Ever since he was a kid, Kody Steele has been known as ‘motor mouth.’ Now, the Caledonia, Minn. native hopes to put his unique talents on the big screen as he advances through auditions with America’s Got Talent.
As a young kid playing with toy trucks and tractors in the sandbox, Steele’s father tagged him with the nickname, ‘motor mouth.’ After years of practice, he took his skills for mimicking noises to the next level. At 18, he lent his voice to the Houston County Fair.
“They let me have the mic in front of the whole town,” Steele said. “I basically started doing a play-by-play of the demolition derby.
At 23, he attended the World Wide College of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa. Steele said the school taught him breathing techniques, crowd control, and helped boost his confidence on a stage.
“I started helping out the community with raising money for the school district and local benefits,” Steele said. “It is nice to be able to use the skill you went to school for to help your community.”
Steele signed with his manager, Mike Colleran, when he was 24-years-old. The duo started hitting social media platforms. As their content became more popular, the company Motor Mouth Entertainment was born.
Auctioneering skills helped Steele stand out when he flew to San Diego in November for a walk-in audition. The group of nearly 700 candidates was split into smaller contingents of 35. After Steele did his sound effect routine, he was one of two talents called back.
“They are really fascinated with auctioneering,” Steele said. “They said they never once had an auctioneer try out for America’s Got Talent, and they think it would be really cool and unique to incorporate and sound effects into one auctioneer’s skit to get the judges involved. The casting director gave me her personal cell phone number and email and said it was worth my trip.”
That casting director asked Steele to submit a video of him performing in front of an audience, which is where he got the idea for a live show in Caledonia on Dec. 18 at the Caledonia Middle/High School auditorium.
“The more people in the audience the better because it will show how I perform in front of a crowd,” Steele said. “We are going to bring in a cast and crew and have the judges look like the real America’s Got Talent judges. We just want to do something to give back to the community and have local people cheer me on.
Tickets for the show are $10 and benefit the Caledonia Music Boosters. They can be purchased in Caledonia at Elsie’s Bar and Grill, Good Times Restaurant and Bar, Chuck’s Old Fashioned Meats, and The Wired Rooster. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
Steele said the audition tape will be sent before Christmas. If he makes it to the next round, he will join the live television portion of America’s Got Talent in Feb. 2020.
-Kaitlyn Riley
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