‘AGT’ judges thought it was just another card trick — but this magician left them in tears with his story
Some performances strike an emotional connection with the judges. In June 2023, Michael Webb, a full-time magician, appeared on an episode of 'Australia's Got Talent' and wowed everyone with his unique card trick. Over the years, Webb, well-known by his stage name 'Magic Mike' (not a stripper) has showcased his tricks at birthday parties, corporate functions, and weddings across Canberra but one day, Webb decided to appear on the Seven Network's popular reality show to share a powerful message with the whole world. By the end of Webb's performance, all the judges had tears running down their faces.
Webb kicked off his act with a classic card trick, asking judge Alesha Dixon to shuffle a deck of cards. Shortly afterward, Webb asked another judge, Shane Jacobson, to pick any card from the deck and sign his name on it. Jacobson showed his card to everyone except Webb. Following that, Webb put that card back into the deck and shuffled it. Then, Webb pulled a jack card from the deck. At that point, the judges and audience members were looking forward to some magic tricks by Webb, but he exceeded their expectations. During his performance, Webb narrated a story with a moving message.
As per Scoop Upworthy, while drawing a joker card, Webb shared, "He’s got a loving family and plenty of mates. And they think he’s kind of funny, they always think of him as a bit of a joker." When Webb pulled out a king card, he went on to say, "When he’s out on the town with his mates, they get around him. They call him the king. Which is kind of ironic because whenever the night ends up at the karaoke bar, he’s always the one singing Queen.”
View this post on Instagram
Webb further elaborated, “But even on the most joyous of occasions, like Christmas, or even his birthday, he would often look around at the full house of family and friends having such a good time, and he’d stop and think, what’s wrong with me? Like, why can’t I have fun? The more he thought about this, the worse he felt, and the worse he felt, the more guilty he felt. And all of a sudden, he’d have shame and become flushed with emotion. So what would Jack do? He’d find a nice quiet room in the house and cry. You see, Jack was a 28-year-old man, and in his mind, 28-year-old males – they need to be strong, and they don’t talk about their feelings."
View this post on Instagram
The judges began feeling the weight of Webb's words when he stated that 3318 Australians died by suicide a year. Webb continued, “That’s 63 people every single week and, for every person that did, another 20 attempted to. So, do you know what Jack decided to do? Jack decided to share his story on Australia’s Got Talent, and by sharing this story today, I hope I can make just at least one person get their head straight.” The judges were moved to tears by Webb's performance. While taking out the ace of diamonds card Jacobson had signed earlier in the episode, Webb said, "I want all Australians genuinely who are struggling with their mental health to remember that without the rain, there can be no rainbow. So I want all Australians to shine bright like a diamond."
View this post on Instagram
According to Region, when Dixon was asked to share her feedback on Webb's performance, Dixon said, "It was so moving … I’ve been doing this show for a long, long time, and to see something like that was truly special." Meanwhile, Dixon's fellow judge David Williams went on to say, “I have never heard an audience so quiet, even before you got into the very sort of personal details of the story.”