EXCLUSIVE: ‘AGT’s Messoudi Brothers Want to ‘Make People Forget All Their Problems’
Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
The Messoudi Brothers first appeared on Season 14 of America’s Got Talent. Now two out of the three brothers are competing with a new act on Season 20 of the show, having received the Golden Buzzer from Mel B in their audition. Soffien and Karim Messoudi recently spoke to Talent Recap about their experience on Got Talent shows around the world, and why they only rehearsed their knife act one time before the show.
AGT‘s Messoudi Brothers Return for Season 20
Soffien and Karim first auditioned for Season 14 of AGT with their older brother Yassin, performing acrobatic balancing routines that showed off their strength. Yassin chose to sit out Season 20 of the show to spend more time with his family, while Soffien and Karim returned to the stage with a unique juggling routine.
Soffien made it clear that the three brothers “still work together full-time,” sharing that Yassin has “been helping us come up with ideas and making sure everything runs smoothly.” He also said that it’s been helpful “to have him seeing it from the side,” adding, “He keeps us in check.”
Karim shared that the brothers have performed on various Got Talent shows around the world a whopping 15 times over the years. However, he said that AGT is on “another level” of competition, and it’s “much more scary.”
“America’s different. It’s so big. It’s crazy how big it is,” Karim explained of their experience returning to the AGT stage. “You feel it’s Hollywood, you feel it’s America. Everything is bigger, everything is better, everything is more exciting.”
The Messoudi Brothers hope to continue performing around the world, with Soffien sharing that if they end up winning the million-dollar prize for Season 20, they would like to put the money toward producing a world tour.
Their New Juggling Act Is About ‘Having Fun’
For their Season 20 audition, the Messoudi Brothers performed a wild routine in which they juggled knives back and forth while removing their clothes. Although it might look dangerous to viewers, Soffien shared that it’s more about “having fun.”
“When you see us falling and stuff, that’s us being like showmen,” he explained. “We’re entertainers. It’s kind of like the WWE. It’s not fake, it’s real. But we’re showmen. We try to throw everything in. We know what the people want — they want to see danger, they want to see you nearly falling, they want to laugh, they want to feel scared.”
Fans might also be surprised to learn that the Messoudi Brothers only practiced juggling the knives one time before taking the stage for their audition, as they didn’t want to risk getting cut ahead of the performance. Karim said that they “haven’t touched them again” since their audition.
As for what keeps them going, Karim said it’s all about their fans. He shared that they hope to “make people forget all their problems” while they’re performing, adding that they aim to “spread a little bit more joy” with their talent.
SEE ALSO: MEET MEL B’S ‘AGT’ GOLDEN BUZZER RECIPIENT ACROBATS MESSOUDI BROTHERS
The Brothers Struck Up a Friendship with Alex Zinger
While speaking with Talent Recap, both Soffien and Karim sported T-shirts supporting fellow Season 20 act Alex Zinger. They met the dancer during the audition round and became friends with him. As Karim said, “I just love how crazy he is!”
Alex even signed the brothers’ shirts for them. Soffien shared that Alex wrote on his shirt, “Good for them.” That’s what he was recorded saying on set after the brothers received their Golden Buzzer from Mel B during the auditions.
Alex returned to perform again in the second week of the Season 20 live shows, but he was unfortunately eliminated from the competition in Wednesday night’s results show.
Having received the Golden Buzzer in their audition, the Messoudi Brothers automatically moved on to the live shows. They will return to the AGT stage on Tuesday night for the Quarterfinals. What will they do this time? We’ll have to wait and see.
