2015, Cullotta was the reformed associate of the Chicago Outfit who referred to himself as a former “gangster, burglar, murderer, extortionist, arsonist.” He admitted to the 1979 killing of con man Sherwin “Jerry” Lisner in Las Vegas. Cullotta acted on the order of Tony Spilotro for the crime, which was re-enacted in the Vegas film classic “Casino.” Cullotta was a consultant on the picture.

At the time, Cullotta was leading tours of famous Vegas mob locations: five-hour bus rides around town that cost $180 and included a champagne toast and pizza dinner. The tour included a stop at the site of the “Hole in the Wall Gang’s” botched Bertha’s Household Products robbery on July 4, 1981, which led to Cullotta’s arrest. The bus also pulled into Piero’s Italian restaurant, also featured in “Casino.”

I asked Cullotta what it felt like to be the rare tour guide who had also carried out a murder.

“Honestly, it never wakes me up,” Cullotta said. “If you do think about it, it’ll put you in the (expletive) nuthouse. When I do these tours, then everything pops up into my head; people want to know if it bothers me. Of course. But if I thought about it 24 hours a day, I’d wind up in my car with a gun in my mouth.”

Cullotta compared the experience to a serviceman obeying an order. “I hate to use the military as a comparison, but that’s how it felt. I was carrying out an order.”

He went on, “People are fascinated by me, and I understand that, but there’s a big difference in me today than there used to be. I mean, I used to be surrounded by celebrities, showgirls, politicians, a lot of money, people wanting to attach themselves to you. But it came at a price. I lost my freedom.”

Cullotta referred to that period in the past tense. His own epitaph was, “I’m clean today.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.